When it's at it's best, Letterboxd can feel like something that could have existed in the golden age of the internet, before the advent of the world of the modern social site where designs have steadily shifted to try to get you hooked on short form video, and algorithms watch your every move in order to forcefeed you "content" that will get you as worked up and disconnected from reality as possible. I enjoy the site the most when it stands in contrast to these trends, I mean, where else right now is the average person encouraged to actually Read essays? Video essays don't count, especially the ones that are dragged out to be 2+ hours long in order to milk you for as much ad revenue as possible, instead of consolidating their point and focusing on the actual worthwhile elements that are usually at the core of these monstrosities. The point is, for the most part Letterboxd does not fit the mold of the social media landscape that the average person has been funneled into. It's design encourages you to keep a log of the movies you watch, and keep up with your friends logs, but beyond that it's completely open to you how you'd like to use the app.
There is One little design quirk however that I think may encourage activity that I see as Poisonous to my Theoretical Beautiful Utopian Idealized Letterboxd where everyone writes beautiful vulnerable non-fiction essays, and that is the "most popular reviews" section under each movie. While the Actual top reviews that most people end up seeing usually calcify very quickly, mostly dominated by famous influencers (usually from other social media platforms) and people who were able to see premiere screenings, this tiny popularity contest design element may have a large influence on the culture of the site. If you already have a large platform, you're mostly discouraged from sharing a complicated and potentially polarizing review that contains personal feelings and reactions, and you're instead encouraged to post a crowd pleasing quip that could more easily be liked by anyone who might watch the movie in the future. Of course, most people who use the site do not have a platform, but I think the fact that these reviews are the most visible can set a tone indicating what Letterboxd is For. And so, "Poster Culture" from other sites creeps in, and it is the origin of the Vast majority of my Beloathed Letterboxd Poisons. I should mention that there's nothing wrong with joke reviews and community inside jokes and memes inherently, but do I think that the way that they often present on Letterboxd can discourage reflection and can remove what I think can be so special about the site in favor of mimicking and pandering to twitter style quip fans. (I think that this account is typically a great example of how "poster style" joke reviews can be done right without giving in to complete mindlessness?
Before I get into listing a few Poisons I think it's important to say that I too have fallen victim to many of these, I am not speaking from a moral high ground. Poster culture, irony poison, mindless consumption, fear of vulnerability, the overall pull of just telling a shitty joke and getting likes, I am sooo susceptible. But I'm trying to be more aware and intentional! and I have realized that these trope-y lines are massively overused and may be Poisonous, with exception and depending on context of course, of course. So, this list is as much for me as anyone else, and I'm not judging, though I HAVE begun to see through the veil and it's difficult to ignore the patterns... anyways let's get into it. These are My Beautiful Utopian Letterboxd Poisons that I have been able to identify so far, I hope that you will find this list educational and if you identify any others feel free to send me a comment/email.
- "Some of you have never [BLANK] and it shows."
- "This happened to me/a buddy of mine once."
- "God forbid a woman [BLANK]"
- "I would simply have [BLANK]"
- "Literally Me"
- "Me and Who?"
- "Absolute Cinema"
- "Certainly A Movie of All Time"
- "Polyamory would have solved this"
- "Did [Thing that did not happen] just happen??"
- "[Famous Actor] please love/kiss/fuck/marry/kill me."
- "Oh, so [BLANK] can [BLANK], but when I [BLANK] it's [BLANK]"
- "Men will literally [BLANK] instead of going to therapy"
- "[BLANK] invented [BLANK]"
- "Love wins"
- "This was gay/feminist so I liked it" "This wasn't gay/feminist so I didn't like it." "I know this isn't gay/feminist but I'm choosing to believe that it is so that I can like it." "Why no gay/feminist? :("
- [Famous Twitter Meme Quoted]
- [Generic joke about European movies being boring]