The Lizzy Caplan 'Fashion Film' Is the Most Soothing Thing You'll Watch All Day
"Fashion Film," starring Lizzy Caplan (from Party Down, Mean Girls, and in between Matthew Perry's sweaty thighs), exploded all over the Internet today.
Some things you should know: this is a real commercial for a Fashion Company. But it's a commercial fraught with self-loathing that mocks real fashion commercials. And it's shot very beautifully.
Its close-ups are gauzy; its random assortment of props, nostalgic; its non sequiturs almost always erring on just the right side of bullshit:
"I DJ sometimes, but I'm lucky. My close circle of girl friends are so inspiring."
It's a parody so well-executed that, at times, you can even forget it's parody. (To be fair, its bite is blunted by the fact that, at the end of the day, it's just another high production value commercial selling expensive clothes. It's a parody in the way that a Doritos Locos Taco is a parody.)
After you've been lulled into a cozy, comfortable coma by the whispered gibberish of Janis Ian, check out "Une Fille Comme Les Autres," another anti-fashion ad fashion ad by the same director. In that one, a commercial for cool-sexy-whatever French fashion magazine, Jalouse, an unseen narrator describes what a cool-sexy-whatever French fashion magazine commercial might look like (the answer: the sixties.) It's less soothing than "Fashion Film," but several degrees more hilarious.
Enjoy your pastels.