Social media is implemented in our life very much. Of course, the cinematic industry could not leave this topic out of sight. By 2021, there are a whole bunch of movies, animations, or series available, that reveal different aspects of social networking in our lives – even how to gross 100 Instagram likes. There are documentaries as well, that examine the phenomena of social platforms and their impact on humanity. But in this article, we shall focus on the most popular titles that talk about the role of the internet in general and social platforms in particular.
Emily In Paris, 2020
The first season of the romantic and whimsical series reveals to us a life of a modern marketer. Emily relocates to Paris for work, and as she begins to use Instagram as an instrument to share her insights of living in this city, she gains unexpected attention and success as a blogger. For her, as a New Yorker, the way of living and doing business in the Old World is strange and often hard to embrace. Luckily, new friends come in help. And of course, can a girl possibly come to Paris and not meet the One?
The success that the protagonist meets online, is a bit exaggerated, yet the process itself is described quite accurately. The power of Emily’s blog is that it is unusual and still close to many viewers at the same time. She represents a modern IT girl, fluent in the newest trends and able to see things from a different angle.
Jexi, 2019
This romantic comedy wonders what can happen when Artificial Intelligence takes control over your life? The protagonist Phil is totally addicted to social networking guy, who is afraid to live his real life. He has replaced his reality with the fake one, which he posts on his social while sitting at home alone. After a series of events, he ends up buying an unusual phone that bears a tacky virtual assistant Jexi, who is granted full control over Phil’s life. Jexi instantly starts changing his life, aggressively and rudely. With the help of Jexi, Phil begins to reconsider his lifestyle, meets a girl. And at the same time, Jexi becomes attached to her master and begins messing him up…
This is a lightweight comedy with a traditional happy end, but it reminds us how dangerous putting your social media in the first place can be.
The Black Mirror, 2011 – 2019
These series are set in different alternative futures. Each episode is singular, they are not connected in one subject directly. Episodes actually represent certain prospects and effects that social media and technological progress might bring upon humanity. There are series about entertainment technologies and social media, that are looking so true that even can be scary. For example, one of the recent episodes, “USS Callister” depicts an addiction and unhealthy fantasies of an office worker, who brings them all to strange life with the help of the virtual reality game.
Another one, “Nosedive”, illustrates the ranking system that divides humanity into groups according to their data, which is displayed in a virtual social profile. A young woman struggles to gain a better rating so she can get a credit. Definitely, an interesting title to check, but beware of getting a paranoid feeling after you watch too much at once.
The Big Bang Theory, 2007 – 2019
Strictly talking, this sitcom is not concentrated on the topic of the internet and social media. However, as the protagonists are men of science (two physicists, one astrophysicist, and an aerospace engineer), modern technologies are one of their preferred things to play with. The series are also uniting geek culture with pop-culture, which is represented by their new neighbor – attractive young blonde Penny. The collisions of science and non-science worlds are providing viewers with tons of gags and sarcastic jokes.
Ralph Breaks The Internet, 2018
This is a sequel of a popular animation Ralph, and this time heroes Ralph and Vannelope have to leave their retro world and discover the power of the internet and social platforms. This is a family movie, that takes us on a bit sarcastic journey through the different sides of the internet. Heroes will see analogs of famous markets, entertaining platforms, and even video games. Worth checking out at least for the episode where Vannelope meets Disney Princesses.
Ex Machina, 2014
This film is a psychological thriller, that also raises the question of artificial intelligence boundaries and possibilities. The plot introduces a young programmer Caleb (Domnal Gleason) who has to administer a Turing test on a highly intelligent humanoid robot named Ava ( Alicia Vikander).
The Turing test has to reveal if Ava is really capable of consciousness and original thoughts. If Caleb will forget that she is artificial intelligence, the robot will pass the test. The plot is tricky and filled with suspense, letting the viewer believe as well that Ava has real human intelligence.
This film may not be concentrated on the internet or social media directly, although it demonstrates the possible outcome if people will continue uncontrollable experiments with artificial intelligence technologies.
The Social Network, 2010
This is one of the most famous titles that have social media as a prominent topic. This film is based on the story of Mark Zuckerberg, who is known as a creator of Facebook, and his team.
The plot unfolds at the very start when a Harvard student Mark is dumped by his girlfriend. Being furious, he comes up with a site that holds the profiles of all female students from his campus, and visitors can rate their attractiveness. Even though Mark gets academic probation, his idea is interesting to twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, along with their business partner Divya Narendra. They offer him a job at Harvard Connections.
Later Mark comes up with an idea of Facebook and with his friend Eduardo Saverin, they begin turning it into reality. The further results and consequences of these actions one should see by himself. The movie is one of the top-rated biographical movies, and also one of the most popular titles that cover the topic of social media.
Silicon Valley, 2014 – 2019
The ultimate comedy TV series from HBO. The protagonists are all programmers, who want to create something worthy. Richard and his team, for instance, are looking for investors for his app named Pied Piper, which offers a revolutionary algorithm. The plot is wrapping around different situations that may occur in the lives of many IT workers. Warning: the series has a specific to the industry humor, but it is served well enough so people who are not involved could have their laughs.
