Social Studies a new documentary about teens and social media was shot at Palisades Charter High School.
Venice resident and documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has produced a five-part series Social Studies, which is being presented on Hulu.
Filmed in Los Angeles, Social Studies follows 15 students over the 2012-22 school year, as they navigate school after the Covid lockdown. During the year, isolated from other teens, living at home, they found their social life on TikTok, Instagram and through texting.
Instead of learning to interact and read social cues in real life with three-dimensional people, their existence was tied to a flat screen, limiting the ability to interact successfully. Screens permit bullying and encourage unrealistic expectations.
Social Studies premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival in August. In this documentary, Greenfield was able to convince the teens to share their screen shots and social posts, which unfold with the teen’s stories. The first episode debuted on September 27, Sex Ed the fourth show airs on October 11 and Deletions and Culminations is the final episode, which airs October 18.
In an October 2 story in the Hollywood Reporter (“In FX’s Social Studies, Social Media is a “a Lifeline and a Loaded Gun” for L.A. Teenagers”), Greenfield said she conducted over 200 mini-interviews, but this was only a jumping-off point, as the final group of 15 teens, most of whom attend the Palisades Charter High School and hail from across the Southland, evolved more organically.
“It’s probably very diverse kids because I didn’t want at the end of the day for people to be like, ‘OK, those crazy kids in L.A., or those rich kids, or those people from whatever area,” she said. “And so, the kids come from all different neighborhoods, different socioeconomic backgrounds, and also have different relationships with social media.”
In the first two episodes, which this editor viewed, Palisades Principal Dr. Pam Magee welcomes kids back to school, but the scene in the gym seems surreal. After a year away from school, rather than interacting with each other or expressing excitement about being back, kids are glued to their phone screens.
During Social Studies, Ellie, a senior, details the aftermath of her breakup with a famous young actor and the backlash she experienced on social media. Bella’s former friend seeks revenge, because Bella has kissed her friend’s crush. An aspiring DJ, Keshawn finds he has to mix work and school with teenage fatherhood. Jack, a young entrepreneur with a large social following, throws a wild party that gets out of hand and involves an overdose.
The reality of typical teen’s life, which includes bullying, hoping to go viral, fixating on unrealistic beauty, is grim. The hate dumped on kids, by other kids, which is freely doled out on social media, goes unchecked.
In August 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report that detailed the positive and negative effects of social media that indicated it can be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain, including the amygdala, which is important for emotional learning and the prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for impulse control, emotional regulation, and moderating social behavior.
This year, the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted 5-2 to ban student cell phones and social media in schools while classes are in session.
Greenfield, who won directing prize at Sundance for her 2012 hit “The Queen of Versailles, captures the students, social media and the dysfunction.
It is heartbreaking.
She was asked in an interview if this all-encompassing medium is more difficult than in years’ past.
“I think it’s way harder,” Greenfield said. “And that was one of the surprising things: almost every kid said if they had a choice, they would rather live in their parents’ generation, before social media. Like Jonathan at the end: ‘It’s a lifeline, but it’s also a loaded gun.’ They admit they can’t live without it because it’s the way their age group communicates. They know what’s going on. And as another person at the end says, ‘Do you even exist if you’re not on it?’ It feels existential.”
Greenfield, who with her producing and life-partner Frank Evers has two sons, explained the genesis of the Social Studies project to THR. She said it started when she noticed her teenage son’s despondence following periods of heavy social media engagement during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In addition to filming at Palisades High School, Greenfield also filmed at Archer School for Girls, Venice Skills Center, Los Angeles High School and Hamilton High.
On the website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 6 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.80/10
Joel Keller of Decider suggested viewing the series writing: “The sheer volume of what Greenfield shows teens being up to will scare any parent more than any blood-and-guts show Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) can come up with.” click here.
