Do you still remember those days when in order to meet new people you have to go to social events, join some kind of activities or sports so you can connect with others? When thinking about the internet was merely about browsing for some information but social media was a mere profile where you can put your self out and expose your real life out of it? Maybe if you are 25 yo or under this might sound like a plot of any movie rather than a real time. But for those who are not consider millennials, that was a reality. A life before and after social media. When Facebook started as a window to introduce yourself int a networking environment that will aloud you to connect with people all around the country and now the globe. Then the smartphones came to the picture giving anyone the opportunity to be online anytime, anywhere. Without realizing that this change in anyone's lifestyle will be a turn of events that will transform the lives of generations to come, such as events like the TV, production manufacturing, any way of transportation, and more that had defined human history and all kinds of culture. But is it working for good or this change is messing with our society and culture more than is helping? In terms of business, and technology is a win, with lots of benefits that make your life easier but anything has side effects and the fact that our lives are now pending and all packed in a phone has turn us into a living walking box, unable to see beyond what is happening on our phones. Traveling has become just an excuse to get pictures and videos that will prove we been around the world and drop them around social media so anyone can see us. And because the act that now anyone can have a glimpse of our lives, we live for it. Social media is our way to validate our lives and the ticket that will show us how to live it.
Now days we spend so much time in our phones, looking at others lives that we forget to live our own. We want what we see and we fight for it, but how much is it real and what part is elaborated by a sum of things that they want you to see. Like having your own reality show. And who doesn't like to have their 5 minutes of glory and stardom? That's exactly the reason why we chose an indie film that had a very limited exhibition so might missed it but now is available on Hulu. "Ingrid goes West" (2017), A dark comedy, that sometimes will make you feel so uncomfortable because it's point is so real that is scary but honest and true. The story centers in Ingrid, our main character, among just a few others, that bring a more intimate feeling to the story, a girl that we meet when having a nervous break down, because her online friend didn't invite her to her wedding. Setting up things about the new kind of relationships in this post social media era. Ingrid is a lonely girl, she is socially awkward and with a lot of emotional problems that will only explode once the only friend she though she had is not including her into her life. But how could you keep up with all these supposed friendships online with people you have never met but at the same time they know everything about you thanks to social media. So after an incident at the wedding, Ingrid is taken to the psychiatric for evaluation and therapy but she is just a girl with no friends, no social life, unable to connect with people because she is too weird for the social standards. So how can she make friends if she has nothing to offer to others to be drawn to her life? That's why she prefer to spend her time looking at social media apps and observe and like the lives of others. And because she has no life, no friends and nothing else to do, she can become obsessive about it. Because she wants to be accepted and find that friend that will make her have a life of her own.
Reason why she moves to the west coast once she finds a new girl to be obsessed with. After checking all her social media, she represents everything that she is looking for. A perfect life. Married with a great guy, with a dream job and living the Californian dream, only makes Ingrid to be desperate her friend and so she starts to contact her online. But Ingrid has no other life than the one she is pursuing for, so sooner that we can expect she is buying a ticket to this new life where she dresses up like this new girl, and starts visiting the same places she keeps posting and one unexpected day she finally ran into her, just giving her the opportunity to follow her to her place and start an intense watch of her routine and life style to find a way to fit in it. And when she decides to steal her dog just to make contact with her and her husband as an opportunity to bring the dog back and as a way to thank her, they invite her to her house, cook dinner for her and open their lives to this friendly stranger that just moved to town and saved their dog's life. And everything starts going according her plan, she offers to help them at any opportunity just to spend more time with them while keeps buying a life that doesn't belong to her but serves as a role model based on her new friends preferences. The young couple seem to like her and soon Ingrid has a new girlfriend, one that after one adventure together spending the whole day bounding and hanging, drinking and smoking, tells her that she likes her and she is he best new friend. Something that Ingrid will take very serious and close to her heart. Her first friend and finally a life that she can also post on social media, just like everybody else.
But who are all these people that Ingrid now is hanging with and that represent her ideal of a life? Well, first of all it's Taylor, the new "it" girl, that after an article in a magazine where she talks about her life as a millennial, and connecting with all sorts of people via her social media accounts where she keeps posting recommendations of places to visit, food to eat, art to admire, parties to go, has become popular and now a target for Ingrid's obsession. And performed with charm and a fresh air of coolness by actress Elizabeth Olsen, representing any girl in her twenties these days, she just wants to have an amazing life, and make lots of friends from everywhere and with all kinds of backgrounds. She wants to feel like an inspiration and that her life has some sort of meaning by doing the right things, but is it really the right thing? or is it more of a search for validation served in what others opinions and judgement? For now she seems ok with it and proud to be the new cool girl. And her husband, Ezra, a young artist that seems to adore Taylor and after having the perfect wedding and relationship, just represent this idea of a partnership for the cool era where both are two independent and opinionated individuals willing to compromise and be together, but does it really exist such thing as the prefect couple or relationship? Should it be supposed to have ups and downs, fights and disagreements? Well it seems like they are two very different people once you break the first layer, because while she craves for social media attention, he doesn't even have a profile because he believes in privacy and like to keep his life and matters private from the public eye. And things just keep escalating once her brother Nicky shows up. He is just a train wreck. Partying here and there and crashing with family and friends with needed just taking advantage of the situation while keeps bragging for attention with his stories of adventures and sexual encounters because who can say no to a sexy young guy, right? And while his sister applauds every single move he does, Ezra can't be more in a different page and always offended by his comments, unable to do anything because he doesn't have his wife backup.
That's what happen when real people start to hang in real time and you get to know someone out of their social media. They are as human as you and anyone else. Those perfect pictures are no more than a shoot of a second that was or could be but totally manipulated to show and prove something far from what really is, because if your life is so perfect, why would you need to show it off? There is no need to prove anything. And soon Ingrid will realize that all the things she saw and believed from her new friends are just a masquerade.Taylor is just another girl, just like her, that couldn't fit socially until she followed the book and become accepted and recognize, but was as lonely as Ingrid, desperate to make friends and feel validated away from her insecurities. And her husband, Ezra, is an alcoholic, that feels frustrated because his art is as fake as his life and his marriage, and he is aware of it so prefers to go along with the game rather than face his reality that he evades while drinking. And the young brother, Nicky, is a loser than takes advantage of his perfect body and good looking presence, to hustle himself around, as has zero culture or intention to learn or work hard to achieve his dreams, because he feels entitled to deserve the best just for being young and handsome and an asshole. Sadly Ingrid gets trap in all their mess and even when they can see her lies and reject her, she still wants to be around them, why? because she has no one, and it's better to live a fantasy, not matter how close to a nightmare could be, always would feel better than the feeling of being ignored, be nobody. Fortunately there is Dan, her Landlord, a young guy that rents the place to her and likes her, but she has to go through all this craziness to realize that and notice him, because she was looking for a friend, the best friend, not a boyfriend, but he offers that feeling of love and acceptance she desperately needs and she might finally find it just in a different yet more healthy way, only thing you have to do is look up, way from your phone and realize that life is happening around you and what you are looking for might be closer than you think but you been too busy to notice it, so next time you spend hours on your phone, better give a try to life to find you and have real adventures, no selfies or filters involved.
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