The American Meme - A documentary about social media and influencers

For several days it's available on Netflix The American Meme: a new documentary focused on social media influencers and what it means to be famous in a digital world. The film, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last April and then purchased from the streaming platform after the excellent reviews obtained, follows celebrities such as Paris Hilton Josh "the Fat Jew" Ostrovsky, the star of Vine Brittany Furlan and Kirill "the Slut Whisperer" Bichutsky (but there are also cameos by Emily Ratajkowski, DJ Khaled and Hailey Baldwin) as they reflect on nature volatile social media fame, what it means to be your own brand, how complicated it is to build virtual empires and what happens when your project fails. 

Through each of these characters, frames, after frames, the project directed by Bert Marcus analyzes this form of "popularity" from its origins, retracing the history of some of the most famous VIPs created by the web with episodes narrating by the protagonists themselves. Between amusing anecdotes and more serious reflections, let us retrace, for example, the steps and the many memes that have transformed the sexy tape of Miss Hilton or Kim Kardashian into a billionaire empire; but we also find out how Emrata from "the model of Blurred Lines" has succeeded, with hits of media "branding", to become a fashion icon and feminist champion. She says it herself:

"There's no more privacy, the photos are not just for yourself anymore ... it's the feminism of the fourth wave."

Is our online narcissism the definitive viaticum of a successful career? For many yes, certainly for Furlan that with Vine and, as you admit, "re-elaborating ad hoc some images of pregnant Beyoncè" has invented a work that, continues to do today. Her father (who appears in the documentary) is amazed at how, without money or special permits, she realized her project. 

Among all the issues discussed, as can be understood from the title of the documentary, the importance of the meme cannot be missing. Can this device contribute to the popularity of a person? Definitely yes, at least in the social media era. The meme is now the artistic expression of a digital native generation that uses it to express its opinions through ironic posts on social networks. As in an interview, Maisie Post, author of the show a couple of years ago What Do You Meme?, "People prefer to repost a meme that affirms their opinions, rather than reading and reposting a long text on the same topic".

Enjoy new Netflix's work.