Metaverse on Mobile: Authenticity and The Human Condition

After 3+ months of waiting, I finally watched Belle today! Belle is a show about how human beings discover other parts of themselves through the metaverse (interestingly, on mobile app). I felt as though I was watching a musical, because the sound tracks and vocals were so amazing.

Here’s an example of the opening track. Totally a gym song:

And this- close your eyes, and it’s almost like a song out of a musical:

Apart from the soundtracks, the visuals were also amazing. Some of the runway visuals are available here as NFTs (so cool).

Finding Yourself In the Metaverse

If you could not realise your talents or potential in the real world, would the metaverse not be an alternative safe space for you to explore your identity without any fear? Because you can always restart your life in the metaverse, something that we cannot do in reality.

In the movie, Belle eventually chose to unveil her true identity. In doing so, she risked losing her online fame as Belle’s fans would discover that Suzu is such an average person in reality. And yet she did it, to reach “Ryu”, another broken person in reality.

This Thing About Frequency

Today, I also realised that it’s important to watch important movies like this with like-minded people. I was relieved and glad that I watched Belle with a highly empathetic person interested in the topic of the metaverse too.

Basically he cried during the scene when Belle unveiled herself to reveal Suzu, and did her best to continue singing with trembling hands. I didn’t cry. Haha. He was even embarrassed that he cried watching anime, and I was like, oh no, I basically didn’t feel Belle’s fear.

Can we then identify “same frequency” by this emotion? I actually do think so. Immediately, I could think of people whom I don’t feel at ease watching this movie with, though we could probably have a very robust debate about the movie. Or, such people would be dismissive, “Oh the metaverse is just hype lah, blabla“. It hit me there and then about how I’ve been associating myself with people who feel exactly like this about blockchain, and how something always felt “off”.

Even though I’m in general quite open-minded, it was really nice to be able to find someone who could appreciate the movie as the director intended (and not threaten to burn down my office due to his/her hatred towards metaverse, real story), all while acknowledging the possible negative aspects to such a pretty depiction of the metaverse.

Perhaps as I start to meet more and more people, I’ve also started to accept people for who they are. Or perhaps, as I start to accept more of myself, the more I’ve started to accept others too, instead of wanting to change them.

Belle: A Movie Celebrating Authenticity

More than a movie about the metaverse, Belle is a movie celebrating authenticity. From the prettiest girl in school crushing on the dorkiest guy, to Belle and Ryu unveiling themselves and getting strengths from each other, the message is pretty clear.

Some people might choose life in the metaverse to escape from life in the unbearable real world, a scenario just like that in Squid Game. Yet, some others might choose life in the metaverse to heal and explore other sides of themselves that they could not do in the real world. At the end of the day, it’s all about authenticity and the human connection.

And so concludes my second movie review on this blog. Read my first review on Crazy Rich Asian and Game Theory here. 🙂