Girl Talks Baby Giraffes

A young woman fantasizing about her talk show debut is forced to reckon with her less-than glamorous reality.

directed by sutton revell

starring miranda kang, ashley hernandez, and addison worthington

cinematography by benjy berkowitz

produced by jake schick and rhea dudani

music by dasha mycio

animation by john quinn

Director's Statement

The first image that popped into my mind for this film was a group of ghosts, sitting in an audience, staring blankly at an emotional talk show guest. I was in a car, leaving the airport and heading back to my apartment. As much as I hate to admit it, the talk show guest was me. It felt somewhat perverse, this sub-conscious/conscious fantasy, where I, suddenly famous and beloved, was finally able to give my peace, to reveal my inner emotions, to be understood. And yet, the fantasy could only go so far. The audience was dead, their blank stares piercing through me. Talk shows, in a way, can be seen as an early form of social media. It’s the first time that “real” people are being broadcast nationally, with their “real” personalities and stories and lives used for entertainment. The medium is a contrived conversation, a contrived perspective, engineered for audiences to become endeared to the celebrity guest on display for the night. Forty years into the dawn of the internet, social media as we now know it has sunk its teeth into every aspect of our lives. It’s hard to opt out. School, jobs, family connection – with no social media presence, it’s hard to prove you’re alive. Anytime I find myself in a conversation about it, the response is always the same - I hate social media, it’s the worst, it makes me feel bad / worthless / dead inside. But there’s never a mass exodus. A population of lonely people can’t risk feeling even lonelier. We’re perpetually logged in and performing in the self-inflicted panopticon. Everyone is watching. No one is listening. With technology rapidly developing, it may seem like progress, like we are being catapulted into the future. But the internet is a calcification of the past. You’re still dating your high school boyfriend, you’re still friends with classmates you haven’t seen in over a decade, your grandma never died and is dying everyday. We’re holding a dead thing in our hands. And it’s so hard to leave it behind.