Despite the long-term presence of Letterboxd as a film log diary for film enthusiasts, more recent popularity has arguably brought about a rise of performative behaviour through trend-hopping individuals. Let’s talk about it.

If you are not yet aware, Letterboxd is an app for film fanatics involving the public sharing of their ratings and thoughts with reviews much more meaningful than, ‘I love this because Miles Teller is in it,’ which is very valid (seriously, go watch Top Gun: Maverick)… but is that all you got from the two-hour-long movie?

Seriously, what used to be a search for true connection with others is blurring into a competitive ultimate goal to gain a superficial following.

Upon writing this, I have gone on a deep doomscroll through various social media, watching users (though truly more like stalking), publicise their profiles with caption descriptions stating ‘#follow4follow?’ Seriously, what used to be a search for true connection with others is blurring into a competitive ultimate goal to gain a superficial following.

It really makes me wonder if people are watching and picking movies that they enjoyed to their core, or simply because connecting with others through their most liked films places them on a higher pedestal than those without popularised movies?

Controversial, but my subjective opinion nonetheless, I can think of two movies that, although exceptionally good, a very big portion of these so-called Performative Users have within their Top 4 Movie Picks. A choice that is very likely, laid in how much engagement their screenshot posted on TikTok would get if The Notebook or Interstellar were one of their chosen four.

Do not pick a film that is unknown to you if you cannot engage in a deep conversation on the importance of ‘Stay’ or the heart-string pulling quote, ‘Today I am the age you were when you left’ from a movie you would not recognise is Interstellar simply because you never truly watched it.

In this whole rant, I am simply hoping to emphasise the undermining damage of living through performance. To encourage users to stop projecting what is untrue and unauthentic to them. Living in such modernised times makes being influenced by others almost unavoidable, and the very same influencers so happen to have reached the Letterboxd community.

To encourage users to stop projecting what is untrue and unauthentic to them.

You may counter that popular movies are popular because they are deservedly well-loved, and I am truly more than aware, believe me. 

However, using personal experience, the pressure of influence is severely underestimated. The pulsating desire to enjoy something as much so many others have, has a raging power to drive a rating from three-and-a-half to four or five stars simply because of that influence. What then is the point of an app that offers reviews and ratings if they are based on an influential train that is not allowed to fluctuate with honest, unpopular opinions?

The majority of trends are detached acts of temporary pretence to fit in, and I believe Letterboxd fell victim to one of them. 

Perhaps some believe that the app should be restricted to proven Cinephiles. That Letterboxd programmers should introduce quizzes for every movie you log, not only to encourage interaction and memory stimulation, but it would also prove a true engagement with the art of film, slacking off what would be users who were never engaging with film in the first place. This view, however, is elitist, and it completely ignores the accessibility fight that is needed within the film industry.

A passion for movies is not a hidden invite-only niche, but we must still ask if it was ever your true hobby, if the app has fallen dusty in your app gallery along with its now declining social media popularity?

Years of carefully curated movie logs by dedicated users have fallen into the shadows. A shift falling at the lap of users who mind more the receiving from their short-attention span posts, than what they are actually giving back to the Letterboxd platform community.

Pretentiousness abolished, though, there is a certain craft, a certain kind of individualism in choices not reflected by others but solely by you, that I think is one of the serving purposes of Letterboxd.

The rise in acknowledgement of this app for film buffs has brought so many opportunities.

And this, I believe, can only truly be embodied through words woven by in-depth thoughts from your mind only. There is no requirement for technical reviews on a film’s cinematography, but there is an exciting depth to a person only found when you can read thoughts, they willingly share without a care of how they are perceived.

As always, there is positivity to popularity even if it falls into the hands of performative behaviour. The rise in acknowledgement of this app for film buffs has brought so many opportunities. Light has been shed towards film creations that may otherwise not have had the chance to be seen. Underground Indie films without the demanded perfect cast of well-known actors have a greater chance of becoming known. Cinemas and theatres become more utilised, and physical media is rapidly rising in a society that is becoming majorly media streamlined.

Finally, it is notable that being one of Letterboxd’s users places you on the radar of being ‘performative,’ but if it is authentically you and a passion for film, however small, let the world be entertained by your performance.

P.S. Normalise asking for someone’s Letterboxd shamelessly.

 

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