Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The hidden messages of Unfriended


The movie "Unfriended" is a horror movie that isn't much different from "The Blair Witch Project". While many people clearly watched it for the purpose of letting out a good scream, I saw some hidden messages in the movie.

The movie starts off with five teenagers causally talking about "life" and regular topics. While they do this an unknown sixth individual logs into their FaceTime but his or her face is not shown. This person is anonymous. The day is also the anniversary of the suicide of a girl named Laura Burns. All five of the known people present had some connection to Laura.

The rest of the movie is just the typical horror/slasher stuff that we see in most horror movies (I don't want to give away the ending). But there was a hidden message that I spotted. The movie was also a statement against cyber-bullying.

As we all know by now, cyber-bullying has caused an unimaginable amount of pain and terror to thousands of people in the world. Many of them have been driven to suicide. Since I don't have a Facebook or a Twitter account, I'm probably not the best person to ask when it comes to cyber-bullying. I don't know what its like and I hope that I never do.

But here's what I will say. The best thing to do if you are a victim of Cyber-bullying is to unplug from the Internet. You should also tell a family member (best choice is a parent) about your situation. DO NOT stay silent. DO NOT try to fight back. AND NEVER EVER, try to handle the problem on your own. Because it usually does not end well for the people who try that.

The people who are the cyber-bullies rely on the attention that their targets give them. They send out gross or indecent comments about someone and see if they can get a reaction. If they are denied this reaction, than they will back off.

Finally, I was a victim of bullying (not cyber-bullying) and I know how much it hurts. But there is absolutely NO shame in telling a parent or a friend (you know you can trust) about your situation. You need to know that you are never alone in this world. Don't be afraid to admit when you need help.