Netflix movies seem to be getting more confusing and overrated as time goes on. I recently watched a movie entitled Swiped that was released in late 2018, and it was a whirlwind to say the least. The movie starts out with Wesley (Christian Hutcherson) telling Hannah (Shelby Wulfert) that he had no obligation to tell her his name and that he had girls lining up to be with him. This perpetuates the culture of sexism that allows men to be rude to women as portrayed throughout the film.
The Netflix Original truly revolves around a guy named James (Kendall Ryan Sanders). He is a stereotypical cinematic nerd and a phenomenal computer programmer that had to turn down Harvard, MIT and Stanford because his family could not afford the tuition for those schools. Luckily for James (actually very unluckily for him) his roommate is Lance Black (Noah Centineo), a rich kid with seemingly very few problems. The only problem Lance claims to have is the fact that girls call him the next day after they hook-up. In order to solve his issue and give James the money to attend whichever university he would like, Lance employs his roommate, instructing him to create an app. This is easy enough because James has created over two dozen apps before. However, Lance problematically wants him to create an app that makes hook-ups anonymous and forces women to basically do whatever the men want.
James fights the idea at first because he realizes the issue at hand. He knows that his mother would never approve such an app, but James gives in because he wants to go to a bigger and better college. While creating the app, Lance gives him very specific instructions. Users of the app are not allowed to know each other’s names or any other personal information. Lance also wants the app to be contingent on want the men would like. During the course of the movie, you can see multiple women waiting for men to swipe on them because they have no power to do anything on their own. The app has other rules that create a very bad dynamic between women and men in general. Oh yeah, the app is called “Jungle,” which could not be more apropos for the situation at hand.
In the end, James ends up deleting the app. He realizes the error of his ways and notices that the one girl he likes, Hannah, is not on the app because she finds value in herself. This is the one redeeming quality of the movie. When James deletes Jungle, he agrees to make an app for the girls to get back at the boys. In turn, he reminds them that they are the app and that women are what men are going after. He notes that women still have the power, contrary to popular belief within the film. James pushes them all to stop being okay with the negative way that men talk to them and treat them. This is a significant point that I think more of society needs to hear. Nobody is completely powerless; shame on the individual who makes one feel like they are nothing. We need to empower women to stand up for themselves and know their worth through any trials and tribulations.