Unfriend Me

                                                                 (photo:google.com)

It was like seeing things on a desktop screen but on a very large version!

One thing I realized when I scanned the seated people in the cinema is the age of the viewers. It seemed that I was old enough for the flick! But, this sort-of insecurity faded away as I saw the older ones leave the theater in trickles as they found the film "too much" or too banal for them.

UNFRIENDED focuses on online bullying which resulted to the suicide of Laura Barns. The film starts with a conversation with lovers through a Skype-like app. Others then joined the live streaming conversations with all their wacky thoughts and banter. Along the way, a netizen viewer could sense something is wrong since there's a faceless icon linked with their group. Annoyance came to the group when the intruder started interacting with them.

Violence started to happen when the faceless joiner claimed to be Laura Barns and the group saw this as preposterous since the girl committed suicide and... it was her death anniversary. The story then untangled the "secret" of this group of friends who posted lewd pictures of Laura Barns and even encouraged her to kill herself. One by one, the online friends started dying.

By having an open mind, I could say that the flick introduces a new genre of film-making. It includes Facebook, You Tube and other online means of communication which is the WORLD of the new generation. While looking at the words being typed on the chat boxes juxtaposed with the Skype image, a viewer must understand all of these technologies for him/her to appreciate the storytelling. Those who went out in trickles had dismayed expressions on their faces...

I'm not saying that the film is good. It has a lot of debatable subplots which are like pebbles in a shoe. Like: Why should they stay in front of their laptops? They could have called their parents or the neighbors than wait for the alleged and seemingly-virtual killer to "delete" them from existence!

What I like is what the movie is trying to drive home: Cyber bullying is wrong and it is unhealthy. It could destroy relationships and could even lead to death and crimes.

Although Filipinos manifest less the products of psychopathy, it is still wise to monitor the well-being of children especially with their behavior in the cyber world. This is an area which oftentimes threaten adults but we need to take a peek if not immerse into this for us to be aware and be empowered on what armors to prepare.