The rise of the youth-favored app TikTok in the last few years would seem to provide material for a comedy about American materialism and thirst for popular attention, but director Shalini Kantayya’s wide-ranging documentary “TikTok, Boom.”Let us now see that this story is more like a plotline for a thriller about the Chinese government capturing data about young users around the world.
It all began in 2012 with Zhang Yiming, a Chinese internet entrepreneur who — from humble beginnings in a dreary, Ikea-furnished office — created Douyin, an app on which Chinese youth posted videos and got some very capitalist opportunities to take money to shill for products. One young male user was paid to talk up Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, but later in the film he tells us that the app will not allow anyone to post who has tattoos or has their hair dyed colors like blue or pink. This speaks to the core of modern China’s tension between free market ideas, the strict censorship of the government, and the conflict between the two.
Douyin was merged into Musical.ly, which gave rise to TikTok. Douyin was meant to be kept for Chinese usage, but TikTok could be exported anywhere else. This worked out quite quickly. Kantayya’s focus is less on pop stars (like Lil Nas X) who have hit it big through the service and more on the young female users who are ambivalent about the app but reluctant to give up its power and reach.
Feroza Aziz is a teenager of Afghani descent. She felt lonely at school after the attacks and TikTok made her feel more comfortable. We see her at her home with her parents. She mentions one time that she ate a plate full of food while at the dinner table. “How’d you make it look pretty? It looks like an Instagram picture.”This comment puts her in the same category as “a” in the film. “digital native,”This means that Aziz has never lived in a world other than the one he sees online.
Aziz, however, is acutely aware of her predicament and shares it in the most thrilling section. “TikTok, Boom.”Aziz manages to briefly defeat the TikTok game at its own games. Aziz posts a TikTok video on oppression in China. Unfortunately, the video is deleted quickly and all she can see is a blackbox. She doesn’t give up and posts a video showing her tips for curling your eyelashes. Ten seconds later, it pivots to a message regarding oppression in China.
Deja Foxx’s story is more complicated. Foxx became famous on the app after she faced a GOP senator about cutting funding for Planned Parenthood. She pulled herself out from poverty using TikTok and promoted causes that she believes in. Foxx quickly realized that her posts in which she was bare-chested got more views than those where she was more sexy. She tried to find a balance between celebrating her sexuality and not exploiting it.
While popular users receive a lot from TikTok’s millions of followers, they also get a lot hate. On TikTok we see both the positive and the negative comments Foxx gets. Becky A, a user who is quite blunt, has one negative comment. “I hope you get raped and killed,”It says. Foxx is unable to cope with someone writing such a thing to you. Foxx sees a therapist, who suggests that she delete her social media accounts. She is too involved in TikTok, which is how she pays her bills.
Foxx and Aziz both realize they are being held captive by TikTok. But Aziz showed that there are often ways to avoid it or make it work for your benefit. The end of “TikTok, Boom.”This is by definition a cliffhanger as the app continues its growth despite a proposed ban by the petulant former President, who actually tried to make money from a TikTok sale that was eventually blocked by the Chinese government. The law states that the apps cannot be sold to any other countries.
While the story of TikTok continues to be written and edited, it will undoubtedly provide plenty material for comedy, thrillers, and sociopolitical analysis in years to come. This movie is an engaging and entertaining opening salvo.
“TikTok, Boom.”It will be shown for the first time at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.