‘Social Studies’ Director Lauren Greenfield Reveals the One Teen Issue She’d Cover If She Were Filming Today

FX’s Social Studies documentary series director Lauren Greenfield discusses the blurred lines between teenagehood and adulthood, when the kids surprised her, and the one issue she’d cover if she were filming today.

If you’re like me, while watching FX’s docuseries Social Studies, you had an unnerving reaction: You, as an adult, related quite closely to the modern American teenagers being documented.

Director Lauren Greenfield says her series, which follows a group of LA teenagers in a post-COVID world, definitely brings up issues that cross ages.

“We see it with the parents in the show,” says Greenfield. “We all experience addiction and the kind of negative effects of 24-7 comparison and the image-based culture.”

And yet, these teenagers have more independence and freedom than ever before. In the five-episode series, we meet social media influencers, online vigilantes, teens who travel across the country on trips with their significant others. No wonder adults might feel so connected! Does the series suggest that the lines between teenagers and adults are blurred more than ever before? Greenfield isn’t sure, especially with social media in play.

“One of the big things that I found and documented was this generation gap between adults and kids or parents and kids. And I do feel like there is a kind of gulf between those who did not grow up with social media [and those that did]. And even if we use it for work or use it for posting pictures of our kids, it’s still very different than the way young people use it today.”

A common reaction to the series from 20-somethings and 30-somethings is mourning a world that existed pre-social media, something today’s teens grieve, too.

“I think the kids in the show are nostalgic for the world before social media existed, the world of their parents. But they’re just imagining it. They’ve never experienced it themselves.”

Social Studies Cast of Teens and Its Multiple Perspectives

We meet many teens in the cast, including Sydney, whom Greenfield started documenting in high school and then into college. Despite the different setting, Sydney still experiences slut-shaming and alienation in a post-high school world. However, in the final episode, we learn she’s been accepted into a film program.

“She finds her voice, and I think this is a theme with a lot of the kids: Finding your own voice is an antidote to feeling like you have to be like everybody else, and comparing yourselves negatively to the whole world and thinking you need to do this or do that. I really loved her story.”

Of course, Greenfield had some additional help in the form of student documentarian Jonathan, who would often gain gripping insight into the plight of today’s youth.

“In a way, he’s also kind of a little bit of a doppelganger for me, because he’s out there filming and talking to kids about social media and mental health, and how they’re affected by it. That also allows us a way in; he’s really searching and seeking answers.”

While there might be some inclination to intervene and offer advice, Greenfield was also tasked with letting teenagers make their own choices, like Ellie, who toggles between boyfriends.

“When it comes to matters of the heart, you can’t tell Ellie what to do. But I try as a documentarian to film and include things that are repetitive actions. Like when Ellie jumped out the window to go visit her boyfriend, that was something I already knew she did and had done on a regular basis. And so then I could kind of guess that that was going to happen that night. And that’s how we were able to film it.”

But even so, Greenfield did not expect what Ellie would do next.

“I was pretty shocked when she gets on the phone, and she’s talking to her mom and tells her she’s coming inside the house. And then we see her call this Uber and get in the Uber. We were barely able to get her mic off before she takes off. Those are the amazing things, though, as a documentary filmmaker, that are really exciting to capture in real time. Because even if you know something like that’s happened in the past, it’s still very different when it’s happening in the present.”

The One Issue That Greenfield Would Cover If She Were Filming Today

One of the aspects of the project Greenfield says is most important is its ability to maintain so many different perspectives at the same time.

“My camera is capturing what she’s doing. She’s saying something else. Her texts are saying something else. You know, her boyfriend has a completely different view of the process. And to be able to see it all at once and with the animation from the social media, so we can see it in real time. I think that’s when the show is at its best. Like that was the magic that only documentary can do.”

While the series covers so many aspects of the modern teenage experience — including body issues, transitioning, and even teen pregnancy — there is one issue that came to light after filming.

“Something that became a thing during the edit that I heard about was the manosphere incel culture,” says Greenfield. “That’s not in the show. And I think if I were making the show now, I’d probably include that. But otherwise, I feel like we really touched on all the big issues.”

Social Studies is streaming on FX on Hulu.