Modern technology has improved the world in many respects, but it has also proven to be most effective when it makes the world look better than it truly is. The best example of this might be contemporary media, while social networks have proven even more efficient at creating "colourful lies". In doing so, they have become the primary factor in deepening the divide both between different social groups, which the internet was supposed to connect, and between what actually is and what various groups, trapped in their online "bubbles", want to believe. Once an illusion collides with reality, the results can lead to tectonic disruptions, for which 2016 provides the best example. That year, on two occasions, it was shown how the elite who "like" themselves on Facebook and Twitter have little in common with the plebeian masses who go to the polls. It also became clear how technology that creates the appearance of reality can ultimately deceive even those who wish to exploit it, or rather, how all sorts of Instagram "influencers" and PR people are perfectly capable of believing the very propaganda they strive to sell to the public.
One such case, albeit with far less drastic consequences and far less global importance, became the subject of the notable documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, directed by Chris Smith and produced by Netflix. Fyre was the name given to a music festival scheduled to take place in the Bahamas at the end of April 2017, which ultimately became synonymous with the biggest fiasco in the modern history of the entertainment industry. The reason for this lies primarily in the aggressive and largely successful promotion carried out by its organisers, chiefly Billy McFarland, the young director of Fyre Media. His company offered its clients, mostly those with deep pockets, the opportunity to use a web app—bypassing agents and intermediaries—to secure the services of musicians and other celebrities for weddings and birthday celebrations. One of those celebrities was rapper Ja Rule, who joined McFarland as a co-founder and promoter of the company. The festival, originally conceived as a promotion for the app, began to be marketed through exceptionally skilful advertising and the use of models such as Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, who posted on their Instagram profiles footage taken while partying on Norman’s Cay, the Bahamian island originally intended to host the festival.
The promise of a wild and unforgettable party on an exotic beach, with top-tier performers, delicious Bahamian food, and royal treatment in luxurious bungalows, attracted thousands of young and, most importantly, wealthy attendees. Although there were some warnings of potential problems even before the festival itself, they were largely not taken seriously, nor did they truly prepare visitors for what awaited them. That turned out to be a series of mostly unpleasant surprises—from the wrong island and last-minute cancellations by performers, to a complete lack of organisation, makeshift rain-soaked accommodation tents, a shortage of food, running water, sanitation, security, and everything else taken for granted in the civilised world. As a result, the festival was cancelled right at the outset, and after thousands of exhausted, disappointed, and furious partygoers were sent home, there followed astronomical lawsuits, criminal charges, and a prison sentence for McFarland for fraud.
Although the entire sad story, thanks to social media following it in real time, became widely known even as it unfolded, Smith’s documentary gives it a rather interesting narrative framework. Smith, who has made several notable and acclaimed documentaries about activist pranksters and wannabe artists during his career, is clearly fascinated by the gap between reality as it is presented and reality as it is—that is, by different levels and methods of (self-)deception. Fyre chronologically charts the genesis of the catastrophe. At the very beginning, as expected, the festival did not look like a bad idea at all. McFarland is portrayed as a charming and energetic young entrepreneur who not only skilfully uses modern technological achievements and cultural trends, but also succeeds in convincing both colleagues and employees of his vision. The film, which relies heavily on interviews with Fyre staff, shows how many of them remained convinced of success until the very last moment, or rather, had the most sincere intentions of delivering the best experience of their lives to the guests. The filming of promotional videos with supermodels is presented in Smith’s film not only as a triumph but as a masterpiece of propaganda.
Gradually, Fyre shows how the gap between what was promised and what was possible began to emerge, and how many entirely justified questions went unanswered. Although striving to be objective, Smith’s film reflects considerable sympathy for some of Fyre’s employees, whose careers and reputations would be permanently tarnished by this fiasco; one of them, who tried to remain loyal to his boss until the very end, evokes a mixture of laughter and pity as he describes the sacrifices he was willing to make in a last-ditch attempt to remove some of the obstacles to holding the festival. Only at the end, when documentary footage of the disaster, accompanied by guest testimonies, is contrasted with the relentless attempts of McFarland and Ja Rule to continue the project—when any reasonable person would have expected cancellation or at least postponement—does it become clear that the festival was nothing more than an attempt to hide financial holes created by other shady dealings, which would have come to light far more quickly without it.
Although humour is hard to avoid in the whole story, especially when watching scenes of young rich kids suddenly finding themselves in the same situation as the less fortunate 99.99% of humanity, Smith endeavours to maintain a certain seriousness. This becomes especially evident at the very end, when the emphasis is placed on the local Bahamian population, who sincerely believed the festival would put bread on their tables and invested considerable sweat into the entire project, only to end up unpaid for their efforts. Unfortunately, Smith was neither able nor inclined to give the whole story a somewhat firmer epilogue, nor to attempt to give a slightly broader context that would comment on social networks and the culture of empty influencers created on them. Although these opportunities were missed, Fyre nonetheless deserves recommendation as a fairly entertaining, yet serious look at the world we live in.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here
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