A Cry For Help

Sometimes when I'm jumping randomly through videos on YouTube, I like to play a game I call "Committed to character or a cry for help?" It's a game the whole family can play. The rules are simple. You find a video where the person in it seems a bit "out there". Then you try to guess whether the person is really committed to a character they're playing or if you're witnessing a desperate cry for help.

It may not surprise you to learn that this game is born out of reactions I often get to my videos. It never ceases to amaze me how many people there are out there who have concept of what a character is. They see me say certain things in a video and believe what they have seen is literally me. Despite obvious pointers that this is not actually "me" (like I'm wearing a weird fucking mask) these mental midgets pass sweeping judgements on who I am.

By the way, I'm not talking about judgements like "this is a person who likes performing"... "this is a person who likes creating characters"... "this is a person who like using comedic exaggerations to make points." That would actually qualify as insight.

I'm far from the only one subjected to this sort of stupidity. One individual who springs immediately to mind uses the name "Daxflame" on YouTube. This is a truly bizarre character but I find myself admiring the guy's dedication to his trade. Check his YouTube channel if you want to see some weird, almost inexplicable, shit. The guy is obviously playing a character (although hell if I know what he intends to do with the character) but he continually gets comments from people who clearly believe they are seeing a real person rather than a character.

The video performances that I find funny are the ones where the person is giving away far more than they realise. They aren't playing a character as such but they are telling you a lot more than their words alone say. These are people who strike me as distinctly lacking in self-awareness, I doubt they understand how clearly they are broadcasting their true motivations and indeed, their true selves.

One who got me thinking about this was a guy who'd had a video taken down for being "offensive". It finished with a shot of the Koran in a toilet bowl covered by a huge shit. Seriously. It wasn't a special effect. This guy eats his fibre. He made a video protesting the takedown where he literally could not finish a coherent thought. I'm sure he'd say it was because he was so angry at what he saw as injustice. Me, I think he's the type who has trouble forming a coherent thought on a good day.

So join the craze that's sweeping the nation! Get on over to YouTube and play "Committed to character or a cry for help?"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZmfaXdEj8w