Brave! This Penn Student Made a Creative Project and Resisted the Urge to Share It on Facebook

Upon finishing his two-minute claymation film after more than four months of work, Bryan Clarant (C '18) resisted the urge to share the project on Facebook. Yes, you read that right.

Countless posts from classmates bragging about their theatrical, musical, academic, and comedic endeavors over the years led Clarant to assume that it is necessary to use Facebook to share anything he puts time into. Clarant had typed up an entire draft of a post proudly announcing the completion of his new claymation film, beginning with the popular lead-in phrase, “So I made a thing…"  It was then that he realized his project would, indeed, continue to exist if he refrained from posting it on the world's largest social networking platform. 

It took every ounce of self-control for Clarant not to go through and publish the film, a short documentary-style video about how hard life is for vegan cats, on Facebook. "I had to duct tape oven mitts onto my hands to prevent me from hitting "Share" on the post I had drafted," he said. Talk about a heroic effort!

"Obviously it was hard to do," Clarant told us. "I want the attention and validation just like everyone else, but I realized that I can live without it and still be proud of my work. Maybe I'll post about it when it wins some awards, but for now I'm OK." Based on initial reactions from family and friends, there is no indication that Clarant's film will be winning any awards. 

His classmates didn't seem to agree with his decision. Mike Esposito (W '18), a member of The Collctve and frequent sharer of his own "original" DJ creations, expressed disbelief upon learning of Clarant's actions. "If someone makes a creative project and doesn't share it on Facebook for all to see, did it really happen?" he asked. "Why put time into something if no one can love react it?"