Watched: 11/19/2025
Format: Netflix
Viewing: First
Director:
So, yeah. I kind of vaguely remember this occurring.
In 2019, someone posted a joke online that they were going to "assault Area 51" - ie, gather as many people as they could to "Naruto Run" onto the top secret military base with the idea "they can't stop us all".
Since X-Files debuted, Area 51 has been part of the zeitgeist. We all know it's there, it was a major location in the 1990's movie Independence Day, and is rumored to be where the US Air Force keeps downed alien spacecraft. More likely it is where we test experimental aircraft as that is where the U2 surveillance craft was first deployed, as well as the Stealth Bomber, etc...
Area 51 is in the middle of nowhere and still well guarded for a reason. If you cross onto the property and don't stop for the guards, you will be shot. And I guess one might solve the greatest mystery of all as you find out what's beyond this veil of tears.
Anyway, the documentary is about how all of this got wildly out of control in a way, the power of social media to attract people with bad risk/reward understanding, and that the kids probably are all right. Stupid AF, but all right. How people who have no practical experience should try to host a million person rave in the desert. And how relying on the mob can really save your bacon.
Essentially, it follows a young man who puts a gag event on Facebook, that event goes viral, and before long, he's (1) got over one million people saying they're coming to party/ run onto Area 51, and (2) has the FBI knocking on his door.
I don't want to say too much more as the fun is the slow motion trainwreck (hence the branding) of what happened. So read no further or rejoin us after you've watched the two-parter (about 90 minutes total).
These docs are all about schadenfreude, and it really is wild to watch something spin out of control. What's odd is that the Trainwreck docs (of which I've now watched 4) do nothing to reflect upon the events of the doc or draw any useful comparisons. And while it keeps the docs to a neat 45-55 minute runtime, it kind of defeats the purpose of why you go back over things in a documentary - it need not be just a simple recounting of events.
And there's lots to say, not just vaguely hint at. Like:
- What the fuck is wrong with YouTubers? Why are the worst people on Earth so popular for young viewers?
- Why was it only YouTubers who showed up at the gates of Area 51? (this point may be correlated with the prior point)
- Imbeciles can cost us all untold money and will willingly create disasters to do something "cool"
- How is this a microcosm of any movement - where the thing takes on a life of its own, and ultimately gets co-opted by those who angle for personal, financial gain? Especially strong men/ con men
- Oh, this is how the mob steps in
But they just won't go there and talk about it.
The doc instead tries to keep it simple as the story of a dude who is in way over her his head. Like, on a cosmic scale. Sure, this guy who seems nice enough, he just does not have the tools at all for what he went through (and still seems to live in his Mom's garage at age 26 or so).
Honestly, some of the doc never ads up, and I suspect there's a much weirder version of this story.
I absolutely understand the part where a meme takes on a life of its own, but things like the County Commissioners deciding to approve the permit that will piss off local voters and lead to endangering them and their property *could* have been a choice to hold the permit holders legally responsible for what's coming. The *more likely* case is someone gave the commissioners a briefcase full of money.
How our motel owner wound up paying any bills herself seems like a scam-artist was involved, and she got suckered by other scam artists along the way.
How the guy from Vice was so in his own bubble he seemed oblivious to what was actually happening then or since is kind of remarkable. Terrible job!
How ANY of this got to this point seems nearly impossible to conceive, but it is worth noting that it's one thing to click you're coming to an event on facebook, and another to actually show up.
I wish these docs did go a bit deeper, because it's a missed opportunity to illustrate to people how things like Russia's Communist Revolution got taken over by the worst possible people. Or how *any* movement you think about joining needs to be watched carefully, even if you think it's just for fun.
Younger viewers will think that the military and police over-reacted. "It's just a joke" by morons with a camera is a real @#$%ing issue. We had some influencer visiting town a month or two ago and shooting people at the park with a pellet gun. They were arrested, but enough 14 year old dipshits will have watched to both make the arrest profitable and make it go away - as well as encouraging the next dipshit to try it.
Frankly, I think the FBI underreacted, or else we got a very soft version of events.
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