The reproduction of the self-made man myth through Netflix : a comparative analysis on Netflix's original series

Netflix is currently the subject of various academic discussions in addition to its widespread commercial success over the last two decades. This study seeks to make a contribution to the academic literature by examining whether Netflix, an American media and entertainment company, truly "thinks local and acts global" in accordance with its motto or instead promotes the myth of the self-made man, one of America's founding myths, and, thus, reproduces capitalist hegemony. By examining Netflix’s three original teen series created in three distinct nations, Sex Education, Elite, and Aşk 101, this study seeks to answer the following questions: (i) How do Netflix’s original teen series produced in different localities incorporate the notion of the self-made man? (ii) How does the myth of the self-made man reproduced through these shows relate to capitalist hegemony? The stories of the protagonists of these three teen series are meticulously analyzed under the framework of Joseph Campbell’s notion of the “hero’s journey” to see whether their journeys reflect that of the self-made man as the myth and, accordingly, carry the core values of this myth or not. The results of this analysis provide fascinating insights into the perpetuation and representation of the "self-made man" myth in digital television. The self-made man myth is reproduced, albeit with some differences, in each of the three teen series examined, which makes us believe that Netflix, as an important actor in the global media industry, plays a role in spreading the dominant myths of capitalist hegemony around the world.