Beware the Slenderman

This documentary is disturbing in multiple ways. It starts out as a fascinating case study of a very topical issue – the tendency to become enclosed in social bubbles and the creation of an alternate reality based on fallacies spread over the internet. However, the director gradually abandons the Slenderman level in order to focus on the attackers, or rather their families, which takes a toll in the form of numerous emotive shots of crying faces that do not reveal anything. In the end, the girls who brutally assaulted their peer eventually emerge from the documentary as victims (of the internet, of the group, of psychological disorders, but not of a haphazard upbringing). The serious nature of the crime remains in the background and the actual victim does not get nearly as much attention as the accused, who, thanks to this film, basically become celebrities whose “legend” will in all probability spread on certain internet forums just as the legend of the Slenderman did (see the fan drawings of the two girls holding knives). I consider the capitalising on the Slenderman myth to be even more problematic than the reversal of the roles of attacker and victim (which is perhaps partly due to the American media culture’s fascination with criminals). Instead of the film clearly declaring that it is about stories aimed at scaring teenagers, it attempts to create a horror atmosphere with photographs and videos of Slenderman set against a background of disturbing music. As a result, the documentary (probably inadvertently) does not deconstruct the myth while keeping a reasonable distance, but rather aids in creating a myth without any such distance. I would not be surprised if there is an increasing number of people who, having seen the film, start seeing a tall, faceless man with tentacles on his back in various places. 50% (03.02.2017)