Monday, December 7, 2009

Watch If You Dare

Don't you hate it when someone forwards you a video, innocuously titled something like "calm car ride" or "watch closely," and it turns out the video is just a cheap scare in the form of a grating banshee or a creepy child?

I know I do.

But alas, I've been forwarded two such videos in the past week, each time in the form of a YouTube link. And so, this appeared in my recommendations this evening:

(Wait for it - wait for it)



Confused? Yes, so was I. I wouldn't have even watched it had I not wanted an example of the above prank for this blog, and for once I was actually disappointed by the lack of a sickly surprise -- the only thing scary about this video is its Alabama setting. It took me twice to even notice the thin wisps of smoke that we are meant to understand comprise a ghost

Wait - I take it back. What's scary about this video is that it's amassed 43,000 views and a four-star rating. Were that many people just relieved when they got to the end with no jolt? Or did that many people buy into the notion that a ghost flits across in the screen in these painfully long thirteen seconds?

I have no idea, but what I do know is that the only merit I find in this recommendation is an ironic love for the muzak and the misspelled video description "at nigth" [sic].

I award you no points, YouTube, and may God have mercy on your lack of a soul.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Are You A Gleek?

Glee, Glee, Glee. What am I ever going to do with you? This is one television show with which I have a very complicated relationship, and as far as I can tell I am not alone in my mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I find the writing to be uneven and shallow. I love twisted humor (perhaps too much), and I can laugh at the occasional stereotype-based caricature as much as the next guy, but I need strongly defined characters to anchor my fictions, and this show just doesn't have them. The "baby drama" isn't interesting, the drawn-out preparation for sectionals grew tiring rather quickly, and the songs often spring up inorganically, as though they were transition effects instead of storytelling devices (e.g., the use of Lily Allen's "Smile").

But oh, those songs are catchy.

That's why I always listen to them on YouTube while I do other things. And you know, I also like a few of the home recordings of friends getting together and performing their own renditions of the Glee choreography - it's an infectious kind of happy when it works. So, after watching enough videos in that vein, I was recommended this:



How interesting that Kurt wasn't originally in the script, since that means the original script didn't feature a gay character, and come on, it's the gayest show on television. In the spirit of full disclosure, I auditioned for my own senior musical with "Mr. Cellophane." Oh dear.

Anyway, I've heard that Glee is going on a long hiatus after this week's episode, and I can only hope that the writers sit down and seriously think about where they're going instead of letting the flimsy conflicts they've already written play themselves out. If this recommendation reveals anything, it's how experimental the whole project has been.

But I'm still hopeful. As they sing (so unforgettably): Don't Stop Believin'.