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Ingrid Goes West Film Analysis

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What genre does the film fall under?
Matt Spicer’s first feature-length film, Ingrid Goes West (2017), falls under the genre of satire comedy. Oftentimes social media is put under scrutiny; however, Ingrid Goes West give us a different perspective. The film focuses on exploring human psyche when using social media, instead of the social media app itself. According to LeBouf, satire as a genre can implicitly point out the deficiencies in certain human behaviors and social issues (2007). Specifically, the film mocks and exploits the mechanism of Instagram culture as well as the experiences of Instagram users and influencers that’s embodied through the character of Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) and Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). The film was …show more content…

Ingrid Thorburn is the caricature of an obsessive stalker who copies literally every aspect of her idol’s life. While, Taylor Sloane is the caricature of every Instagram influencer with her perfectly captioned faux boho life online. The reduction technique can be seen in Ingrid’s characterization. She was made to look devalued due to the exaggerated portrayal of her mental instability throughout the film. Irony, specifically dramatic irony, is utilize well in the film. As the audience, we all know too well that Ingrid-Taylor friendship was doomed from the start as it’s built on lies. But, Ingrid is in constant denial and Taylor is oblivious to Ingrid’s schemes. However, the depth of how it satirizes Instagram was questioned by a critic. As Laurier (2016) pointed out, the film is a too narrow critique of the implications of Instagram and oblivious to the political weaponization of social media. According to her, “Spicer does not delve deeply into the implications of the conformism and emptiness (of Instagram) he refers to—his or anyone else’s”. Though she made a compelling point, I disagree with her. The point of the film is not what Instagram does to society as part of a political agenda. The film does delve deeply into implications of conformism, not just how she might’ve foresee. The film shows the danger of hollow interactions and aimless scrolling that might result to anxiety and depression because of social

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