*Spoiler Alert*
About a week and a half ago, a movie called "Nerve" was released. This movie, starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, follows our two protagonists involved in a game called "Nerve." This game is an intense game of truth and dare. Without the truths...and the dares can be life threatening....and you get paid for each dare you accomplish. However if you give up on one of your dares or fail one of the dares you lose all the money you have currently made.
Now these individuals who participate in the game are called "players" however there is also a second group of individuals involved in the game as well known as the "watchers." They participate in the game by filming and watching the players do their dares. They also choose said dares for the players to go through from kissing a stranger for 5 seconds to laying on train tracks while a train drives by. These watchers are anonymous in the game and also in the real world by covering their faces with masks and bandannas. However watching this game doesn't come free; for a small fee of $19.99 for 24 hours, each individual is allowed to be a watcher!
On the surface this game seems like a pretty interesting concept that is dangerous, but very entertaining. In our society it is apparent that we enjoy watching videos, TV shows, and movies that have individuals faced in intense scenarios. With this comes the individuals who would willingly put themselves into these situations because they enjoy it. With survival shows, to the guys in the "Jackass" series, to YouTuber Vitaly who climbed the Hollywood Sign, these individuals may enjoy the thrill of danger. These individuals would most definitely be players while those who watch the content from the sidelines would be the watchers.
Since I have now made a connection between real world watchers and players, there is another subject from the movie that I must bring up. There is a serious problem with "Nerve," that in their society the individuals seem to not care much about it. In the movie a character explains that "Nerve" creates your account based on everything found about you on the internet. This involves your Facebook page, your bank account, and basically everything ever about you on the internet. That is scary. This is shown with Emma Roberts' character Vee, whose favorite book is "To The Lighthouse" (according to Facebook) and later meets Dave Franco's character Ian, who is reading said exact book. Ian explains to her that a random guy came up to him with the book basically to draw her into interacting with him. This is a smart tactic for said game but still a very scary tactic that could be used in real life.
The problem with "Nerve" doesn't just end there because there is also a serious problem with the final 30 minutes of the film. When Vee realizes how crazy it is, she goes looking for a police officer to expose "Nerve" for its dangerous tendencies. This however was a trap because in "Nerve's "rules they clearly state "snitches get stitches." The cop ignores Vee's plea and she then finds herself knocked out and locked in a cargo shipment box with a television telling her there is a third option other than watcher and player known as "prisoner." This means she is stuck playing the game every single time in multiple areas until she wins one of them having that be the only way she can get out of the game for good. Now she isn't the only prisoner in the game, Ian and Ty, another character played by Machine Gun Kelly, are prisoners as well. They became prisoners because back when they played the game in Seattle, a man died who was in the final 3 with them. This caused the two men to not finish the game and "snitch" on "Nerve" leaving them to be prisoners as well.
The final dare between Vee and Ian is that one of them has to shoot each other to win. They both refuse causing Ty to come in and state that he will shoot one of them to finish the game. Vee gives a speech about how cowardly all the watchers are for hiding their identities, because without the anonymity they would not be insisting for an individual to be killed for a game. This causes Vee to become the subject of Ty's dare due to the watchers voting on her to be shot. While I was in the theatre I couldn't believe people would want someone to die for a game like this. However after rethinking about the situation I realized that this could very well happen. With being able to hid under an anonymous name, people are more likely to say things and act out in a different way than what they would do if their name was out for everyone to see. This can easily be shown on Twitter, the YouTube comments section, or online gaming servers where people will say anything they want since they can't be linked back to their real world identity.
After Vee is shot by Ty everyone on "Nerve" watching sees that a girl is killed right before their eyes. After this happens Vee's friend, who is a hacker, gets a hacking group together to finally expose and shut down "Nerve" for good. This is caused by having each anonymous watcher to have their real world names to appear through the app with those who voted for the to be shot to receive a message letting them know that they are an accomplice to murder. Through this the watchers realized what mistake they made and they all log off of the app for good, killing "Nerve" in the process. Ty then approaches the dead Vee in Ian's arms and suddenly Vee awakens showing that it was an all an act and Ty was in on it. This was a great way of ending the app because it shows that once someone isn't allowed to hide being a username they will not act as brash and make stupid decisions such as voting to kill an individual over a game for entertainment. Now in our society could these events be duplicated? I believe yes, but what do you think?
