Netflix has never been afraid to offer subscribers something different. While the platform is known for TV shows and movies, they’ve also moved into interactive games and other areas. Now, Netflix has brought a classic thought experiment and curiosity to the platform in a big way. And it lets users experience the legendary career of Kevin Bacon in a whole new way.
To celebrate Kevin Bacon’s 64th birthday, Netflix has introduced “Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon” to the platform. Netflix announced this addition in a tweet, saying that “we’ve launched a collection of titles featuring actors who have worked alongside the living legend, making them one degree of separation away!”
Those who go to the link will find titles such as 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, 2008’s stylish-action film Wanted, and a load of more unexpected films, including 2018’s To All The Boys I Loved Before. Which shows just how many parts of the film and television industry Kevin Bacon has touched over his long and illustrious career.
Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon is a twist on Frigyes Karinthy’s idea that any two people on Earth are connected by six or fewer social connections. The concept became famous as it was the concept behind the play Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare. Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon suggests you can get from any actor or movie to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less, simply due to the number and mixture of films Kevin Bacon has appeared in.
The concept is credited to some students from Pennsylvania’s Albright College, who allegedly came up with the idea while watching Footloose. This led to the concept of the “Bacon Number,” the number of steps one needs to go to connect someone to Kevin Bacon. This concept went viral. Since then, it has popped up in many places. Google even directly added it to their search engine in 2012. And many other communities have since adapted the idea to fit their most famous and prolific members.
This includes the “Ryu Number,” where videogame fans try to connect game characters to Street Fighter’s Ryu in as few steps as possible.