Courtesy | Unsplash
Netflix may have just introduced a new genre, and I’m not a fan.
Alex Honnold, the professional climber best known for the 2017 documentary “Free Solo,” climbed the tallest building in Taiwan, Taipei 101, without ropes Saturday. More than six million people tuned in to watch the climb live on Netflix.
The ascent? Awesome. The livestream? Not so much.
As a semi-washed-up sport climber who has followed Honnold’s career for almost a decade, I could not stomach watching the event live. One slippery ledge or misplaced toe hook, and he would have plummeted to his death in front of millions. Instead, I watched updates on my phone as he climbed, story by story, up the 101-floor building. Once I knew he was safely at the top and reunited with his wife, I watched the entire event.
Honnold’s ascent was the most incredible feat of athleticism and mental strength I have ever witnessed. In comparison, the fanfare of the broadcast seemed sensational and ridiculous.
No, Honnold doesn’t have a death wish, and he’s not totally crazy. When he climbs, he has control of his body and his mind in a way most of us will never experience. The best part of the event was his smile when he summited.
“Sick!” he said before snapping a few selfies on top of the building’s spire.
Honnold has earned a name as one of the greatest climbers ever to strap on a pair of La Sportiva shoes. But “Skyscraper Live” was a mistake.
From advertisements for the livestream, the draw was clear: Tune in and you might get to watch the “Free Solo” guy die. Thousands placed bets online for whether he would succeed, quit, or “otherwise not complete” the solo.
During the broadcast itself, pre-recorded content about Honnold, climbing, and Taipei 101 aired in a split screen as if a man climbing 1,667 feet up the side of a steel skyscraper wasn’t entertaining enough. Spectators waved at him through the windows as he climbed, a helicopter and drones buzzed overhead, and commentators bantered with him through his earpiece when he took a rest.
Two of the three commentators, sports anchor Elle Duncan and WWE star Seth Rollins, clearly knew nothing about climbing. Duncan’s comments ranged from uninformed to cringe-worthy.
“You know this building,” Duncan said. “It’s a symbol of what humans can build. But today it’s the villain. Alex is trying to conquer the villain. Can he do it?”
Emily Harrington — the only pro climber on the panel — hardly got the chance to speak. It felt wrong to watch a life-or-death situation with commentary that would be more fitting for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
For Honnold, none of the fanfare mattered.
“I would do it for free,” Honnold told The New York Times. “If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing.”
Climbing skyscrapers without permission is illegal, and he’s had his eye on Taipei 101 for years. Selfies, stupid questions, and six figures in compensation were just part of the deal.
Netflix, meanwhile, cashed in on morbid curiosity and cheapened the experience in the process.
Given the success of “Skyscraper Live,” other streaming companies will likely scramble to bring death-defying spectacles to live television. But I’m holding out hope this was a one-and-done. Free soloing should not have an audience — let alone online betting and commentary.
Moira Gleason is a senior studying English.
