Piece 2 Draft

Sean Levy

Dr. Devine

Expository Writing

12 March 2014

*Needs an intro*

Deception plays a key role in this film. One of the scenes that we see this in is the scene where Robby and Peter are engaged in a conversation with a person, using the username “Untitled”, in a chat room. Peter believes that the person that they are talking to is a man pretending to be a woman. The irony here is that while they are claiming that they are being deceived, they are deceiving someone at the same time. But what’s the significance? What does this say about digital culture? This tells us that the film is also putting a heavy emphasis on real world interactions. It also tells us that we can only know someone by meeting them face to face. The barrier of the internet and technology prevents us from interacting and learning about each other. We might be who we say we are on the internet and we can easily lie right to each other’s faces. I believe that this tells us to go out into the real world and meet each other. Moreover, that the best way to know someone is in real life. Not by the words on a screen but by skin on their face, the blood in their veins and the reality of their soul. Miranda July wants to portray the digital world as a hazy uncharted territory where one cannot be sure of another's identity. This places more of an importance on the quality of interaction in the real world as they are portrayed as more fulfilling than those made artificially (either on the internet or as posts on a window). The real world, as seen through this movie, is a place where the interactions made by the characters strengthen the connections made between them. This is contrasted by the interactions made through artificial means. The artificial interactions do not end well and weaken, or completely destroy, any connection that the characters may have had.

Another theme of the film and that is the concept of the real vs fake. Just first scene ends, Christine's narration continues as the camera focuses on a bird sitting on a branch. It then cuts to Richard, who is staring at the bird. Richard then looks at his ex-wife, whom he recently divorced from, as she is separating their belongings. She hands him a framed picture of a bird and tells him that it belongs to him. The bird outside could be a symbol of real life and the static picture is a symbol of life through someone else. July is saying that we cannot live our lives through the experiences of others and we must go out into the world and experience things for ourselves. This can also be seen in one of the last scenes of the movie in which Robby leaves his apartment to investigate a clanging noise that can be heard throughout the film. It is revealed that the source of the noise is a man tapping a quarter on the bus stop sign. Though his mother told him that is was the computer that controls the street lights, Robby is unsatisfied and therefore must investigate for himself. This is important because we must be the ones to find the answers for ourselves. We must live for ourselves and experience all we can. The only truth we can really accept is the one that we see with our own eyes and our own experiences. 

The Script

"Peter: It's probably a man.
Robby: Why is it a man?
Peter: 'Cause everyone just makes stuff up on these things."


This quote from the film illustrates a point that I've been dancing around and that is the concept of "deception". In this film, there is an overlying sense of deception among the characters. In this scene in particular, Peter and Robby are engaging someone, labeled "Untitled", in conversation in a chat room. The irony here is that they are assuming the identity of a man while accusing the person they are talking to of lying. Moreover, when Robby asks why, Peter's response indicates how Miranda July wants to portray the digital world as a hazy uncharted territory where one cannot be sure of another's identity. This places more of an importance on the quality of interaction in the real world as they are portrayed as more fulfilling than those made artificially (either on the internet or as posts on a window). The real world, as seen through this movie, is a place where the interactions made by the characters strengthen the connections made between. This is contrasted by the interactions made through artificial means. The artificial interactions do not end well and weaken, or completely destroy, any connection that the characters may have had.

A.O. Scott Review, What's Interesting?

"Ms. July proposes a delicate, beguiling idea of community and advances it in full awareness of the peculiar obstacles that modern life presents.[...] One of these is the tendency of city dwellers [...] to live hermetically sealed inside their own minds and habits. Individuality itself makes communication difficult, but the drive to be yourself does not dispel the longing to find (and maybe also to become) somebody else." (Scott 2005).

This quote is interesting because of Scott's interpretation of the film. The interpretation Scott provides is that the meaning behind the film is that though we like to think of ourselves as autonomous, we still have a drive to connect to more people. I agree with this interpretation. But I also think that is goes deeper than that. I think that this film not only stresses the importance of connections but more so the importance of real life connections. In the film, the relationship that works out in the end is that exists in the real world, Christine and Richard. Christine and Richard are the characters whose relationship starts, builds, and matures face to face. They interact with each other in person and in the end they discover that they should be more than just casual. This contrasts the relationship that Robby has with "Untitled" as their relationship only exists online as Robby deceives "Untitled" into thinking he's a man as opposed to a child. In the end, the woman revealed to be "Untitled" realizes that their relationship only existed online. 

Establishing Shots

Me and You and Everyone we Know begins with the sound of what we believe to be waves lapping at the shore. Then, the screen fades from black onto a static image of a couple sitting on the beach at sunset. Our main character, Christina, creates dialogue for the couple and voices both of their parts. The conversation that the couple is having is them making a vow to live their lives to the fullest without any fear. This vow is the couple's promising a connection to each other. This scene, I believe, sets up one of the themes of the film. The theme stresses the importance of the real life interactions and connections that we make in real life.

The first scene ends but Christina's narration continues as the camera focuses on a bird sitting on a branch. It then cuts to Richard, who is staring at the bird. Richard then looks at his ex wife, whom he recently divorced from, as she is separating their belongings. She hands him a framed picture of a bird and tells him that it belongs to him. She then requests that he not make a scene. He says that they should have some kind of ceremony it represent that they once were a family. He then goes to his kids' room. The kids, Peter and Robby, are on the computer creating a tiger out of symbols and spaces. Richard asks if he looks like a guy who would be considered "ok". The younger child, Robby, Richard if he's mad at them. Peter responds that Richard looks fine. Richard goes outside and lights his hand on fire with lighter fluid. This scene contrasts the previous as it is about a family falling apart. The bird outside could be a symbol of real life and the static picture is a symbol of life through someone else. I believe that this represents another theme of the movie. This theme is that we cannot live our lives through the experiences of others and we must go out into the world and experience things for ourselves.

"What does this tell us about digital culture?"

"It's probably a man pretending to be a woman."

This line is said by the older child, Peter, as he is beginning his interactions with a person, who username is   "Untitled", in the chat room. There is a joke about the internet which has since become almost a rule of thumb. The joke is that "all men on the internet are pedophiles, all women on the internet are men, and all kids on the internet are cops". What's interesting is that Peter makes a note of this but is making a game out the their conversation and doesn't reveal anything about himself. the younger child, Robby, continues to have this conversation with "Untitled" despite what his brother said. So, what does this tell us about digital culture? This tells us that we can only know who someone really is by meeting them face to face. The barrier of the internet and technology prevents us from interacting and learning about each other. We might be who we say we are on the internet and we can easily lie right to each others' faces. I believe that this tells us to go out into the real world and meet each other. Moreover, that the best way to know someone is in real life. Not by the words on a screen but by skin on their face, the blood in their veins and the reality of their soul.

"Me, You, and Everyone we Know" (After the film)

Miranda July's Me, You, and Everyone we Know  is a very interesting film that I think takes interactions seen online and puts them in the real world. In the film, we see people speak to each other in way that I don't think people actually would. This can been seen in the interactions between the two young girls sand the neighbor. Initially,  the neighbor claims that he isn't a pedophile and won't talk dirty to the young girls because he doesn't want them to think that he is. What's odd is that the girls seem to want this strange attention from this guy. As the film progresses, the neighbor tells  them what he would say to them by writing it on pieces of paper taped to the window. Instead of calling the authorities, the girls are almost convinced that they want to have relations with this total stranger. I think that Miranda's character's, Christina, interactions with the shoe salesman, Richard, contrast the interactions between the little boy and the mystery person in the chat room. While Christina is interacting with Richard in the store, they're less open about themselves.
In the conversation between the little boy and the mystery person, the mystery person tells the little boy that they feel like they can trust the little boy with anything without even knowing him. I think it's because we think of ourselves as open books online. We speak our minds to anyone who'll listen and we believe that everyone is listening. Yet, if  it were to happen in person, it would seem like an strange conversation.