Lost Classics: The Eighty-Sixed and the banality of social media

There is no shortage of media about millennials and technology. From Sally Rooney’s latest novel Normal People to the surprise hit of the summer, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, readers and viewers are inundated with stories about how young people interact with an increasingly online world. The eight-part web series Eighty-Sixed explores this world dwelling on all the neuroses and anxieties that come with it.

Eighty-Sixed (April 2017), written by Elisa Kalani and Cazzie David, follows the recently dumped and social media obsessed Remi (played by Cazzie David) trying to navigate her way through a breakup. Remi is a neurotic young twenty-something who sees no life outside of her LA Bubble and her two friends Owen and Lily.

We see David’s character move through her narrow world struggling with basic principles of social etiquette. Why should she be forced to celebrate her friend’s birthday she wonders, and why should she allow anyone to enjoy a party that she’s not enjoying herself? This is what Eighty-Sixed does so well; it breaks down generally unquestioned social norms with a frightening specificity and awkwardness that leaves the watcher questioning whether they should exist at all. Because of this particular brand of observational comedy, it should come as no surprise to learn that Cazzie David is the daughter of the great American satirist, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld creator, Larry David.

There are undeniable parallels in their comedic approaches, notably the general air of misanthropy and at times heavy-handed focus on social mores. But, it would be reductive to say that Eighty-Sixed is just Curb Your Enthusiasm for the modern age. Cazzie David captures something quite profound about millennial culture that is not simply a rehashed product of her father’s radical comedic trailblazing from the 90s.

While at brunch with her two friends Remi says: “Can you guys get off your phones? Or can one of you get off your phone so that I can get on my phone?” This critical observation of social rules combined with the understanding that young people absolutely need to conform to them characterises Remi’s interactions with the world. All too much writing and TV about social media is written by adults who never really grasp the essence of social media’s power and pervasiveness. Whereas Remi distils it perfectly when she muses over exactly how long she should wait before texting a new love interest back, before ultimately fudging it with her hyper-obsession with getting it right.

When we see the real impression that Curb Your Enthusiasm has left on Cazzie’s writing however is in her real-time interactions with other characters, such as aggressively asking a stranger to post a photo of her on Facebook having fun at a party in a bid to make her ex jealous. Or, in another (quite painful to watch) scene where Remi refuses to share her water bottle with a new friend on a hike due to her rampant germaphobia. This sardonic rejection of social conventions is what Larry David became famous for.

Ultimately, the Eighty-Sixed is a brand of comedy that is stubborn and observational, but this isn’t her father’s show. And soon, Cazzie David should shake off the “daughter of Larry David” title as an emerging talent for earnest social criticism that somehow doesn’t take itself too seriously.

As we are inundated with media about millennials but rarely written by millennials, David’s blinding accuracy coupled with moments of histrionic behaviour (such as when Remi uses a drone to spy on her ex) is a breath of fresh air. And, any non-millennials seeking to understand how we actually interact with technology and navigate the world online shouldn’t look much further than Eighty-Sixed.