The Social Dilemma Documentary Review: Me, in the Advertising Industry, Feeling Like Apologizing to Humanity
The Social Dilemma is a Netflix documentary that uses a combination of interviews, animation, and live action re-enactments to break down how social media is permeating into the human conscience in destructive ways. The way the industry professionals break down the problem, while accompanied by the visual aids, makes the point easy to understand. While we are all fairly cognizant of the dangers of social media, I think this documentary is helpful in pinpointing the problem and putting it in context of current events, even up to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.
Overall, I think this documentary is very educational and worth watching. I particularly enjoyed the animation in the beginning of the film that was an overlay to Tristan Harris’s monologue of some of his time at Google. And to that point, I wish there were more animated sequences instead of live-action sequences. While the live action re-enactments (of the family and the “AI” humanoids) helped further the understanding of the problem, it was a bit awkward to watch, and even boring at times. I think this is because these “movie” snippets were trying to drive home a point that we could already understand from what the commentators are saying. The best thing about documentaries, in my opinion, is getting to deep dive into a real life topic, through the use of expert commentary to explain events and what they mean. So the cuts to the live action sequences were less interesting to me (because they were so fabricated) and a bit overused.
Other than that, I definitely think this documentary has taught me a lot more about the underlying financial incentives that drive how toxic and polarizing social media has become. It’s incredible to understand how deeply it has permeated our everyday lives and politics. As someone who works in the advertising industry, I almost want to apologize for being a part of the problem LOL. I was a bit worried that they were going to end the documentary on a deeply depressing tone, but luckily, they do discuss solutions and hopeful outlooks. If anything, these are really good things to think about moving forward, and I hope this inspires more people out there to actively brainstorm (myself included!).
In conclusion…
Netflix has a knack for tackling content that explores modern technology and its effects on how people interact. I wouldn’t list The Social Dilemma as one of my favorite documentaries, because of some of the points I listed above, but I definitely think it’s worth watching!