Why TikTok’s The Substance trend comparing celebrities of different ages misses the movie’s point
I am assuming that you’ve heard all about The Substance at this point. It’s writer & director Coralie Fargeat’s visceral and gore-filled exposé of a woman’s reluctance to age in a society that fetishises youth. The divisive body horror was one of the loudest and boldest titles to be released this year, dominating headlines and cultural conversations for months due to the mark it made—or aggressively slashed—into popular culture. It also has now given rise to a trend that uses the movie’s concept to compare older celebrities to younger ones. Potentially problematic? Yep, you’d be right there.
Of course, this also meant that for the past few months, fan edits and reactions to the movie have been dominating our For You Pages (FYP) on TikTok. An overarching theme saw many users express their fascination and disgust with the stressful and grotesque showcase of violence and mutation, due to the experimental anti-ageing treatment, at the heart of this movie.
@evenlt 8/10 #substance #letterboxd #film #movie
♬ The Substance - Raffertie
@clair0_shade it was definitely a film!!! #thesubstance #margaretqualley #demimoore #thesubstancefilm #horror #film #fyp
♬ original sound - sawpill
The primary message of the two-hour spectacle seemed clear to most of us: the horror and anxiety women feel when it comes to ageing has lowered their risk aversion to dangerous treatments, pushing them towards the extreme and sometimes life-threatening in the pursuit of eternal youth and beauty.
Naturally, the film presents this fear as an everpresent, alluring male voice that seems to symbolise the larger patriarchal framework and societal beauty standards it is critiquing.
According to Demi Moore, who heads up this ambitious vehicle, The Substance is a cautionary tale that has lessons about self-acceptance at its core. The complete lack of this is what dominates her character’s actions and ultimately drives her into ruin.
Yet, some viewers on TikTok seem to have missed these points entirely despite it figuratively being spelt out. Instead, they are using The Substance’s concept of creating a younger version of oneself as the basis for a misogynist trend that matches older celebrities with younger counterparts.
Popular comparisons include Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter, Britney Spears and Addison Rae, Donatella Versace and Lady Gaga, Brittany Murphy and Lili Reinhart, and Megan Fox and Madison Beer.
The videos are usually set to the sound of the male voice, which seductively suggests: “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One single injection unlocks your DNA, starting a new cellular division that will release another version of yourself. This is the Substance.”
@alcatrazeditsx Replying to @alice they look so similar to me, it’s crazy #sabrinacarpenter #madonna #thesubstance #edit
♬ original sound - beckywtheokhair
@editandedit hugely inspired by @alcatraz really wanted to try one of these edits! #thesubstance #clone #lookalike #lookalikeedit #lilireinharth #lilireinhartedit #lilireinheart #brittanymurphy #doppelgänger #doppelganger #edit #edits #editor #foryou #fyp #omgpage #viral #xyzbca #inspired
♬ original sound - alcatraz
@aichark Is it #thesubstance or are celebrities just clones? #movietok #ladygaga #donatellaversace #bellahadid #sabrinacarpenter
♬ original sound - aichark
To explain why this is counter to the message of the movie should be superfluous, but I will do it anyway, just for kicks.
This trend, while obviously inspired by their similarities in appearance, presents the older celebrity as an outdated and past its prime relic, whereas the younger celebrity is positioned as the youthful, more relevant, and optimised version of their predecessor. In doing so, it objectifies the subject at hand, focusing primarily on their youth and attractiveness, as if talent and success was only of secondary importance.
Likewise, setting it to the male voice feels like a bizarre choice; the voice represents the peddlers of these toxic beauty standards, mostly embodied as hawkish producers chasing ratings and likely the unseen masterminds who created the experimental drug in the first place.
All of it really just affirms the misogynistic notion that women have a shelf life, which actually builds the base of horror for The Substance.
So maybe, just maybe, this trend isn’t the most considerate way to pay homage to the movie or pinpoint similarities between celebrities who belong to different generations—just a thought.
Maybe we shouldn’t fuel envy and competition between them but focus on mentorship, collaboration, and space sharing instead. After all, a real-life use of the substance wouldn’t be a dream, but a violent and chaotic nightmare.
