Thanos Liberopolous has crafted a very cutting short called “Beauty”. One might find it amusing or like me entirely depressing. Set in modern day Greece a single mother deals with her daughter Kally and her son Poppy who are so addicted to social media they have lost touch with reality however stark and unpleasant it may be.
Poppy is addicted to his computer and pornography. Kally fancies herself a YouTube sensation. Both are incapable of any meaningful conversation with their mother and they are lost souls to the digital world. I venture to say Poppy and Kally are lost souls and losers who will never make it in the digital world. In fact most likely they will be destroyed by it.
This is a frightening take on the destructive and alienating world of social media where people talk into a social media void rather than directly with family. From a personal perspective I recall over the span of years going with my corporate law group for our “holiday meal” in December with my two colleagues being more engrossed with their Blackberries than in conversing with each other. Perhaps you have seen it too.
The firm’s name “Beauty” is very cutting and an ugly look at the destructive nature of social media. It is also very sad.
Liberopolous has crafted a shredding look at Kally’s hallucination of what reality is. If she could admit it would be very ugly.
Part of the Greek International Film Festival of Toronto running October 1-3. For tickets and information see https://gifft.ca/
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/570898612
