This gripping documentary charts the global rise of Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara, their advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, and their at once liberating and fraught relationship with social media.
With 10 studio albums to their name, Canadian pop duo and twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin are trailblazers both as openly queer performers and as artists who were quick to embrace social media in its nascent era. Tegan and Sara became known for being accessible to their fans and cultivating a safe space, especially for young LGBTQ+ women, some of whom were seeing themselves reflected in pop music for the first time.
The duo’s growing fanbase connected with one another over various online forums and platforms like LiveJournal, sharing concert videos and stories of meeting Tegan in particular, who spent the most time chatting with fans and signing merchandise. Around 2010, social media profiles claiming to be Tegan started popping up. An anonymous, catfishing person — eventually known as Fegan, a portmanteau of “fake” and “Tegan” — connected with people in the fan community, forming friendships, online romances, sharing personal information of Tegan’s and fabricating stories of her bad behaviour.
More than just a portrait of Tegan and Sara’s global ascent and their influence and advocacy in the music industry, Erin Lee Carr’s film charts the evolution of social media’s impact on fame and fandom through the duo’s years-long victimization and harassment at the hands of this “fan.” It’s a must-see for those familiar with the duo’s music and a cautionary tale for everyone about the dangers of parasocial relationships and the vulnerability of our personal information on the internet.
ROBYN CITIZEN
Screenings
Scotiabank 14
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Scotiabank 3
Scotiabank 4