The word “engagement” is a funny one: Historically, it meant a deep and authentic connection with a person, idea, or work of art. It also could mean an event on your calendar or a job — something real you shape your life around. But in the social media era, the phrase has taken on a shallow, almost crass, meaning: “Engagement” means getting eyeballs and reactions on your content — views on YouTube, likes on Instagram, comments on Facebook. It’s almost antithetical with the original usage of the word because it thrives on material that requires no effort to consume and provokes basic emotional reactions: anger, sympathy, lust, etc.
“Engagement,” of course, has another common meaning: A betrothal to get married. Seeking Engagement, the short cringe-comedy film written and directed by Jacob Halpren, ties these ideas together: It’s the story of Johnny (Johnny Gaffney) who shuts off authentic “engagement” around him with a series of public stunts to increase his viral social media “engagement.” And those stunts are fake-non-engagements: staged, rejected marriage proposals in public that provoke outsized reactions on TikTok and other social media.
The film follows Johnny on his birthday. He starts the day with his shift at a senior center: Though it appears to be a day job, a knife-twist punchline reveals the center doesn’t even want him, just his equipment. Nonetheless, Johnny brings a bit of life to residents of the senior center. Perhaps they’re an easy crowd, but they latch onto his charm and energy.
The embarrassments continue when only two people show up at his birthday dinner: his mom and a young woman named Alina (Alina Carson), the latter of whom seems to be there only out of sympathy. When Johnny gets a call from the staff of a WNBA game that they’re going to allow him to propose to his mythical girlfriend on the Jumbotron, Johnny ropes in a reluctant Alina for the stunt. The fake marriage proposal works, in that it garners a lot of attention, but it also further alienates Alina, leaving Johnny wrapping his birthday all by himself.
The film ends with the residents of the senior center comforting Johnny. My favorite shot in the short is a slow zoom out on Johnny surrounded by the friendly faces he’s entertained — that he’s engaged with — as he we can tell from his face that he’s struggling to process what, if anything, the comfort from the residents of the senior center means to him.
Seeking Engagement is a bit of guerilla comedy in the spirit of Nathan Fielder, blending fiction and performative reality. I haven’t searched around to verify, but it certainly seems that the faked proposals really happened. The credits include Several “proposees,” and we see a clip of an interview with Sabrina Ionescu, a real WNBA player, about the incident.
The production and acting in Seeking Engagement are quite good. Gaffney evokes some of the cringe-master mumblecore legends, while Carson is tone perfect as the innocent victim to his stunt. Halpren’s direction is clean and occasionally evocative. Though it’s more a squirm-comedy than anything else, I laughed out loud a couple of times. Most importantly, the short reckons with the trials and tradeoffs of getting noticed in the social media attention economy — and how, paradoxically, can make us less connected and “engaged” with the world around us.
Seeking Engagement is streaming on NoBudge and for free on Vimeo.
Halpren’s previous films include multiple shorts, including Claire at Seven Months and Martini Night. You can find his web site here.
Additional crew credits on Seeking Engagement include Johnny Gaffney as writer and producer, Peter Reinstein as cinematographer, Halpren and Alex Riccio as editors. Additional cast credits include Lisa Gaffney (presumably Gaffney’s real-life mom) as Johnny’s mom, Hisa Viscovich as the senior center manager, Jimmy Peoples as Mike (WNBA team employee), and Joy Decker as a waitress.
Dan Stalcup is the film critic for The New Cinephile and The Goods. Reach him at dan.stalcup@gmail.com.
There aren’t many things I walk away from and realize how little I actually “saw”. This was one of those times.
The theme is so relevant. We need real engagement. I love how the presented this crisis in such a touching way.