I love fall as much as the next person but not because of cosy sweaters, cute knits or pumpkin spice lattes (really, what is the obsession with those anyway?) I love fall because of the new and exciting plot prospects, the synopsis’ of opportunity, the potentially thrilling new worlds in which to immerse myself after a long day at work. Yes, I am a TV geek.
With the fall of those autumn leaves comes dozens of television pilots, some much-hyped and a long time in coming and others seems to appear out of nowhere. Many will fill our airwaves for years to come and many others will disappear into the abyss of early cancellation. But when the day comes to a close and we put our feet up with a glass of wine in hand, which shows will fill the hole that Breaking Bad left in our heart?
Let’s be honest, when we’ve caught up on all our favourites and it’s raining cats and dogs outside we’ll watch just about anything on TV. So as I sat down to watch a show called Selfie, my hopes were not high. The reaction from my boyfriend and roommate alike was something along the lines of “why on Earth are you watching that rubbish?” The answer? I don’t really know but I think it lay somewhere between boredom, nostalgia for Ugly Betty, and a girl-crush on Karen Gillan. On first glance, it seemed like it could turn out to be one of those over-the-top comedies that would grate on you more than 12 hours with the Kardashians. But aside from being surprisingly witty, charming and engaging, Selfie manages to be something even more unexpected: smart.
The series poses Eliza Dooley, self-involved “insta-famous” Facebook addict, with no real world friends opposite Henry Higgins, marketing genius with a talent for rebranding products and an aversion to all things social media. Despite having hundreds of online followers, Eliza has zero actual friends and goes about her life without a care for anyone else in the world. She is the epitome of people we see on a daily basis, eyes glued to their phone as they snap pictures of their food, tweet about how much fun they’re having and tag their friends on Facebook. Whether it be at the dinner table, in a bar or even on a date, these people who make up a large percentage of our society remain oblivious to the events taking place around them as they scroll endlessly through their newsfeeds and play Candy Crush Saga on their iPhones.
We are so immersed in social media these days that we rarely stop to think about usage of it beyond when we lasted checked Facebook or what our next witty tweet will be. Selfie’s Eliza acts as a shining beacon of why letting social media take over our lives can actually make us anti-social. It occupies our attention where we would have once been forced to strike up a conversation, averts our eyes from greeting those we pass by at the office and fills in those long journeys without us even having to speak a word to the stranger sitting beside us. Selfie reminds us of that which many viral videos (anyone remember the short about ‘look up’ from your phone and meet the love of your life?) and desperately pleading web articles have tried before: if we let social media take over our lives then we’ll be missing what is really important.
Social media can also have a negative impact on our self-esteem, as well as making us more shallow, vain and self-obsessed. It acts as a conduit for us to show the rest of the world how successful we are, how popular with all our likes and our friends, and how wonderful we look in our new profile picture. In turn, seeing how others portray their lives in this light can make us feel inferior and depressed that our lives cannot possibly match up. Take the character of Henry, for example, when he creeps his ex (come on, we’ve all done it) on Facebook and finds out she’s married with a kid. This news crushes him, making him doubt his dedication to his work, the choices he has made and what he’s achieved.
That is not to say that Facebook is a terrible life-controlling train of misery that we should all avoid. On the contrary, it can offer us a great way to keep up with old friends, see what they’re up to and chat to those that are far away. It allows us to organise events, reconnect with old school friends, share photos with those we care about and keep our families updated when we may not have time to call. But what makes Selfie great is that makes us aware of our use of social media, reconsider the amount of time we spend glued to our phones and realise that maybe some things are better done the old-fashioned way. Throw in a few jokes about being Facebook incompetent and accidentally tagging yourself as your ex’s breastfeeding baby and what’s not to love.
Selfie airs Tuesdays 8/7c on ABC
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