Fake Famous

Fake Famous_720p(480P)

source: Fake Famous

I found this documentary very informative and interesting. I loved following the 3 actors and seeing how they handled the different situations, I also enjoyed learning more about the industry from the professionals that they interviewed. A must see for anyone who uses social media.

This show is about fake influencers but is this show itself fake? Is there a curtain hiding those pulling back other people's curtains? Let's see. First, it's set in LA. What's more fake than LA? Unless they've cleaned it up in the past twenty years since I was last there, it's one of the worst urban junkyards in the US. Every time I see a shot of gromman's and the walk of stars I cringe because melrose, la brea, hollywood blvd is one of the ugliest urban areas anywhere. It's marketing that keeps bringing the tourists back, and the tourists help market the area by never taking selfies of the way it actually looks. Never a shot of the naked homeless person sprawled out on the sidewalk. Or, all the creepy street people hawking stuff to tourists. And though most people equate hollywood with the entertainment industry, there are probably more productions in canada, and particularly toronto and BC than in california. So the premise of the show is supposed to be a social experiment to see if they can take 3 ordinary people and make them famous on social media. Okay, not really a unique idea because hollywood has been doing that for almost 100 years. But, you know right off, that they can do it, right. Because if they take 3 ordinary slubs and those people work really, really, hard and don't succeed, then this tv show is a flop. But, the producers are smart and they don't go over the top. I mean, in the end, they have 1 out of 3 and it's as if they scripted it that way. And everyone of their reality stars are walking cliche's. One guy won't compromise his values, so he's gone, Another is conflicted with the attention and the negativity, so he's gone. And 3 is the young hot chick, who's okay with it because "they work so hard", so she's the one that zooms to the front. So, what's real, or not and who are they to judge? I mean, the show ends on a moral message about how there's more to life than your phone or social media, like a pandemic and protesting in the streets about inequality as if those life issues are never highly manipulated. Gimme a break. Still, I thought the show was highly entertaining. The genius of google, and facebook and instagram is not what they do on the web but how everything is monetized on the backend, which people rarely see. And that it's being manipulated by all these other obscure and 'unknown' people with their web companies is even more funny and also scary. It's a bit frightening because of all the money involved. What kind of impact that would have on the economy if everyone suddenly woke up?

"Fake Famous" (2021 release; 87 min.) is a non-fiction documentary about "famous influencers". As the movie opens, a voice over reminds us that back in the day, when young people are asked what they want to become when grown up, the top responses typically were doctors, lawyers, and the like. Today the top response apparently is "influencer". The film makers decide to run an experiment: pick 3 random people with very few followers, and turn each of them into a famous influencer. From a pool of thousands of applicants, Dominique (a/k/a "Dom"), Chris and Wylie are chosen. To get started, the film makers purchase fake followers (7500 for $119) for each of them... At this point we are 10 min. into the film. Couple of comments: this is the directing debut of writer Nick Bilton, who has followed the tech industry for the New York Times, Vanity, and other platforms. The idea of a social experiment is as simple as it is brilliant AND entertaining. Bilton is savvy enough to know what angels to look for in the world of Instagram fame. For someone like me, who cares nothing about being on social media whatsoever, it is a fascinating look behind the curtains. So much fakeness and pretending, all for the sake of getting likes and comments. The idea that you can buy followers and likes and comments is simply astounding to me. We are told that even Kim Kardashian, queen of Instagram with 150+ million followers, relies on tens of millions of fake followers (bots). The very best of this documentary comes in the last 15 min. when it becomes clear what becomes of the three random picks to become a "famous influencer", and, equally fascinating, the unexpected impact of COVID-19 on "famous influencers". Bottom line: I ended up enjoying this documentary far more than I had expected. And frankly it exposes Instagram fame for what it really is (hint: look at the documentary's title). "Fake Famous" recently premiered on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming platforms. Regardless of whether you yourself are on social media or not, if you have any interest in or curiosity about what really goes on in the Instagram fame universe, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Interesting documentary that let you see the fake world many of these sad people pretend to enjoy, but as sad as they are, I feel sorry for the millions of followers whose dreams are to become like them. What a sad, sad world people who inhabit social media live in. Dominique you should see more Merry Streep, your comment was wrong, you will benefit a lot if you do like her

...if this isn't the premise for a major network reality competition show within a year. The Next Top Star Influencer hosted by Nick Cannon. I fear for all of us.

OMG, what a useless program. It won't make any difference. The hundreds of millions that use the social media will not stop. Its all just bad and it will never get any better.

Was much better than I anticipated. Yes, it's obvious that most of the 'famous' celebs are famous for just being famous, they're publicity hounds, they prostitute themselves, they're just sad, etc. But, who knew you could buy fake accounts, fake 'likes,' have bots that raise your profile? If you did, more power to you, but this was eye-opening to me.

Ever wonder if Instagram Reality isn't really, in fact, reality? If all of the houses and Rolls Royces and Bentleys are just rentals? Or that social media is infested with bots, fakes, purchased likes, and vapid people? Well this documentary lets you know that it SURPRISE it's mostly probably fake! The film is well shot but honestly a waste of an hour and a half. The "social experiment" is completely predictable and uninteresting. The "experts" presented aren't really such and just come across as buddies of the director. It would have been far more interesting to include actual experts on a field such as human psychology and explore why this phenomenon occurs, or follow and expose purported stars, rather than building up one. Again. SURPRISE! You can spend a few bucks, get some bots, and very marginally advance your acting/modeling career. Just not that interesting in the end.