Blog Post 3 - Madison Clark

 The film, Eighth Grade, is exemplary in that it portrays the anxieties that Kayla faces as a tween in the age of digital culture. Kayla is wholly immersed in the era of digitalization as she is an avid social media user and video blogger who speaks about her daily interactions and relationship issues. While she is primarily unaware of how much of an impact social media can create regarding values, norms and standards, it is apparent to the audience that it can negatively affect individuals. This is evident through the fact that Kayla maintains two different identities, one that she portrays online and one that emerges in social situations, mostly when surrounded by her classmates. Her authentic self is seen when she creates video blogs and by using social media platforms to express herself, however, during in-person situations, she masks her true identity and tends to societal norms by attempting to relate to her peers. Through this, we can infer that Kayla has some personal insecurities that cause her to have anxiety. Eighth Grade is a film that many tweens and teens, and even adults, can relate to. Both social media and social norms instill a large amount of pressure on society and our communities, thus we often feel obligated to conform to such standards to "fit in".