By Robert Scucci
| Published
Most true crime documentaries try to play it straight because the filmmakers behind them are trying to lay out the facts (as they see them) as objectively as possible with the information they have at their disposal in order to get their viewers to appreciate a certain viewpoint. Fyre Fraud, a Hulu Original, aims to do just that, but its subject matter is so unthinkably stupid that the documentary actually plays out – and is categorized – as a true-crime comedy for reasons that you will soon understand.
Aiming to unpack the disastrous planning or lack thereof going into the infamously ill-fated Fyre Festival, Fyre Fraud points its attention to Billy McFarland, the man behind the operation who was incarcerated for orchestrating one of the largest frauds in recent history, and immediately set out to plan a new business venture known as PYRT, an equally dubious exercise in venture capital and deception.
Personally, I don’t know what the hell Billy McFarland was thinking when he agreed to be interviewed for Fyre Fraud, but I’m so glad he did because his complete lack of self-awareness and “go get ‘em” serial-entrepreneur attitude juxtaposed with every other interviewed party calling him out for being such a disingenuous businessman, con artist, and compulsive liar is so funny that you couldn’t ever imagine penning a screenplay as hilarious as this documentary.
A Scathing Indictment Of The FOMO Mentality
Fyre Fraud makes it very clear right off the rip that Billy McFarland’s shady business practices will take center stage, but writer/director Julia Willoughby Nason spends a considerable amount of time examining how such a monumentally stupid festival was able to get green-lit in the first place despite the fact that most parties involved knew how poorly planned everything was from day one.
Knowing full-well that millennials of a certain age value how they appear on social media more than anything else, McFarland played into one kind of insecurity that most chronically online people are susceptible to: the fear of missing out, or FOMO.
Launching an aggressive online influencer campaign, McFarland made a lot of promises that he could never in his wildest dreams live up to. Getting rapper Ja Rule’s blessing, McFarland started promoting Fyre Festival, which in his mind would be the next Coachella if executed properly.
The combination of doom scrolling-induced FOMO, the latent desire for our generation to have our own Woodstock, and the promise of a once-in-a-lifetime music festival that combines luxury and entertainment made for insane pre-sale numbers for the doomed-from-the-start festival, and Fyre Fraud goes into great detail how online culture during the time leading up to McFarland’s pie-in-the-sky venture was pretty much inevitable.
What Went Wrong
As for how everybody got duped, Fyre Fraud explains how McFarland’s infectious personality, confidence, arrogance, and straight-up fraudulent behavior kept the lie going up until and through the expected festival dates, resulting in countless lawsuits and his incarceration for wire fraud. Giving his team only four months to build entire festival grounds on an undeveloped island, McFarland constantly vetted and signed on investors who he knew he’d never be able to pay back, while simultaneously robbing festival goers blind with his empty promises.
Meanwhile, days before people were set to arrive in the Bahamas, bands like Blink-182, and vendors were pulling out because nobody was getting paid despite the fact that millions of dollars were changing hands according to the narrative framed in Fyre Fraud. The end result was catastrophic, as you may remember from seeing the online outrage back in 2017 when this all went down, and Fyre Fraud shows you just how dire the situation was for millennials who spent their life savings, sold off assets, and quit their jobs to be able to attend the festival that was nothing more than a bunch of FEMA tents on a deserted island.
A Documentary, But Also A Comedy Of Errors
While B-reel of the fairgrounds plays out, showing viewers just how much of a ramshackle affair Fyre Fest actually was (like being transported on school buses and fed cheese sandwiches), interviews with McFarland suggest that he’s already working on his next big project despite the fact that he’s up to his neck in civil suits and federal investigations after serving his sentence.
Though you can’t help but feel bad for the attendees who simply wanted to participate in the next big thing in this true crime documentary, Fyre Fraud is a hilarious look at just how quickly a social media campaign can spiral out of control, and how the people behind it take zero accountability for their actions – even when they have to plead the fifth when pressed by interviewers because the litigation against them is still active, and what they choose to say or withhold can probably be used against them in the court of law.
You can stream Fyre Fraud on Hulu.
Leave a Reply