Diandra TV Review: Swarm Is A Murderous Look Fandoms
Created by Donald Glover, his singular style of comedy and absurdity hold hands in new series Swarm, out now on Amazon Prime. A brazened judgement on fandoms and our online obsessions with celebrities, Glover analyzes with cutting commentary and illusory images the origins of our religious-like followings of ¨stars¨ to find maybe we are just empty of light. Yeesh!
Let us not act like we all are not terrified of the cults and cancel cultures of the internet. There is a reason why so many of us have social media platforms, but do not post, like, or share. Think about it! With how many people are on the internet, there are not many of us with an actual voice, presence, or desire to have either, and there is something horrifying about our invisibility but obsession with those that are ¨seen.¨ It is as if we watch in compensation for not feeling worthy of being looked at. For example, of you are like me, you have been totally swept by the Hailey B vs Selena G drama like its a novela, and you are also Team Selena. Yet, there is something off about that dynamic, for however banal, and Dominique Fishback´s riveting performance as Dre embodies it.
Using horror and violence, Swarm feels like a fever dream grounded by Fishback´s magnetic presence. She has a way of emoting both an insanity and loneliness from Dre that makes you get some early ¨Joe- You¨ vibes. You know she will gut you like a fish if you do not love her fave pop-star, Ni´Jah, of which the show feels like a microscopic analysis of Beyoncé and Beyhive. While it is disturbing to see her obsession with her beloved superstar, you also feel kind of bad. She lives her life according to someone she will never meet and has a rather skewed perception of their perfection, of which, in exchange, she is not really happy or kicking it with a wide crew of friends and family members. Actually, she is really alone, isolated, and dangerously in need of a reality check before another person gets a sledgehammer to their head for not knowing Ni´Jah´s latest single release.
Whether you love Swarm or not, it does have a rather unique, altered view of fandoms that is not, necessarily, new or unheard, especially when you think of how it is, literally, created by Donald Glover, whom has his own cute following. People remark him as genius and can have a rather blind, brazened passion for his work. To which, Swarm scalps the genuineness of our connection to artists and their art when we do not really have a personal life or identity beyond liking theirs.
