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Frank - Is It A Movie About Twitter Or Mental Illness?

Was I the only person who felt that the entire film was about Twitter? I'm not saying the concept or even the original idea, but the way it plays out, especially in the final forty minutes, feels like it's entirely about life on twitter? I just felt that Twitter was always the anti-Facebook. It was the place where you went to be yourself and be recognized for it, but the reality is that it's become worse than Facebook. People make up a persona and become completely pigeon-holed into one genre or type and the only acceptance they feel is from the people they tried to separate themselves from in the first place.

Yes, I realize the movie is also about mental illness and wanting to be "normal." Normal in the sense that you can do what you love and have it accepted and appreciated without judgement. We all know that even when people with disabilities achieve greatness, we always add they are disabled. The irony in the movie is the most damaged is Clara, who is really the main character in so many ways, even down to her metaphorical instrument.

I must admit, that while I didn't enjoy the movie, I was fascinated by its layers. All of which get bogged down by the fact that we know this is based on someone real and a person I knew nothing about before and I know even less now. This brings me back to Twitter. Even those twitter handles that I call friends, are really strangers to me. I take at face value they are who they say they are, but as I've experienced, there are those who will privately ask you how your weekend was and then unfollow you because you didn't like the song they posted for you. Is that twitter, mental illness or both? Is it neither? I don't know, because unlike Facebook, there is no history between us.

I'm not sure when this was written, but I'm guessing the writer was very aware of the power of twitter. Not only as it's portrayed in the film, but also it's power to affect lives, both good and bad.

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