A Heartwarming Review of Netflix's The Circle

The Circle’s Positive Take on Being Fake on the Internet

The Circle, Netflix’s new reality competition show, sounds like a mediocre episode of Black Mirror. However, it is actually a fun and often touching look at how we relate to each other through social media, complete with commentary about physical isolation layered over the show’s reliance on constant communication. Historically, one of the biggest and most fear-mongering tropes about the internet is that it allows people to hide their true self. Along with this comes the built-in assumption that if someone is hiding or pretending to be someone they’re not, their motives must be purely duplicitous or malevolent.

The Circle doesn’t bother to do any of that; it doesn't treat being fake on the internet as a shocking betrayal. Instead, the TV show embraces fakeness as something we all do in big and small ways, often with the intention of making friends and fitting in.

Its premise is peak 2020: a society run by technology and social media. Eight initial contestants live in isolated apartments in what appears to be the same building, but they are forbidden from physical contact with one another. Instead, they must communicate exclusively through a voice-activated social media platform called The Circle.

The goal is to compete to become the most popular among other contestants and after a full day of stalking each other’s photos and bios, chatting via instant message and playing games, rank competitors from favorite to least favorite. The two most popular players each episode become “influencers” (blue verification and all) and get to “block” (or eliminate) a contestant of their choosing. The contestant who ranks first in the final ratings wins $100,000. A fan favourite chosen by the viewers also wins $10,000 after the initial broadcast is complete.

Things get interesting in the fact that catfishing is not only condoned on The Circle, but it is almost encouraged. Just look at the tagline posed by host and narrator Michelle Buteau:

“How far would you go to be popular on social media if there were $100,000 at stake?”

There is no such thing as going too far. In pursuit of a cash prize, several contestants chose to present themselves as a completely different person. For instance, Karyn, a 37-year-old plus-size lesbian from the Bronx posed as Mercedeze, a younger and more traditionally feminine socialite.

Essentially, The Circle is a thought-provoking social experiment disguised as trashy reality TV. You might think that all the attention dedicated to fakeness, to the regularity and reliability of surface-level inauthenticity, would make everyone seem shallow and false. But instead, it has the opposite effect: it makes space for the rarely acknowledged truth that virtual anonymity can allow people to express deeper levels of authenticity, without the hindrances imposed upon them by social expectations and judgements. The catfish players have socially induced reasons for wanting to be someone else, which are usually explored and made clear to the audience.

A main example of the show’s positive take on anonymity lies with Seaburn, a.k.a Rebecca (his girlfriend). Seaburn’s reason for posing as Rebecca is that as a black man in his Boston community, he’s not often allowed to express deep emotions. So, in The Circle, he’s nothing but emotion. On another show, Seaburn could have easily been framed as the season’s ultimate villain, the master manipulator primed to make it into the winner’s circle on the strength of his lie. But on The Circle, the audience watches the real Seaburn on the other side of his computer screen being a sweet, loving guy who just likes to hang out in his apartment and cuddle with a giant teddy bear. Seaburn may have been upselling his warm and caring side as Rebecca, but as the audience we can evidently see that this side of him is real.

We can also see the show’s positive effects in Karyn’s response when asked why she chose to present herself as Mercedeze. She replies candidly, “Would you have talked to me if I looked like this on my default?” She added, choking up, “I did the catfish because, um, all my life I’ve been judged. I’m not ugly, but I’m not feminine. So, it’s really the fact of just showing the world that you can’t judge a book by its cover.” This answer captures the show’s capacity to uplift and inspire.

That, perhaps, is the core appeal of The Circle. The show allows for a mix of strategy and sincerity – of genuine connectivity that might stem from inauthenticity, but is no less the real thing. In a virtual community, those connections are what matter most. One might think it is hard to create a relationship solely through social media but this show says otherwise. The bond that some contestants create throughout the show may be stronger than any traditional friendship. As long as they feel real, the show suggests they are real. It’s a pretty subversive approach for a show to take. And the inevitable next season might be totally different.

For now, The Circle is an unexpectedly charming ode to connection through virtuality.

Did you love The Circle as much as we did? Or not?

CULTURVERSERS, share your thoughts. We want to know!