In May 2023, Kate Winslet-starring ‘I Am Ruth’ won two BAFTA awards. It also stars Winslet’s daughter Mia Threapleton. The real-life mother-daughter duo played parent and child on the screen and moved the audience as well as critics with their performances.
While receiving the award, Winslet got teary-eyed while giving the speech. She talked about the perils of social media and how it has separated kids from their parents. ‘I Am Ruth’ is a film based on the dark side of social media that has connected the entire world virtually, but has isolated people from their loved ones.
Here are the highlights of the film that make it a must-watch for everyone, irrespective of age.
Dysfunctional Relationships In A Family
Image Courtesy: IMDb
Directed by Dominic Savage and written by Savage and Winslet, the story showcases cracks that exist in any family. It does not show a perfect lovey-dovey mother-daughter duo, but one that fights one night and makes up the other day.
Perils Of Social Media
This storyline revolves around a concerned mother trying to help her teenage daughter Freya who has become obsessed with social media. Everything that happens on the internet and every comment on her picture affect her, leaving her struggling with mental health issues.
Ruth was suggested to take her for counselling. Later she learns the truth about what was affecting Freya. The drama depicts the reality where Gen Zs and Millennials are consumed by Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and other such platforms that were initially a way to stay connected with friends, family and loved ones living far off.
From the trailer, released in 2022, it looked like a story dealing with only imperfect dynamics in the family. However, in the later part, Ruth was seen figuring out how Freya was consumed by her phone. It showcases the struggle of a mother trying to get her daughter back from the virtual world to reality.
She put continuous efforts to make her daughter feel beautiful and perfect. However, Freya kept judging herself and struggled with body image issues.
For one of our stories on mental health for Gen Zs, we connected with Kavita Yadav, Counselling Psychologist, Parenting Coach and Founder and Director of JiNa.LivingPositively (www.jina.co.in), and she said that though kids understand the difference between the reel and the real-life world, they are significantly affected by what happens on social media, how much like their pictures or reels got and who commented what.
Mental Health Issues Are To Be Taken Seriously
Image Courtesy: IMDb
The film is an example of how the internet, with all its information and advantages, can be a source of torture for many. The concerned part is that it is hard to identify this source because in most cases we look for physical objects or people who can impact someone’s mental health.
A report published in the JAMA Psychiatry stated that adolescents who use social media for more than three hours a day are at higher risk of developing mental health issues, ‘particularly internalising problems’.
In the trailer, we could see Freya in her bedroom clicking risque selfies and pictures, which says a lot about how kids perceive the world of social media and would risk so much for a few likes and shares. It is no secret that these platforms are also sources for the abuse of kids and adults.
A 2018 survey of US teens by the Pew Research Center found one in six teenagers have experienced abusive behaviours, including spreading of false rumours (32%), having their whereabouts tracked (not by parents or guardians) (21%), name-calling (42%), explicit images shared without consent (7%), receiving indecent images (25%) and perpetrators making physical threats (16%).
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This film is uncharted but might be familiar territory for many parents. What can you do when you know that the virtual world has perils that can manifest into physical form? How do you know as parents that your child is using social media for fun or is being consumed by it? What would you do as a guardian to help a kid whose real and reel worlds have merged?
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"If I could cut this in half, I would give the other half to my daughter" ❤️
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) May 14, 2023
Kate Winslet accepts her Leading Actress BAFTA!#BAFTATVAwards with @pandocruisespic.twitter.com/x3tWx9k5Pw
‘I Am Ruth’ is all about it. The sensitive narrative will take you through an emotional ride leaving you questioning a lot of things. You would agree with what Winslet said during her speech, “We want our children back. We don’t want to lie awake terrified for our children’s mental health.”
She also encourages young kids who feel trapped in the virtual world to ask for help. “There is no shame admitting that you need support,” the actor added.
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