A few months ago Big Joel posted a video called “mousetrap youtube” . It was a long form poem about the unease that comes with certain content, and how that reflects on our broader culture of consumption. At least, I think. The metaphor was intentionally ambiguous, kind of riding the line between multifaceted and messy. I liked it a lot, and it was elevated so much by the animation he had commissioned for it. There are too many beautiful and subtle details in the artwork for me to name, but the one that really sticks with me is the dead mice portrayed as just a silhouette. It’s incredibly haunting, evocative of the shadows left from the nuke in Hiroshima.
I’ve had an adjacent observation about youtube recently, though not quite as dark. I’ve said in the past that the algorithm has become less a dress code and more a full body corset, and I see that reflected particularly in the pokemon content I get served. Before I get into it, I need to stress I’m not making a moral judgement on what these creators choose to make. There is no obligation to reach a certain level of artistic or utilitarian value, whatever that would even mean. It’s just a reflection on how we get what we incentivize, for better or worse.
The videos I’m thinking of particularly are the ones like “beating pokemon sapphire with only team rocket pokemon”, or “can you beat white version with just a magicarp?” – and the infinite iterations therein. It is content that exists exactly for the algorithm, not just shaped to appeal to it. It’s not as toxic as drama/commentary “slop”, but it might be more cynical. In commentary there’s at least an element of sharing/discussing something in the zeitgeist, ala watercooler chats or late night monologues. This pokemon content has no reason to exist other than to feed the beast. It’s anodyne, but it is completely redundant. I don’t know how to convey this feeling without coming across as pretentious, because I will defend to the death the right for this stuff to exist. It just feels like such a waste. It reminds me of going on Amazon and seeing 27 listings for the same product with nonsense SEO optimized titles and descriptions. The incentive structure is so backwards that what makes sense financially is the direct opposite of what would create value from a human perspective.
Now. Let the sweeping commence, because I can’t not defend the boys – though it won’t be a complete defense. Let’s look at things like Drew buying a bunch of shit off Instagram, Eddy going to every Rainforest Cafe, or Danny reviewing so bad they are good movies. As premises, they do seem designed for the algorithm only, and they wouldn’t make much sense outside the context of youtube. I’ve had this problem particularly recommending Danny to people my age or older. “So this kid is going to sit at his desk for 20 minutes, and explain to me why a bad Pixar knockoff you’d find in a $2 bargain bin at goodwill is….bad?”
I think the difference between that and the pokemon videos, having watched both, is that the boys are making Trojan horses for their comedy. The pokemon videos are exactly what they say on the tin and nothing more. danny’s videos have moments that will snap me out of an existential crisis and get me giggling like an idiot, faster than the mayor from Nightmare Before Christmas can flip his face around. Eddy and Drew are also funny. (THEY ARE BOTH BRILLIANT I’M BEING SILLY, comedy just happens to be the most subjective artform.)
But here is where I will make a concession – and I’ll explain why I had to stop watching danny’s second channel videos. Besides the fact that his intellectual laziness / disengagement occasionally causes him to say things that sound uncomfortably out of touch (particularly in the uglies video), it’s just that….no part of him that is meaningful to me feels present. Not his humor, not his energy, not the personality that I see come out in his other recent videos. It reminds me of hanging out with a friend, but you can tell their mind is a million miles away. “You know I’d be down to do anything with you, any dumb thing you wanted to do, but I need you here with me. Otherwise, what’s the point?” It almost makes me feel guilty, like…I don’t mean to keep you here, it’s ok. I won’t be offended if you don’t wanna hang out, I get it.
For creatives, inspiration doesn’t come on demand. It ebbs and flows. You need rest, and time set aside for experimentation, without worrying about the results being perceived. That is not how social media works, and that’s not how business in general works. Very few professional artists have the luxury of just following their creative voice. That said, with danny… on a number of podcasts he’s said he wouldn’t, couldn’t even, make videos where he just sits at a desk and reacts. The skits are essential creative fulfillment. And it– this is presumptuous of me, but I feel like he must have reached a level of financial freedom that he shouldn’t need to be doing anything he doesn’t want to.
I have to assume it’s a “feed the beast” thing, maybe not monetarily, but in terms of maintaining relevance and keeping the momentum of growth. …….growth to what end? a quiet voice in me whispers. Or, option B – it’s not that deep, it’s not hurting anyone. If you could walk into your basement, yap for a half hour about some articles someone else found for you, and walk out with a 5 figure bag, why wouldn’t you? Those apocalypse bunkers don’t come cheap.
It’s none of my business, it’s none of my BUSINESS I tell myself at least once a week. I forgive myself for coming back to danny as a point of reference because it’s a series of grooves in my mind that are not going to go away overnight. And, I just care. I care a lot. It’s my problem to handle, but sometimes I just need to let it out. Whenever that vision of him as a brilliant and beloved children’s entertainer comes, I remind myself of this Taylor Swift lyric from But Daddy I Love Him –
I’ll tell you something right now //
I’d rather burn my whole life down //
Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning //
I’ll tell you something about my good name //
It’s mine alone to disgrace //
I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing //
God save the most judgmental creeps //
Who say they want what’s best for me //
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see
Focus on your own shit, Robyn. It’s ok to see it as a mirror, to reflect on your own values/goals and what future you want to invest in, but there is a difference between being constructively critical and being prescriptive. Mousetrap Youtube was one of Big Joel’s worst performing videos. Maybe let a 7 million sub youtuber manage his career on a platform allergic to creativity in the way he wants to – because God knows it’s worked for him for almost a decade at this point. Maybe you could chill on the obsession with artistic purity, and take some cues from him to get this art market thing off the ground.
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As a little treat for getting all the way to the end, here are some pictures of me as a kid my dad found, and 2 sketches I did at the arboretum this morning. I’m sad to say I don’t think I will ever be cooler than I was as an 8 year old. That red/blue sketch was a warmup, there’s a thing called color vibration and you can see it most clearly with red and indigo – it’s what makes the red kinda hurt your eyes. You’re suppose to avoid it in graphic design, but I love it. It’s like a gritty and abrasive saw wave on an edm track. Just take a cheese grater to my brain, I need to feel something.
>>robyns_ramblings 