December 21, 2022
Who knew that allowing everyone to share opinions on everything could get so toxic? As with anything, there is always a degree of good and bad – but in social media’s case, that bad side can get UGLY. In many ways, social media has become a hotbed for cyberbullying and maliciousness. Too many users hide behind anonymity to spread hateful words without any thought to how it may affect others. Yes, those users probably also live alone in a basement with no friends but their words can still have a major impact on people.
With the holiday season upon us, Reveel presents Toymakers — an unconventional series of shorts that follows a toymaker in the North Pole who experiences the full weight of cyberbullying. The series proves that even Santa’s workers can be a victim of online hate. Here are a few of our favorite jokes about online vitriol in the series.
Toymakers: The Series centers around toymaker Timmy and his friends who navigate tough times after one of Timmy’s toys accidentally kills someone on Christmas morning. Trigger Warning! This series deals with sensitive material and a lot of the dark humor is about suicide. If you or anyone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts please reach out for help! Dial 988 to access the suicide prevention hotline or visit 988lifeline.org for even more resources and support!
We love holding others accountable, but some people on social media wait eagerly for public figures to misstep just so they can hold their feet to the hottest of fires. Toymakers: The Series captures this in a darkly comedic way with a scene where a reporter tells a toymaker that his best option is to end it all after he makes a huge mistake.
Online trolls and haters are usually a small number of people but when there are thousands of comments and DMs for you to scroll through, it can feel like a much larger crowd. A lot of them may not even understand the nuances of what happened and just need an outlet for their frustrations. Toymaker Timmy experiences mob mentality firsthand when he reads through his Twitter notifications after a scandal… big mistake.
Rumors can spread like wildfire on social media. Fact-checking isn’t exactly a value people hold dear online and if a user doesn’t like you, they’ll spin those rumors to justify their hatred of you. Toymakers: The Series takes this to the extreme when a reporter speculates that Timmy could be a serial killer.
Forgiveness is a virtue that has inspired many people throughout history. It is seen as one of the most important qualities a person can have. On social media though, all of that is out the window. People online don’t forgive but they do forget… sometimes. Toymakers illustrates this beautifully when Timmy sees that even a hotline for mental health doesn’t want anything to do with him.
Misinformation is rampant today on social media and now AI can even create realistic pictures and videos of almost anyone. In short, Black Mirror is becoming a reality and I’m not excited for it. One of the ways people still spread misinformation is by using out-of-context quotes. It’s easy to make someone look bad out of context and Toymakers captures this perfectly when a reporter edits a video of Timmy to make him look like a terrible human being.
They are the judges, the jury, and the executioners. Online haters can spread information faster than the speed of light and they make sure to stand on a moral pedestal while they do it. In Toymakers, we get to witness this as a group of people call for Timmy to die for what he did without a trial or any thought of forgiveness. It’s hilariously absurd but sadly, it’s not too far from the truth.
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