Femke is a journalist and columnist for a major daily newspaper in the Netherlands. She talks about everything and nothing and like any woman with a little media exposure, she receives her share of “haters”.
A clumsy paw
Serial Blogger is not Ivo Van Aart’s first film and yet, the touch is a little clumsy, almost academic. We are not going to say that we are bored in front of the film, which lasts less than an hour and a half, but the rhythm is flat. Does the fault lie with the story, the main character or the actress who embodies Femke?
Let’s say it: we want to shake it. Her general attitude, at the beginning of the film, towards people who mistreat her is that of a little girl. It’s hard to find her credible in the role of a forty-year-old, who is obviously badly in her sneakers. It feels like anyone can step on his toes. This feeling is reinforced by the fact that she begins a love affair with an author who did not hesitate to push her on a television set.
We also don’t understand her “addiction”: she reads all the bad things about her on Twitter – because it is mainly this social network that is put forward. Instead of blocking or hiding – the hide function is one of the most beautiful innovations of this social network – people who are filthy, it is content to remain passive, to read, etc. She does not answer. She doesn’t take one, to humiliate her in front of everyone, to set an example. Here is someone who lives by his pen and who has no guarantor.
We are relieved when she begins to finish off the guys who speak badly to her: finally, a reaction. Finally, something happens. The general set of the film is a little flat, but still lets you watch.
Realistic stitches
Two elements are terribly realistic in the film and we feel that the writers know what they are talking about: the attitude of the police and the ease with which Femke finds his haters.
Pushed by her best friend – who is such a chatterbox that you want to lock yourself up in a monastery with Valak – Femke decides to go to the police station to file a complaint. The policeman who listens to her, as if to say “why is she bothering me? », replies « Madame, stop going on the Internet ». Anyone facing online harassment has had this answer. One might think that this only happened in France. We are almost reassured to see that a country as advanced as the Netherlands, on social and societal issues, is able to have representatives of the police with such stupid answers.
The other perfectly realistic element is the ease with which Femke flushes out his haters. While there are people who pretty much know how to hide on the web and social networks, the reality is that most are stupid enough to give their true identity. Moreover, the first hater flushed out by Femke is screamingly true. If you doubt that, take a look at the various tweets that popped up during the riots, which happened after Nahel’s death or any other slightly sensitive topic.
Hate speech is very uninhibited today. The social conventions that we knew in the 80s and 90s have disappeared. Today, it is no longer a problem to hold a racist, sexist, homophobic discourse, in short a hate speech. Woe to anyone who would point out that it’s not very “nice”. He will be accused of curbing freedom of expression and being a supporter of political correctness.
Catharsis
Let’s face it: what Femke does, we’ve all dreamed of. Especially women. Without going so far as to say that men do not suffer harassment online, we will say that women, as in the street, are more exposed, thanks to the laissez-faire of the public authorities. We find it normal to insult women.
In a mystery novel, a protagonist said that because of all the violence that women experience, each of us should have the right to kill three men in our lifetime, to balance the scales. We’ll admit that’s a bit extreme, even if it’s said in a humorous tone.
The fact is that being brutal towards guys, who allow themselves to ruin our lives on social networks, is very seductive. That’s why we are a little disappointed in front of Serial Blogger. We would have liked Femke to be more violent, more brutal, more sadistic. She completes her detractors too quickly, it’s almost a shame. Perhaps this is due to the lack of production resources, but we would have liked a staging like Hunt or The Purge.
Overall, Serial Blogger is a movie to be watched, even if the ending is a bit bogus. We put the severity of this judgment on the account of too much viewing of horror films. There are quite a few gory scenes and no really disturbing scenes.
Serial Blogger is available on Amazon Prime.