Aspiring Aficionado

Nostalgia comes to you from the nooks and corners of your childhood. Every 90's kid from Indian middle class family, will have more than a few stories to share about rides with their whole family plopped on the time twin seats of a scooter.

Graphite + Microns

First up kudos to the Korean writers for continuously exploring newer realms. Not surprised that the drama is based on a book. It shows.

Love Alarm explores how the world of some teenagers changes after the launch of an app that, when active, alerts the people if anyone within a 10 meter range loves them (given their alarm is also active). While upfront it may seem like a teenage drama, I feel its a far more realistic prediction on the dystopia that lies ahead instead of a zombie land fantasy. Also inability to either express emotion or accept emotions directed their way is a disability that equally cripples people of all ages.

In the drama sequence, the alarm quickly becomes the only acceptable proof of “love”, so much so, that people stop communicating their gratitude towards their loved ones through words. The only form of expression acceptable is whether someone rings your alarm or not. Their actions are no longer important because there is an algorithm that reads your emotions and the “alarm” is a scientific proof. If someone doesn’t ring your alarm, than how they treat you or their intentions are not relevant.

Everyone wants their alarm to be ringing all the time and the blessed ones become celebrity . Soon enough, what follows is the emotional entanglement and the fear, which is not all that new. People want to be loved but only by the people that fit their acceptance criteria. People fall helplessly in love but don’t want to express it for the fear of rejection. The new worlds troubles are that you can not stop your alarm from expressing your true emotion and you still do not have the empathy to acknowledge and accept other peoples emotion as valid even though inconsistent with your own.

And in a not so surprising fashion, the people who break through are the ones who stop listening to the alarm and follow their heart even if its clearly taking them down an emotionally volatile path.

Every problem has a solution and every solution has a new problem that comes with it. Some people cant express and others don't want to express. Some people have no acceptance and others don't know how to prioritize their own well being over the need to be good to everyone.