Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl

And that's my fault. I should've read the description provided here on IMDB instead of trusting the trailer I saw on Hulu.

I thought I was getting a documentary about the rise of the late 90s/early 00s "It" girls of NYC. We did get several minutes of that primarily focused on Tinsley Mortimer, who I really didn't know that much about back in the day. I was glad they didn't devote that much time to Paris Hilton, because I've seen enough of her story already, so it was good to learn about one of her peers. I kept waiting for the documentary to start dissecting the forces at work to make these girls happen in detail, but it never happened. Then it suddenly shifts to the story about the kid behind a blog about these It girls and their milieu.

This person's story (and I won't give away spoilers about their identity) just wasn't very interesting. They themselves came across as sad, depressed, insecure and still in search of their own identity. As one of their own friends observed, this person had their own reality, which didn't necessarily coincide with everyone else's. I don't mind an unreliable narrator in fiction, but prefer to avoid them in real life.

Overall, I felt the documentary could've been so much more. New York Magazine just did a big article with multiple covers about the "It Girls" of times past. I was hoping for something more about the history and the impact of It girls on the culture.

At first you think you're going to learn about the media obsession with NYC socialites in the 2010s, which I find interesting. It starts off OK seeming to be an overview of how people like Paris Hilton and pals blew up on the scene. I was expecting to hear more about all those girls and who they really were behind the parties and clothes. There are some interesting characters who share their stories in the first 40 mins. But that's all tossed in the garbage because apparently the Director didn't have a real vision for the story. The focus swiftly turns into being all about a striver from the Midwest who gains a brief entre into the NY gossip journalism scene. Things take a very unexpected turn from there, Involving theft, drugs, tons of plastic surgery, a gravity defying boob job, and hair as straight as an iron. It's not as interesting as it sounds.

Some of the facts seem distorted. All in all a few bad things went down, and people were hurt. But no socialites were harmed in the making of this movie. Bottom line it's not worth 90 minutes of runtime.

This so-called "documentary" is probably used by counter intelligence personnel to invoke psychological torture on prisoners of war.

Apart from disjointed story, there is a lot of things that would irritate anyone: bad editing, non-existent directing, a back drop of a wannabe "it" maker who wouldn't be able to make even a voodoo doll. This was long, useless tv-product.

The most annoying thing was this Morgan person, who does his best to be as pretentious as possible.

This person definitely lives in his own little world that has nothing to do with reality.

I have only one question to the people who funded this: don't you wish you just burned your money?

This seems to be a total vanity project - done by I have no idea, with the viewpoint of I have no idea.

A few reviewers have said this isn't what they expected. That's exactly what this is! Not what anyone expects. You cannot figure it out since it isn't any one thing.

It does follow and praise Tinsley Mortimer a LOT. She seems to be the It Girl on that side.

Then there is the Other side of It. Now THAT's the real It Girl.

The story behind her is as fuzzy as all the other It Girls. (The ones we all know if we are watching this "documentary") I actually wanted to know more about her and how she got to where she was.

Unfortunately, as with the rest of this "doc", that story, too, is lacking.

HOWEVER - I most certainly wish her well.

The onslaught of negative engagement the distribution network is placing on this film is noted, but let's get to the crux of it all... it's magic

There's a story within a story here, one fantabulously more interesting than the necromacy of the early-00s It Girl era that dominates the first half. Not that I'm not here for a Gawker post mortem, but what could be ground for a really in-depth look at a very specific scene which emerged alongside a new form of surveillance and monetisation thereof fades into something else... rather than revel in the weeds we seek to learn and understand its creator, maker, Morgan. This someone else is what you can only see in the title once you read it through the prism of this deeply enriching interior story, of a plucky crestive with a gift for writing, obsessional focus, and fabulist tendencies, who infiltrated an alien world and made its leading swans dance their greatest dance. Kudos to Morgan Rose and to Zackary the director and fellow viewers disjointed by the internet feedback to this rather brilliant character study on a clearly unusual soul and woman.