On Ryan’s Note and Joe’s Speech (but also ethics and technology and why Ryan Ray is the best boy)
So teeeechnically this should just be added as a reblog to my first ever post (!!) here, but this got very long and I wanted to add a video to help explain BUT I got worried about copyright laws so I decided to do without it. This is kind of part of my Big Ryan Ray Post that I started this blog to make?? So I’ve spent like. 2 years trying to figure out what I wanted to say and I’ve put some of it here! If anyone wants to talk to me about it please do!
I just rewatched the first episode of season 3 and I would like to point something out! If you sync up Joe’s speech and Ryan’s note, they go on for almost the same amount of time (Joe’s message is slightly longer, but that’s also because he’s trying to sell a product).
It’s also kind of eerie in that when Joe pauses, Ryan says something, and vis a vis. Sometimes they talk at the same time when there’s a shared idea.
When Ryan says the “beware false prophets/bad teachers/corrupt leaders/dirty corporations” bit, Joe says, at the same time, “yesterday morning, many of us were reminded of that question (how sure is our footing?) when we literally felt the ground move beneath us,” which resembles something a “false prophet” or “corrupt leader” might say in a persuasive speech used to sway the masses, much like what Joe is doing here. In this, Joe becomes a representation of a “bad teacher” with his poetic take on a current event meant to sound philosophical, but ultimately carries an empty message, considering Joe did not ask himself that question and is thus completely removed from his words, and his whole speech is meant to gain publicity (also, he does become every one of those things at some point in his arc with Ryan, as he claimed that he wouldn’t charge people for his antivirus software, but then revealed that he would (Ryan calls him out on this in his last scene with Joe. If I can remember correctly, he says “you’re a hypocrite and you always have been” or something along those lines. Of course he confronts him about the software specifically in episode 3, but this addresses his whole persona)).
A part that really stands out to me is when Ryan says “contrary to what you might have heard, my friends, you are not safe” as the shot on Joe’s end is of him to the side of the “are you safe?” sign, as if he is answering that exact question. The rest reads like this:
Joe: “but let me ask you...”
Ryan: “safety is a story,”
Ryan: “it’s something we teach our children so they can sleep at night,”
Joe: “or is it truth?” to which Ryan seems to respond with “but we know it’s not real,” as if he is there speaking with Joe, saying that yes, your fear is valid, and we truly are not safe.
Both speeches are perfectly representative of the people giving them, as Joe is someone who asks a lot of rhetorical questions or approaches topics in a less direct way (he’s a salesman!), whereas Ryan is pretty blunt, and gets straight to the point. @haltandcatchfiretothemax mentioned this in my other post here, that Joe poses “are you safe?” as a broad question that people are supposed to really think about and form their own answers to, but “Ryan’s note answers very directly with the declarative ‘You are not safe.’” The two speeches supplement each other very nicely.
And depending on if you pause Ryan’s speech when there’s gaps for other dialogue in Joe’s, when Joe asks “what’s gonna happen to us?” Ryan either says “the world is going to crack wide open” or “we’ll hurt each other in new ways,” which is a direct response to what Joe suggests in his speech.
If you pause for Joe to catch up like I did (which would get “the world is going to crack wide open” from my previous point), then another notable part comes when Joe says “we live in a world that is constantly shifting, sometimes bringing us together, and sometimes pulling us apart” as Joanie and Haley run into Cameron’s arms (come together), and Cameron looks over to see Donna (pull apart). Joe then asks “who are our friends? Who are our enemies?” as the camera on Ryan’s side lingers on Donna, as she, in Cameron’s case, could be considered both. Additionally, when the camera is on Donna waving and looking around uncomfortably on Ryan’s end, Donna on Joe’s end sits up in bed and walks to the window, which is right when Ryan says “the world is going to crack wide open” and the shot changes to Donna’s face as she stares out the window. This is interesting because the window looks to have cracks in it (or maybe they’re just tree branches, but either way, it appears as fractures across her face), as though Donna is seeing the beginning of her world changing as Ryan rightfully predicts is going to happen. He then says “there’s something on the horizon” as she turns to look at Gordon sleeping, and then out the window again, watching the horizon.
Also worth mentioning is that Gordon does not have an appearance during Ryan or Joe’s speeches. He’s seen very briefly when Donna looks at his sleeping form, but there isn’t a shot that focuses just on him, which isn’t the case for nearly every other character in the show.
Joe and Ryan’s speeches end at (slightly) different times and on different notes, but they still end in the same place, with Ryan looking up at Joe where he first saw him, and Joe looking across the water standing at the place he first saw Ryan.
I think that what Ryan writes is the answer to many of the questions Joe asks in his “are you safe?” pitch, and an answer to that exact question as well. But not only this, as he begins to talk about the future and what it could hold. Ryan’s message acts as a warning, but Joe’s does not do this, and instead offers a solution to vulnerability. Joe suggests that people protect themselves with antivirus software and claims that “freedom from fear is a right, not a commodity,” though that isn’t necessarily so. Joe is still thinking like a salesman and wants to help people by use of products, which is where he is wrong, and Ryan is right. It’s a matter of human interaction. People are subject to threats online, but the most dangerous ones don’t come from viruses or whatnot, those come from other human beings (who can, of course, create viruses). Joe thinks that people can keep themselves from being completely open and makes something to act as a shield between people, which is exactly what he does by isolating himself at the beginning of the season. He does this for protection as he had just lost everything and been very badly hurt when he was most vulnerable, and he cannot take that risk again. He sees openness as something that can be fought against and prevented, but Ryan sees it as inevitable. It’s impossible to totally guard yourself off from others (or be “safe”), as genuine human connection comes from people sharing their deepest fears or insecurities, not from lying to each other to seem more acceptable and abide by whatever laws society dictates people follow. It comes from taking risks! Ryan does offer a solution like Joe does, but his is not to protect against an aspect of human nature; his is to take that openness and use it for good. There are people out there who take the trust that others invest in them and use it to manipulate others, much like Joe did at the beginning of the show. Ryan knows this, and says that the only way we as humans can function in a world suddenly without barriers is to “take care of each other.”
Ryan’s final message is especially important in today’s world. I think that his character really speaks to the ethics problem we are currently facing. Technology is developing at such a rapid rate, and it isn’t necessarily a good thing (no this is not a “modern tech is evil” post, hang in there). When was the last time developers in the Silicon Valley took a step back to ask themselves why they are making a certain product? Some of those people are so focused on doing something simply to be the first, and don’t stop to check if what they’re doing is morally sound. Something that I found especially enlightening was this thread by Kumail Nanjiani (links aren’t cooperating so I have to use screenshots), who also happens to be on a tech show.
It basically says that technology is developing faster than we can solve important issues of inequality and social justice. How can we keep moving forward if we, like Kumail says, still don’t know how to properly deal with death threats? How can we if racism is still an issue? Sexism? Homophobia? People that are members of some of the most oppressed groups are the ones least likely to be taken care of, and are therefore more susceptible to the violence that could come from the internet or this new technology allowing hateful ideas to be spread and grow unchecked.
This message is especially poignant coming from someone who is a member of several communities that are constantly targeted both on and offline. While race is the most obvious factor, Ryan also shows many signs of having some sort of mental illness/developmental disorder/I don’t know what the proper terminology is anymore please don’t be upset with me if I got that wrong (do people still say neuroatypical? That would probably suffice), and is pretty heavily coded to be queer. Also, according to Manish, though this was never directly addressed in the show, Ryan is from a working class family of Indian immigrants. So, clearly, Ryan has a lot separating him from a more privileged straight cis white man. He is one of the people most likely to suffer from the lack of moral soundness in the tech world, where the top 1% (as in, very rich straight cis white men) will be the first to have access to this technology (meaning that they are the only ones who can afford it) and do whatever they please with it. Their lack of care affects people like Ryan directly, and in Ryan reminding people to take care of each other, he doesn’t just say that we should be nice. He says to take into account people’s differences and have empathy, because there are many like him who have significantly less power than the people controlling the technology, and there are no safeguards to protect them (and not to get too preachy, but I think it’s safe to assume that these billionaires are awful people who couldn't care less about the people "beneath” them). “If only we can learn to take care of each other” would have a totally different meaning if said by someone more privileged than Ryan, but because it’s him saying the line, it becomes more “if only we can learn to practice empathy for those who are different than us and actively combat racism/sexism/homophobia/ableism/etc. so that we can work together to make the world a kinder place for all.”
Is this giving the writers too much credit? Maybe. But it wasn’t just Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers who worked on this show, there were so many other people deeply involved in the writing process that likely helped to make Ryan’s arc have a larger impact. His story still had issues (oh boy, it had plenty), and I still think there should’ve been more for him, but as I’ve had some time away from this show and this character I’ve come to appreciate what we were given. I’ll have more on my sweet boy later, but this is what sticks out to me in relation to his final note for now.
