Sunday 7 May 2017

A Pinoy @ The Movies: The Circle

I wonder if The Circle's original title was Facebook-slash-Google-slash-Apple reality TV.

Because all I saw during the movie was a gargantuan of a company based in sunny California, run by two guys resembling the likes of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (founders of Apple), and was about to control the virtual and real lives of everyone on Earth.

Emma Watson, as a new employee at The Circle, and even without her magic wand, magically became a star employee and a reality Internet star without having to disrobe like one Kardashian and without having to dress up like one Hilton.

Although we are all familiar with those apps and programs that have made our lives easier, these things have also taken away our privacy, especially with those cameras that follow us everywhere, even when we pee. The film also reminds everyone that we are all under surveillance by what we do online or in reality, which in turn reminded me of the George Orwell's novel, 1984, that talks about Big Brother watching over us all the time.

And even if they threw in Watson's family's sad episode and her near-drowning kayaking, the scene where her friend, Mercer, flew off a bridge was probably the lesson everyone with a smartphone should always keep in mind: technology can kill.

And this made me ask: what is the movie's message anyways?

No more privacy for all of us? We know that already.

More transparency? Hmm. There's Wikileaks for you.

That computers and apps will rule the world?  'Skynet' did that in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

And you'd also be wondering what convinced Tom Hanks and Emma Watson to do this film? Huge talent fees, perhaps?

Did I like this film? To some extent, I did because it's reality.

Should you watch this film? Nah, you can pass. Just go back to your social media. 


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