Blog Post #3 - Anxiety about the Interactivity of New Digital Media in 'Eighth Grade'

The movie Eighth Grade written and directed by Bo Burnham, is a comedy film that does a fantastic job of capturing the ways that a preteen initially experiences pressure, insecurity, and anxiety about various elements of growing up. Elsie Fisher's portrayal of Kayla, the movie's lead protagonist, demonstrates the anxiety associated with the interactive nature of today's digital media in a number of different ways. One of the main examples of this is found in Kayla's YouTube videos. Kayla would force herself to create YouTube videos on a regular basis like some of the popular girls because she thought it was cool to do so. While viewing the movie, you could feel Kayla's tense and uneasy energy every time she recorded a YouTube video, forcing a smile and positive energy. Her mood would quickly return to low energy and a straight face as the camera was turned off. There were also occasions when she would compare the number of views and likes she was receiving for her own videos with those of other people she knew who were receiving far larger numbers. Technological determinism is relevant in this film. Technology acting as an outside force that influences and transforms society is known as technological determinism. Social media platforms such as Instagram, or YouTube are examples of how this can have a negative impact on people's self-esteem. This is similar to how Kayla, in this instance, feels embarrassed, anxious, and insecure about herself in her YouTube videos when comparing herself to others who appear to be self-assured and attract a lot of attention. With a whole new range of social issues to worry about, technological determinism has radically changed the function of all teenagers' development in contemporary culture, as Kayla is a prime example.

The video in the link below demonstrates how Kayla feels constantly anxious. She says "I'm really like, nervous all the time, like I could be doing nothing and I'm just nervous." The clip also connects what I described about how you can hear and see her discomfort while she creates these videos, which has caused her to decide to stop. Take note of the prolonged silences, her difficulty in expressing her ideas, her reluctance to reveal too much of her innermost feelings, as well as her expressions on her face.

Kayla's YouTube Video

- Crisilla

Comments

  1. Max MerovitzOctober 20, 2022 at 9:34 AM

    Hey,

    I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week. I do agree with you that technological determinism has been an extremely negative thing for our younger generations and majority of children engulfed within the world of social media. I believe that the movie Eight Grade perfectly exemplified the issues that many children face and yet most of the time parents fail to notice that this is going on within their home. It is important for social media to be depicted in a different light and for our younger generations to understand that not everything seen online is accurate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PoojaOctober 20, 2022 at 12:43 PM

    Hi,

    You make excellent points on how Technological Determinism has affected Kayla’s life. I believe that Kayla is an excellent example of how many social media platforms and technologies can make people feel, especially in the way that it has the ability to change our perception of ourselves and the world around us. Many begin to feel as though what is seen in media is the truth and fail to live in reality because of the pressures and anxieties that arise from technology use.

    Can you think of a time when you realized social media had begun to alter your own reality?

    Thanks,

    Pooja S.

    ReplyDelete

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