Prisioneiras da própria imagem: a busca pela validação social e a construção da autoimagem no filme The Substance (2024)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the film "The Substance" (2024), directed by Coralie Fargeat, from sociological and anthropological perspectives on self-image construction and the search for social validation in contexts of digital hypervisibility. Drawing primarily on theoretical references such as Erving Goffman's concepts of social performance, Paula Sibilia's spectacle of intimacy, David Le Breton's theory of the body as a symbolic interface, and Mikhail Bakhtin's aesthetic perspective on the grotesque, the research investigates how the film uses the body horror genre to depict contemporary tensions between identity and performance, reality and appearance, body and digital avatar. Methodologically, the research employs qualitative film analysis, emphasizing visual metaphors, narrative elements, and aesthetic language to explore the implicit social critique within the cinematic work. The study highlights the journey of the character Elisabeth Sparkle (played by Demi Moore), who, facing aging and media exclusion, resorts to an experimental substance to create a young and idealized version of herself, triggering both symbolic and literal identity duplication processes. The analysis results demonstrate how "The Substance" problematizes the logic of visual validation prevalent in social networks, revealing mechanisms of exclusion, aesthetic anxiety, and identity fragmentation. The film is interpreted as a compelling critique of contemporary digital culture's impacts on subjectivity and body perception, highlighting the constant pressure to maintain an idealized appearance. It concludes that the work effectively employs grotesque aesthetics as a critical and symbolic resource, fostering a profound reflection on the vulnerability of contemporary individuals in the face of visual demands imposed by media and digital society