Social Media Murder Society – technology at “Harm’s” length: Movie Review

By Shashi Narasimhiah

If ever Indian cinema and the world were waiting for a futuristic movie which addresses current social as well as security issues linked to the usage of technology – especially by members of Gen Z this is the one. The movie Social Media Murder Society is a rather engaging, fast flowing and yes –  scary movie showing us the darker side of over-usage of and over-dependence on technology and social media. Majority of us – especially those of older generation may interpret this as an over-statement of the perils of technology and social media but much of what is depicted in the movie might be true – at least in future. The catch phrase “If it is on line it is public” and its potential consequences would make a lot more sense after watching this movie. Whether it is the internet browsing history or social media posts or e-mails received and sent or even our text messages, they all are public and permanent and none of it can be permanently destroyed. It might be apt to say that this movie is a story of hacking – not of a computer not of someone’s e-mail but – hold on to your breath – hacking of two human beings – which is a relatively new concept. The movie is covertly conceptualised on the merger of bio-Tech data – meaning understanding what goes on within a human brain and info-Tech data – meaning the availability of technology and computing power to access one’s history and details.

As the famous historian Prof. Yuval Noah Harari states, 70000 to 90000 years or so ago, Homo Sapiens were just another species similar to many others roaming the planet Earth and fighting for their survival as any other species. But steadily due to their brain power, their ability to think, perceive, imagine and due to their ability to coordinate and cooperate in large numbers across large geographical boundaries and without even knowing each other, they took total control of life on the planet and systematically destroyed many other life forms – as is well known now. After the nomadic state, humans had an agricultural revolution, then an industrial revolution both of which resulted in changing the world as the humans knew it at the time. But the currently ongoing third revolution – The Technology Revolution or the Bio-Info-Tech Revolution will not just change the world as we all know it, but actually will revolutionise it in ways we humans would not even dream of. This may well result in a paradigm shift in what humans can and can’t control to such an extent that the very human race which is responsible for bringing about this third revolution will be staring into the possibility of losing control of their possessions and life and may be fighting for their own survival all over again. With the advent and advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the chances are that the majority of humans will be rendered helpless, powerless and even useless. Prof. Harari further explains how, by combining bio-technology and Info-technology, the social media and technology corporations such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple etc will know more about us than ourselves in terms of our thought process, medical history, spending pattern, inner most feelings, preferences, life choices, habits and even our darkest secrets – in effect hacking us to be able to target each of us in terms of sale of products and services. Prof. Harari brings about a brand new concept of how a book reading exercise will become a two way exercise with us reading the e-book and in turn the e-book also reading us – the e-book too would be hacking us!!

The movie Social Media Murder Society is a perfect example of being a precursor to this Third Revolution and the changing face of not just the planet Earth but of human life and existence. It goes one step further with the application of e-hacking to blackmail other humans. The movie also demonstrates how social media which was originally meant to keep in contact with the world can now be used to monitor and control others to the extent that one can be blackmailed, to the extent that one’s life may be in danger, to the extent that one can lose one’s loved ones and to the extent that one can be subjected to enormous stress and helplessness.

It is heartening to see the likes of Director/Writer Dr.Abhishek Shukla venturing into making futuristic movies such as this and deserves all the applause and encouragement. Watching this move is more infotainment rather than entertainment and at the unconventional ending of the movie, it leaves the audience gasping for their breath. This movie is yet another refreshing change from the routine of romance based Bollywood movies and is sure to set the audience thinking and potentially lead them to re-think their strategy towards application and usage of social media. India as a nation is now one of the biggest users of social media platforms which are all very addictive – no less addictive as compared to any other forms of addictions such as smoking, alcohol and drugs. Therefore this movie could serve as an eye opener for many of us to rationalise the usage of social media and to protect ourselves from being hacked.

The movie does not have the big names of Indian Cinema, but all the actors have done immense justice to their roles and brought the characters to life no less than any main stream actors. The movie shot in India demonstrates the contemporary modern Indian life – especially of younger generation and having a mixed race couple as the main characters is a master stroke in conveying to the world that the message is not limited to only the Indian audience and that it has a global reach. The movie also has a message on the importance of trust and understanding between partners. We can all take heart in knowing that India is now producing movies which have strong, pertinent and life changing messages to the entire world.