Lacie Pound Character Analysis

Lacie Pound conforms to Arthur Miller’s definition of a tragic hero in that an affront to her dignity caused her to take action to seek her rightful position which resulted in notable consequences.

Lacie lives in a society built upon the fundamental notion that an individual is defined exclusively by their social media approval rating. At the beginning of the program, Lacie is fairly content with her rating of 4.2 out of 5. With the lease soon coming to an end on her and her brother’s house, Lacie began the apartment search. When presented with the house of her dreams in the idyllic community of Pelican Cove, Lacie was eager to make her fantasy a reality. Nevertheless, the seemingly picturesque lifestyle was accompanied by an extortionate

price tag. However, there was a solution, a 20% discount that was available to people with ratings of 4.5 and above. Being confronted with the idea that her 4.2 was inadequate was a significant offense to her dignity and the fact that fractions of a point were in the way of the life she strived for incentivized Lacie. After being given the advice to associate herself with high-ranking people in order to drastically inflated her score in a short period of time, Lacie set out to regain her dignity and her appropriate place in society.

Off to somewhat of a rocky start, Lacie realized that boosting her score was no small feat.

Fortuitously, Naomi, one of Lacie’s oldest friends, reached out to Lacie on social media. Naomi was a 4.8 who had a social circle with similarly high ratings. To Lacie’s surprise, Naomi wanted her to be the maid of honour at her upcoming, and prestigious wedding. She gladly accepted her offer. Lacie theorized that if she executed a faultless maid of honour speech, that she would receive enough 5 star ratings from the upper-class guests to boost her to a 4.5. On her way to the wedding, Lacie got into an altercation at the airport that resulted in her being deducted 1 full point, being put on Double Damage - every negative rating received is worth twice as much - as well as not being able to fly to the wedding. To get to the wedding Lacie had to rent a car - an old model due to her low rating. When the car lost power and Lacie was unable to charge it because it was too old of a model, she was forced to hitchhike. Cars passing by didn’t stop for Lacie because of her dwindling score (now around 2.8). A truck driver rated 1.4, stopped for Lacie, who reluctantly accepted the ride. The truck driver shared her experiences about how she learned to stop caring about ratings and how liberating it was to not have to try to please everybody all the time. While on her way the wedding Naomi calls to say that Lacie is no longer the maid of honour and was not welcome at the wedding because of her 2.6. It is revealed that the only reason why she was asked to be maid of honour was because it was thought that a low 4 giving a sentimental speech would increase Naomi’s score. This accompanied by the fact the Lacie was motivated because the opportunity would increase her score, further highlight the extent to which social media had entirely engorged the individuals in the society. Still intent on delivering her exemplary speech, Lacie got drunk and broke into the

wedding.

Delivering her speech had an unintended effect. Rather than get hundreds of upvotes, Lacie’s drunken stupor and impromptu speech resulted in an influx of downvotes as she ruined the immaculate event. As the groom attempted to restrain her, Lacie threatened him with a knife. Without any other option, security is called and Lacie is removed from the premises and arrested. When Lacie is jailed she is stripped of all her electronics including her technological contact lenses. Lacie noticed the man in another cell staring at her and out of habit, motions to downvote him. At first it is thought that Lacie living void of social media would be a negative consequence however the next scene proves otherwise. Lacie and the man began swapping insults and ended up bellowing profanities to each other at the top of their lungs. Both Lacie and the man showed obvious pleasure with their uncensored exchange. If Lacie was still preoccupied by her approval rating she would have never acted in that manner. Now that Lacie was lacking that preoccupation, she could act however she felt like acting and because of this, not having technology proved to be a favorable consequence rather than a negative ramification. This positive consequence was foreshadowed when Lacie was with the truck driver. The driver asked Lacie how yelling at the airport made her feel. While Lacie didn’t give a definitive answer, she didn’t express any hatred or dislike only that it harmed her on social media. Now that there was no social media in her life, Lacie could embrace the yelling and the way it really made her feel.