Photograph by [F]oxymoron
Indonesian Twitter based romance film anyone?
Considering silent movie the Artist is scooping up the film awards this year could an Indonesian romantic story that takes place through Twitter be a contender for next years ceremonies?
Probably not, but imagine the hilarious best actress Oscar Speech if it had starred an American A Lister: “I Hashtag Meryl Streep would like to dedicate this award to all my fans @merylstreepofficial and of course my Director” (Did I get that in 140 characters or less…)
Whether or not it wins any critical praise #republiktwitter is a novel new take on the romance genre taking a tale that reflects Indonesia’s love affair with Twitter.
As the BBC says: ” It’s a modern Indonesian romantic comedy about two young people who find love through social media. The film also helps explain why Indonesians are so obsessed with communicating with each other online.”
Indonesia is one of the most Twitter and Facebook-friendly nations on Earth. A higher proportion of Indonesian Internet users sign on to Twitter than in any other country. It also has the world’s third-largest number of Facebook users. Indonesian people have also used Twitter and Facebook to push for social justice online and highlighting misbehaving politicians.
It’s not the first film to document how technology can spark a romance. Who can forget the dismal ‘You’ve Got Mail’ a 1998 rom com with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. The most interesting thing that happened in that was a close up shot of ‘click send’.
Perhaps this could be the start of a surge of social networking romance stories / comedies / films in general? How about a social media stalking thriller ‘Single white female…with Wifi’ or maybe a bit of a saucy Brit Flick ‘Rita, Sue and Facebook too” The opportunities are endless – all you need now is a sharpened pencil and a good Hollywood literary agent.