Two weeks into January which is always a challenging time for me it sits somewhere between calmness and bleakness. It’s definitely an interesting time of year. I’m bustling with ideas without quite knowing where to focus my attention. Then again, maybe that’s what January is for: making plans.
This week, I inadvertently watched two Jesse Eisenberg films in one day. One of my favorite things to do is visit the cinema in the middle of the day when it’s totally empty. Unfortunately, I hadn’t managed to do this for years, but this week I decided having had a very productive few days to finish early and head to the cinema. One of the true benefits of working for yourself is deciding when you work, and 3 pm on a Friday afternoon never feels like work time to me. So off I went.
Jesse Eisenberg is currently in a film called A Real Pain, which he also wrote and directed. In it, he and Kieran Culkin play two cousins who, shortly after their grandmother dies, decide to visit Poland where she grew up. It’s an excellent film and definitely worth seeing if you haven’t already. I wanted to pick up on one particular theme that also ties in with the other Jesse Eisenberg film I watched, The Double. Directed by Richard Ayoade, The Double is based on an 1846 novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It tells the story of a man who is driven to despair when a doppelgänger appears at his workplace and turns his life upside down.
Both of these films explore issues related to idealised self-image and self-worth. In A Real Pain, Eisenberg’s character is autobiographical: he’s uptight and sometimes wishes he were more like his much more outgoing (if completely unstable) cousin. In The Double, his doppelgänger represents the perfect version of himself - able to attract every woman he speaks to, the boss’s favourite employee, and generally the most personable individual around.
“I notice younger people are much more comfortable talking about their lives and their struggles.”
—Jesse Eisenberg
In the article where Eisenberg’s quote is taken from, Eisenberg discusses his own “unexceptional” struggles with OCD and anxiety, yet he is speaking about them publicly and he has written, directed and starred in a film that addresses mental health issues directly. But do the so-called “TikTok generation” talk about mental health more than older generations or is there a broader societal shift at play?
You could argue that the specific theme I’ve picked out from these films critiques what social media has done to us as a society. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others and presenting the perfect version of ourselves online. When we hold up that idealised version next to our real selves, it can leave us grappling with issues of self-worth, just like the two characters in these films.
For artists and creatives, so much time is spent comparing our work with others, watching other people's successes and making unfair or untrue comparisons. But we have to remember, that our unique voice and perspective is what truly sets us apart.
“Often what keeps you from creative living is your self-absorption, your self-doubt, your self-disgust, your self-judgment, your crushing sense of self-protection.” - Elizabeth Gilbert
