Gunnar Fritz Stannson became an internet legend amongst the younger generation due to a series of short films on YouTube titled Unforgivable. The original was so popular that he wound up making three more videos, all with equal success. Stannson was just a college student who made short films with his friends and this one just blew up and spread like wild fire. It shows how people just enjoy the entertainment aspect of these viral videos. Originally Stannson started off with the Hacker Mentality because he thought it was entertaining and just put it out to gain credit and acknowledgement for his video. It appeals to people due to the quotability, grassroots filming, and humor equivalent to a stand up comedy routine. Levy's idea of the Collective Intelligence is clashed with as the repetition of racial stereotypes of African Americans are used in almost a blatant/stereotypical fashion in this video is something people are trying to get away from for years. Hot Topic actually sells shirts with some of the more popular quotes from his videos, which boosts his popularity and helped his film career as well as put cash in his pocket. I remember reading somewhere that Stannson found it hard to get away/out from the character even when not filming which shows the struggle when identity, a concept usually popular with avatars, or his digital identity. I received this video from a few of my black friends back at home (Bay Area) when I first came to UCSB in '06.
-Diamond Alexander Drew
I think a lot of the popularity of this video has to do with the shock value and the use of digital identities all over the web. Someone can watch this and find it hilarious whenever he says something over the top racist or misogynistic. It then becomes pretty easy to imitate this sort of speech all throughout the internet through the use of a digital identity. People can go into any game or forum whether it is full of people who would enjoy this video or not and quote it to gain some shock or laughs from fans. Its pretty common for people to just go around any place on the internet and quote things like this where they know the speech wont be tolerated just to get a rise out of people, and that is mostly due to the anonymity of the digital self.
ReplyDelete-Robert Geis
This viral video was simple and straight forward. The character in the video was "in your face" and that made it humorous. It did receive a huge sum of hits during its reign in Youtube. I remember this video especially during my freshmen year because my suite-mate would always play this video and mimic it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the idea that this video hones in on digital identity. It is also playing on stereotypes of African American males, thus making it difficult to separate what we deem real or digital...or even both?
-Kunthon Meas
I remember this video a few years ago and I was taking a african american film class so i didn't like it but seeing it again I laugh out loud everytime. I agree that the video plays up African-American stereotypes but you can see various parts where he breaks character and there is laughing in the background so its a bit staged. More importantly I think its good to note that on youtube where it says related videos there is a plethora of other people posting their versions of the video and most of these videos are done by white individuals. so does their imitation of this video make it more racist and misogynistic or less?
ReplyDelete-Christian Ayala
This video is one of my favorites on Youtube, definitely, legendary. This video is a perfect example of what Youtube is all about. The snarky tone of the guy in the video, delivers rude and shallow humor. Which is perfect to get attention in todays society. I agree that this video fits the misogynistic African America stereo type. The vulgar terms he uses is what makes it what it is, brings shock along with simplicity of monologue. The constant snickering in the background exemplifies the silliness of this video. If Stannson found it hard to "get away/out", that relates to Turkels article on Life in the Screen. This is another form of MUD's, and this misogynistic figure is his avatar.
ReplyDelete^^^^
ReplyDeleteAvetik Zorabian