Popular media critics are divided. Enthusiasts argue that Fitting Room 25.01 is a brilliant deconstruction of postmodern identity—honest about the fact that all media consumption is a performance. They point to indie web series The Fitting Room Diaries (2025), a critical darling, where each episode features a different real person (a teacher, a plumber, a retiree) entering a VR fitting room and being overwhelmed by the pressure to perform. The series ends each episode with the person choosing to “leave without buying,” a powerful rejection of the trope.

Immersive experiences like Haunted Hollywood at Vault Speakeasy