
Not Okay is the perfect display of everything wrong with the obsession people have with online fame, and the lengths to which they are willing to go, to get it.
Danni Sanders (brilliantly played by Zoey Deutch), a photo editor for an online magazine and an aspiring writer, struggles with her job and does not have any friends.
In an attempt to gain attention and impress a male colleague, Danni lies about going on a writer’s retreat in Paris and fabricates a bunch of photos depicting herself posing in front of various landmarks.
It goes well until she posts a photo of herself in front of the Arc de Triomphe minutes before several major Paris landmarks are bombed by terrorists.
This incident mistakenly catapults Danni into the spotlight as a terrorist attack survivor, gaining sympathy from thousands of Americans and ultimately making her famous on the internet.
Instead of coming clean, Danni fully embraces her lie, and goes as far as attending trauma support groups, writing essays about her experience, and creating a social media campaign to gain more likes and followers.
The film starts with a small montage of Danni receiving hate from many online platforms, some even saying she’s worse than Adolf Hitler.
We also witness Danni becoming deluded with her own lies, immersing herself in online activism and creating her own hashtag.
Danni can be described as a tone-deaf, oblivious young woman, especially when she likens her ordeal and struggles to big movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.
While we are all aware of how terrible Danni’s actions are, it is interesting to see how quickly everyone turns on her and how they ignore their own part in the situation, since they are the ones who contributed to making her famous in the first place.
The movie sparks an interesting conversation about the role that society plays in creating overnight internet celebrities, and the lack of discipline these celebrities tend to have in maintaining their online popularity.
The series of events that lead to Danni’s secret coming out are not of her own doing, and even after she tells the truth, it’s clear she hasn’t learnt her lesson. The film ends on a refreshing note, with Danni undergoing no redemption arc.