The Hater, A Film Analysis
An Overview
The Hater directed by Jan Komasa is a disturbing yet enticing film that constantly has you wondering what will happen next. Following the life of main character, Tomasz Giemza, viewers get an inside look of what life looks like in the world of propaganda both in creation and execution.
While watching the film I found myself questioning the ins and out of the internet. Looking back at different stories and news coverage I’ve seen wondering what was real and what wasn’t. Though the film is fiction is portrays accurate information of the dark side of the internet specifically in the realm of politics.
A Summary
The opening scene shows main character, Tomasz, being expelled from school for plagiarism. You then follow Tomasz and he joins old family friends for dinner to catch up. It’s during this scene that you learn both about the crush that he has on Gabi and on his knowledge regarding how to spy on people. Tomasz learns about the dislike that Gabi and her parents have towards him but that doesn’t stop him from attempting to pursue a relationship with Gabi, which he does in some degree. Drunk at a party Gabi and Tomasz start to form a relationship but it is quickly stopped when Gabi’s dad finds them doing drugs together at a birthday party for Gabi’s sister. This is when Gabi cuts off any contact with Tomasz sending him in a downhill spiral. In the plotline of Tomasz career he has just started a job at what is essentially a propaganda firm, where he is given a 30 day trial to try to take down a content creators channel. Once he successfully does this he advances into the world of politics propaganda where he is meant to dig up information on politician, Pawel Rudnicki. It’s in this role that viewers see the formation of propaganda and how in order for a propagandist to be effective they must be well versed in both sides. In order to advance the information he has Tomasz sets up a wire tap in the Krasucka’s home because of their relationship with the Rudnicki campaign. Tomasz also useses his relationship with the Krasucka’s to meet Rudnicki and ultimately get a job working on his campaign. This allows him to get private and specific information about the campaign that he can ultimately use against Rudnicki. The climax of the movie is when Tomasz has recruited an extremist to open fire at Rudnicki’s panel, however, unknown to him it is in this moment that he is faced with protecting the person he loves (Gabi) or protecting the job he has worked so hard at.
The Discussion
The premise of this movie is disinformation, both the way disinformation is created and the effect disinformation causes.
Tomasz is able to get his job with Beata based on his ability to come up with a campaign to ruin a content creator’s life style brand. By flooding her content with comments about the products turning people’s hands yellow the content creator became overwhelmed with hate and decided to end her channel.
When it came to the interactions with the Rudnicki campaign the use of propaganda was more prevelant than disinformation. Tomasz set up specific circumstances that would cause Rudnicki to look bad, such as the heckler in the audience during his debate, the photo’s of him at a LGBTQ+ club, and the clash of Rudnicki supports and haters when two demonstrations were set up for the same date. In all of these scenarios Tomasz played on information that was already available to him, Rudnicki had speculations that he was gay following his campaign, his father had a past of being a communist supporter. But being able to display these is the public forum that Tomasz did weakened Rudnicki’s campaign ultimately putting it in a vulnerable position where he needed to do the panel in order maintain traction which meant Tomasz would carry out the final job which allowed his companies client to move forward rather that Rudnicki.
Though we look at this film as completely disturbing we can’t deny the relevance it has in today’s society. Disinformation is a word that is heard almost every day on the news on on some form of social media. It is also something that touches every aspect of our lives not just the political side which is also represented in this film. I always understood that not all the information seen online was true, as a child growing up in the Internet age, it’s something you’re rededately told “Don’t trust everything you see online” but this film showcases the statement in a very clear cut way. With the use of fake accounts from India, wire tapping, and playing both sides watching this film makes you realize, you really can’t trust everything you see online.
Works Cited:
Komasa, J. (Director). (2020). The Hater [Film]. Netflix.
