SMITHEREENS!
- maybemaybemail
- Nov 23, 2021
- 2 min read
Smithereens by the lovely Susan Seidelman is a 1982 drama/indie film that takes place in the fading New York City punk scene. It captures the life of a narcissistic young woman, Wren, bleeding her "friends" dry as her means of getting by. Her dream is to become famous. She professes this as she flirts with the lead singer of a popular band in the punk scene, "I just wanna be at a swimming pool, eatin' tacos, and signing autographs, that's all". Eventually, Wren has runs through all her friendships as the people she was manipulating eventually caught on to her exploitative ways. She is left alone walking up the city streets scrambling for anybody she can use to get to LA, where the remnants of the punk scene seems to be heading off to.
Wren, to me, represents this aspiring influencer reaching for any chance at fame they have. The film starts with Wren putting up pictures of herself all around the city. Underneath her photos, "WHO IS THIS?", is written in big black letters. After watching this scene, I could not help but be reminded of today's "influencers". Is Wren not just posting selfies of herself? Trying to become an object of allure without actually contributing anything? Wren wants so desperately to be a part of the New York punk scene without actually adding anything to it. She does not make music, is not a part of any projects, does not make any kind of art, and does not even support punk clubs since she sneaks into them instead of paying admission fees. Don't get me wrong, being an influencer must be a lot of fun. Personally, I love attention so the idea of getting handsomely paid to post pretty pictures of myself and share about my life online does not sound like a miserable job at all. For many, that is the dream job, and understandably so. However, I do wonder whether or not any of these influencers are longing for something more when they become rich and famous simply for posting about themselves. Do they ever feel like Wren?
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