By Hanifah Jones, Digital Media Editor
Social media, fraud and millennial culture are the focus of two documentaries about our generation’s biggest catfish: Fyre Festival.
What was promised to be the music festival of the century resulted in multiple lawsuits and jail-time for creator Billy McFarland.
Hulu’s “Fyre Fraud” and Netflix’s “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” made a splash as the streaming competitors each released their own documentaries on the event within days of each other – “Fyre Fraud” on Jan. 14 and “FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” on Jan. 18.
The competitive nature of the two films leads to the question: which is better at capturing the scandal?
In 2017, a video of supermodel influencers such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber on a Bahamian island went viral.
The video was a promotion for Fyre Festival, which promised to be a luxurious and exclusive music festival on drug lord Pablo Escobar’s private island.
Fyre Festival boasted about its lineup, which allegedly consisted of the record label GOOD Music, Blink-182 and other all-star acts. The star-studded headliners were an enticing addition to the yachts, beachfront villas and gourmet food promised to concert attendees.
However, the event gained infamy once attendees began reporting the realities of the festival on social media.
The beachfront villas were really water-soaked hurricane tents and overcrowded facilities with few answers from management. There were no performers and the festival took place on Great Exuma island, not Escobar’s.
No one can forget the picture of the cheese sandwich that quickly went viral on Twitter – it exemplifies just how greatly the expectations and reality differed when attendees arrived for the “luxurious” Fyre Festival.
As the rest of us watched these events unfold on social media, we couldn’t help but wonder, how did this happen?
Both documentaries provide background on Billy McFarland, the former Bucknell student who co-founded the festival with rapper Ja Rule.
The self-described “technology entrepreneur” was featured in both films, but in different degrees.
The Netflix film relies more on testimonies from his acquaintances and features him only in the background of acquired footage – nothing specifically indicates his involvement with Netflix’s documentary.
In comparison, Hulu’s film goes deeper into the cofounder’s background, with McFarland himself being interviewed directly in order to provide his perspective on the events that transpired.
Hulu’s “Fyre Fraud” opens describing the impact of FOMO – or fear of missing out – and its role in the Fyre Festival disaster.
The opening scene includes the group of models featured in the infamous promotional video doing the “mannequin challenge” with the staff.
Many of these models are now being subpoenaed and there is lots of debate regarding whether or not they should be held responsible for promoting an event they had no knowledge on.
Both documentaries suggest that the models truly were not aware of realities surrounding the festivals, but it is undeniable that they played a role in its popularity.
According to the documentaries, FOMO and social media influence are what led attendees to spend up to tens of thousands of dollars for villas that did not exist.
McFarland’s knowledge of millennial culture and social media allowed him to manipulate consumers.
Does the blame fall solely on McFarland? Should the influencers be held responsible? It’s not for me to say, but I highly recommend watching both documentaries.
If I had to choose one, I would pick Hulu’s film.
There was controversy about Netflix’s film being coproduced by Jerry Media, the same company that promoted Fyre Festival.
While there was no explicit bias, I believe Hulu’s film went more into detail about McFarland’s illegal activities and how he pulled them off.
I also enjoyed how Hulu’s film went more into detail about how the festival impacted the Bahamian locals, who reportedly have yet to receive payments.
Both films do a great job of capturing the drama behind the scenes of the festival.
Even if you don’t typically enjoy documentaries, these films will captivate you. With great editing and social commentary, they are both thought provoking, visually pleasing and leave you wanting more.
