I have a confession to make — I really love movies.

I belong to the group of people who can quote every line in Shrek (2001) or passionately explain why Interstellar (2014) is the greatest space film ever made (yes, I will die on this hill).

Movies, to me, are more than just a form of entertainment. They are time machines, offering a glimpse into historical moments, or occasionally, just a great excuse to avoid finishing an assignment.

Lately, though, I have been thinking about something that is hard to ignore, and that is streaming. The technology that once freed us from rummaging physical stores for DVDs is now erasing a part of our cinematic history.

Streaming is killing movies. And I am not just talking about the latest Marvel flop. We are losing timeless classics, culturally significant works and hard-to-find gems, all vanishing into the digital void.

According to a recent  article in Forbes, “the future of Hollywood changed forever in August 1997,” when two entrepreneurs came up with an idea for a subscription-based mail-order DVD rental business.

That business? Netflix.

Mailing DVDs to subscribers who wanted to avoid Blockbuster was groundbreaking at the time. By 2009, Netflix was shipping 900 million DVDs annually to more than 10 million subscribers. But Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder, had an even bigger idea — streaming.

In 2007, Netflix launched its subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. Back then, streaming movies directly to TVs seemed futuristic, but Hastings knew it was the next big thing.

At first, the streaming catalog was limited to just 1,000 films compared to 70,000 available on DVD. But as broadband technology became widespread, the streaming business boomed.

Today, Netflix has over 282 million subscribers globally, making it the world’s most valuable media company.

Sounds like a dream, right? Well, not quite.

Here is the issue, while streaming platforms have made accessing movies easier, they have also introduced a huge problem. Movies are not treated like the cultural treasures they are. They are treated like disposable content.

One day you are rewatching The Sound of Music (1965), and the next day it is gone.

And do not even get me started on indie films or documentaries — they often do not even make it to streaming in the first place.

Streaming platforms only push what is trending. Once the hype dies down, the movie is removed to make room for the next big thing. This is not just inconvenient, it is dangerous.

You know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, a movie is worth a million. Movies have the ability to capture the essences of a specific period in time, a feeling or even a movement.

Take Schindler’s List (1993) — it is not just a film, it is a visceral lesson in American history. Or The Godfather (1972) — it is not just a film about gangsters but details immigrants’ experiences in America.  Films like these do not just entertain us. They educate and preserve stories that shape our collective identity. I hate to admit this, but I have learned more about the Holocaust from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas than in my history class. Directed by Mark Herman and based on John Boyne’s novel, the film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Bruno, the young son of a Nazi commandant, and Shmuel, a Jewish boy imprisoned in a concentration camp. Through the innocent eyes of these two boys, the film powerfully shows the horrors of prejudice and war.

It is a reminder of how movies preserve our history, victories and losses. But what happens when these stories are no longer accessible?

Imagine your favorite movie for a second. Now imagine a future where no one can watch it because a streaming platform decided it was not “profitable” enough to keep. That is the reality we are heading toward.

As Forbes pointed out, the move from physical media to streaming means we do not actually own movies anymore. Back in the day, buying a DVD meant you had that movie forever. Now, we are just renting access, and when a film leaves the platform, it is gone. It is like your favourite book being thrown out by the library because it was not “popular” enough.

Renowned director and filmmaker Martin Scorsese has also voiced concern on this issue.

“We can’t depend on the movie business, such as it is, to take care of cinema,” he wrote in Harper’s Magazine. Scorsese went on to say that in the streaming world, “everything is presented to the viewer on a level playing field, which sounds democratic but it isn’t.”

And I completely agree — movies are being treated like disposable products, and timeless classics lose their importance over time. As this happens, audiences also lose access to these cultural treasures.

But what is the solution?

First, let us revive our love for physical media. Owning a DVD or Blu-ray means you have it forever — no subscription needed. Plus, there is something deeply satisfying about building a collection of movies that shaped you.

Second, I think we need to hold streaming platforms accountable. If Netflix and Disney+ can spend billions on new content, they can also invest in preserving classics.

Streaming is convenient, but it is erasing something irreplaceable. Movies are fragments of our collective soul and losing them feels like losing a part of ourselves.

So, next time you are watching Netflix or Disney+, think about what that movie represents — the effort it took to create it and the story it tells.

Then ask yourself, “will I be able to rewatch this in 10 years?”

If the answer is no, it is time to take action. Because if we do not, we will lose not just movies, but the stories that define who we are.