THOSE who watched “Spider-Man: Far From Home” would have probably been bewildered by its cliffhanger ending. But for me, that’s the most exciting and relatable thing in this movie.
Some not so spoilers will be discussed here. The ending showed Spider-Man, fresh from vanquishing a fake superhero named Mysterio, thinking this is his happy ending along with having a new girlfriend, only to find new trouble.
Trouble comes with disturbing news. A hidden footage of him defeating Mysterio is leaked, but it was edited to make him look like the bad guy, ordering the execution of Mysterio by the drones given to him by the departed Iron Man Tony Stark. The footage turned Mysterio into a martyr out of Spider-Man’s perceived ambition and jealousy. To top it off, Mysterio reveals Spider-Man’s real identity. Movie ends. We wait for the next movie to know how this is resolved.
Meanwhile, we pause and reflect. I like how MCU brings current issues into its movies. From Black power in Black Panther, the dangers of world police in the Avengers and Captain America and in this Spider-Man movie we have fake news and disinformation.
Our views of the world today are shaped by information and disinformation. Facebook has replaced news, with bloggers mostly affiliated with politicians dictating what we should believe in.
Even before Facebook, politicians have used mass media to win hearts and votes. Marcos fashioned himself a war hero with fake medals. Politicians won their seats with catchy gimmicks from “Mr. Palengke” to Budots dancing.
We have a President who won by utilizing Facebook as his platform. What was supposed to be a platform for citizen journalism to bring out truth has become a weapon of disinformation and division.
We see it in the Marawi Siege where there was much a war waged online.
The basic questions about who this enemy is and why do we need martial law in Mindanao was deluged by netizens defending martial law, praising fallen soldiers and bashing critics to go to Marawi to fight the war.
This digital divide continues on other national matters. It gets worrisome because it’s just making people squabble. From war on drugs, to what Duterte is doing to the economy, the dengue scare and Dengvaxia, the killings in Negros and the displacement of Lumad, the digital war just keeps everyone fighting.
We have to ask ourselves, can we ever get to a point of understanding these issues and think of finding solutions?
We have to learn something from this movie. There’s danger in believing a hero aptly named Mysterio who just like government keyboard warriors and “influencers” weave stories to tangle us from the truth.