☆ ☆ ☆
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) – J. Schoenbrun
I had to ask
myself: “Is the world really like this?”
Director Jane Schoenbrun’s first feature feels like part of the “slow
cinema” movement even though it is only 82 minutes long. It is marketed as part
of the burgeoning horror genre merger with internet content (possibly related
to “creepypasta”). (The marketing may be misleading some viewers who expect
something other than an arthouse first feature). Here, teen Casey (Anna Cobb) has
signed up to an online role-playing horror game where, as I understand it,
participants take the basic premise and then enact it for themselves, creating and
uploading videoclips to document their engagement. In this case, the game is
called “We’re Going to the World’s Fair” and the premise is that you watch a
weird online video (not shown) which subsequently and reportedly has mysterious
mental and physical impacts on the viewer.
Given that director Schoenbrun is transgender herself, it is hard not to
make a connection here to the kinds of transformations that might take place
for those assigned an incorrect gender at birth. But any changes that take place
for Casey are relatively subtle – there’s a bit of childish acting out of
monster-like behaviour and, more importantly, depression-like symptoms and
suicidal ideation. This attracts the
attention of another player, JLB, who demands that Casey skype with him. The
film then seems to shift gears to tell the story of their relationship (as it
were). As a viewer, I spent much of my
time trying to understand what was happening (not necessarily a bad thing) and,
like JLB, it became hard to sort out fantasy and reality. The take-home point
seemed to be about the opportunities and risks for attaining social connection
and belonging via the internet for lonely and isolated youth (or adults). Are these
back alleys and hidden spaces of the internet a good thing or a bad thing (or
both at the same time)? And “Is the world
really like this?”
No comments:
Post a Comment