In the early days of social media, one major fear among rising stars was having their private photos leaked and spread throughout the internet. Not only was it a malicious violation of privacy, but it could potentially ruin careers, or, ironically, help build them. Recently, with the advancement of AI and Deepfake technology, hackers are able to generate and circulate nude photographs of celebrities that aren’t even real, but terrifyingly realistic. This is becoming an increasing issue with underage celebrities and other A-listers like Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, and Natalie Portman. Even the Department of Homeland Security has published documents about the increasing threat of deepfake identities. This real-life threat to personal identity is what makes 2018’s Cam so terrifying.
Cam is based on screenwriter Isa Mazzei’s real-life experiences as a former cam girl herself. Although the film originally stemmed from a desire for everyday individuals to empathize with sex workers, it evolved into a much broader commentary on personal autonomy contrasted with the impersonal nature of social media. Mazzei and director Daniel Goldhaber (also known for his 2022 film, How to Blow Up a Pipeline), wrote the story along with producer Isabelle Link-Levy. They hired the talented Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange is the New Black) for the starring role of Alice. Goldhaber went out of his way to attempt to “strip a male gaze out of [the] movie” through Mazzei’s heavy involvement and the use of a female DP and a primarily female crew. As a result, Cam, both behind the scenes and in full view, was able to subvert camera objectification while still addressing it head-on.
What Is ‘Cam’ About?
Cam revolves around Alice (Brewer), who is successfully building her career as a camgirl under the name “Lola.” She’s determined to advance and become a top performer on the site while hiding her true career from her friends and mother. However, her ambitions turn into chaos when she’s locked out of her account. To Alice’s horror, she discovers that a doppelgänger completely identical to herself has taken over her account and continues to stream to Lola’s followers. As Alice desperately tries to regain control of her account, her life begins spiraling. Her friends and mother discover her career, her impostor seemingly stages a live suicide, and her fans turn against her, believing she is the fake.
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Throughout Cam, Goldhaber constantly highlights Alice’s anxiety over her loss of autonomy, and her desperation to get her account back while interchangeably keeping it hidden from friends. The sense of unease generated by Alice’s desperate situation is palpable, allowing the audience to empathize with her distress regarding her livelihood and reputation. This was Goldhaber’s intention, as he wanted to give the audience a self-awareness to step outside their mindset and see objectification and personal violation from an inside view. By helping the audience tap into a new perspective about a highly visible sex worker, and the trauma she goes through with her identity being stolen, he is able to convey how terrifying it can be to lose that sense of control. Cam is a terrifying reflection of the dangers that come along with recognition and exposure, especially as a young woman in the industry.
What Makes ‘Cam’ So Unsettling?
By working with Mazzei, Goldhaber was able to push a narrative in Cam that has more nuance towards sex work and doesn’t glamorize nor glorify it. They wanted to ensure that, “this movie is never going to judge Alice for being a sex worker”, and instead, “the fundamental stake […] is that she has lost agency over her body and over work, not that she is a sex worker and needs to leave.” Alice’s work isn’t fundamentally immoral, but she must endure forms of exploitation as part of the deal, something actors go through as well. For both sex workers and actors, just because they are in the spotlight does not mean they deserve to have their private lives or images leaked. It also shouldn’t be inevitable simply because of how public-facing they are. Public figure or not, sex worker or not, society needs to learn to respect individual autonomy. Yes, fame means more visibility, but it shouldn’t result in a higher chance of being sexually exploited.
Goldhaber, Mazzei, and Link-Levy’s successful collaboration effectively conveys the complicated anxieties that come from losing control while also confronting stigmas regarding sex workers. Due to Alice’s circumstances in Cam, she loses her livelihood, identity, and personal narrative. Her attempt to reclaim her autonomy mirrors the real-life situations that not just rising stars endure, but that many (predominately female) individuals must face when their images or likeness are exploited and weaponized against them.
Cam is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
