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Love Me involves a weather buoy and a satellite existing in a space and time void of humans. The weather buoy learns about humanity through social media, and this inspires the satellite to do the same. At its heart, it’s about two objects searching for companionship. They are also trying to learn to live and love. Love Me has an interesting concept but imperfect execution. Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun are the only actors in Love Me.
They start the film as the voice for these objects, but eventually appear. Love Me sparks some engaging conversations. However, the film’s main message is what I think deserves the most exploration. Let’s talk about it.
Warning: Love Me spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.
The buoy learns about love and life from watching an influencer named Deja (Kristen Stewart) and her husband, Liam (Steven Yeun). It then begins to imitate the ways Deja acts and speaks. This allows it to evolve into an animated version that looks like Deja. She drags the satellite into the fantasy and has it become the Liam to her Deja. They also pick the names Me and Iam.
The buoy’s obsession with social media may connect with many because it’s easy to become addicted to an idolized version of someone. Social media invites people into someone’s life, but only the dreamy parts. Me wants to become Deja because she seems to have the perfect life. It’s representative of how people, especially at a developing age, take social media too seriously. They see this performative behavior as truth.
Most adults realize that social media is not an accurate portrayal of daily life. However, some young people idolize the people they see on it. They want their lives. Me is that child who sees social media and takes it too much at face value. There are many great movies about social media, so Love Me adds to the conversation. It doesn’t offer a revolutionary perspective but more so a reminder of how social media can be a valuable and also a harmful tool on how it sets standards.
Love Me starts off as a sci-fi film with objects orbiting space. It’s not one of the best sci-fi films, especially because it evolves more into a domestic drama, one with a focus on the human connection, but it’s an entertaining addition to this genre. Love Me grows from sci-fi to more of an animated film when they become avatar versions that are similar to Deja and Liam. The film uses different media to show the evolution of Me and Iam.
Their final form looks like Deja and Liam. I think this is a cool way to visually display the growth of an object or person. Iam and Me only evolve to more complex versions with more exposure to more complicated feelings and ideas. They start by watching influencer videos, then grow to meme culture, and then create personal content.
Iam and Me eventually abandon the digital world and embrace their cores and true selves. It’s not until they stop trying to be what they see online do they finally become the real version of themselves. They find their identities. This is especially important for Me because she’s the one most influenced by the internet, social media, and the digital world. Iam questions it from the start, but follows it to make Me happy. Only when Me and Iam can cut ties with the fake, plasticity of the digital landscape can they become authentic and flawed. They also become a visual representation of this because their most evolved versions look the most human.
The Film Showcases How To Build Connections, But I Think It’s Most Critical Of That Part
Love Me isn’t exactly a romance movie (and definitely not a great rom-com), but more a movie about how we learn to love, especially with the absence of experience. Me learns everything from Deja and Liam’s online relationship. However, Iam doesn’t understand how this represents love. He’s a different creature, so he doesn’t process information the same way as Me. He starts to learn through experience and tries to actually feel things, not imitate feelings. He becomes a fully formed human. It takes Me a bit longer to develop because of her social media obsession, especially how it portrays love.
Love Me doesn’t show social media as a true way to form connections. It becomes a crutch. Me is so obsessed with making things look a certain way that she loses one of the key tools of humans: experience and growth. Love Me seems to argue that true human emotions and love cannot be manufactured. You can present life a certain way, but it needs experience to actually be meaningful.
Human connection can be learned, at least in the superficial sense, through studying others’ behavior. However, it cannot be fabricated. It can only be experienced. Love Me seems to judge those who trust social media too much. It wants people to go out, live and love, not just watch it happen to others.
Love Me doesn’t seem to support fully learning through social media. However, it doesn’t treat it as a complete waste of time. Me and Iam learn the basic human experience with social media and the internet. It gives them the basic skills and tools of humanity. However, they must then take them to the next level. I think the movie sees social media and the internet as a form of entertainment and learning, but they should not act as the only method of these things. Living and loving must be the main tools to form connections.
I think Love Me is a movie that respects and enjoys social media but knows how it can influence someone. It must be used with care and consideration. Someone must have the mental and emotional capability to know it shouldn’t be treated as a guide to life. Social media can only offer so much, but people are so easily influenced, especially in how they compare themselves to others. Social media can be a hindrance or an asset depending on how it’s used and valued.
I Think Love Me’s Message Can Feel Basic But Necessary
Love Me may be a movie that comes off pretentious, but it has a quite basic surface-level message. I think most people realize that social media isn’t an accurate depiction of life and love. It’s a message that so many movies have tackled. Therefore, it doesn’t feel like this film is offering anything new to the conversation. I think that’s fine, because this choice doesn’t invalidate the message.
It’s just a new way to showcase the classic message of not trying to be anything other than yourself. You are enough. It’s definitely a bit of a rudimentary message, but still impactful. Love Me is one of the best movies to watch on Paramount Plus right now, and one that helped Kristen Stewart reflect on her past acting experience.