Web Junkie

This movie was recommended to me based on other movies I've watched. I wasn't expecting a lot, but it's a tender-hearted and powerful little film.

In China internet addiction has apparently got so out of control that the government have set up a special clinic to deal with it. Run on military lines, the clinic has all the appearance of a boot camp, with the inmates dressed in army uniform, spending their days doing drills and submitting themselves to the will of a sadistic sergeant. In between they receive counseling and medication, as well as frequent meetings between themselves and their parents.

Hilla Medalia and Shosh Shlam's documentary paints a frightening picture of the extent to which some teenagers are addicted to war- games, spending several hours, if not days at the computer, and even wearing diapers rather than going to the bathroom, for fear that they will not improve their scores. For them, the virtual world seems superior to the 'real' world, insofar that it offers them more excitement and thrills. Despite the treatment meted out in the boot camp, many of the teenagers remain convinced that they can easily be cured without recourse to such extreme methods.

On the other hand, WEB JUNKIE does prompt speculation about whether the filmmakers are trying to portray contemporary China as an authoritarian society, despite its moves towards capitalism. It seems that old-established values are slow to change. If this is the case, then the film could be regarded as an orientalist piece, confirming the superiority of western democratic values to those practiced in communist China. The old Cold War binary has been reinvented, proving, perhaps, that it is not only the Chinese who are reluctant to change and embraces new globalized values.

"Web Junkie" is a Chinese documentary. While I watch a lot of Chinese films, it's the first documentary from this country I have seen and I was surprised just how much I enjoyed watching it--especially since I really expected to hate it. After all, when I read that it was about internet addiction in-patient programs, I thought this was utterly ridiculous. I just couldn't see the internet as being comparable to alcohol or heroin. But, the film surprised me and I think many parents would benefit from watching it.

The film is set in a military bootcamp-style facility for teens 13-18 that also provides psychotherapy for the child as well as the family. What really surprised me, however, is that there are currently about 400 of them in China!! Apparently, economic success and opening up their culture has brought about some problems--and kids who drop out of school and spend practically all their time in internet cafés is on the rise. Each resident stays about 90 days and the film crew are allowed access to both the residents and staff--and even some of the family psychotherapy sessions.

As I said already, at first I thought this all was overblown. After all, it's normal for teens to love the internet and putting them into an in-patient program sounds ridiculous--and I felt very uncomfortable when I saw them medicating these patients. However, my mind slowly changed as I watched "Web Junkie". These kids almost all saw that they had no problem...even though some of them admitted to doing some pretty insane things in order to play online games. Many said they catnapped here and there but would not leave the terminal for hours or even days at a time and one even talked about using adult diapers so that he didn't need to leave Warcraft! Plus, with all the families you see in the film, the kids' relationships with their parents are practically nonexistent...which was also true with how they interact with everyone else around them. Many of them were incredibly loud, angry and violent when they found themselves in the program--much like you'd expect from someone coming off drugs! But to me the ultimate example of the problem was when a group of the kids escaped. They were easily caught, however, as they were all down the road in the nearest internet café!

Although the film is occasionally slow and possibly might have been a bit better had it been shortened a bit here and there, the bottom line is that it is compelling and hard to stop watching. Because of this, and because the film simply allows the participants to talk without invasive narration, it's well worth your time.

When i was in the age 17-19, i played also quite a lot. I didn't think i was online too much, but now i know i wasn't that social as a young person should be (and i wasn't introvert or something). This documentary opened a new view in front of me. Nowadays i watch different kind of documentaries and i didn't care about gaming or the game world since i was 19. Still this movie was interesting to watch and realize i was also close to be addicted. Don't wait anything excitement from the movie, it wont really surprise you, but it is interesting. The world and technology went too far, the world of warcraft maybe made to be easily addictive, but the problem is not in the children who play too much. The problem in first hand is in the parents hand. In my opinion everything starts with the technology the children get too early. Nowadays for those children who born after 1990 life is so much easier, i would say too easy. Lot of them get first phone or/and computer, console under the years of 7, what is not necessary. Those people who borned before 1990, they know how good was just go out and play with friends and neighbours outside. This game addiction is a poison of this modern world, what the parents can control. Everything depends on the parents. What they allow and how they allow.