The Circle: A Movie Review (Spoilers)

I watched a film the other day that I think you should all watch, not because it's hilariously bad, but because it touches on a few of the ideas that we've talked about in class.

            In The Circle, you'll watch Emma Watson go from working a sad, unfulfilling job at a call center to making big bucks and climbing her way through the ranks of fictional, multi-billion dollar company "the Circle." Aside from being incredibly unrealistic, the film fails to capture any of the hard work that comes with working in the tech field; everything simply lands in Emma Watson's lap (spoiler alert?).
            What it does capture, however, is that innovative spirit we've talked so much about. While you're watching it, you really get caught up in the excitement of pushing ideas further and asking the tough questions, taking risks and such - as well as the burnout that can lead to.
            While I really hated how much it glossed over, I thought it was a fun piece for someone taking this class. You really get the sense of being in a tech bubble, the result of which is this Black Mirror-esque caricature of the tech industry, and it's quite a fun movie if you don't take it too seriously.

Comments

  1. Kristina Kyriakis2 April 2018 at 09:52

    Hello! I too have seen this film but the entire time I was watching I kept thinking to myself, wow this is what it must be like (roughly) to work at Google or Facebook. In regards to your comments about everything being placed in Emma Watson's lap, and the film failing to show the hard work the tech industry... I need to disagree. The female connection she had that got her into the company (I forget her name) demonstrated the hard work required to survive in a company like The Circle. She was constantly stressed, busy, and not as relaxed as the other employees seemed to be. As for Emma Watson's character, I think she was treated well because she volunteered to be the company lab rat for a product that allowed people to see what she was doing 24-7. She took a major risk by doing that and therefore was compensated for the time being until issues end up arising which was the plot of the story.

    Larger the Risk = Larger the Reward

    On the other hand, I do agree with your comparison to Black Mirror. Many of the concepts and opinions demonstrated in the film are pretty dystopian.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown2 April 2018 at 13:00

      I do see what you mean with your example of her overworked female coworker (Annie, I think) and I do think that it's a valid one. It seemed to me though, that she was the only character that really showed the level of pressure that gets put on employees in the tech industry, and it's passed off as being because she's a corporate elite. When I say that everything was simply dropped in Emma Watson's lap, I mean that there was no real evidence that she was struggling to cope with the pressures of keeping up with her workload or the fast pace of her workplace. While a lot of emphasis is placed on the social expectations of the job (attending events, replying to messages, etc.) it seems like she takes it all in a stride, and isn't challenged at all with the stress.

      Delete
  2. Xavier Prosper5 April 2018 at 15:49

    I've also seen this film, and agree that it's not an accurate representation of working in tech. For the purpose of a movie they likely had to exaggerate the corporate culture of large companies into a cult like following. What i did find interesting about the film, is how it touched on the topic of privacy and the fact that we are always observed.

    In the film they chose to physically demonstrate it by using cameras that observe every aspect of someone's life. in my opinion this was used to symbolism the power of big data since the general public isn't likely to know how much data companies such as google and Facebook have collected on them. For example your GPS data can be used to determine, where you live work and shop.

    We aren't physically being watched like in the film but our obsession with technology has made it very easy for companies to observe us like they did with Emma in the circle. companies like google store all of your data and have the ability to use AI to predict behavior and to gain insight into your life.

    Here's a quick video on how to download all your google data. Give it a try to get a better understand how much they know about you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGgT-rffJ_U

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