They spend many hours in front of a screen, and social media is an integral part of their lives because they can present a more stylized, “perfect” version of themselves. They acquired digital skills at a young age, are characterized as “tech-savvy” and tend to be flexible in their work.

She is Generation Z also known as buzzers or generation Z, including those who were born between the mid-late 1990s and early 2010s and grew up online. They are addicted to devices where they share the details of their daily lives with other users.

Hollywood Interest

In recent years, the Hollywood industry has been trying to understand Gen Z’s ideology and its ever-evolving online literacy and virtual social culture through new television or cinematic stories.

Hollywood’s latest addition to the Gen Z-focused cinematic universe is Netflix’s black comedy.revenge“. Writer/director Jennifer Kathyn Robinson creates a dark teen drama set in the social setting of a Miami private school.

The unflappable image that young people project onto platforms clashes with harsh reality, where vengeful schemes are concocted to highlight the difference between what is experienced and what is seen on screen. In an attempt to deal with teenage angst, “Do Revenge” ends up coming off as inauthentic, presenting youth with an over-the-top dazzling brilliance.

And while the feminist approach and sexual preferences of the characters can be highlighted, various aspects of adolescence, such as isolation or fear of malicious behavior from others, are not “illuminated”. The depiction of adolescence is rudimentary and is done in the form of observation rather than experience. As BBC reporter Jaihan Busfiha reports, “Most of the media that focuses on our generation tends to miss the point because the people who make the films end up getting bogged down in how they imagine Gen Z behavior. not who it really is. “Do Revenge” is still an idealized take on today’s youth that takes the obvious desire for popularity for granted and focuses on cancellation culture.

The movie was shot in a similar way.Bodies Bodies Bodiesstrikes a delicate balance between empathy and derision, leaning more towards the latter, commenting on a generation that uses terms like “gaslighting”, “trigger” and “upset” in everyday conversation. The film highlights Generation Z interactions, but does not fully explore the Internet-driven climate.

Another film that explores Gen Z’s relationship with social media is the 2022 black comedy Queen Shepard.Not good“. The story follows Dani, a young woman who covets the lifestyle of an influencer, gets caught in a lie about surviving a terrorist attack, but soon has to pay the price for that deceit. “These films tend to have catchy lines that are often circulated as pictures or memes and go viral.”

A common feature of these productions is representativeness. Women of different nationalities play the main roles and appear in many of the stories.

“Dark” world in “Euphoria”

It is a fact that there is a big age difference between the creators and the characters of cinema or television who belong to this generation. Not part of this generation, Sam Levinson has created a project that is as close as possible to the lifestyle of young people: the award-winning “Euphoria“. It’s a melodramatic depiction of teenage high school students starring 17-year-old Ru (Zendaya) who, among other things, is addicted to drugs. As the creators say, the elements that today’s youth can identify with are “dark” nights, sleepless nights on the dance floors, but above all the instability, sadness, anxiety that often hide under the surface.

Hollywood’s investment in this kind of story is no doubt an attempt to capture the attention of a new generation that needs to be represented. However, mainstream television and cinema seem to be chasing projection at the expense of authenticity. Time will tell if the filmmakers can fix this.

According to the BBC