Yet another far belated entry about YouTube
I'm thinking that those of you who are rather more active on YouTube or more in tune with general internet gossip than me are already familiar with lonelygirl15 and all that drama. I read about the hoopla that erupted once people found out that she was an actress posting a fake diary blog before I saw any of her videos, so I had the idea that her vids were just basic soap-opera teen stuff. And at first, that's more or less what they seem to be, except rather more cute and silly than I expected. She plays around with her stuffed animals, makes music videos with her friend Daniel, and bakes cookies--that kind of thing. The internal cohesiveness and scripting of the vids evolves as they go on, though it never looks as amateur as it's supposed to be. The main appeal of her character, from what I can tell, is the combination of extreme naivete and social isolation with an interest in "dorky" and somewhat unusual topics that belie her general ditzyness. Thus she pulls faces and plays with a monkey puppet, but also relates anecdotes about Richard Feynman and Roman cannibalistic practices. A good example of that type of video is her first kiss blog entry.
However, what actually impressed me about this little play is not her (predictable) developing relationship with Daniel, or her eventual clashes with her parents as a consequence, but a storyline concerning her religion that starts out in the background and then emerges as the major motivating factor in the whole scenario. Specifically, I'm much taken by what religion she's into. She says from the first that she's homeschooled and religious, but that she does not want to talk about her religion. She mentioned going to a religious camp in the summer, and it was revealed that she's very sheltered: she has almost no contact with anyone outside her family except for Daniel. I (along with most initial viewers, I'd assume) of course first ascribed her religion to some branch of Christianity, but the books she quoted from in her later videos and her interest in physics seemed to go against most Christian fundamentalism. And then we got to this video, where she tells us that she's been chosen to be part of some secret ceremony. Her parents think it's a really big deal, but they will not be able to be present at it, and it involves a lot of preparation (including a diet and learning a different language). She compares it to a bat mitzvah or a confirmation, which of course rules out both Christianity or Judaism as the religion she follows. While she still refuses to say what her religion is, people whose monitors have better resolution than mine have pointed out that she has a poster of.... Aleister Crowley on her wall.
This is what got me hooked, because, damn. I knew this was scripted, but I did not expect Thelema and occultism here. (Still don't know if she's into Ordo Templi Orientis or something else. I doubt it's necessarily all that acccurate to whatever order it might be, anyway.)
Whatever this ceremony is, it was obviously leading up to the climax of this little story before it was found out to be a fake. She has, however, continued posting videos after the big reveal. These have more direct hints about her beliefs, such as the blog entry The Equinox, where she talks about going to an Equinox rite with her parents and shows us some of the letter cards she's studying (the symbols are Enochian). That is the penultimate video, and one in which she's already beginning to have serious problems with Daniel over the ceremony and other such things. In the last video, posted on Monday, she says that Daniel told her that her religion is getting in the way and made her an ultimatum, and so she had to choose her religion over him. She also said that it was likely the last blog entry she'd post. I am annoyed about this, because it's such an anticlimax! I hope it's not true, and her writers are not doing this just because she's been outed. Most of the speculation surrounding the earlier videos centered on her being made some kind of sacrifice, which some of the language used in her vids seems to confirm. Dammit, I wanted to watch her being made a virgin sacrifice and then, like, Daniel coming in to save her or something! (Because otherwise, how else would we know what happened?) Or maybe she wouldn't get saved, and we could get Daniel videoblogging afterwards, or finally get to see her parents. Or have some kind of plot twist and have Daniel be the evil one (since I don't think Crowley's followers actually perform any human sacrifices or devirginizing ceremonies or whatever). In any case, I want my resolution, and am annoyed at all the YouTubers who might've gotten the project to stop due to their complaints about her being a "fake."
The fake thing always confuses me, because I can't believe people put that much emotional investment into their perception of "reality." I never understood this when it's happened in the past with other public figures. Sure, it's disappointing to know that a story/character you've been following is made up rather than "real," but if you like the story anyway, what's the big deal with continuing to enjoy it? Especially when what you enjoyed in the first place was the pure theatricality? People seem to have this sense of betrayal as though the world owes it to them to conform to their expectations, and I don't quite get where such self-assurance comes from. (I never could follow this part of the story in Velvet Goldmine either--Brian Slade fakes his death, and when the fans find out it was a stunt, they're so outraged that they burn all his albums? Why? What's the point?)
Hopefully the people who've commented on lonelygirl's videos attesting to their interest in the story even if it's fake will outweigh those who post stuff like this: "it's tough being fake, isn't it? bitch, go die," "Fuck off you fake fucks," "why dont you stop this whole thing??? some of my friends have this kind of trouble and you are just basicly mocking them," and so on.
P.S. Daniel has, however, posted a video as recently as yesterday, where he drives to her house and films her going to some field with a mysterious woman. Then they kinda... do nothing in the field. Still, the fact that he's posting means, I hope, that the creators are just trying to kill time till Oct 12th, when the ceremony is supposed to take place. This is where I wish strangedivine were into YouTube shenanigans, 'cause he could probably tell me what the ceremony is supposed to be.
However, what actually impressed me about this little play is not her (predictable) developing relationship with Daniel, or her eventual clashes with her parents as a consequence, but a storyline concerning her religion that starts out in the background and then emerges as the major motivating factor in the whole scenario. Specifically, I'm much taken by what religion she's into. She says from the first that she's homeschooled and religious, but that she does not want to talk about her religion. She mentioned going to a religious camp in the summer, and it was revealed that she's very sheltered: she has almost no contact with anyone outside her family except for Daniel. I (along with most initial viewers, I'd assume) of course first ascribed her religion to some branch of Christianity, but the books she quoted from in her later videos and her interest in physics seemed to go against most Christian fundamentalism. And then we got to this video, where she tells us that she's been chosen to be part of some secret ceremony. Her parents think it's a really big deal, but they will not be able to be present at it, and it involves a lot of preparation (including a diet and learning a different language). She compares it to a bat mitzvah or a confirmation, which of course rules out both Christianity or Judaism as the religion she follows. While she still refuses to say what her religion is, people whose monitors have better resolution than mine have pointed out that she has a poster of.... Aleister Crowley on her wall.
This is what got me hooked, because, damn. I knew this was scripted, but I did not expect Thelema and occultism here. (Still don't know if she's into Ordo Templi Orientis or something else. I doubt it's necessarily all that acccurate to whatever order it might be, anyway.)
Whatever this ceremony is, it was obviously leading up to the climax of this little story before it was found out to be a fake. She has, however, continued posting videos after the big reveal. These have more direct hints about her beliefs, such as the blog entry The Equinox, where she talks about going to an Equinox rite with her parents and shows us some of the letter cards she's studying (the symbols are Enochian). That is the penultimate video, and one in which she's already beginning to have serious problems with Daniel over the ceremony and other such things. In the last video, posted on Monday, she says that Daniel told her that her religion is getting in the way and made her an ultimatum, and so she had to choose her religion over him. She also said that it was likely the last blog entry she'd post. I am annoyed about this, because it's such an anticlimax! I hope it's not true, and her writers are not doing this just because she's been outed. Most of the speculation surrounding the earlier videos centered on her being made some kind of sacrifice, which some of the language used in her vids seems to confirm. Dammit, I wanted to watch her being made a virgin sacrifice and then, like, Daniel coming in to save her or something! (Because otherwise, how else would we know what happened?) Or maybe she wouldn't get saved, and we could get Daniel videoblogging afterwards, or finally get to see her parents. Or have some kind of plot twist and have Daniel be the evil one (since I don't think Crowley's followers actually perform any human sacrifices or devirginizing ceremonies or whatever). In any case, I want my resolution, and am annoyed at all the YouTubers who might've gotten the project to stop due to their complaints about her being a "fake."
The fake thing always confuses me, because I can't believe people put that much emotional investment into their perception of "reality." I never understood this when it's happened in the past with other public figures. Sure, it's disappointing to know that a story/character you've been following is made up rather than "real," but if you like the story anyway, what's the big deal with continuing to enjoy it? Especially when what you enjoyed in the first place was the pure theatricality? People seem to have this sense of betrayal as though the world owes it to them to conform to their expectations, and I don't quite get where such self-assurance comes from. (I never could follow this part of the story in Velvet Goldmine either--Brian Slade fakes his death, and when the fans find out it was a stunt, they're so outraged that they burn all his albums? Why? What's the point?)
Hopefully the people who've commented on lonelygirl's videos attesting to their interest in the story even if it's fake will outweigh those who post stuff like this: "it's tough being fake, isn't it? bitch, go die," "Fuck off you fake fucks," "why dont you stop this whole thing??? some of my friends have this kind of trouble and you are just basicly mocking them," and so on.
P.S. Daniel has, however, posted a video as recently as yesterday, where he drives to her house and films her going to some field with a mysterious woman. Then they kinda... do nothing in the field. Still, the fact that he's posting means, I hope, that the creators are just trying to kill time till Oct 12th, when the ceremony is supposed to take place. This is where I wish strangedivine were into YouTube shenanigans, 'cause he could probably tell me what the ceremony is supposed to be.