Slenderman is a fictitious creation of the internet originating from Creepypasta, an internet site where pictures are uploaded along with stories that supposedly happened in relation to that place or being shown. They range from actually horrifying to downright silly, they are urban legends created from the minds of creative people with a knack for writing. Sure, some things might be based on one real thing or another, but all in all its nothing but a collection of creepy stories made entirely for the internet.
Beware The Slenderman or stylistically _beware the slenderman is a 2016 documentary about a stabbing where Slenderman’s name came to public knowledge, out from the archives of the internet. It explores the origin of these kinds of phenomena’s like Slenderman and also looks at the lives of the two girls who committed the murder. Yes, two young girls did this murder and its so sad to see how their lives are changed by it and to see their home videos from happier times.
This is a tragedy in a lot of ways, but more than that it makes us question at what age should we give technology to our children and how do we monitor it or make sure they are understand what is real and what is make believe. Because taking technology away, especially in such a time when it’s becoming faster and more commonplace, it will set them back and over censoring will harm them (just see Black Mirror‘s episode Archangel). And this is not the purpose of this documentary, instead its purpose is to tell the story of this crime and the children who committed it. In truth internet didn’t do the harm, it was a choice, and one made by someone who needed help from a doctor.
I don’t know how to end this, only to recommend you see it if you are curious about this case in which internet and its subculture’s rose to the forefront. It’s sad, it’s tragic, but one cannot escape from these tragedies and even though the Slenderman is a fictional being that drew many people in making its urban legend grow, this one will always be more than an urban legend because it’s reality. Hard, cold, tragic reality.
Thank you for reading!
The Little Corner 