Eighth Grade

Eighth Grade - Growing Up in the Digital Era

"Hey! It's Kayla, back with another video!"

 How does technology affect us? How does, more specifically, social media affect the way kids nowadays grow up? How does this unrestrained exposure affect us? This is what this film is about. Eighth Grade is the first film I have seen that deals with issues faced by teenagers nowadays in a mature way, without any condescendence or patronization. Bo Burnham deals with the issues that cause so much anxiety and suffering to modern teens in a very humane, understanding and moving way - mostly because the anxieties of being a professional performer and the anxieties felt by teenagers today are almost identical. This is one of the best written and most refreshing films of the year and it's the film that we needed at this moment with such misunderstandings between generations. This film is a perfect portrayal of what it is to grow up in this digital era.

 In this film, we follow the life of an introverted teenage girl, Kayla Day - played by Elsie Fisher, in one of the best performances of the year - as she goes on her last week of eighth grade. We see her as she goes through her daily struggles in school, social media, and life. We go through a rollercoaster of emotions throughout this hour and a half film. This is mostly because of the amazing performance of Elsie Fisher. Her acting is so nuanced and presents so much emotional depth that it's so incredible that an actress of her age is able to give such a performance. She elevates every scene to a whole new level, with such an impressive and authentic performance. I am not afraid to predict that she'll be one of the most important young actresses of the near future and I hope she has a very successful career.

 We are introduced to Kayla via her videos - it's the first thing we see. She makes videos for YouTube that hardly anyone ever watches (with an average of around 6 viewers per video). However, she continues to make these videos because she feels the need to do them. In her videos, Kayla gives tips and advices to her viewers. These advices are very interesting because they are incredibly naïve yet very thought-provoking, bringing a very original view of life, with such thematics as: "How to be yourself?", "How to put yourself out there?", or "How to be confident?". These videos are incredibly interesting and very funny, not only for their simplicity but because, through that simplicity, they make you think, ending up being very deep and philosophical.

 These videos are the key to understanding this film and should be paid very close attention - which is one of the most brilliant aspects of Bo Burnham's amazing screenplay. One of the most interesting things Bo Burnham said in an interview was that he decided to cast Elsie Fisher because, unlike all the other actors, who acted like confident kids trying to be introverted, Fisher acted like an introverted kid trying to be confident. And that is exactly how I feel as an introverted person. I am always trying to act with confidence (most of the times, failing miserably) And Elsie and Bo perfectly bring that to the screen, which made Kayla one of the most relatable film characters of all time.

 Another thing is, as Kayla says in her first video, that introverts don't feel introverted. "A lot of people, like, call me quiet or shy or whatever, but I'm not quiet",  she says. When she said that, I thought, "Yes! This is exactly it!". Introverts aren't quiet people. Introverts are actually very talkative, we just never get the chance to talk. We are always silenced. And that is why this film is so important. It gives a voice to the people who don't have the confidence in themselves to speak their minds when they want to. And that is what cinema - and art in general - is supposed to do.

 Which leads me to another extremely important aspect of this film. Why does Kayla make these videos? It's because the internet is this extremely amazing thing that gives the opportunity to perform and act confident. As Burnham said in one of his shows, the internet is the market's response to a generation that demanded to perform. Through her YouTube videos, Kayla can say what she thinks and act as if she has her life all figured out. The interesting thing is that these videos act almost like a "self-help". In these videos, she makes a kind of soliloquy where she is actually talking to herself, trying to give herself advices and figure out what is happening to her. It's a performance, where she tries to be confident so that she can be that in real life.

 And what is probably the most central aspect of this film is the feeling of "constant anxiety" brought by social media. "I'm really, like, nervous all the time. Like, I can be doing nothing and I'm just nervous", Kayla says. In social media, there is a constant pressure to present yourself as perfect - pretty, confident, happy. There is a constant performance, be it Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter. There is never a moment of relief or rest - it's a second and artificial life. And to add to this anxiety, there is another dilemma - growing up. This is what makes things so hard. Kayla is growing up and facing changes in her life. Eighth grade is an incredibly hard year for everyone, mostly because it's the year where the greater changes start happening, and changes are always hard - although, as Kayla says in one of her videos, they are always good. In the US, it's also the last year before high school. And so, there are all these pressures from all sides. This aspect is dealt with such moving authenticity and humanism by Bo Burnham. The interesting thing about his directing style is that the entire film feels incredibly and almost frighteningly real. But not like a memory, like Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird. Eighth Grade feels grittier, without any nostalgic aspect to it. It almost feels like a documentary. It's almost like we are seeing something really happening right now - and it IS happening right now.

 One thing I would like to talk about is the character of Kayla's dad - played so well by Josh Hamilton. He is an extremely funny and interesting character. He represents the older generations trying to figure out and understand the younger generations. Throughout the film, he struggles and tries to comprehend Kayla. There is a big barrier between older generations and younger generations, mostly because of the internet. But what is so moving about this character is the support he gives her. He may not understand her completely, but he is very proud of her and supports her. To him, she is the coolest girl in the world.

 In my opinion, this is the most important films I have seen in the past few years about the issues faced by young people nowadays. It is a perfect depiction of the growing pains of teenagers that are growing up in a more and more digital world. It portrays so realistically the traumas and difficulties in being an adolescent. It is so refreshing to see a film so sympathetic to modern teens and such an accurate depiction of what it is to be a teen. Even if you aren't a teen, it will be impossible not to relate to Kayla. Mostly because, after all, teenagers' lives are always difficult, no matter the time period. Teenagers are always rebels without a cause. And we have all been teenagers.