The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola’s new feature, The Bling Ring, delves headfirst into the youth culture of today. A group of teenagers obsess over clothes and status. They sit in silence between taking group photos on their smart phones. It feels like this is somehow meant to be shocking when instead it just feels boringly normal. We’ve all had this conversation before: about young people living more online then in reality. The Bling Ring, unfortunately, offers up nothing new.

The interest of this story lies in where this mundane hedonism slips over into delusions of invincibility. This group of teenagers is soon breaking into the homes of celebrities, stealing their clothes and posing with them on Facebook. However, no insight ever occurs. Instead we are faced with a shallow film about shallow people; the second act of which is basically just one long montage. It’s frustrating as although the characters’ dumb comments make for very easy laughs, it really just makes the film feel all too easy.

Looking down on these kids as stupid and vapid is short-sighted. To look a little deeper into why they crossed this line and how it reflects on us, the audience, would have made this dispassionate look into celebrity obsession not only more relevant, but much more engaging.

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