MOVIE RECOMMENDATION - The Ring

Television has always been a source of terror. It's ironic how an invention that was supposedly created to facilitate communication and interaction among human beings has ended up becoming a tool to manipulate and control them. Makes you wonder if that was the real purpose in the first place. The same thing happens with social networks, where anyone can make a fake profile and use it to harass or stalk whoever they please. It all feels like an inevitable reflection of our nature as a society, desperate for attention and validation but incapable of engaging and creating meaningful connections. If technology and artificial intelligence are supposed to mimic human behavior, no wonder it's going to be cruel, contradictory, and manipulative.  

That's probably one of the main premises behind the tech-horror subgenre, with movies like 'Videodrome', 'Unfriended' or 'The Ring', a remake of the 1998 Japanese movie. I saw 'The Ring' in the theatre twice, so you can tell how much I enjoyed the movie back in the day. This psychological thriller mixes the supernatural component with the earlier mentioned techno-horror and turns it into an instant and iconic classic, with an impeccable cinematography. I must admit that I never pay much attention to cinematography, but in this case, it's easily noticed as one of the best aspects of the film. The blues and the whites all feel coherent, so you don't have the sensation of watching a different film sometimes, since there's this continuous connection between colors and frames.  

Then, there's also the great Samara ghost imagery, which looks terrifying, mysterious and iconic, especially in the first film. The sequels are ok, but they don't live up to the expectations of the original. Most people hated the third one, 'Rings', but I think it's not that bad. Even though they changed Samara's backstory and, therefore, altered continuity, it was very entertaining, and they took special care of the cinematography in that one as well. It would be interesting to see another take on the story. Now that our relationship with technology is constantly changing and evolving, it would probably follow the idea that was already presented in the first act of 'Rings' and the ending of the movie 'Smile 2', whose predecessor was clearly inspired by 'The Ring'.