This video essay analyzes the similarities between modern-day self-imaging via social media and celebrity culture within the framework of Satoshi Kon’s 1997 masterpiece Perfect Blue. In vacillating between reality and hallucinatory fantasy, the protagonist Mima becomes unable to distinguish between the two, leading to a loss of self not unlike what one experiences through social media. Facades and fronts are put on in these virtual hubs, belying true natures and enticing others, too, to lose themselves in false fantasies. Beyond forecasting a grim tale of modern-day media culture, however, Perfect Blue proposes a solution.
Author Biography
Jasper Chen is a senior at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts studying Cinema & Media Studies. Beyond writing about film and TV, he has a deep passion for storytelling, particularly on a worldwide and universal platform.
