The American Meme

I saw this film last night at Hot Docs in Toronto and had little expectations going in. I use social media, but I am certainly not immersed in the world. I was truly entertained, captivated and in awe of the subjects of THE AMERICAN MEME from start to finish. I laughed the entire way through, while learning a great deal, and felt deeply for the characters. One thing that surprised me about the movie was that it was a lot deeper and a lot more serious than I thought it would be. I was scared and sad when it ended and I am still thinking about the film and my own personal interactions with social media today. I was also surprised about how diverse the audience was, which was pretty crazy. There was an 80 year old with a walker laughing her head off and a 12 years old sitting next to me (although probably not appropriate for a 12 year old...).

Anyways, go see it. It's pretty amazing.

I do not like the concept of this movie, do not like when people trying to pretend "look how hard I work". Obviously they are really enjoying their life style and the entertainment industry, what they are doing - just leaving in their reality, they are an attention seeking people.

"The American Meme" explores social media fame under different lights, through various celebrities who have relied on these outlets to gain recognition. The documentary examines the lives of Vine comedians, party animals, models, TV personalities and everything in between, with Paris Hilton as the standout focal point, due to the fact that she embodies American celebrity culture in its purest form and pretty much paved the way for all those who jumped on the fame wagon in more recent times. Many opportunities were missed in the way, where vapid and irrelevant screen time takes away from the more substantial storytelling, who are these people? What drives them?, and is the cost of fame really worth paying?. "The American Meme" has its shining moments, but you will have to navigate through the dull ones in order to appreciate the more meaningful moments.

This is nothing more than an irritating look at the lives of the most spiritually empty profiteers of the social media moment. Just watching this made my IQ drop a few points. Paris Hilton has fans? For doing what? Slipping into some beta sex kitten disassociative personality at will? Come on, people. Wake up and "like" the real heroes in the world.

I could not make it past 20 minutes of this documentary. I know, it's not good to review anything unless you've seen the entirety of it. But this is one of those rare exceptions.

First of all, I doubt there's anything really wrong with how the documentary is made. The problem I have with this was the soul crushing feeling I had watching these pure narcissists at work. It started with American Idol and people wanting to get-famous-quick without putting in any legwork, and has mutated itself into the social media landscape.

Quite a few years ago I started to remove myself from mainstream media. I started watching the Joe Rogan Podcast, and eventually went on to take in most of my information from what would later be described as the "Intellectual Dark Web". What I found was, the longer and further removed from mainstream media I was, the more ridiculous and outlandishly egotistical it was revealed to be. Everything was dripping with self-absorption and the need to sell-sell-sell, no matter the depravity of the message.

I'm not willing to make a thorough review for people so detestable, so if you can actually sit through 98 minutes of watching these kinds of people, I hope you see the light at the end of Dante's Fourth Circle of Hell. Remove yourself from this idiocy.

4/10- P.S. These people are not memes.