Stop. Look up. What do you see? Hallways full of people looking at their cellphones — texting, taking selfies, and tweeting about their lives.
The technological revolution has affected the ways in which people connect. And no, I’m not referring to a wifi hotspot. In Jason Reitman’s powerful time capsule of the odd time in which we live, Men, Women & Children, he examines how social media, texting, and internet pornography have tainted friendships and marriages by twisting the ways men perceive women, and the ways women perceive themselves.
Amidst all the insidious virtual escapes in the film, there is a spark between a teenage couple which acts as a foil to all the interactions throughout the movie. While Kaitlyn Dever’s character, Brandy, is concerned with talking to her boyfriend, the other characters are concerned with their misguided perceptions of the opposite sex, and their unhealthy coping mechanisms which revolve around and are impacted by technology.
Brandy has an extreme mother who monitors her every move online in order to shield her from predators and anyone looking to take advantage of her. She finds solace in a secret Tumblr account and a boy that is struggling with his parents’ sudden divorce.
Dever said she loves “doing these films that kind of touch on some serious environments.” In 2012, the 18-year-old actress starred in a critically acclaimed indie film titled Short Term 12; she played a girl living in a temporary home, dealing with being sexually abused. “It’s a lot of fun. I love doing different things and I love doing characters that are not myself. I like a lot of challenge and I definitely had a challenge for Short Term 12 and I absolutely had a challenge for Men, Women & Children,” Dever said.
On the set of Men, Women & Children, the experienced teenager who has appeared in shows such as Modern Family and Make It or Break It, was able to act and interact with actors who have been in the industry for many years, such as Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, and Dean Norris. “I just learned so much from everyone, just in the way they acted on set and how they treated other people or how they literally acted in a scene,” she said.
Kaitlyn Dever has already been a troubled teenager, and played both serious and comedic roles, however, there are other types of roles she hopes to pursue. “I haven’t done an action film; I’d kind of like to do that,” the actress said. “I’d like to do some training with some guns and stuff, or learn how to fight.”
