I’m Mortified the Nation Isn’t Watching This
I want everybody to think about the diary you wrote back in middle school. Please think about your crushes, your favorite movies, the meal that you wanted to eat every day; now, imagine reading it out loud on a stage in the middle of a theater at the age you’re at now. Mortified Nation is a documentary about exactly that. Mortified, in real life is a live show that travels around the country and the world. This isn’t just any comedy show, people read from their diaries as a performance piece. Mortified Nation is a collection of the funniest and most humorous diary entries the show has seen.
Though considered a documentary, this movie feels like a stand up comedy show. Shown in scenes and interviews, a back and forth pattern is created after watching for ten minutes.. However, when watching, there is no way you can be bored, even if the creative style is a little boring. Filled with naive sexual questions, very serious parent hate, and school photos, the literal object of the documentary is to laugh along with the performers. Though the internet is filled with blogs with sad quotes, pictures of couples hugging, and Spongebob Squarepants screen caps that are “so relatable,” Mortified Nation might be the most relatable thing on the internet, seeing that we have all been an embarrassing middle schooler before. Truly capturing a time that we all have experienced, both the reader and the viewers’ skin crawls with repressed memories and stories that we all know too well.
Most of these diaries and journals were written from age eleven through sixteen. At that time, I was not writing a diary or journal, I was crying to random strangers on the internet, which is embarrassing to admit. If I dig deep enough though, I can find some very random writings that resembled a one week-long diary, all the way until my freshman year of high school. Most of the time, the writings were about how my friends saw movies without me or how I had a fight with my Mom, but I know if I were to write religiously to an empty notebook, I too would have some cringe worthy stuff written in a sloppy lettering. After seeing Mortified Nation I want to hunt out these week-long diaries and read them, hopefully finding some truly embarrassing writings, similar to the people that performed on stage.
The documentary itself is a very great thing to have in your Netflix queue. Just under an hour and a half, this makes a great movie to zone in and out into. Play this while people are over and you clearly want to watch something but you know you are going to talk through the whole thing. Watch this when you are writing out your homework, or when you are like me, watch it when you are feeling really upset. The movie is set up in a way that you really do not need to pay attention at all. Since it is shown in scenes, it’s easy to only pay attention to one city, or even one spoken diary entry, thus creating the perfect thing to watch no matter how long your attention span is. This documentary is the kind of documentary you show to people who believe that all documentaries are boring and are about animals or dying out tribes. In reality, documentaries are about people and ideas. Something that Mortified Nation truly grasps onto like that one note your teacher tried to take from you in the middle of class that included your confession of undying love for him. Mortified graciously is a textbook documentary that is not too pretentious but takes itself seriously enough that even the biggest documentary naysayer will accept this movie into their heart.
Frankly, Mortified Nation is a five star movie hidden amongst the B rated horror films and embarrassingly stereotypical animes. Though the average Netflix watcher rates it 4.2 stars, I give it all five, something I only reserve for Academy Award winners and movies that make me feel emotions I was ready not to feel. Most of the reviews on Netflix agree with me, some saying they were a little off put by the cuts of the scenes or the swearing from the entries, but all in all it has mostly positive reviews. Some people found the documentary to be a hipster narcissism session or a white-kid struggle rant parade, but it does not matter on your gender, race, or any other part of your identity, this is truly a relatable piece. This documentary is hilarious and I recommend it to everybody I know. I do not care if you are into sad sappy dramas, comedies, or cartoons from the early 90s that were only shown at ten in the morning on Saturdays, everybody has something to laugh at or relate to by watching this. From embarrassing sexuality stories to really short songs written about having a lot of sex with women to shop lifting notes, this is truly a treat.
When you are ready to just relax for the night and you turn on Netflix, but the wall of movie posters and your queue is not doing it for you, go into the search bar and look for Mortified Nation in the documentary section. You will be pleasantly surprised, if not cringing from second hand embarrassment. Enjoy it, then dig up your diary and laugh at your past like so many did after watching this movie.
Happy Netflixing my friends.
-Teresa Navarro
Though considered a documentary, this movie feels like a stand up comedy show. Shown in scenes and interviews, a back and forth pattern is created after watching for ten minutes.. However, when watching, there is no way you can be bored, even if the creative style is a little boring. Filled with naive sexual questions, very serious parent hate, and school photos, the literal object of the documentary is to laugh along with the performers. Though the internet is filled with blogs with sad quotes, pictures of couples hugging, and Spongebob Squarepants screen caps that are “so relatable,” Mortified Nation might be the most relatable thing on the internet, seeing that we have all been an embarrassing middle schooler before. Truly capturing a time that we all have experienced, both the reader and the viewers’ skin crawls with repressed memories and stories that we all know too well.
Most of these diaries and journals were written from age eleven through sixteen. At that time, I was not writing a diary or journal, I was crying to random strangers on the internet, which is embarrassing to admit. If I dig deep enough though, I can find some very random writings that resembled a one week-long diary, all the way until my freshman year of high school. Most of the time, the writings were about how my friends saw movies without me or how I had a fight with my Mom, but I know if I were to write religiously to an empty notebook, I too would have some cringe worthy stuff written in a sloppy lettering. After seeing Mortified Nation I want to hunt out these week-long diaries and read them, hopefully finding some truly embarrassing writings, similar to the people that performed on stage.
The documentary itself is a very great thing to have in your Netflix queue. Just under an hour and a half, this makes a great movie to zone in and out into. Play this while people are over and you clearly want to watch something but you know you are going to talk through the whole thing. Watch this when you are writing out your homework, or when you are like me, watch it when you are feeling really upset. The movie is set up in a way that you really do not need to pay attention at all. Since it is shown in scenes, it’s easy to only pay attention to one city, or even one spoken diary entry, thus creating the perfect thing to watch no matter how long your attention span is. This documentary is the kind of documentary you show to people who believe that all documentaries are boring and are about animals or dying out tribes. In reality, documentaries are about people and ideas. Something that Mortified Nation truly grasps onto like that one note your teacher tried to take from you in the middle of class that included your confession of undying love for him. Mortified graciously is a textbook documentary that is not too pretentious but takes itself seriously enough that even the biggest documentary naysayer will accept this movie into their heart.
Frankly, Mortified Nation is a five star movie hidden amongst the B rated horror films and embarrassingly stereotypical animes. Though the average Netflix watcher rates it 4.2 stars, I give it all five, something I only reserve for Academy Award winners and movies that make me feel emotions I was ready not to feel. Most of the reviews on Netflix agree with me, some saying they were a little off put by the cuts of the scenes or the swearing from the entries, but all in all it has mostly positive reviews. Some people found the documentary to be a hipster narcissism session or a white-kid struggle rant parade, but it does not matter on your gender, race, or any other part of your identity, this is truly a relatable piece. This documentary is hilarious and I recommend it to everybody I know. I do not care if you are into sad sappy dramas, comedies, or cartoons from the early 90s that were only shown at ten in the morning on Saturdays, everybody has something to laugh at or relate to by watching this. From embarrassing sexuality stories to really short songs written about having a lot of sex with women to shop lifting notes, this is truly a treat.
When you are ready to just relax for the night and you turn on Netflix, but the wall of movie posters and your queue is not doing it for you, go into the search bar and look for Mortified Nation in the documentary section. You will be pleasantly surprised, if not cringing from second hand embarrassment. Enjoy it, then dig up your diary and laugh at your past like so many did after watching this movie.
Happy Netflixing my friends.
-Teresa Navarro