Okay, so, “we’re all going to the world’s fair ending,” right? Man, this one messed with my head a bit. Let me tell you how I dove into trying to figure it out, ’cause it ain’t exactly straightforward.
First thing I did? Rewatched the whole damn thing. Seriously. I figured I missed something crucial the first time around. I paid way closer attention to Casey’s face, you know? Trying to catch any little flicker of emotion, anything that gave away what she was really thinking.
Then, I started digging around online. I mean, I wasn’t alone in being confused, right? I checked out some forums, Reddit threads, anything where people were talking about their interpretations. There were some wild theories out there, let me tell you. Some folks thought it was all about online identity, some thought it was straight-up demonic possession stuff. It was a real mixed bag.
One thing that kept popping up was the idea of gender dysphoria. I remember reading that the director, Jane Schoenbrun, is nonbinary, and they mentioned trying to capture the feeling of their own coming-out process. That made me think about Casey’s isolation and her desperate need for connection. Maybe the “World’s Fair Challenge” was just a way for her to explore who she really is, even if it was through this weird, unsettling online game.
I spent a good chunk of time dissecting the video calls between Casey and JLB. Those felt super important. JLB’s character is so ambiguous. Is he trying to help her? Is he preying on her vulnerability? I couldn’t quite figure it out. I think that’s kind of the point, though. Life online is like that, you never really know who’s on the other side of the screen.
I started writing down my own thoughts, like, just stream-of-consciousness stuff. Trying to piece together the different interpretations with what I saw on screen. I even made a little mood board with images and quotes from the movie, just to keep everything organized.
I really focused on the ending. The final scene, with Casey in her room… it’s so ambiguous. Is she changed? Is she just acting? Is she even still Casey at that point? I read one take that suggested she was so consumed by the online persona that she’d lost herself completely. That one stuck with me.
Ultimately, I think the ending is meant to be unsettling and open to interpretation. There’s no easy answer, no clear resolution. It’s a reflection of the messy, confusing nature of adolescence, especially when it’s lived out online. It’s about the search for identity, the dangers of isolation, and the power of online communities, for better or worse. I mean, I even spent some time looking at the filming locations and things like that, if that helps!
So, yeah, that’s how I tried to unravel “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.” Did I figure it all out? Probably not. But I definitely spent a lot of time thinking about it, and that’s what matters, right?
