The MySpace Movie

MySpace: The Movie
Directed by	David Lehre
Produced by	Reese Serra
Written by	David Lehre
Starring	Jeremy Kerr Joe Laduke Rick Joyce Mike Metz David Lehre
Distributed by	Vendetta Studios
Release date(s)	2005
Running time	11 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$10,000-

The MySpace Movie, also known as myspace: the movie, is the name of a short independent film and viral video created by Vendetta Studios and David Lehre Productions which are based out of Washington, Michigan. Its name refers to MySpace, the social networking website which it parodies.

Two years later, a new video by Lehre was released, but instead of MySpace, focused on Facebook.

Plot and outline

The MySpace Movie explores the basics of life as well as disputed territories located within the MySpace site in a humorous and parodic fashion. Themes of this movie include:

• Capturing profile images.
• Dating on MySpace.
• Excessive chain bulletins.
• MySpace's "Top 8" feature.
• A humorous portrayal of Tom Anderson, the "creator" of MySpace.

The blind date

This story opens with two males sitting in front of a computer and the first male attempts to show off his prize catch, a woman named Yeta, whose profile they are both examining. His friend believes that the woman has "The Angles", a term referring to the practice of taking photographs from such extreme angles as to obscure or distort the person in question, thus implying that the user is insecure about their image and, presumably, unattractive. He also insists that the woman's name is not Yeta, but Yeti. Shortly afterwards the first male receives a telephone call from the woman in question, whose audible voice bears a close resemblance to that of Chewbacca from Star Wars. They arrange a date for the evening, with the friend insisting upon chaperoning. Once the two meet, the man is horrified to observe that his date is masculine, grunting, and lurching. She immediately rubs up against him, asking "Do you want to see the Angry Beaver?", a now popular quote.

David Lehre (the creator) stars in this chapter.

The bulletin

This begins with a man reading a bulletin, and having to scroll down excessively. It then reads that if he doesn't repost, he will first hear a duck call, then be killed by a crazy drunken hunter asking for circus peanuts. This is commonly found in many MySpace bulletins today. Finally, during his last moments of life he will see a singing fish. He casually ignores the bulletin as a joke, and is soon thereafter killed precisely as described. The scene takes place in Reese Serra's apartment.

The password

A prominent feature of MySpace is that of the "Top 8" (Although you may have a "top" of as many as 40), which is essentially the ability to display upon a user's profile page a link to 40 of his chosen friends. In this scene a couple at a computer are arguing; the woman is complaining about her partner's choice of Top 8 friends, expressing dissatisfaction at the fact that she is not among them, as well as questioning the integrity of those present. After demanding his password, she is able to log in and see the rest of his pictures, which include photographs of his participation in lewd activities, including that of judging a wet T-shirt competition. In this scene one can see the email address [e-mail].

The party

This short segment proposes a humorous theory as to the origin of MySpace creator Tom Anderson's default profile picture - arriving at a college party, where he is immediately the center of attention. (This directly alludes to the fact that whenever a new profile on MySpace is made, Anderson is automatically added as the user's first friend. For this reason, Anderson's profile has over two hundred million friends, and in the movie it is humorously assumed that every one of those people is a close friend of his). Later on, Anderson consumes copious amounts of pizza, alcohol, and even cocaine. A short time later, presumably the morning after, the crowd of MySpace users from the previous evening open the bathroom door while Anderson is vomiting, and take his picture as he hunches over the bowl, resembling Anderson's actual profile picture.

Vendetta Studios

Vendetta Studios, the credited production company, is not classified as an official Motion Picture Production Company on the Internet Movie Database.

Vendetta Studios' work can be found on YouTube. There are, however, two other production companies with similar names: "Vendetta Films" and "Vendetta FX". Vendetta states that it is not in any way associated with MySpace.

David Lehre Productions

David Lehre Productions, like Vendetta Studios, is not an official production company; instead, it is run by a single man.

Reactions

Reaction to the film can be summed up in the fact that it became an Internet phenomenon almost overnight; indeed, more than 10 copies of the movie were produced on the popular filmsharing website YouTube. Reaction has extended beyond the social networking sites and into the mainstream media including mentions in Boston Globe^[1], San Francisco Chronicle ^[2], and the New York Times.^[3]. The worldwide attention that the video received earned the video's creator, David Lehre, the opportunity to develop a pilot for Fox Television.

See also

• YouTube
• Viral video
• MySpace
• Pastiche
• List of Internet phenomena

References

1. ^ "Friday video: MySpace: The Movie: Boston Globe March 3, 2006". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/business/blog/filter/2006/03/friday_video_my.html. 
2. ^ Lee, Ellen (March 23, 2006). "Online video sites blend the bizarre with the mundane to reshape visual entertainment, San Franscico Chronicle, March 23, 2006". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/23/MNGSDHSPK71.DTL. 
3. ^ Clark, John (July 23, 2006). "Hollywood Clicks on the Work of Web Auteurs, New York Times July 23, 2006". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/movies/23clar.html?ei=5090&en=c9b09f810c1d5eb4&ex=1311307200&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1158732238-PM3e0KW9r47as7IdvQN3LA. Retrieved May 25, 2010.