Choosing your top four favourite films should be a fairly simple choice. When one must do this in a public space like Letterboxd that everyone – yes, everyone (including a burned ex-flame) – can see, things can get a bit complicated.
Letterboxd is a platform designed for film lovers that allows them to publicly log the films that they watch. On Letterboxd, every single follow, like, tag, and rating is tracked in the activity tab, inviting an audience into your personal experience of watching a movie. As Letterboxd user Atanda describes, there is always “a vague sense that someone is watching”.
An example of a feature that is open to all users is the Letterboxd Top 4. This is a ranking of one’s top four films that is pinned to their profile. As Letterboxd user Ayesha explains, the top four acts as a first impression and, as the old saying goes, “First impressions are very important”. For some users, their top four is an intentional portrait of the kind of films that they wish to support. Ayesha writes reviews for “beautiful women who like weird movies”. They care deeply about women in film and they make sure that their top four reflects this. In the same way, Atanda sees their top four as being “representative of what [they] enjoy” and what they want to be associated with.
According to author Aleksandra Maria Brania, certain movies have a higher ranking on the Letterboxd totem pole. Unfortunately, your favourite rom-com may not make the cut for some users on Letterboxd as anything mainstream is usually frowned upon. When speaking of their experiences, Atanda says that “it can… feel like I have to make my Letterboxd activity agreeable and have the right opinion on movies”. You can hardly blame anyone for feeling like this when there are users like Jason who “would not trust an opinion from a guy who rated a Marvel film 5 stars”. This means that any regular Joe who logs onto Letterboxd for the first time and sees some obscure French films on his friends’ activity tabs might feel insecure when it comes to picking their top four. They may even settle for something that the film bros would definitely approve of instead of giving films like Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami the five stars that they rightfully deserve. Even worse, some like Humphrey may just avoid having a top four altogether in fear of being judged.
For others, their top four is a genuine collection of their favourite films regardless of what the community views as “good”. User Jules loves being able to share the films that she enjoys with her friends. For her, Letterboxd is a way to process how she feels about a movie after watching it. She has no interest in “strangers thinking [she] is funny or sophisticated” and her number one film on Letterboxd is her all-time favourite, film bros be damned. Similarly, Andrea’s top four films are a collection of movies that have amazed her. She rates films based on her enjoyment and not what the film bros think qualifies as “high scoring”, writing reviews for her future self to look back on.
You may use your top four to bag a hottie from your local film club or to express your love for films. Whichever purpose you choose, just remember that you are not alone. Everyone is putting on some performance.
Visual: Mpho Makwela
