Aspirational Essay

Aspirational

Living in a society where modern technology and social media control our lives, we often forget to enjoy the company instead of “instagramming” it. Catching up with friends, or even grandma is no longer necessary, you can get the comfort of knowing what Jessica is up to, in the comfort of your own bed. Social media has become an essential in our everyday life, so much that even when you’re being social, you’re also on your phone being “social” on Facebook.  The app Snapchat truly paved the way for the sensation called selfies in the social media world. Snapping a picture of your self has never been more common or easy. Any one anywhere can take a selfie, that’s the beauty of selfies.

Whilst lighting some humor on the topic of this cultural trend, director Matthew Frost and actress Kirsten Dunst perfectly illustrates the awkward situation that occurs when taking selfies. In the short film “Aspirational” from 2014, Dunst is seen walking down the street talking on the phone.

While she’s waiting for her Uber^[1], two young girls stop their car in front of the actress.

Without saying much they start taking selfies with Dunst, without her permission. Throughout the scene Kirsten Dunst seems very uncomfortable and her facial expressions shows displeasure. Frost pulls focus on the marvel that is taking selfies, without offending or creating much debate. He created a short story with both wittiness and a great message. Without mocking our obsessed tendencies with social media, the film was able to critique and express our slowly shrinking communication skills.

Not only has the phenomenon of selfies crossed over to the younger generation, but also the older. Everybody can take selfies, and if you’re good at it. You can sell books filled with selfies of yourself, like the so called “selfie queen” Kim Kardashian. Selfies allows you to control the way you want others to perceive your physical attraction. That can be a good thing, and a bad. We live in a society where we constantly have our phones on us, and every minute that we can spend scrolling through Instagram, looking at beautiful people we compare ourselves with what we see on a screen. Everyone and their mother own a smart phone. Even young children have an iPhone or Android. Young boys and girls see these photos, and they see the lives of people that are on social media, and this does affect them in a negative way.

Off course there are good things about selfies. In the article The rise and rise of the 'selfie', Bimi Adewunmi describes the things she loves about selfies. One of her arguments is that “Selfies offer a modicum of control in a snap-happy era…”, which I one hundred percent agree on. Capturing a moment has never been easier, but forgetting to enjoy it is what’s makes selfies controversial. Controlling every inch of your social media account is great, getting to showcase yourself gives you the freedom of telling other people how to perceive you.