The Internship (2013)

Credit: 20th Century Fox

As a big fan of science fiction I've come across many television shows and movies that have dealt with the topic of a man being obsolete. Written and filmed in the early 1960's was an episode of "The Twilight Zone" tv series in which Burgess Meredith portrayed a librarian who was declared obsolete; that eerily rings true today. Portable eReaders are replacing printed books and even this movie The Internship makes a joke about how people use their cellphone to tell the time instead of a wrist watch. A good comedy film is supposed to be a distraction for 90 minutes as a way to escape my reality, not cause me to reflect even more than I already do!

I feel I can relate to the plight of Billy and Nick (played by Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) who are salesmen that fall victim to the digital age. They decide "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", so they apply for internships with Google. My problem is my career choices don't seem to have much in the way of gainful, long-term employment either. The printing industry that I have chosen seems to be following along the path of that obsolete librarian as people are now reading on a screen, rather than a printed page. A joke was even made within this movie that many 20-somethings are having a difficult time finding employment after graduating. Perhaps thats because the amount entering the workforce is growing exponentially while the available jobs are shrinking. Everything is moving to digital jobs and less manpower is needed. This movie raises those questions about the future, however it quickly discards them for laughs as Vaughn and Wilson play the "fish out of water" as they interact with a generation of young people half their age. There are jokes about Harry Potter, X-Men, and anime, which even that last part had me as lost as Billy and Nick. It feels more like they're guest starring in an extended episode of "The Big Bang Theory" because I think Vaughn and Wilson are above the material in the script; which is weird considering Vince Vaughn is a co-writer.

Maybe I'm over-thinking the concept of the movie and taking it to heart. The Internship seems to have the message that we rely too much on our cellphones and Facebook to communicate rather than enjoying each other's company. Plus I can't be too down on a movie that references The Fly with Jeff Goldblum.