In LKG, a seasoned politician, upon getting harassed, expresses his irritation through a well-timed slap on a party worker. As the events happen in today’s world, someone’s video camera is switched on, and the cropped video goes viral, with meme-makers (“meme engineers”, as the film calls them) taking control. Someone composites this clip into a scene of Doraisingam throwing a 1.5-tonne-powered slap on some hapless thug. It’s impossible not to laugh out loud. The question though is, is it fair to that seasoned politician (or any subject on whom these memes are made) that these go into circulation, forever altering the public’s perception of them? Is our laughter truly unpolluted by any subconscious assessment we are making at those targeted? Are we unwittingly propagating something dark and dangerous without being aware of it? I doubt another Tamil film has understood the power and nature of memes as much.
Cast: RJ Balaji, Priya Anand, Nanjil Sampath, JK Rithesh
Typically, our films — save for a dig or two at YouTube film criticism — have championed social media as a saviour. It’s been projected as a uniting force. Is the hero in need of some help? Use Twitter! Use the Facebook pages! I can’t remember seeing another Tamil film that exposes this dark side of meme culture and social media, and it’s quite fascinating that it does this under the guise of comedy. LKG makes it abundantly clear that social media is a madhouse that has the power to make and break reputations, fairly and unfairly. It’s Black Mirror, but in a traditional masala template; one that yields fairly enjoyable results.
This is an excerpt from the full review.
Please read the remainder at https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/tamil/2019/feb/22/lkg-review-some-clever-writing-in-this-satire-on-meme-culture-and-politics-10241.html.
