Horror films have proliferated throughout our society because of one major underlying cause. Horror itself is a philosophy that asserts that the things we fear in our culture can be presented in a thought experiment extrapolated to the extreme. Through this method, horror can innoculate us against the paralyzing terror of possible threats that we might have to face in our real lives.
Enter the 21st century and all of the trappings of the information age. Everything is dominated by technology and each of us carries around a power in our pockets we can scarcely understand. Is this the new thing to fear? Do governments or other sinister forces use these devices and the science behind them to erase our humanity and relieve us of our free will? Or are we all just paranoid? It might be that the director of Distorted (2018) Rob W King and writer Arne Olsen are attempting to tap into a phobia that many people suffer from. Welcome to the world of Targeted Individuals and Electromagnetic Harassment.
Distorted (2018) starring Christina Ricci and John Cusack offers a window into the delusional world of the Targeted Individual (or TI for short). The movie is basically about a woman (played by Christina Ricci) who struggles to understand whether she is suffering from a mental illness or being controlled by a wealthy arms developer in league with corrupt governments. John Cusack is also in the film, he fills out a hoodie for most of his screen time as the renegade hacker who has his own paranoia to contend with as he combats a legion of super-secret cyber-conspirators. Through the course of this story, we are called to question for ourselves whether or not the things we consume on a daily basis are trying to rub out the last vestiges of our ability to distinguish right from wrong.
(Or whether or not you should trust your agent)
Despite the films glaring shortcomings, I was forced to dig a little deeper into the concept of Electro-magnetic harassment in preparation for this article. TIs came out of the woodwork to support this movie as a red flag vindication for all of their lamentations under the pressure of their technological strife. TIs have the delusion that secret departments of government mind control agencies have specifically zeroed in on them because of their brain’s natural ability to resist. They are convinced that they are selected for a regiment of “touchless torture,” where they are relentlessly abused remotely through secret technology in order to push them desperately to suicide. If you read the comments section for the youtube trailer (posted below) you will find that much of the dialog between Cusack and Ricci echo the exact same delusions that TIs experience.
Sadly, the only ones who are actually targeting these individuals are the ones trying to sell anti Electro harassment devices, such as the QuWave defender (only 300 dollars) that they can wear around their neck. If that doesn’t do the trick, a briefcase-sized defender can be purchased and carried around all day for the low price of $1200.
Back to my original point: The real horror once again can be found in real life. Humans fucking over people with a mental illness for short term financial gain. In the meantime, don’t forget to throw a couple of bucks at Jeff Bezos for the opportunity to watch Distorted on Amazon video.
