By Alex Silverman
Technology and social media are integral to our daily lives. Have you ever scrolled through your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other social media feeds and seen people posting about their experiences, successes, or just plain attempts to show off? You may have experienced certain feelings after witnessing these things such as joy, sadness, or even anger. In the case of the short student film Perfectly Imperfect, directed by Millie Williams, Mallory Henderson and Tiana Hicks, the story is focused on how these experiences can affect lives.
The thing that makes this story special is that it tackles an issue that, in this author’s opinion, is not talked about enough. In Perfectly Imperfect, a young girl gets a new phone and downloads Instagram. After spending a lot of time scrolling through her feed and looking at other people’s posts, she starts to develop feelings of depression and anger that affect her work in school, her ability to play sports, and her relationship with her family. All because she started comparing herself to other people she did not know. It isn’t until she decides to put down the phone that everything changes.
This film succeeds for a few reasons. The story explores the impact that social media can have on people, an issue that’s not talked about as much as it should be. Second, the film targets the right demographic, that is youth that are the same age as the ones presented in this short film that can be heavily influenced by technology and social media. Finally, this story can relate to anyone who has or is going through exactly what this film is focused on because everyone has been affected by social media one way or another.
I would give this film 4 out of 5 stars.
Alex is a recent graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a major in Comedic Writing & Performance and a minor in Writing for Television. Apart from his work as part of the Planet Classroom Film Selection team at CMRubinWorld, he served as a screening panelist intern for the International Children’s Media Center, a sketch writer, and an on-set production assistant at the 61st Annual Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards.
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