Not Okay is a satire that starts out as a comedy, but ends as a serious drama. The movie is a critique of modern celebrity culture and social media and in this respect the film succeeds. It's portrayal of the desire for popularity vis social media is accurate and insightful in my opinion.
The friendship between Danni (Deutch) and Rowan.(Issac) is believable and moving and at it's core this film does have a genuine and heartfelt message about kindness, friendship, and the damage caused by violence in the world.
Unfortunately this movie ends on a sour note for me because it basically shows the lead character being cancelled for making a silly mistake, which she ultimately owns up to, apologises for and asks for forgiveness for. But in the end even her best friend doesn't forgive her and has a closing monologue about her own hurt feelings, and how she won't forgive her friend, which I think is cruel, selfish and self-pitying.
Ergo: If someone makes a bad mistake it's understandable and acceptable to cancel them and blacklist them, and not forgive them, even if they've said sorry.
I think that's wrong.
The problem is, it seems the intended reading of the Finale is that it's okay to cancel people and not forgive people for making mistakes, which I think is lame, and probably one of the worst aspects of our modern culture. Or perhaps the film was trying to show that not forgiving people is bad, but it doesn't do a great job of communicating that. I don't think that was the intended reading though, and if it was, it would be over most people's head in my opinion. So basically the moral is - not forgiving a person for a genuine mistake is right.
Still it's a well made and moving film. I'd still recommend it, simply for how well it highlights these social issues.
The friendship between Danni (Deutch) and Rowan.(Issac) is believable and moving and at it's core this film does have a genuine and heartfelt message about kindness, friendship, and the damage caused by violence in the world.
Unfortunately this movie ends on a sour note for me because it basically shows the lead character being cancelled for making a silly mistake, which she ultimately owns up to, apologises for and asks for forgiveness for. But in the end even her best friend doesn't forgive her and has a closing monologue about her own hurt feelings, and how she won't forgive her friend, which I think is cruel, selfish and self-pitying.
Ergo: If someone makes a bad mistake it's understandable and acceptable to cancel them and blacklist them, and not forgive them, even if they've said sorry.
I think that's wrong.
The problem is, it seems the intended reading of the Finale is that it's okay to cancel people and not forgive people for making mistakes, which I think is lame, and probably one of the worst aspects of our modern culture. Or perhaps the film was trying to show that not forgiving people is bad, but it doesn't do a great job of communicating that. I don't think that was the intended reading though, and if it was, it would be over most people's head in my opinion. So basically the moral is - not forgiving a person for a genuine mistake is right.
Still it's a well made and moving film. I'd still recommend it, simply for how well it highlights these social issues.