Page 17 - Newletter Issue 8

A Review Of The Film - Social Dilemma (2020)

“This documentary is a tell-tale on everything that’s dark and gloomy
about social media. And, turns out, we are all doomed!”

The one opportunity quaran�ne gave me is a chance to improve my
movie taste and I think I speak for all of us when I say, watching movies
has been really impac�ul. Recently, a�er Ne�lix, a renowned streaming
pla�orm, dropped a documentary, which supposedly talks about the
dangerous impact of social networking took over the internet, the
audience pointed out that the documentary might be ‘the most
important documentary of the year’. If I had to review the movie in just
three words, I’d say “a wakeup call”. The movie “ The Social Dilemma”
now available on Ne�lix has been a ma�er of interest for everyone
lately. In the ar�cle, we will talk about why it is so.

Ne�lix summarises it as “the documentary-drama hybrid which explores the dangerous impact of social
networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations."

The movie starts off with the employees of the major social media pla�orms sharing the reality of what
actually happens in the offices and goes on talking about how everything you do online is being tracked,
measured, and watched. Every single ac�on you take is being monitored. For instance, how long you look at
your screen, and which content engages you the most. You are under constant surveillance, which is exactly
as creepy as it sounds.They supposedly have all the private informa�on and data about you and when I say
all , I mean that they have enough informa�on to conclude your emo�ons, your a�tude, whether you are

an introvert or an extrovert, what triggers you, and much more. But what happens to this data? Why do
they need this data? It isn't given away or sold for profit. It is used to build models that predict our ac�ons
and whoever has the best model wins. These models represent us, and with the data, they now know how
to engage us, how to make a profit out of our �me. Due to this, the very meaning of communica�on and
culture is manipulated and this is drama�cally exaggerated in the movie.

There are meaningful systemic changes happening around the world because of these pla�orms too that

are posi�ve. But I think we are naive about the flip side of that coin. These services that we assume are free
are not really free if you think about it. It is shown that the adver�sers pay these companies in exchange for
showing their ads to us, and of course, we are the product. Our a�en�on is the product being sold to
adver�sers. To quote a line from the movie "It's the gradual, slight, impercep�ble change in your own
behavior and percep�on that is the product." As Arthur C. Clarke says "any sufficiently advanced technology
is indis�nguishable from magic." When the ques�on of what's wrong with the tech industry raises, people
claim that there's a noise of grievances and scandals, fake news, polariza�on, and data being stolen, while
these are pre�y scary issues, it’s not quite yet, which is thoroughly implied in the movie.

It presents a sobering analysis of our data-mined and brings out the best and the worst in society, and asks
fundamental and existen�al ques�ons about whether we are literally wri�ng ourselves out of the ability to
make vital decisions. I believe this movie should be an essen�al viewing for literally everyone-from
teenagers to parents. I personally found it thought-provoking, cap�va�ng, realis�c, intelligent, and
altogether an inspiring movie.

- Marty Sindhura, XI

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