Fantasia Review: Online Harassment Turns Deadly in ‘The Columnist’
“Have you been on Twitter again? Don’t do that. They’re just a bunch of idiots with delusions of grandeur.”
The Columnist knows that the internet is a giant cesspool. On a good day, you have a laugh or learn something new, marveling at how society created an endless repository of information while letting us connect with anyone at any time. On a bad day, of which there are many, you come across harassment, sexism, racism, and sheer ignorance, all of which have the ability to propagate uncontested throughout the halls of the internet and make their way onto your computer screen.
For Femke Boot (Katja Herbers), it is just that. As a popular writer for an online Dutch publication, her column has drawn the ire of many online trolls. Within the comments of her Facebook posts, in the replies of her tweets, and underneath the body of her articles, you’ll find any number of vicious remarks. Appeals for her termination, insults calling her a whore, questions demeaning her intelligence, and false accusations labeling her a pedophile (sounds familiar) are just some of the abuse she endures on a daily basis.
It’s enough to penetrate even the thickest of skins. Those cutting words find residence in Femke’s mind, impacting her ability to finish her next book and lingering long after the trolls hit send. Where do they get off? If only there were a way for her to get her revenge…
In the genre consortium of revenge flick, the infractions that kick start the plot are always personal, but frequently violent. In The Columnist, director Ivo Van Aart and writer Daan Windhorst make the inciting incident a war of words. There is no team of assassins who try to kill you on your wedding day that results in a globe trotting odyssey to extract revenge against your former employer. There is just AlphaMale_69 who’s key strokes carry almost as much weight as a perfectly balanced katana. In the digital era, when discourse online amounts to very little and identities are anonymous, no one is dying (yet). It’s just people expressing their “opinions” and “joking” around on the internet at the expense of a real person on the receiving end. The psychological impact of which is the new revenge tragedy.
At her breaking point, Femke starts tracking down her online haters, and kills them one by one, collecting their middle fingers as a final ‘fuck you’ statement akin to having the last word. With each murder, she gains newfound clarity with her work. She can write with ease. She can meet her deadlines. And she has greater warmth around her boyfriend, Steven, and her daughter, Anna. But as you and I know, online harassment is unending, and it isn’t long before the comments rear their head again and a murder spree ensues.
Beyond the genre dressings, there is a tangible discussion on where the line should be drawn for free speech. The form public discourse takes when the public square is online frequently means debate devolves into discourse, and the difference between a differing opinion and a malice-laden attack is often one in the same. The Columnist likes to dance on both sides of this discourse. Initially, Femke’s vendetta feels wholly righteous, extracting vengeance against no-gooders, but in the haze of her spree, the line blurs and the discussion shifts to whether this is justified or if its silencing free speech.
Anchoring this notion is Femke’s daughter, a college student in conflict with her dean for her critiquing his administration. At every turn, the dean stifles her words — firing her from the university’s newspaper, taking down her banners, etc — and with each act of suppression she swings back with retaliation. Taken in parallel with Femke’s arc, you start to see the connective tissue in the film’s thematic aims: it may not be polite, decent, or appropriate to verbally harass people online, but killing them ain’t it either. How that stance sits with the death threats portion becomes dicey, but you know, movies!
Technically speaking, the film competent with a particular strong suit in the sound design, but the appeal of The Columnist is in its ability to parse through online discourse. Packaged within genre filmmaking and between the brutal deaths, you will find yourself thinking on the implications of our online existence more than you might have initially anticipated.
—
