Has Letterboxd commodified film?

In a world where our lives are plastered all over social media, more and more people are constantly trying to uphold a version of themselves which they want to be perceived as, and Letterboxd is no exception. Many users try to create a pretentious, ‘film buff’ identity, filling their profile with niche French silent films from the 1920s while perhaps giving well-loved sillier films lower ratings in an attempt to appear sophisticated.

Obviously, this doesn’t represent all Letterboxd users and there are still thousands who use it for its intended purpose as a personal record and don’t expect anyone else to analyse their watch history. You could argue people may fear being judged for enjoying less well regarded films, which is perhaps an issue across all social media platforms, but I feel Letterboxd comes under a different category than apps such as Instagram where you feel the need to follow everyone you know in real life, and instead you could easily keep your account more private and actually be truthful about how you feel about film.

There are much more pressing issues in society, but perhaps the rise of performativity and lack of personal identity is something that needs to be addressed. If people only watched highly rated, or niche films, they shut themselves off from thousands of pieces of media and probably don’t even enjoy it. I think Letterboxd should be used honestly, to keep a record of how you felt about films and not to curate an image.