By Quinn Marcus

(2020)

Genre: Documentary/Drama

Age: 13+

93/100: Sweet

“We’re the product. Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers.” The Social Dilemma was written by Davis Coombe, Vickie Curtis, and Jeff Orlowski, and was also directed by Jeff Orlowski. Our phones, what amazing things they are, little magical boxes filled with our emails, apps, and a whole bunch of useless junk. The Social Dilemma not only explores device addiction but also fake news, political polarization, and whether or not the social media companies, battling for your attention are all good behind the scenes. Join me as I explain my full thoughts on this eye-opening documentary. Put your phone down for one full week, right now, I dare you. Think it’s going to be easy, it sure wasn’t for me, I barely lasted 5 out of my 7-day no device solstice. Putting away your phone in a closet ain’t going to work, because that tiny device already has power over you. Think about it, your mind is losing a game to a box, and this box is learning about you, every second you are on it. ‘Oh, I’ve only been on my phone for 30 minutes today, it’s not a problem.’ This is often what people say when they are asked how much time they spend on their phones. Most people check to find that their screen time is three hours or something. Time is annoying, but the time you could be spending living your life is eaten away by our phones and turned into profit. What I just explained is only the surface of what this extraordinary documentary covers. Did I have any flaws?

Before watching, I was extremely worried that this was going to be nothing but conspiracy theories flying at me left and right, boy was I wrong. The only thing I can think of that may be a flaw is a couple of minor exaggerations on the danger of this technology. Also, It may not be for everyone. The Social Dilemma requires you to have a specific taste, one that not everyone has, some people won’t enjoy it as much as I did. Besides that, this documentary is practically utter perfection.

After viewing The Social Dilemma, I decided to come up with a documentary tier list (real creative guy, I know). In the third tier (the weakest one) are the documentaries that get the job done, they provide the info, but there’s nothing memorable about them, and they forget the entertainment along the way. You’ll watch it, and wake up the next day forgetting most of it, only remembering a few decent facts. In the second tier, we have the documentaries that give some solid information and find ways to make it generally entertaining as well as informative. Then we move to the first tier, the golden child of my tier list, only the best make it here. These docs manage to be extremely fun, inspiring, and give details that you will remember for a long time. A good example of a tier-one doc would be I Am Not Your Negro. The Social Dilemma easily makes it to the top. Thanks to this documentary, I see the tech industry in an entirely different way than I did before. Using the unique style of going back and forth between movie and enlightening documentary, it managed to hook both sides of me. It certainly wasn’t an emotionally moving tale, but it forever changes your perspective on a topic that we’ve been observing with one eye shut. A two-sided coin that our society can only perceive and comprehend half of. All I can say is if you’re looking to truly have a clear, intellectual, enjoyable, relevant ride that will send shivers down your spine, but also a glimmer of hope amongst the darkness for humanity’s future, this is what you want. You’ll learn a thing or two about that little black box you keep in your pocket, and what really goes on within the locked gates of those business titans.

I highly recommend The Social Dilemma for anyone in their younger teen years and up. Mostly because this is the age you’ll probably get started on using your own devices. Watch this doc, and consider how you can stay in control over your phone or computer, and not let it make you its personal puppet. Show it to your friends, this is an important documentary that as many people as possible should see. There’s nothing bad in it, some footage of protests, teenagers are apprehended by police, a tween breaks into a glass case to get her phone back, not much language. It’s just the thought-provoking themes it deals with that keep it out of reach of the younger ones. Anyways, peace out guys, drink your glass of lemonade, and stay tuned for my next review!