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An Online Magazine for Learners of English Movies We Have Enjoyed Seeing The Net Reviewed by Manabu Ozawa from Japan Staff Photo What shocked me in this movie was 'The Net' was close to reality, and those troubles might happen to us.   Director: Irwin Winkler Type: drama/adventure/intrigue Country/Date: U.S.A., 1995 Angela Bennett is a computer programmer who has dedicated her life to computers and the Internet. She is totally addicted to the Internet. She spends hours and hours in front of the screen ordering pizza, reserving a flight seat. She does everything over the Internet, and she has some close friends in a chat room, though she has never talked to her neighbors. Cyber space is more comfortable for her than real life, she thinks the Internet is a safe place where there is no one who can hurt her. She is afraid to see anyone face to face. Even though she is a total webaholic, she doesn¹t realize it and she doesn't think she needs to kick this bad habit. What shocked me in this movie was 'The Net' was close to reality, and those troubles might happen to us. Angela's identity was stolen by PRETORIAN who was Big Brother and Micro System's CEO. He produced a computer security program that had a fatal security hole that he could control. If government, banks and airports used that program, he could access every piece of information from the security hole. Unfortunately, Angela got a disk which contained important information about this evil scheme, and she became the only one who could prevent his conspiracy. Angela's identity was wiped out; and bad credit, criminal records and an unknown name were given to her. She decided to fight against them for her identity. We can see many hi-tech gizmos and the latest technology in this movie. As far as I know, most of them are reality already, so it is no wonder that those things could happen to us. This movie suggests that our information is no longer confidential. Even though this is total fiction, we have to know how to protect ourselves, but as long as we use computers, surveillance is everywhere and Big Brother is watching us. A reader comments: What a Life! Just food—a big size pizza—ordered online, plus some smarties, eating and chatting, answering a phone call and playing a video game, running to the fridge to get a coke or a Dr. Pepper...all this at the same time. The computer has become the center of her room and of her life. The Net is a game partner, a friend with whom she speaks. She has reduced the world to her bedroom's size. It's a pity because she looks pretty and smart...but it's a new way of life. Why not? Submitted by Bernard Bonnet from France Return to: Movies and Books | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2008 topics mag@yahoo.com Published by Sandy and Thomas Peters