Zapped (2 Stars)

"Forcing boys to do what you want them to doesn't make life any better. You've just got to let them be themselves and learn to accept them anyway".

A friend of mine recently recommended this film as something I might like. Zoey Stevens, a 16-year-old girl discovers that her dog training smartphone app can make males of any age obey her. It's not just quick commands. Whatever she says remains in force indefinitely. For instance, if she tells a boy to sit he remains sitting until he starves to death, unless she tells him he can stand up again.

In a similar way to Simon Pegg's "Almost Anything" Zoey has to be careful that she formulates her commands precisely. In this case it's not a cosmic power that has to be correctly triggered. The problem is that men are stupid and might misunderstand the command.

The film is mildly amusing as long as Zoey is in total control, but I shook my head in dismay when she came to the conclusion that boys (more correctly, men in general) should be accepted the way they are. It seems like neither Zoey nor the film's scriptwriter has any insight into the depths of the male soul. Should women really accept men as they are? Murderers? Rapists? Paedophiles? If Zoey's smartphone app were a reality she would be able to achieve world peace.

Do men deserve to have free will? Maybe. Let's make a compromise. Men can be politely asked to do something. If they say Yes they're obeying out of their own free will, and everybody is happy. If they say No they should be forced to obey. That's fair.