Elon Musk messes with a Netflix hit and ends up paying the price
Elon Musk messes with a Netflix hit and ends up paying the price – The Tesla CEO reacted to a clip from the film with a comment that shows he had not seen it.
By Megan Sauer
A sequence from ‘Leaving the World Behind’ provokes a curious reaction from Elon Musk. (Cr: JoJo Whilden/Netflix)
“We are kings of our silence, but slaves of our words,” says an ancient Arabic proverb that Elon Musk could well learn after his recent outburst before the online community.
The businessman had no better idea than to respond to a sequence from Leave the World Behind , the apocalyptic film starring Julia Roberts that is sweeping Netflix, when the platform promoted a clip on its social networks.
The problem is that his comment denotes that he does not know what he is talking about and the voracious, opinionated and fervent film-loving community that lives on X (formerly Twitter) did not take long to realize this.
Leaving the World Behind is based on the novel by Rumaan Alam and presents an interesting warning about dependence on technology. From cell phones to GPS, through the internet, streaming services, etc.
And although the film paints the picture without giving explicit explanations or answers, it suggests that the apocalypse experienced by its protagonists would be related to a global cyberattack with no return.
During one of the most shocking scenes (with forgiveness for the crashed ship on the beach), Julia Roberts ‘ character must escape with her family from the unexpected attack of Tesla electric cars that have been hacked and are driving at full speed in the autonomous driving function.
Netflix promoted this sequence on Twitter on the day of the film’s release with a fun reference to Forrest Gump: “Run Julia Roberts, run.”
However, it seems that Elon Musk could not resist seeing that his company’s cars were the protagonists of a scene of mass destruction, and he came out to defend his brand.
“Teslas can be charged with solar panels even if the world goes Mad Max and there is no more gasoline,” he wrote under the video in question. The scene has no relation to the durability of Tesla car batteries or their charging options.
In reality, the sequence and the film in general seek to demonstrate how modern technology can be used against us through a hack of epic proportions that leaves us defenseless. In this case, through the lethal dangers that self-driving modalities could hide in the hands of a hacker.
But in an effort to defend his brand, it seems that Elon Musk did not understand the sequence and commented on it without taking into account its purpose. As if he hadn’t seen the movie, literally.
When does Tesla get to Mars?” another mocked . “The best thing about ‘Leaving the World Behind’ is provoking Elon” or “That’s not what happens here,” more users added.
Even the film’s director echoed Elon Musk’s erroneous comment, republishing it on his profile and using it as a promotional tool for his film.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the opening of the electric car factory near Gruenheide in Germany in 2022. (Photo by Christian Marquardt – Pool/Getty Images)Further
What probably isn’t funny to the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp is that they used a good number of their company’s cars to recreate this sequence.
“I’m not going to pretend that we didn’t extend it a little bit with CGI,” the director explained to ABC Radio (viaWBAL). “But I must say that there were many real Teslas destroyed. It was a fun day on set.”
Interestingly, Barack and Michelle Obama produce this film through their production company Higher Ground Productions and, according to the director, both were involved in the development “reading scripts, making notes, from the characters to the disastrous elements and themes.”
A detail that probably adds fuel to the matter given that Elon Musk supported Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2016, and Tesla’s growth has a lot to do with that presidency.
The company received financial support during Obama’s term in 2010 through a loan program dedicated to companies working on technological advancement of vehicles.
Tesla was one of the beneficiaries with a $465 million loan and, according to Bloomberg, was crucial in the company’s expansion.
The success was such that Tesla paid the amount and with interest in 2013, nine years before its maturity.
However, it seems that Barack Obama understood the idea of the film and knew how to differentiate between politics and entertainment, betting on this sequence that brings to light the supposed problem of electric cars in the event of a hack as massive as the one suggested by the film.
Something that Elon Musk seems to have failed to understand when commenting without supposedly having even seen the film he was commenting on.
