Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch is an unpredictable novel that illustrates the unique personalities found in an apartment complex in Indiana, colloquially known as The Rabbit Hutch. Despite the range of individuals that inhibit The Rabbit Hutch, nearly every resident interacts with media, the Internet, or social media. Interestingly, the characters’ media usage is exclusively portrayed in a negative light. In Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch, negative portrayals of media use highlight how the Internet motivates people and media platforms to accumulate views at any cost, and how social media use significantly influences a person’s self-esteem.
Throughout The Rabbit Hutch, Gunty critiques news outlets and social media users for producing content to maximize views. For example, while visiting Blandine in the hospital, Joan describes that the stabbing incident was “no longer front-page material, already approaching irrelevance” (392). Here, two days after Blandine was stabbed by her roommate, the local news has already found more newsworthy content for the front page. It is reasonable to assume that such an unsettling event would reside on the front page for more than two days; therefore, the short-lived nature of Blandine’s stabbing highlights how news media are more concerned with producing content that will attract views than with reporting important information. Malik’s YouTube video is another example of social media inspiring people to post content that gains views. After getting sent the link to the video of Blandine getting stabbed, Sapphire, who shared a foster family with Malik, describes, “By then the video boasts nearly 2,000 views [...] Malik always loved attention: she believes that he is capable of hurting someone for it” (356). Here, Sapphire reveals that Malik posted violent content to receive views. This frightening reality highlights an issue with social media use: people are willing to compromise their morality to achieve virtual popularity. Ultimately, social media use and news media have negative implications when content is produced for the sole purpose of attracting views.
Another negative implication of social media and Internet use is their ability to control a user’s self-worth. For example, when introducing the residents of apartment C10, the narrator reveals that a new mother is struggling with motherhood. On the Internet, the mother reads, “You are a psychopath, the Mommy Blogs concluded. You are a threat to us all” (7). This quote illuminates the false information that circulates in social media groups across the Internet. Here, the mother is being shamed for not immediately loving motherhood. This virtual guilt-tripping highlights the judgmental side of social media, which can negatively impact a person’s self-esteem and confidence.
Overall, negative displays of media use in The Rabbit Hutch emphasize how the Internet and social media impact a user’s self-worth, and how social media content creators and news outlets prioritize gaining views above all. Although engaging with social media and the Internet is often regarded as positive and enjoyable, through the numerous instances of Internet and social media use in The Rabbit Hutch, Gunty points out the problematic aspects of media use.
I absolutely agree with your argument, as Gunty highlights the use of social media as a platform for the desperate seeking views and validation. Malik is certainly focused on gaining a "following," which Gunty highlights when she writes, "All summer, he's been recording on his phone, uploading pathetic profiles because he believes he has the Fame Gene" (309). Convinced of his ability to "make it big" Malik has become self-obsessed. He is more infatuated with the idea of people liking him behind a screen than people liking him in real life, which nearly costs Blandine her life. Malik does not treat her as a human being but rather as a means for personal gain, no matter the cost to her. This is undoubtedly exploitation, and Gunty wants the reader to understand the ways in which social media encourages dehumanization and self-promotion.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of inappropriate self-promotion on social media is seen on Joan's website for the deceased. The website is meant to be a space for communal mourning and honoring the dead, but instead a young artist uses the platform to promote her music album. A portion of her comment reads, "im sorry to do this here but im 19 yo, just wrote my 1st album, would luv to see ppl engage with it" (270). She has no connection to the dead person and yet feels compelled to exploit the circumstances for her personal advancement. As you mentioned, Gunty does not portray social media in a positive light and rather shows how it can further separate people.