Reconfiguring the global–local nexus: A comparative analysis of Netflix and theatrical film diversity in South Korea

Abstract

This study compares Netflix Korean original films with top-grossing Korean theatrical films using Napoli’s diversity taxonomy. Drawing on a cross-sectional sample (2021–2024) with a historical benchmark (2006–2020), it assesses differences in source diversity (production-company concentration), content diversity (genres, creative roles, and expressive intensity via age ratings), and the narrative articulation of Korean locality. The results reveal that while Netflix functions as a new type of investor creating opportunities for some filmmakers, it operates within entrenched patterns of capital concentration while exhibiting selective diversification across content dimensions. These findings suggest that Netflix’s promotional rhetoric of global diversity functions less as straightforward cultural inclusion than as a market expansion strategy that reinforces broader patterns of capital accumulation, revealing the complex entanglement of diversity discourse with platform capitalism.