Disconnected – Revised / Plot Breakdown

 

Plot breakdown –

  • 4am. Joe feels lonely. He goes online to view pornography, nudes of girls as well as use an online webcam streaming site (Virtual Pals) to connect with strangers locally.

  • He leaves the streaming site on as he continues browsing pornography.

  • Almost all the people on Virtual Pals does not take interest in Joe. They disconnect really quickly after seeing him – but to Joe, it is a norm.

  • After a few “misconnections”, he  finally connects with a girl whom is good looking. Intrigued that she did not disconnect, he starts the conversation with a tacky pick up line. Through his response, the audience can tell that Joe is quick to establish an interest in her. The girl on the other hand seems a bit off – in expression and in her replies.

  • Not too long into the conversation, Joe finds out why such a beautiful girl is on this website – she needed someone to talk to because she was going to kill herself soon.

  • Joe panics. He tries to convince her not to. His attempts were futile. Joe gets frustrated and borderline angry.

  • No longer wanting to deal with Joe, she disconnects. This leaves Joe helpless and frustrated even further. He wants to get to know his beautiful girl and thinks that it is a waste if she dies.

  • He scrambles to remember bits and pieces of what he saw through her webcam. He recalls a tiny detail (maybe a university flag on the wall)

  • He searches online for her – finds her online. Read articles of her – “University Student: The Haunting Moment My Boyfriend Leaked My Nude Photos Online” (example)

  • The last scene ends with a back shot of Joe as the camera dollies out, revealing the same few nudes / porn website he was on at the start of the film, side by side with the article of the leaked nudes.

Comments / 

After much discussion with Sebastian, as well my other classmates, I managed to figure out the message of the story I want to tell.

  1. Through disconnected, we see two individuals who turned to the internet for different reasons. Joe goes online for sexual gratification wheras the webcam girl goes on to speak to / confide in someone.

Two different motivations of being online clashes when both gets connected with each other through a live streaming website (Virtual Pals).

2. The spread of nudes online is a real thing. I’ve a friend whose nudes got posted online and everyday she has to deal with the consequences of it. I think through this film, Joe realises that his way of life was selfish. The nudes and pornography he views, they are actual human beings. Of course, we do not find out that the girl wants to die because her nudes got leaked online until the very end.