On Thursday morning, March 13th at the Pavlos Zannas theater, the audience of the 27th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival had the opportunity to attend a fascinating masterclass, delivered by the remarkable filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield, this year’s distinguished guest. The discussion was held on the occasion of the creator’s new documentary series Social Studies (2024), an innovative social experiment exploring the impact of social media on the first generation of digital natives, today’s adolescents. Lauren Greenfield spoke about her new project, its relation to her previous works, as well as her path and her progress as an artist. The topics mentioned in the masterclass included the contemporary (and globalized) aspects of the American Dream, the role of social media in the spread of capitalism, and the impact of the new standards of happiness and success on people of different race, age and social groups.
Dimitris Kerkinos, the Festival’s Head of Tributes, initially welcomed the audience and Lauren Greenfield: “We are delighted to be presenting a masterclass by Lauren Greenfield. Lauren is a multilayered artistic figure, she is a photographer, a visual artist and a documentary filmmaker. Over the next few days, we’ll have the opportunity to watch her new five-episode series, titled Social Studies. Simultaneously, we will be hosting a small exhibition showcasing her photographs at the foyer of the Stavros Tornes and John Cassavetes theaters. Today, Ms. Greenfield will talk about her career in the film industry. Her work depicts the contemporary era, addressing the parameters molding the new generation,” Dimitris Kerkinos stated. Immediately afterwards, Lauren Greenfield took the floor, welcoming the audience and thanking the Festival: “I am very excited to be here with you in person. I was also invited to attend the Festival in 2020, but the outbreak of the pandemic happened and everything was cancelled. So, I was very excited to be invited again this year, and to have the opportunity to attend this amazing Festival and visit this beautiful city thanks to my new series.”
Lauren Greenfield continued on, providing a brief account of her long career. “I started my career as an intern at National Geographic. My first grand tribute for the magazine was about a Mayan village in Chiapas, Mexico, where my mother conducted intercultural research over five decades. While I was there, I realized that I didn’t know exactly why I wanted to tell this story, and that I also lacked the necessary understanding and the access to express something substantial about what I encountered. In truth, I felt this story was not mine to share. I started reflecting on the youth in Los Angeles, where I grew up. In the place where the culture of youth has ended up being exported all over the world through Hollywood. Then I realized that perhaps it was worth studying it in the same manner that anthropologists and photojournalists usually study foreign cultures, with the same severity. As such, I returned to my homeland, and began capturing through the camera lens the rituals of teenage life,” she explained.
The filmmaker then touched upon the topics that have shaped her work over the years: “Reflecting on my artistic journey, I realize that in a way I have walked down the path of multiple career trajectories: of the documentary field, through which you might have heard of me, of the photography field, representing my roots are and the origin of most of my films, as well as the path of a commercial filmmaker and co-founder of a film production company. When I was starting out, the internet and cell phones didn’t exist, which seems unthinkable. Even if my work has changed throughout the years, the content and the intention remain unchanged. I am passionate about capturing and deconstructing the culture of the masses. I was always fascinated by cultural values, identity, and rituals. Today, I wished to show that despite the different platforms I was engaged with, my artistic trajectory was continuous, featuring expressions in multiple mediums. I will present my work to you through the lens of this artistic journey and the development of my unique voice. I’d like to note that when I refer to ‘Social Studies,’ I’m not only speaking about my series, but rather about a glimpse into the world, a depiction of society and culture through the lens of sociology,” the acclaimed American filmmaker analyzed.
Following that, Lauren Greenfield displayed snippets from her films Kids+Money, Generation Wealth, The Queen of Versailles, and The Kingmaker, Imelda Marcos, while referring to the shift in the values that make up the notorious American Dream, emphasizing this transition and the Protestant ethic, which is characterized by hard work, discipline, austerity, bling culture, the quest for achieving notoriety, and narcissism: “When I told the kids I was photographing for Kids + Money that I was crafting a story about growing up in Los Angeles, they remarked: ‘You should take pictures of the money. It is the only thing that matters.’ Going forward, I continued exploring the issue of wealth and all that it entails, and realized that my long-term project concerned not only Los Angeles and the kids, but also the new version of the American Dream. In reality, it was about the desire to become rich, a desire transcending social class, race, geographic locations. As social mobility, which was the heart of the American Dream, started dwindling, this idea of ‘rising to great wealth’ became almost unreachable. In the past, the standard of comparison was our neighbors. There was even a famous series and phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses,” which signified exactly that; striving to maintain a similar quality of life to those living alongside you. However, as luxury started overwhelming our televisions screens, intruding on the daily lives of mundane people, everyone started comparing themselves to what they saw on-screen. As such, ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ turned into ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians,’” she noted.
The filmmaker then referred to her book Girl Culture, while showcasing excerpts from the films Thin, and Fashion Show, in which she addresses the female identity and how the body became the primary expression of identity for young girls: “I started dwelling on the most tragic consequence of capitalism: the commodification of people. Girls learn from a young age that their worth comes from their body. This idea comes with their early sexualization. They construe their identity, borrowing pieces from pop culture, and using them to forge their ego. This crisis around their self-worth directly leads to self-destructing behaviors. The American Dream was once the story of self-made success through hard work. Now, this dream has been replaced by that of imaginary eternal beauty, which reaches an unhealthy level of addiction,” she said, while simultaneously explaining that this particular project served as a pretext for her to reexamine both her personal life, and her familial one: “My work gradually became a reflection, forcing me to confront my own obsessions,” she commented.
Wrapping up her presentation, Lauren Greenfield mentioned her latest project, titled Social Studies, the first documentary series in her career, which will be released in Greece on March 19th by Disney+. “I followed a group of adolescents so as to delve deeper into how they are influenced by social media. We used technology to download the contents of their social media in real time. Having the kids’ stories as the starting point, I explored subjects I had already researched in the past, as well as new ones. From bullying to the early objectification of one’s sexuality, racism, body image issues, conspiracy theories, and isolation. What differentiates this project from others is that it unfolds entirely from the kids’ perspective. There are no experts, no adults, no scholars. We experience everything through the point of view of the kids facing this reality head on,” the American filmmaker stated.
Next, Lauren Greenfield engaged in dialogue with the audience. When asked what is the best way for someone to approach young people and impress upon them the fact that reality cannot be found in social media, Mrs. Greenfield mentioned that she tried to understand and hear them instead of limiting, or criticizing them: “One of the things I realized while filming the series was that I had to resist exercising any kind of critique towards the new generation. Initially, I saw it almost as a drug addiction – what is the point of getting mad at a junkie because of their addiction? Social media are designed to do exactly that. It’s unfair to blame young people for falling prey to these circumstances. We must look upon this generation with understanding. The kids’ reactions are completely natural, both in terms of biology, and mental health.” Lauren Greenfield concluded her statement, pointing out something quite absurd: “Despite their widespread use, nearly all of the youngsters I spoke to said they would prefer a world without social media. It’s up to us to demand a different approach from schools, tech companies, politicians, regulatory structures and institutions.”
