Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

Mainstream, the newest film from director Gia Coppola (granddaughter of legendary director, Francis Ford Coppola) is a comedy-drama film exploring the rapidly evolving world of social media fame, and the line many people cross to achieve it.

The film stars Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield as Link who becomes better known to the world as “No one special,” his Youtube alter-ego. He is discovered by Frankie (Stranger Things' Maya Hawke) one day after she secretly records him going on a public rant about people ignoring art in a shopping center.

Drawn to the charisma of this unusual man, Frankie and her friend Jake (Nat Wolff) team up with Link to break big in the world of self-made stars on the internet. However, they soon realize that Link might not be who they thought he was, forcing them to reconsider how they handle their new found success.

What director and writer Gia Coppola sets out to do is rather interesting. The world of Youtube culture and influencers is constantly changing. It’s a new internet frontier that is rapidly evolving, and no doubt evolved even during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, anyone viewing this culture knows it has a dark side.

A simple Youtube search of “I messed up” or “Taking accountability” will no doubt give you hundreds of Youtubers giving their apologies for various scandals. Shane Dawson, Logan Paul and Jeffree Star are examples of people in Youtube culture who have routinely gotten into controversy with their internet fame. Yet, those who saw them in their beginnings know that they didn’t start out controversial. In many cases their drive to maintain that fame is what led them to poor choices.