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01x02 - Social Divisions

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Social Studies". Aired: September 27 – October 18, 2024.*
Watch/Buy Amazon


Over the course of a school year, the series explores Generation Z students in Los Angeles who deal with bullying, racism, beauty standards, and sexuality, specifically through the use of social media.

01x02 - Social Divisions

Post by bunniefuu »

-[partygoers shouting]

-[siren wailing]

[light, serious music playing]

I texted Jack

yesterday and I was like,

"What happened to

that kid who, like, OD'd?"

[Jack] He's okay now.

He actually posted

a photo on his

story the next day.

And then he did

an Instagram post

and he wrote this funny caption.

"i knew tha perc was fake

but i still ate it

cuz ima gremlin"

That was his caption.

[chuckles]

I heard that he bought drugs

from a homeless man

and then OD'd off of them.

Then his friends didn't like

that the homeless guy maybe

laced him with somethin'.

So, then they ended up doing

something to the homeless guy.

This girl actually gave me a

ride after home from the party.

She has the Tesla

and they caught it

on the Tesla camera

and you could see,

like, they ended up

on the hood of her car.

And she saw, like, the fight.

It was crazy, super funny,

but, like, not funny

at the same time.

I didn't see that 'cause

I left my own party

[laughs] 'cause I

just was stressed out.

There were holes in the wall,

people breaking into

the owner's office.

[Jack] Someone

took, like, a lightsaber

that was a lotta money.

I posted on the

account the next day.

I was like, "Yo, if you know

anyone that broke the wall,

like, can you let me know?"

[Scarlett] And all the

money that we were making

to cover everything

that we paid for,

was stolen by the

security guards.

Scarlett, she hired,

uh, one of the Kardashians'

old security guard,

which he was a good guy.

But the security

that the venue hired,

they were the ones

that robbed the money.

[Scarlett] Apparently,

the security guards

turned off the security cameras.

Then they just quit

their job and took off

with the, like, $3,000 of money.

But, I mean, overall,

it was a good party.

I think it might go down

as the party of the year.

The thing about this generation,

people are gonna look

back when they're, like, 20

or, like, 50, and

they're gonna be like,

"Oh, I'm gonna show my

kids this Snapchat memory

from when I was 13."

["jealousy, jealousy"

by Olivia Rodrigo playing]

Co-co-comparison

is k*lling me slowly ♪

I think, I think too much ♪

'Bout kids who don't know me ♪

I'm so sick of myself ♪

I'd rather be, rather be ♪

Anyone, anyone else ♪

Jealousy, jealousy ♪

Started following me ♪

[theme fades out]

[marching band music playing]

-[team shouts]

-[field chatter]

[crowd cheering]

[FB James] It's a

wonderful time over here,

the stadium by the sea.

You got the people

and the fans up there.

Go ahead and share

the feed on your timeline.

We're gonna have

some fun tonight.

[Jordan] I'm going

to the football game

with friends from my old school.

♪ ♪ ♪

The culture at Pali

can be, like, a little toxic.

[cheering]

[applause]

[player 10] Let's go, baby!

[Jordan] My friends

aren't from a co-ed school,

so they're just

around all girls, all day.

So, they're just kinda like,

"Oh, my God, like,

there's all these cute boys!"

-Aye, that's how we win! That's how we win!

-Yessir. That's the Pali way.

[player 13] Check my stats.

And they kept saying

like, "Oh, my God, Jordan,

we're so jealous that

you go to Pali," and stuff.

They're, like, kinda like me,

they're a little bit

boy-crazy, so

[speaker] One, two, three!

[student] I, like, brought my

charger 'cause, like, I thought--

[crew member]

Want me to plug it in?

[Dominic] I have a

question, really quick,

has anyone here gone to a school

that was not majority white?

-[students] Yeah.

-[Keshawn] Yeah, when I got to Pali,

I was always lookin' over

my back, saggin' my pants.

I came from, like, two

different environments.

It was hard to,

like, change over.

You go into a classroom,

everyone's starin' at you,

but everyone's a

different color from you.

You gotta change your

whole way of livin' type

just to be in the

classroom with them.

[Anthony] Yeah, in

2017, my freshman year,

I was getting called a n

r, like, left and right,

bathroom, classroom.

I'll be in the AP class,

and you already know,

you already know,

as a Black man,

as a Brown person,

as a person of the

LGB community,

there's been so many times I

just wanted to beat that kid's a*s,

but if I stand up in class,

I'm the one that's aggressive.

[Marley] For me, it was,

like, a survival method.

Like, I had to whitewash

myself in order to survive

going to, like, schools

that were mainly white.

Like, I had to make myself

"appeal more" to

the white culture.

Is the social media

world that you're in online

more integrated

than the real world?

No. You go on your news feed

and you see type of sh*t like,

"Oh, just a whole bunch

of white kids is doin' this,"

then you go on this one, you see the

whole bunch of Black kids doin' this.

-You get two different images on-on-on social media.

-It's the, um, the algorithm.

In social media, I

definitely portrayed myself

as, like, a white girl

'cause, in Instagram,

that's what made you popular.

I tried so hard to be white.

Posting pictures, you know,

in bikinis on the

beach with my besties,

meanwhile, I, like, have

f*ck' body hair all over me

'cause I'm Mexican, but

these girls, like, looked, like--

they looked different than me

and I didn't wanna

seem like a Latina.

I didn't wanna seem

like not like them.

-[pensive music playing]

-[distant sirens]

[Ellie] Which one?

I like the [sings]

Show rockin' ♪

He got everything

that a girl's wanting ♪

[Ellie] Oh, the

Hannah Montana song.

Smooth talkin', so rockin' ♪

-He's got everything that a girl's

wantin' -[Ellie] Oh, my gosh, hold on.

-That one?

-Yeah.

[Ellie] Okay, that's

actually really cute.

We should totally

do that. C'mon.

Do your craziest rock move.

Go, like Do it, go.

-One, two.

-[phone recorder beeps]

["He Could Be the One"

by Hannah Montana playing]

[lip-syncing]

Guitar cutie, he

plays it groovy ♪

And I can't keep myself

from doin' somethin' stupid ♪

[song continues on phone]

Lilah, you look so cute.

This filter, on TikTok, it just

makes you look so pretty.

I live with my sister,

my mom, and my niece.

My mom was born

and raised in Mexico,

and she came to work out

here helping to take care of kids.

Basically nanny.

One of the families

my mom worked with,

they were a very wealthy family.

Their daughter, we

grew up together.

In, like, Brentwood, the

kids have really nice houses,

it was a very nice area.

Definitely way better

than what, like, you know,

what I grew up

around here in Mid City.

So, I started going

to school out there

because it was

closer to my mom's job

and she thought it was a

way better neighborhood

for me to be going to school in.

[Nadine] I love that one, Lilah.

Our parents, you know,

found the opportunity for us

and they took it.

Pali, academically,

it's a great school.

We were waking up three

hours early just to get there.

All the kids that were

on the school buses,

we were mostly

Black and Brown kids.

But, Ellie, she fit in more

over there on that side.

And she even had the look,

like, the way she dressed.

Very super model-y.

She rocked it.

[Ellie] I've come to my

home and people are like,

"You're whitewashed, you're

not Latina enough or whatever,"

and then, I go back to

school and they're like,

"Oh, like, you're Brown, you're

Latina, like, you're from the hood."

You don't ever

know where you fit in.

But it's really good to have,

like, a taste of both, I guess.

-[doorbell rings]

-Oh, the door.

-[gasps] Best friend!

-[Julie] Hi!

-Hi! How are you?

-Good.

[both chuckling]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Really fast, really fast, really fast.

-[both giggling]

-[FaceTime ringing]

Oh, Juju's calling?

-Hello! It's working.

-[Julian] [over phone] Hello.

[Ellie] Whatcha doin'?

I mean, okay. Go off. I guess.

Do your thing. Aye yo.

Julian grew up

in, like, Mid City,

like, kind of South

Central area.

South Central is a very,

I guess you could say,

urban neighborhood.

He's, like, my first

boyfriend that was,

like, not whitewashed.

He, like, likes stuff,

like getting tatted,

and car meets, and

getting into fights.

Very, like, hood, I guess.

We began dating in freshman year

and he's my first love.

We just were very similar.

We became, like, peas in a pod.

-Bye, love you.

-See you in a bit!

-[family chattering]

-[security door shuts]

-Hoo-hoo. Okay.

-[phone notifications]

Give me one second.

It's crazy, dude.

This is actually f*cking crazy.

[sighs] You know, I kinda

like our neighborhood.

Me too. It got a lot more

quiet, that's for sure.

-Right?

-Yeah.

[Ellie] Thank God.

I used to hear g*nshots,

like, every week.

[FaceTime ringing]

Hey!

-[Julian] Hey. Where's Julie?

-Um, what's it called?

-Who's askin' for me? Who's askin' for me?

-[Ellie laughs]

He was like, "Where's

Julie?" [chuckles]

-You heard that?

-You miss me?

I really like Julian, but he's,

like, a little overprotective,

you know, a little

toxic a*s, but, like

he would text her and be like,

"Send me your location.

I just wanna make

sure, like, you're okay."

Or, like, FaceTime

and be like, "Do a 360."

Okay, guys. Look,

look, look. Okay, guys.

[laughter]

I'm not playing.

[Wii theme song

playing on phone]

[both humming to song]

[both laughing]

[g*nf*re in video game]

[voice] [in video game]

k*ll yourself. [groans]

Turn the lights

on, why are you in--

[Jordan] I play

in the dark, so

And I hope you don't think,

like, my eyesight's

gonna get bad

because you know

that's a myth, right?

I'm pretty sure the

eye doctor told you that.

-[Karen] No, she didn't, we

asked her-- -Uh, she actually did.

[Karen] Okay, see you later.

-M'kay, oh, bye, sorry.

-Bye.

[Jordan] I-I c-- like,

had my headphones in.

This game, they try to make

it, like, look stereotypical, like,

dirty part of the city, like,

urban part of the city. [sniffles]

So, I think that's why

they call it "Da Hood"

which is, like, weird for me.

The other players, most

of them are, like, white.

-[player] [over computer] Hello?

-Hello? [chuckles]

But most of my friends

online are Black kids.

-[game characters chattering]

-[g*nshots in game]

I've met a lot of cool people

off the internet, to be honest.

There's just some

people on the internet

where they just

understand your situation,

they understand who you are.

If you're online you have,

like, more confidence.

[hip-hop music playing]

And, most of the time,

people are on there to date,

hook up, whatever.

Crop tops or, like, bikini sets.

I can't really go out with those

'cause my mom

does not let me just

full on with my booty out, so

I mean, that-- I-- That's,

o-obviously, understandable.

But, you know, on TikTok,

it just makes me look

so much better. [chuckles]

["Captain Hook" by

Megan Thee Stallion playing]

Hit this p*ssy

with an uppercut ♪

Call that n*gga Captain Hook ♪

From, like, a young, young age,

like, I would just, like,

talk to people on Skype,

not knowing really

what their age is.

Like, these people probably

have, like, three kids and a wife

and they're just talking to

you knowing you're, like, 15.

So it's a little scary.

[phone notification]

I do have someone

that I like right now.

We joke around and say

"husband" and "wife." [chuckles]

He lives in the D.C.,

Maryland, Virginia area,

the DMV.

Great.

We really started

talking, like, a lot.

[phone notifications]

And then he was like, "Oh

yeah, I followed you on Roblox."

[chuckles] It was so funny

'cause, like, he only follows

one person and it's me.

[meows]

[light music playing]

It's just, like, kinda fun.

No!

I don't like you.

It would be so cool if we

could meet, like, in person.

But that's probably

not gonna happen

'cause of my mom. [chuckles]

[music fades out]

[Kristi] Well, I'm so impressed,

obviously, with my son, Jack.

We have a very

great relationship,

so we communicate a lot.

He's maintained straight

A's all through school.

You know, he

started a non-profit,

his TikTok was so brilliant

and, you know,

he did it on his own.

Do you mind if I just look

at a monitor really quick?

Oh, yeah, oh, wow,

look how orangey it is.

Holy buckets, I look like I got

sunburned at the tanning salon.

Lighting's everything, right?

Uh, my mom, uh, does

celebrity marketing,

so she works with a

lotta, like, the celebrities

in the industry with that.

Oh yeah, I've worked with

hundreds of celebrities, yeah.

I don't usually, like,

name drop. [chuckles]

She wor-- used to work

with Lindsay Lohan.

She was, like, her assistant

or something like that.

No, no, no, we were

business partners.

We owned a brand together.

[Jack] She has a

lot of experience

and she's always been

really good at marketing.

So he actually

came up with the idea.

We were in the car one

day goin' to a friend's house,

and he was like, "Yo,

we should start a brand."

And I was like, "That

sounds awesome. Let's do it."

We're about to launch

our new Loonar drop

and these are some of

the products we have.

So, we have these

pants, super sick.

Uh, Loonar hats

right here, unreleased.

But they're coming

soon in our next drop.

-Yup.

-And the-- yeah.

[Jack] My mom was kinda

helpin' with the whole process,

just, like, tellin' us, like, "You

gotta do this first, then this."

And we were, like-- 'Cause

sh-she wanted it to be professional.

[Kristi] One day, I remember I

got a call from KTLA, they're like,

"We wanna interview your son."

I'm like, "Oh!"

[reporter] Two teens have

designed a fashion empire

out of recycled materials.

Fifteen-year-olds, Jack

Schwartz and Mateo Santamaria

from Los Angeles have been

friends since the third grade.

The brand's

message is "equality."

What is the meaning

behind "Loonar"?

From the dark side to

the light side of the moon,

-we represent equality for all.

-I love that!

One incredibly creative

way they decided to market

was to get celebs to

wear Loonar masks.

[Jack] We'd go around, we're

like, "Aye, we got this clothing brand.

"We represent equality for all.

"You think you could

just throw on a mask

and help us promote it?"

-[Charli D'Amelio] Sure.

-[Jack] Thank you.

If we were to pay

Charli D'Amelio

or Addison Rae

to wear our brand,

it would be thousands

and thousands of dollars.

But since, like, they were kinda,

like, scared of getting "canceled,"

they couldn't say really no

when they were gettin'

filmed by the paparazzi.

[Jack] We posted that video of

us giving her the mask on TikTok,

and it got, like,

11 million views.

That would translate

to all, like, the sales.

Our family is just,

like, we're, ya know,

serial entrepreneurs. [laughs]

I think that drive and

tenacity and determination,

you either have it or ya don't.

[ambient nature sounds]

[Keshawn] My life

has been hectic.

Do what you gotta do

and make yourself a name.

That's what we're all tryna do.

But it's hard to keep it goin'.

[ambient street noise]

Is this the Uber?

[exclaims]

Check Footaction.

A-ha, they got 'em, look.

Nah, look at them

Adidas right there.

[Keshawn] I haven't

seen the other side of life.

To see millions of dollars,

you know, I haven't

seen the other side

to not worry about

pickin' up clothes and

lookin' at the price tag.

You know, I'm tryin'

to look fly and rich

and I wanna put

on that impression

that I have money.

Yah.

We all know money

is the root of all evil,

but without money,

there is nothing, you know,

if we're being realistic.

They say money

can't buy happiness,

but it buys everything

else that makes you happy.

-[chuckles] I'm just sayin'--

-I know you off TikTok!

-[Keshawn] Oh, you do? Aye, l-let's take a picture.

-Yeah.

[Keshawn] Aye, you've

seen me on TikTok?

The most famous-a*s

n*gga on TikTok.

[Nubia] Yeah. You be poppin'

up on my For You Page.

[Keshawn] That was,

like, the first-ever encounter

of, like, someone,

like, runnin' up to me,

"Oh, my God, like, you're

KD off of, like, Tiktok!"

[ambient street noise]

[bubbling]

[Ellie] Go, Julie. [chuckles]

[Julie] Me? sh*t.

[Ellie] Okay.

Julian and I, like,

are going through

some relationship problems.

-[phone notifications]

-I need my phone.

Oh, wait, let me grab

my phone really fast.

After a two-and-half-year

relationship, like,

I just don't wanna not

be close to him anymore.

[phone notification]

Sometimes it's really

hard to just cut the cord.

[sighs]

[phone ringing]

-[Lourdes] Uh-oh.

-Yeah, what's up?

[Ellie] It's Julian. Yeah.

No! What the hell?

No. Definitely not.

Me too So much.

I said, "Me too."

Bye.

[phone notifications]

Just keep goin'

straight down, Mom.

[Lourdes] No, it's right

here, no? Oh, no, on three.

Okay, this is Temple.

[quiet chatter]

[Ellie] So, I started talking

to this guy named Bodhi.

We started chatting on Snapchat.

It was just kind of, like,

a weird, like, situation.

Julian and I, we were

kind of, like, on and off

before Bodhi and I

had started talking.

And then, Bodhi, we had

talked about New York,

and how I wanted to go

and how he wanted to go.

And he was like, "We

should totally go together,"

and I was like, "Oh, wow, okay."

[Ellie] Uhh, I mean, like,

Julian and I have been

together for, like, ever.

I don't know. Like,

I just feel very, like,

like, suffocated

in different ways.

You know that, so

[light, tense music playing]

Bodhi's from,

like, the West Side.

He grew up in Santa Monica.

We definitely come

from different lifestyles

and with him, I saw the

world a little differently.

Bodhi is very, like, proper

and, like, you

know, responsible,

and, like, calm, and, like,

super into technology

and, like, hacking.

And, like, you know,

just little stuff like that.

But I like that.

[Julie] Alright. Spark it.

It's a cacao-wrapped pre-roll?

-[Julie] Let me see this.

-I got it from Bodhi.

[Julie] Homie Bodhi.

It smells like

chocolate. [laughs]

[both laughing]

-Like, why did I do this to myself?

-For real.

-[phone notification]

-Yeah.

-I don't know.

-Dang.

-It's a lot going on right now.

-This cacao leaf.

I know, it's good, right?

Should I FaceTime

Julian really fast?

-[FaceTime ringing]

-Hello?

[Ellie] Guess where I'm at?

Oh!

Yes, sir. The spot.

I'm smoking a

cacao-wrapped pre-roll.

Cool, huh?

From the shop.

Yes Alright, well,

drive safe, okay?

[Ellie] You too.

Talk to you later.

Bye.

[call ends]

[softly groans]

[Sofia] My ex was, like,

low-key a bit a*usive

and would, like,

definitely use location

and, like, knowing

where you were

as, like, a form of

abuse to use, like, you

and control you and

know where you are,

same as having your passwords,

like, that's totally

a form of abuse.

Once you give your

password to someone else,

you might as well throw the

relationship out the window

-'cause that's where it's gonna go.

-I disagree.

-Nah, nah.

-[crosstalk]

-I disagree.

-[Keshawn] Let me explain, let me explain.

[Maren] What are

you hiding then?

I'm not hidin' nothin', but the fact

that you have to go through passwords

just to know that, that

means you don't trust me.

If I'm just gonna go on your

phone, do something little,

if I'm like, "Let me take

a selfie on your phone,"

if I'm like, "Wait, I need to text

my mom back and my phone died.

Let me text her on your phone."

If you really don't want

me to just go on your phone

'cause there's

that big of a chance

that I'll see something

that I don't wanna see,

-then that's your problem, and you're untrustworthy.

-Yes.

I understand that. Can I-- That's

what we was, that's what we was saying.

If you don't trust your partner,

then you shouldn't

be with him, one,

and, two, I feel like I

don't give my passwords

because there's some stuff on my

phone that I don't want you to see

-because that's for me.

-[Maren] Like what?

[Cori] You know what

I'm sayin'? Like, notes,

certain pictures,

certain stuff--

[Anaya] Yeah, that's

actually, that's actually true.

Like, nobody has my Instagram

or Snapchat passwords.

I'm not giving those

out to anybody,

not even my boyfriend,

not because I don't trust him,

but because it's, like, that's

my social media, you know?

I don't want someone

to have access to that.

It's, like, mine, you know?

[group member] Mm-hm.

[Jordan] Just wait for it.

-[Karen] Okay. Slay.

-[Jordan] Okay.

["Love On Top" by

Beyoncé playing in house]

[Karen and Jordan chuckling]

Hello, everybody, hello,

welcome to my grand show!

To my [chuckles]

Sunday Morning Live!

Okay, okay.

So, we have this beautiful,

beautiful presentation

of why I should go to D.C.

-This November or October. Okay.

-[Jordan] October. Mm-hm.

So, first, I wanna start off on

my appreciation post for my mom.

Mom, um, like, you know,

you really do a lot for me.

-Very, very--

-[unsure] Okay.

[Jordan] So, reasons

why we should go to D.C.

-[Karen] Okay.

-I just really wanna sightsee

and I think the last place

we went to was Italy, right?

[sighs] Lot of

sightseeing there, yeah.

-So, other stuff we could do.

-Mm-hm.

Um, we have the African

American museum.

-I do wanna go there.

-I wanna go there too.

Um, you also can go see

Georgetown and Howard.

-[Karen] Okay.

-Which, you know, I would love to see.

And possibly, if we

went to New York, wh--

-Columbia?!

-Columbia.

I know-- Okay, I know you're

opposed to Columbia because--

I'm not opposed, I'm just,

you know, all those fees.

-Those out-of-state fees.

-I know.

[Karen] Okay, well,

that's a great presentation.

I'm gonna have to

think about all of that.

-My concern is

-[Jordan groans lightly]

are we-- what is-- what's gonna

happen when we get there?

-'Cause I know you have these friends right?

-Mm-hm.

Am I gonna get to

the sightseeing place

-and then, all of a sudden, "Oh, look who's here!"

-No, no, no.

"Oh, what a

coincidence!" You know?

-No, no.

-Is all that gonna happen?

No, that's not gonna happen.

Why are we so stuck

on going to D.C.?

-[Jordan] Okay.

-Mm-hm.

["Mood Swings" by Pop

Smoke ft. Lil Tjay playing]

-She my lil' boo thing ♪

-Fatty ♪

[Keshawn] Me and Amari,

there's this one video we posted.

It has, like, a million

views right now.

Like, "Shorty a lil' baddie,

she my lil' boo thing."

-"And shorty got the fatty."

-The fatty ♪

On the "fatty" part,

I rub her stomach,

like I was callin' her fat.

[mellow music playing]

Woke up the next day

and it was so much hate.

"Oh, you need a new boyfriend,

he's body shaming you."

"A boy should never

do that to a girl."

It made people unfollow us.

They was tellin' other people

not to watch our videos.

We got shadow-banned

for that video.

That v-video was, like, "You

know g-girls are insecure,

now she's insecure."

Keshawn was like,

"She's not insecure."

I had just found

out I was pregnant.

♪ ♪ ♪

[Keshawn] It was an accident.

Very much an accident.

But, you know, everything

happens for a reason.

[Amari] Keshawn, he said,

"Okay, well, what are we gonna do?"

Not, "What are you gonna do?"

So, it was, like, he made--

gave me reassurance that, like,

I didn't have to

do it by myself.

I didn't wanna be a

mom. We're still young!

I remember I was crying,

my mom was like,

"What are you crying for?"

And I said, "Mom, I'm pregnant,"

and it was so quiet for

about the first 10 minutes,

then she was like,

"Don't sit there and cry.

You knew what you were

doing, now take responsibility."

Well, my mom doesn't believe

in getting rid of your children,

and she said,

"If I believed in it,

I wouldn't have

you or your sister."

And I'm like, "Okay."

[light piano music playing]

[cooing]

[Keshawn] He was

born June 5, 2021.

His name is Kalin.

Seven pounds, 11 ounces.

♪ ♪ ♪

[Amari] People were

supportive, believe it or not.

-[cooing]

-[video playing on phone]

-[yawns]

-Mm, you're still tired.

I try to be around my

son as much as I can.

And I try to do little

things my dad didn't do.

Like, you don't gotta take

them to Disneyland or nothin'.

Just, like, just sit there and

really just chill with him, you know?

Enjoy time with him.

♪ ♪ ♪

I lost my pops at

a early age, at 10.

[solemn music playing]

Sad to say I think he, uh

was chokin' in his sleep on

somethin' he had took the night before,

and nobody heard him

and he died right there.

Um, a day before

his birthday, actually,

um, so, yeah, it

was pretty tough.

[music fades out]

[ambient nature sounds]

[light music playing]

[gong echoes]

[Maren] We have a

lot of little elements

of Buddhism in our house.

My dad really loves

their ideals or whatever.

I really like the aspect

of Buddhism that

has to do with how

you are as a person

and how your actions now

could influence

you in your next life.

I don't really see any open

Buddhists on social media.

I think there's an

obvious reason why.

Suddenly, you're

getting influenced

by all these popular,

famous people

who are doing all of these

things that you weren't doing.

And then you think, like, "I

have to be doing that too."

"I have to wear Converse

because, like, my Adidas

are so ugly and

so out of style."

"You have to wear

Brandy Melville."

I told my parents, I was like,

"You guys are

gonna get me a car."

-[Maren's mom] So, guess what?

-What?

[Maren's dad] This

car is yours, Maren.

-[Mom laughing]

-Yay! [gasps]

-[Mom] Your first car.

-Oh, my God! She's so pretty.

[Dad laughs]

[Mom] She must be

posting something now.

I'm afraid.

[Maren] I'm, like,

super grateful.

But I think people

hate being privileged.

Like, people hate being lucky.

And, like, I don't have

any mental illnesses.

I'm white, and I'm

rich, and I'm lucky.

But, like, that's

not cool anymore.

[Ellie] All those

people at Pali,

even though they

had, like, everything,

they would be,

like, very, like, sad

or, like, they wouldn't

really see their parents

or just, you know,

little things like that.

But to me,

sometimes I feel like,

"Wow, I wish I had

those problems."

-Play that.

-[upbeat music plays on video]

Ellie's famous on YouTube.

-[whispers] That's Ellie.

-[Ellie] That was cool.

-[Lilah] [whispers] That's her old boyfriend.

-[Ellie] Lilah.

-[Lilah] [whispers] Her old one.

-[Ellie] Stop.

[music continues

playing on laptop]

Jack Dylan Grazer and I

started being friends in 6th grade.

I remember when Ellie

was going to middle school.

She took it herself

to hang out with a lot

of the Caucasians,

the white people.

And amongst that crowd was Jack.

[door creaks open]

And then, out of nowhere,

Jack gets this big role

[creepy music playing]

and then it blew up.

As the relationship

grew, he became famous.

[reporter] "As the nephew of

Hollywood producer Brian Grazer,

"Jack Dylan Grazer's

talents run in the family.

It pulled in the biggest-ever

September opening for a film."

[Nadine] I just think

that both her and Jack

-[screaming]

-[creepy laughter]

[Nadine] did not

see that coming.

[Ellie] Look at--

Look at how cute.

-Wait.

-[friend] He is cute.

[Ellie] No, look at

how cute my baby is.

Our first or second date,

we made a live stream,

and, at this point, people had already

started to find out, like, who I was.

I was already getting, like,

tons of, like, followers, like

Ellie, you're almost at 1,000.

Ellie, you're almost at 1,000.

Oh. Oh, my God!

-Oh, sh*t. Oh, sh*t.

-[friend] Oh, my gosh, Ellie!

-Guys, follow--

-I need to end this!

I kid you not, it was,

like, the first live stream,

like, on-- trending,

like, in ev-- all the world.

[friend] I literally clicked "top live"

on Explorer and you're on there.

What the hell?

-[bright music playing]

-[Ellie] No way. That's c--

Oh, sh*t! [laughs]

It was crazy how many people.

I think the overall, like,

calculation of all people

that viewed it all together

was, like, over a million.

[friend] [in video] Guys,

look how cute they are.

Oh, my God. They're

just, like, goals.

I remember one

time I was online,

I seen a picture of Ellie

holding Jack's hand,

walking down the

Brentwood market,

like if paparazzi

took it or something.

It just all switched into

like, "Who's that girl?"

"Who's that girl?"

"That's Jack

Grazer's girlfriend."

[music fades out]

[Lauren Greenfield]

Okay, show of hands,

how many knew

that Ellie went viral?

Did anybody know

her from online?

Oh, not from online,

but I knew about it.

Okay, so, I'm on

Urban Dictionary, right?

[deep breath] Let's

look up "Ellie Hiyar."

"Ellie Hiyar is a lying,

snake like, bitchy girl

"who loves taking

advantage of her boyfriends,

(specifically ones

named jack dylan grazer.)"

[chuckles] Wait, can I read

this? This is really funny.

Wait, okay, one last definition,

"Ellie Hiyar is not a

snake, she's a lemur.

"Snakes slither

their way to fame,

"lemurs have a

good sense of smell.

"She smelled fame

from Jack Dylan Grazer

"and became

famous by association,

I rest my case, SHE'S A LEMUR."

That was good. Whoever

wrote that, like, that was good.

You know, what-what

hurt me for her

was the way she was being,

like, bashed and bullied.

[light, tense music playing]

A lot of these people

were younger kids.

Sometimes they would

get so angry at the fact

that Jack and I were together

and they would

send so much hate.

There was over, maybe, a

hundred thousand, like, threads,

like, "You don't deserve

Jack and you're so terrible,"

just, "I hate you," like, "Die."

Like, all this crazy sh*t.

They did try to say

she was a gold digger

because we come

from a lower class.

I would be on there, like,

at 2:00 in the morning,

like, writing back

to these comments,

like, "You better not

talk to my sister like that."

"Who do you think you

are?" Like, she's a child.

I've been through

my own personal hell,

you know, and I'm only 14.

[Nadine] You could tell she

started developing anxiety,

she lost weight.

Obviously, her

and Jack broke up.

[applause, cheering]

So, the bullies, they won.

After that, it's had a

ripple effect in her life.

Even to this day, it's,

like, still really hurting her.

It did affect me a

lot in different ways,

but at the same time,

I will never regret it

or say I would take it back.

It made me feel so amazing

and it-it made everything worth it,

whether it was good or bad.

It was the most

interesting thing

I've ever experienced in my life

and it really taught

me a lot about people.

[laughs] A lot of people said

that Bodhi looks like Jack,

so I definitely have a type.

[laughs]

[phone notifications]

[light music playing]

[Jordan] So, I convinced

my mom to take me to D.C.

-to see Howard and Georgetown.

-[camera clicks]

[bell tolling]

[Jordan] It was

different definitely

'cause it's, like,

all Black students.

So, I was just like, "Oh,

my God, this is so cool."

[plucky, upbeat music playing]

Georgetown, when

I was at the tour,

I was like, "Oh, my God,

this campus is so beautiful."

[speaker] Okay, so, thank you for

visiting Georgetown this afternoon.

We are, at this point, of course,

a Tier 1 research university

with undergraduate

and graduate programs.

-[phone notifications]

-[light music playing]

-[music fades out]

-Yeah, that should work.

[indistinct chatter]

Alright, go for it.

[claps]

-Action.

-Action.

Yessir.

[Jonathan] Um, alright, cool, so

being at a school

that's majority white,

most of the kids come

from the Palisades,

which is a rich area.

What is that like, being a student

of color at a school like that?

Well, that's a good

question you ask, man.

It's very hard, but I know

how to code-switch pretty well.

You know, I can go, I can

go hood from straight like,

-[code-switched voice] "Hello, my name is Anthony."

-Exact-- [laughs]

That code-switchin', bro.

[Anthony] But I don't like white

guilt. I have a bunch of white friends.

I don't believe that you should

feel sorry for me and stuff.

I didn't-- I wasn't

part of that time,

my ancestors had

to deal with that.

Like, I say-- I tell

Black kids and sh*t,

you can't be gettin' mad

at the system no more.

It's literally, it's literally about

you, what you wanna get.

Like, I tell people, if you

wanna be a photographer,

go out there, be a photographer.

Take all those pictures.

-Do videos and sh*t.

-Do your thing.

You gotta want it. I

wanted that outta myself.

Yeah. 100%.

Nice to meet you.

-[indistinct chatter]

-[downbeat music playing]

You really can't think

about the racial part.

You gotta think about just really

trying to connect through these people.

I know these kids, they're

gonna go far in some way in life,

so I try to use them

to my advantage

'cause I'm tryin' to save

money to go to college.

[Jack] The Loonar

photoshoot went smooth.

We had two photographers.

My boy, Anthony, he

should be a creative director.

He was doin' all the

creative shots and all that.

People pay him to take

photos and I saw he has, like,

an account with all

his photos on 'em,

and I was like, "Damn,

those photos are hard."

[Anthony] I use my social

media, basically, to, like,

promote my business,

my photography.

I wasn't really posting anything

controversial back in the day.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jack] Anthony was

actually, I think, a senior

doin' all the craziest parties

when I was a freshman.

And I was just-- I

kinda looked up to them.

I was like, "Damn,

like, that's sick."

Like, they were

getting all the attention

from the girls and all that,

and I'm like, "I kinda

gotta do somethin'."

I'm not gonna lie, I

kinda put Jack on.

I'm not gonna lie about that.

And he was askin' me

how to throw parties,

and me and my other friends

basically helped him out.

So, I'm happy for

him. I really am.

I'm very proud that

he's takin' over that sh*t.

He's tryin' to implement

his business into the party.

I wasn't doin' that. I was just throwin'

parties and everything just for fun.

But, Jack, he's

making money off it.

He's just tryna

make it like all of us.

[Amari] Keshawn?

-[Keshawn] Hm?

-[Amari] What time is it?

-[yawning]

-Let's go wash those clothes.

[yawning] Oh, yeah.

Damn.

[Amari] It's your clothes, my

clothes, and the baby's clothes.

-Nah.

-Yes.

It was $112 for just me and you.

-Nah.

-Now there's two added on to that.

-Plus, your son's clothes.

-Naaahhh. [groans]

[Amari] Yeeesss.

[Keshawn] Now that I have

a kid, it's a bigger picture.

I got responsibilities

to look after.

You gotta work to get money.

I'm thankful that the

way I achieve money

is through somethin' I love.

[laughter]

["Too Cool" by Oh I Like

That Music & others playing]

Superstar, yeah,

cameras flashin' ♪

-Cameras flashin' ♪

-Lifetime, yeah ♪

We forever flashin' ♪

-Yeah, VIP ♪

-I-P ♪

Yeah, they know they see me ♪

Yeah, they wanna be me, yeah ♪

Hop out the Lamborghini ♪

Lamborghini ♪

Fast like, sheesh ♪

[partygoer] Who is buyin'

the baby her first gold chain?

Tyrone!

-[all shouting]

-[laughter]

[Keshawn] Money comes

with a goal I've always wanted.

I wanna bring the

generation under me

in my family, into

somethin' better.

Not havin' to worry

about our kids

living in a neighborhood

that's not safe.

That's what everybody works for.

♪ ♪ ♪

[phone notifications]

We forever flashin' ♪

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪ ♪

[song ends]

[crickets chirping]

[phone notifications]

[Lauren] Can you just tell me

what happened in Washington?

Uhh. I would say, it's--

Sorry, let me try to check her

location right now, real quick.

[laughs] Just to see where she

is. Okay, yeah, we're good. Okay.

Um [chuckles]

when I was in D.C., I

was still texting Jordan,

the boy I met online.

-[phone notifications]

-[light music playing]

I posted on my story, like,

"Oh, I'm going to the

mall." And he was there!

And I was like, "Oh,

my God, he did not p--"

Like, my mom was

there. I was just like

♪ ♪ ♪

-[indistinct chatter]

-[giggling]

Stop, why you be like this?

Why you be like this? Hm, hm?

[camera clicking]

It was like, "Oh, my God, if my mom

saw you right now, she would freak out."

She would've been

pissed if, if she saw, though.

She would've been

like, "Oh, my God,

your whole objective

was to see him."

But he's really cool

in person, I will say.

And that was the day he asked

me to be his girlfriend. [laughs]

♪ ♪ ♪

-[dogs barking]

-Lilah, this way. Come on.

We're gonna go

to the LA High Park.

-[dog barking]

-[birds chirping]

Gonna drive it or walk it?

-Walk it, girl!

-Walk.

You lazy or somethin'?

[Nadine] Tell me that

doesn't look like a jail!

That was my high school.

I went to Pali and

I ended up here.

-It sucked. I hated this school.

-[Lilah] I hated this school.

-[Nadine] Lilah, you never went here.

-[Lilah] I never went here.

[Nadine] I was in

Pali for about a year

and then I had a D in English

my last semester of ninth grade.

They told me I was gonna have

to get transferred out to LA High.

I was devastated.

We would hang out right

here and we would smoke,

like, we'll roll up

joints right here.

At LA High, it was one of

those schools where, like,

being bad was, like, a thing.

Everyone was getting

pregnant, like at 15, 16.

Around here, it was very normal.

And I remember, like,

going to Pali, I mean,

if you were, like,

pregnant in school,

it was, like, you

didn't see that.

You'd be lucky if you

graduated from LA High.

[Lilah] Mommy, I love you.

[Nadine] I got pregnant at 20.

Everyone's response was,

"That's not so bad,

you're, you're old enough."

You're not.

[Lilah] Your school is so ugly.

It's ugly for you.

You should go in

a rich one! Like--

[Julie] Rich one? Is that

where you gonna go?

-[Lilah] Yeah. Mm-hm.

-[Julie] A rich school?

[Nadine] Ellie's upbringing

was different than mine

because after everything

that I went through,

I made sure she wasn't gonna

go through that type of exposure.

-[Lilah] Call Ellie, I miss Ellie.

-[FaceTime ringing]

-Hey!

-[group] Hey!

Hey! Hey, best friend!

Show us your view.

-Okay.

-Oh, my gosh!

[Ellie] Oh, my gosh.

New York, baby.

I mean, this is just,

like, from our hotel, but--

Wait, where are you exactly?

Uh, we're innn--

-Where are we? SoHo?

-[Julie] You don't even know where you at.

-[Bodhi] We're in, uh, SoHo.

-[Ellie] Yeah, SoHo.

We went to the Met.

[gasps] You went

to the Met, b*tch!

[Nadine] Dude, I

wanna go to the Met.

Bring Bodhi into

the conversation.

Let's see the homie.

[Ellie] Post up, babe. [laughs]

He's so dirty right now.

Say hi, wave. Uh-huh.

That's right Uh-huh.

We lovin' this

sh*t. Mclovin' it.

I'm gonna go to New York

with you next time or I-I'll see--

Can we plan that? Or sh--

Okay, so this is what I'm thinking.

-So, for my 18th--

-Are you guys down?

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

that's what I'm thinking

for-for my birthday this year,

like, we're planning Hawaii.

-Oh!

-[Ellie] So, if you guys are tagging along,

-like, we're making that plan.

-Okay.

You wanna do

Hawaii? 'Cause I was--

Lowkey, I've been

wanting to leave.

-[Julie] Me too.

-[Ellie] Yeah, let's do Hawaii,

-but I'm thinking Kauai.

-[both] Kauai?

-[Ellie] Yeah.

-Where's that? What's the difference?

-[laughing]

-[indistinct chatter]

-Kauai, first off--

-Not a difference.

-Huh?

-[Ellie laughs]

Yo, so, did you see, um

Oh yeah. Let's

not talk about that.

Anyways.

-[Lilah] Move it, Lata!

-Hold on.

There's drama left and right.

[Nadine] So, Ellie's in

New York with Bodhi.

And she posted a

picture of Bodhi at a nice,

high-class restaurant

on Snapchat.

But then, someone took

a screenshot of her story

and showed it to Julian.

And then he posted

it on Instagram.

This is a-a picture

of a phone being held.

-And it's Bodhi's picture.

-And it's--

And then, it's a nail.

Like, a female's nail.

Ew. It was a horrible

manicure by the way.

We're not even sure

whose nail that is.

-That's the real question.

-[Julie] Yeah, that skimpy-a*s nail.

'Cause she posted Bodhi

on what, her spam account?

No, girl. Her main Snapchat.

-Ooh.

-Where she has everyone from Pali.

-That must've been an accident.

-That must've been.

-That must've been an accident.

-That must've been. [chuckles]

[phone notifications]

[Nadine] Holy sh*t.

Oh.

[Julie] So, he's trippin' out.

[Nadine] So, she's saying

Bodhi's been insecure about it.

Yeah, but Juju's trippin' out.

Why the f*ck is he callin' her?

I would've been pissed.

Girl, if I came out of a

three-year relationship

and my man's in New

York with another girl,

he's lucky if I don't fly in.

Don't let your boyfriend stop

you from finding your soulmate.

Oh, my God.

[light music playing]

Bodhi and Julian,

they're nothing alike.

I think what attracted

Ellie to Bodhi

what attracts all of us

that grew up in the hood

we want a better

quality of life.

[music fades out]

[ambient street noise]

[Anthony] Aw.

sh*t.

I felt like I was a outsider

when I came to Pali

'cause there wasn't

a lot of Black kids.

A lotta white kids

were stuck-up.

But I'm just like, "I'm

just gonna focus on me."

The schools are goin'

through all this stuff

with the COVID and everything,

and I remember when

the outbreak first happened,

it was just insane.

[people shouting]

[Jonathan] After the

George Floyd k*lling,

and the Black Lives

Matter movement,

things happened at Pali

that aren't so, uh, positive.

I believe it has gotten

worse since the pandemic.

Social media has made

racism more accessible.

[crowd] [chanting in

video] Sixteen shots!

[chanting continues]

Sixteen shots! Sixteen shots!

[President Donald Trump] far

more of us than there are of them.

Prolonged lockdown,

basically, is sl*very.

[people chanting]

[Anthony] So we did a couple

walkouts, protests, and everything.

And the white kids, you know,

they'll try to be lookin' like,

"Yeah, we're on your

side and everything."

Soon as that protest ends,

you guys go right back

on Instagram and Snapchat

sayin', "No, we need

a white student union."

That's when that

school got really divided.

[tense music playing]

You really start to see people's

true colors on social media.

People will just

call you the *-word.

[students] You cannot say

[bleep] to a Black person.

[Anthony] Like, what the f*ck?

[Jonathan] There have been

racial comments on Instagram.

Students in a group chat

on Snapchat making "jokes"

that weren't jokes.

[Anthony] I didn't

believe it at first.

This kid wore blackface.

I was the type of kid, I

will beat these fools up.

I will literally beat their

a*s and everything.

But my friend, he told me,

"We can't be beating

up people like them.

"You need to use your words.

You need to show

proof and everything."

So, I made a whole report.

I made a whole report.

I wrote everything down.

♪ ♪ ♪

I posted that sh*t on Instagram.

[music fades out]

We tried to tell the

school first the next day,

they didn't do

anything about it.

It's kinda just the kids

fending for themselves.

The situation got handled.

It didn't get handled

in my way I wanted to

'cause I wanted to beat

his a*s, but what I did was,

I exposed him to the

point, to his school,

he was goin' to UC Santa

Barbara, they didn't take him.

The business got done.

I handled his sh*t.

I handled that sh*t.

[Santi] I agree, you

need to be called out

if you say somethin' wrong,

but I feel like, nowadays,

how the cancel culture

has gotten is that

people are scared to

not say some words.

But it's, like, you shouldn't

be scared to say them,

you should know why

you should not say them.

When you, like, educate

people why those words hurt,

their minds will

open up and, like,

they'll morally know that

it's not right, you know?

[Lauren] So, how

do they learn that?

It's already hard at Pali

'cause it's predominantly white.

So, us even bein'

there is, like, hard.

[Anthony] Bro, let's be

real, let's, let's be a 100%.

Everybody knows Pali's diverse.

But it's sectioned off, bro.

It's Black folks at the courts.

You got the, you got the quad.

That's motherfuckin' Disneyland.

That's where all the damn

white people be, alright?

'Cause they be all happy.

They be all sittin' on the quad.

They got they

sandwiches, eatin' that sh*t.

And you got the

school sh**ter types,

which are all the

way in the back.

Keshawn know

what I'm talkin' about.

They be in the back,

they be contemplating.

-They all mad about their grades.

-With the headphones.

They're just like, "f*ck

this sh*t, bro, f*ck this sh*t."

It's very sectioned

off. Very sectioned off.

[Anthony] Oh, my God.

It's so sectioned off.

-You said that too?

-[indistinct chatter]

[Alec] How's it goin'

with the tie-dye?

[student 1] Uh, pretty good.

Yeah, sellin' a lot right now, so

-[student 2] Are these smalls?

-[student 1] It is.

[light music playing]

[phone notifications]

[tense music playing]

[staff speaking on PA system]

[music fades out]

[unsettling music playing]

♪ ♪ ♪

[music fades out]