[CULTURE REVIEW] 'The Circle', A Cautionary Tale of Social Network
"Knowledge is power. But knowing everything is even powerful."
2017-06-15 Minhye.Lee
We live in a pool of social media every day now, constantly using all sorts of social network services with smartphones, tablets, and computers. This platform that connects people all over the world regardless of nations, genders, and age allows communicating daily life and information, further developing relationships as well. It's also an outlet where personal thoughts and values, profiles and opinions can be presented as well. But it's also a pool full of risks that can snatch away personal data, grow addiction, lack face to face communication and set a witch hunt.
James Ponsoldt's new film 'The Circle' enfolds how clear, and how dangerous social media can be. 'Circle' is a world famous and dream career as the world's greatest social media enterprise. Through its newest technology by using a super small size camera, the 'C-change' program is driven by CEO Eamon(Tom Hanks)'s vision in creating a crystal clear society. Live streaming everyone's personal life for 24hours and by sharing every knowledge and information this can re-identify the human innate nature and reduce crimes eventually forming a clean society.
Through best friend Annie(Karen Gillan), Mae(Emma Watson) gets a job at Circle. She later follows Eamon's vision of the C-change camera program after being saved by a kayak accident and healing her ill father through the live health check system, by volunteering to be part of a 24-hour live-streaming program with 200 million people all over the world. She quickly becomes a social media star and becomes a high-rank officer of 'Circle'. However, this leads to an unexpected influence on the people around her and Mae finally faces what Circle has been hiding from Ty(John Boyega), the inventor of the system.
The social network can bridge different worlds, present experiences for those who are not mobile and share entertainment through rankings but when personal life such as what you did during the weekend at where, what time, and when every breath, a step is being shared it's like a prison that allows freedom. 'The Circle' points out how social media can be misused by becoming a tool that disturbs privacy and allows being stalked. It's not a horror film, but the reason this film stirs some fear inside is probably because of the likeliness of how realistic it can be. Rude people who throw camera flashes to post online, or mean comments all aren't pretty to look at but is something we're so used to seeing these days.
The Dave Egger's novel based film, 'The Circle' will be out in theaters this coming 22nd. Running time is 110 minutes. Viewers rate over 12.
Translated by_ Gen_E