Short film “The Realest Real” by director Carrie Brownstein makes a smart satire on the social media attitudes and the digital era. U.S. critics thought the movie was a genius portray of today’s contradictions between the digital and the real world.
The 7-minute long film parodies the social media era followers, the cloud, and the favorite Mom as an affectional term getting all too “really real,” via a creepy establishment called the Institute of the Real that takes the hyperbolic things people say online to extremes.
The short shows Abby (future “Spiderman: Homecoming” star Laura Harrier) adopted by Natasha Lynne (Nicky Nichols in Orange is the New Black) after she wrote “Mom” in one of her Instagram photos.
The meeting was set up by the shady company believing what makes two people connect in the digital world should work the same in the real reality. Needless to say, the satire follows the unlikely pair as they found they are not quite as compatible as they expected.
Joining Laura Harrier and Natasha Lyne in the cast is Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon alongside Maherhsala Ali (Cottonmouth in Netflix’s Luke Cage and Rowan Blanchard.
The film was written and directed by Brownstein
Brownstein is both one of the writers of Emmy-winner comedy TV series Portlandia, and the lead guitarist and singer of female American rock band Sleater-Kinney. Kenzo Framework is the executive producer, while the film premiered during the opening of KENZO’s New York Fashion Week and is now available on YouTube.
Brownstein and Kenzo made the film for the fashion show, with now inclination to give a formal message. Director says she only wanted to exaggerate a mundane idea, not to finger wagon the social media era.
The producers billed the film as a “humorous exploration of the fickle and instant world of the Internet.” It also shows how social medias may often blur the lines between ordinary and famous. This should sound familiar to anyone who feels personally involved with a celebrity because he or she writes on the star’s post.
“Life’s one long application,” remembers Mahershala Ali as the head of the Institution of the Real.
Behind him, a massive wall of papers containing Abby’s posts, emails, tweets and such she’s made in her life. A physical cloud that exposes her – and the rest of the people – to the world. Or at least to anyone who cares enough and believes that kind of things may define a person.
Source: Wired