Swiped is a Romantic Comedy released through Netflix on November 6, 2018, directed and produced by Ann Deborah Fishman.
James Singer (played by Kendall Ryan Sanders) is a community college freshman and computer genius mocked for his lack of sociability. It's a stark contrast to his new roommate Lance Black (played by Noah Centineo), a womanizer that wants to get straight to the physical part of a hook-up without any of the "dating" part that might not even end in close contact. Lance's friends are no better, with one not even wanting to give out his last name or other personal details because of how little he wants to actually commit to any one woman.
Soon, Lance realizes that James is the only person in the school's computer science class that can help him with his problem, by helping him create a dating app that removes everything personal from the equation. No names, no profiles, no age restriction — just swipe pictures, get a meeting place and time, and get straight to the physical part. He even bribes James into helping, due to coming from a rich family and promising to afford a transfer to the more-fitting Massachusetts Institute of Technology in return for doing all the hard work. But in the process of getting in "the zone" to develop it, James quickly becomes the dominant one of the two, able to boss around Lance at his whim.
Things quickly go bad when the app goes live, as it turns out that it's fairly one-sided, with the women that sign on feeling empty and disposable. James' involvement with it nearly ruins his relationship with his high school crush, who is also attending the same community college. And even worse...his divorced mother wants to use the app! Can James possibly find a way to undo the damage he's caused, get the girl, and maybe teach Lance the value of a respectful relationship along the way?
Tropes:
- A Man Is Always Eager: Aside from James, all of the men in the film are initially enthusiastic about using the commitment-free "Jungle".
- Commitment Issues: Apparently, every male character aside from James doesn’t want commitment in a relationship. This is even to the point that boys don’t tell girls their names, and toss girls out the window to avoid their parents asking any questions. Funnily enough, when James even mentions the word “commitment,” all the boys recoil in horror.
- Divorce Is Temporary: James' mother gets back together with his father towards the film's end.
- Double Standard:
- James never feels bad about the consequences of the app despite how many girls complain about it (even laughing at them at some points) but when it threatens to allow his mom to date someone other than his father, he suddenly decides to shut the whole thing down. This makes it seem that he didn’t care about the consequences until it got in the way of something he wanted (his parents to stay together).
- Guys in the film are all eager to engage in the app and have casual sex with no commitment, and it’s treated as something to be expected. Girls, on the other hand, are treated as reprehensible for enjoying it, while the exceptionally “good” girls only engage in it to...appeal to the boys. According to this movie, there is no guy who would turn down casual sex, and the only reason women engage in sexual things is either because she’s in denial or she’s stupid.
- Heel Realization: James has one when his mother attempts to use the "Jungle" dating app he made.
- Hollywood Hacking: When James learns that his divorced mother is using "Jungle", he immediately shuts the server down. Of course, she immediately attempts another dating app, so he accesses and shuts down every single dating app server in quick succession.
- Hourglass Plot: At the start, Lance is bullying James; in the end, James is calling the shots, even after shutting down the app.
- Informed Flaw:
- James apparently has problems socializing, despite him able to maintain conversations flawlessly. Additionally, an early conversation with his old high school crush has them bring up the time he played music for her in front of the whole school, a very anti-introverted thing to do.
- When things start going downhill, the high school crush reveals that she has a stuttering problem, which makes it hard for her to hook up. She does not actually stutter in the entire film.
- Jerk Jock: Lance, who would rather push a girl out of a first-story window than show any sign that he's interested in committing.
- Last-Minute Hookup: In the end, Lance decides to try actually dating the girl he pushed out of a window earlier in the film.
- Madonna-Whore Complex:
- Lance and the "Jungle" user base are intentionally searching for "Whores", but relent when the women in their lives become "Madonnas" and refuse to partake in anything other than traditional dating.
- The movie itself also seems to split the girls into specific groups based off of arbitrary things that would be seen as perfectly average in real life: the “Madonnas” are the girls who prioritize a relationship and abstain from sex, and only engage in the app to please boys. The “Whores” are the ones who engage in sex and happily accept the app, but are treated as shallow and stupid.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lance is the boisterous, extroverted Red to James's introverted Blue...at least until James becomes the bossier one of the two.
- Rich Bitch: Lance's family is wealthy enough for him to drive his own sports car, and it's implied that the only reason he's attending a community college is the lack of effort he puts into work.
- Satire: The film's creator claims it is one towards the culture of "dating" apps, which have focused less on actual "dates" as time went on.
- Slut-Shaming: The few girls that want quick hook-ups are not treated well by the film, with some called insults such as "bimbo" even before the dating app starts being developed.
- Start My Own: The crux of the plot is Lance and James starting their own dating app when Lance and his friends are unhappy with the expectations other apps have.
- Teen Genius: James is a master coder who's created multiple apps before starting college, though none of them have ever made him famous.
- Whole-Plot Reference: It's easy to describe this film as "The Social Network as a Romantic Comedy", as they both focus on an introverted but popularity-seeking teen genius that creates a program focused on connecting people at his school that leads to more disaster than initially intended.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: James gives this message to all the college girls towards the end, telling them that even the apparently unwilling men will make the effort to know and respect them if they go for traditional dating instead of trying for quick hook-ups via apps.
