Filmmaker Wes Anderson is quite aware of the TikTok and Instagram trend that involves posting pictures and videos in his cinematic aesthetic. But that doesn’t necessarily means he’s invested in it.
Over the past couple of years, TikTok and Instagram users have been posting pictures and Reels with a filter that they seem straight out of a signature Wes Anderson film, like The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) or The French Dispatch (2021).
Is Wes Anderson aware of this social media trend?
“I’ve only been exposed to it verbally. I haven’t seen any of it. Obviously, it’s easy for me to go to the right web page and see it. I choose not to really engage. I guess it’s because I don’t want to get distracted by that. It’s a bit like if you’re told, “Your friend does a great version of you.” Maybe you say, I’d really like to see it, and maybe you say, I don’t want to see a version of me, even if it’s good. It can be like, “Is that me?” That’s not necessarily the thing you want,” Wes told The Daily Beast.
Will he ever see it though?
“At some point, I’m sure I’ll go in there and see. But I’ve never seen a TikTok, for instance, of anything. I’m not going to start with me,” Wes said in the same interview.
How did this trend start?
Wally and Amanda Koval started an Instagram page in 2017 called Accidentally Wes Anderson, which had pictures of aesthetically appealing landscapes and buildings in trademark Wes Anderson aesthetic, like perfect symmetry, muted colours and a breezy filter. The breakout success of that Instagram page led to a whole new meme culture on posting pictures and videos like they’re from a Wes Anderson film.
Who is Wes Anderson?
For the uninitiated, who are following the trend on Instagram yet are not up to speed with who really the auteur is, Wes Anderson has written and directed around a dozen films, including The Darjeeling Limited (2007), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021) and most recently, Asteroid City (2023), that is slated to release this Friday on June 23.