This is a film about how technology and the internet affect all of us- whether that be men, women, and children. There are probably a multitude of ways in which our phones and internet affect our lives. Whether it is my friend who is in medical school and posted on Facebook that he couldn’t pass his medical school classes without the internet. Then there are my feminist friends (who are deeply concerned with gender politics) who say that thanks to GPS on our phones, the answer to the age-old question of who should ask for directions –is ask Siri!
This film explores different avenues internet technology has permeated our lives. The first trope this film brings to my mind is the Kris Jennerization effect the internet has on parenting, and moreover people’s careers. In this film, a high school student named Hannah is an aspiring actress. She even goes to a casting call for a reality TV show. Her mom is like a Kris Jenner who exploits her daughter’s sexuality by taking salacious pictures of her and posting them on a website. She believes that this will expose her daughter more, bring advertisers to the website, and this in turn will bring them more money for photo and modeling shoots. The reason I said that this story line reminds me of Kris Jenner, is because Kris Jenner uses the platform of the internet to catapult her daughters’ images to the world- and sometimes with the help of salacious photos and photo shoots revolving her daughters.
Another trope of how internet technology permeates our lives is by giving us access into our children’s lives. Brandy Beltmeyer is a normal 21st century high school student in this movie who wants to use the internet to stay in touch with friends. BUT, her mother Patricia Beltmeyer will have NONE of this. And obsessively monitors all her social media activity, to the point of deleting her social media accounts. Brandy, eventually succumbs to making a secret Tumbler account so that she can maintain a friendship with her friend Tim- an ex-football player.
Patricia represents the helicopter, overprotective, smothering parent in the 21st century. Smothers and have always existed throughout the dawn of time. And they will be damned if a little thing like social media will get their way of tightening their grip on their children. Even if this means knowing their children’s social media passwords, and checking every word posted on social media websites. Jennifer Garner portrays the rigid, uptight Patty Beltmeyer convincingly.
Then there is the matter of relationships and the internet. First there is the loveless couple (the husband is portrayed by Adam Sandler) who end up cheating on each other thanks to websites such as Ashley Madison. Then there is their son who sees so much pornography on a daily basis that well he cannot get ‘high’ from the regular amount of porn he sees! Tim, the ex-football player finds companionship through Brandy thanks to her use of a secret tumbler account. It should be noted that Tim also uses the internet to heavily play online video games as a way to cope with an injury which prevents him from rejoining football, and also a way to cope with the loss of his mother who left the family.
The narratives and stories in the subplots are captivating; and a lot of these stories are interwoven (e.g. Tim and Brandy) and it is interesting to see how one of these subplots affects the other. I furthermore like, how the messages characters post on the internet interface on the screen so, the audience can fully see and feel the larger than life/3-d effect these messages have on their character’s mind and emotions.
Perhaps my only complaint for this movie is the title. This movie is so much about how technology/the internet encompasses our life in helping us enhance our careers, helping us maintain our friendships, accessing information, giving us the first glimpse into pornography, and even being the last resort in rekindling our marriages and being yet another tool in tightening the leash onto our children. Though many of these things happen to men, women and children (the title of the film)-the title of the film should reflect the seeping quality of technology in our lives.
One last reason I love this film is because it has the Jason Reitman touch to it. And what I love about director Jason Reitman is that he really isn’t afraid to show the times that we live in and the often mundane aspects of our lives- and highlight them, build stories regarding them, which captivates us and holds our interests. He did this with the movie up in the Air regarding joblessness and the recession and now with internet and internet based communication in this film. None of his films have murders, war, or really crazy things going on, yet his films are interesting and make the viewer want to keep on watching. That said, I hope that you can go out and truly see this film- it will hold your interest.
