Honesty in fictional characters in Netflix series
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26441/RC25.2-2026-4475Keywords:
Netflix, honesty, fiction, series, audiovisual narratives, content analysis, moral education, communication ethics, streaming platformsAbstract
Purpose. Against the backdrop of young people and adolescents consuming vast amounts of audiovisual content, this article explores the depiction of honesty in the five most-watched Netflix series between September 2024 and March 2025. This is a pioneering and unexplored topic in contemporary serial fiction. Methodology. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that combines communication and moral education, the study examines manifestations of honesty and dishonesty among 50 characters using a taxonomy based on Miller's (2020) work. Using content analysis techniques, the study identifies narrative patterns and discusses their potential impact on the ethical development of viewers. Results and conclusions. The results reveal that, as a narrative value, honesty plays a pivotal role in shaping the characters and their relationships, and in defining moral learning scenarios that can significantly influence the audience's moral perception. The series analysed are found to have significant educational potential in relation to honesty, as they present models of behavior that can be imitated, rejected or reinterpreted by the audience. They also have the power to emotionally influence the audience, hinder their moral judgement, and present contexts that make it difficult to act honestly. Original contribution. There is practically no research on honesty in contemporary serial fiction, and our interdisciplinary study is pioneering in that it contributes to filling this gap in the literature.
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