So here is my follow up on the viral YouTube videos post from earlier in
my blog. My first post can be viewed here. One thing I forgot to mention was the definition of a Viral Video. Wiki Definition of Viral Videos. On Wikipedia they talk about how viral videos are mostly funny. I agree with that but as of late there have been many new videos being posted that are far more political such as the ones below. in addition to that there are tons of videos going viral that are more about talent then just someone doing something silly or stupid. As we grow as an online community we are growing into new types of viral videos and the purpose of having them.
Lately there has been a lot of good going on in this country of ours. Also a lot of pain. First North Carolina showed itself to be a state of hatred, not just to same-sex couples who wish to get married, but also to heterosexual couples who are together out of wedlock. Then the day after we learned that President Obama has evolved his point of view to further help those who are LGBT. (Lesbian Gay Bi and Transgendered.) He came out is support of same-sex marriage. Or as I like to call it Marriage.
Lately there has been a lot of good going on in this country of ours. Also a lot of pain. First North Carolina showed itself to be a state of hatred, not just to same-sex couples who wish to get married, but also to heterosexual couples who are together out of wedlock. Then the day after we learned that President Obama has evolved his point of view to further help those who are LGBT. (Lesbian Gay Bi and Transgendered.) He came out is support of same-sex marriage. Or as I like to call it Marriage.
A few days before the vote for amendment 1 in North Carolina, on May 6th,
a video was put up on Youtube. It already has well over 1 million views. It
featured a story that I wish was not true. It is a tale told by Shane about him
and his love of his life Tom. It shows pictures and video clips of them showing
their lives together over the course of six years. Then Shane tells us that Tom
and he decided that they want to get married when it becomes legal. They also
came out to their families. Shane’s family welcomed Tom into their lives with
open arms. Tom’s family rejected both of them. Then sadly Tom fell to his death
and because they were not legally married and had no wills Shane had no legal
rights over Tom’s things or his body. He also was not allowed to attend his
funeral. The video is really hard for me to watch as a Gay Man because I see
the pain in Shane and feel the fear that one day that could be me. Until there
is equality across the land there will be no justice for those who lose the
ones that they love.
This
video went viral because people in my community shared it with their friends
and families on Facebook. Also it had an appearance on The Huffington Post.
Please
watch the video and share it with friends and family. The only way for people
to really understand the lack of rights that the LGBT community has is to see
it firsthand. Also I’ve noticed that more and more people are changing their
tunes about how awful LGBT people are once they get to know a few people who
are. Once anyone becomes human then it is hard to demonize them.
It Could Happen To You, 2012
Another
major video that went Viral this past week is of a woman who is arguably
mentally ill. If she is not then she just might be the most hateful person on
this planet. In
this video this woman (Jane I believe. It is hard for me to hear her name
without lip reading it.) spends her entire time in front of the Lincoln
Nebraska City Counsel to argue against the rights of the LGBT community. The
video was put up by
http://www.youtube.com/user/cacamaymie and later ripped from that
used and posted by http://www.youtube.com/user/aksarbent?feature=watch. According to
the description section of the video this was also picked up by Towleroad,
Gawker, Queerty, Huffington Post, and JoeMyGod. This helped it get to well over
half a million views on YouTube. This video like Rebecca Black’s Video,
“Friday,” also has a majority of dislikes on YouTube. This is because people
are watching it and seeing that it’s full of hate. Whether this woman is
mentally ill, or just a hater, this kind of speech is being spread all over the
nation.
Lincoln Nebraska proposed LGBT
protection ordinance: Best In Show!, 2012
The video was
put up, like “It Could Happen to You,” as a cautionary tale. To show that while
we are moving forward there are still tons of people out there who feel this
way. And they’re trying to slow us down. The second reason is because people
wanted to bring this video out for the rest of the country and world to see to
write in letters and emails to the City Counsel of Lincoln Nebraska to show that they support the LGBT community and they don’t share this
woman’s views of hate and fear. Viral videos are becoming more and more
political I’ve noticed as of late. Yes we’re in an election year. And it is
also a very big one. This election is presidential and could help shape the
nation for years to come. I wonder if we will see a drop off in political Viral
Videos once the election is over or if it will become a new source of news for
people to find out what is going on.
Another
huge political viral video that received a staggering number of dislikes is
Rick Perry’s “Strong” video. It is a campaign ad for him to be the GOP
candidate for president. In the video he boldly states that he is a proud
Christian and ashamed that we allow LGBT people to serve in out military. The
video went viral almost as soon as it was posted because the LGBT community has
not declared war on the Christian faith, as Rick Perry and people like him
would have one believe. In fact it is the other way around. Now I have many
friends who are religious and wonderfully open, but I’ve found that the most
anti-gay people have often had the “word-of-god” behind them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA <---The Link to the video. It cannot be uploaded to the blog because it was hated so much... But if you go to the YouTube page it'll play.
The video went on to help create a few spoof videos which also went
viral.
Rick Perry - "Jacket" ("Strong" Parody), 2011
This one is all about how anti-gay he is and how its ironic that Rick is
wearing the same jacket that Heath Ledger wore in the Gay-Themed movie “Broke
Back Mountain.”
Bad Lip Reading: Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad, 2011
This one is one of the “Bad Lip-Reading” series. Basically they go for a funny
version of what everyone says, but in this case it seems to me that they showed
how nonsensical the original one was by changing up the words.
The final political video that I would like to show is one the one I saw
quite a few years ago. This video is all about a mother who has just learned
that her son is gay. The mom is played by a man John Roberts, who plays it in
drag. It starts with her feeling upset that her son is gay. Then slowly
throughout the video it shows that she is coming to terms with it. By the end
of the video she is in full support of her son. It also ends with the words,
“No one understands you like mom. Happy Mothers Day.” This is a really great
viral video because it might be just enough to help some young kids, or even
adults, come out of the closet to their families. It also uses humor to help
parents who are seeing this realize that the who thing is really not that big
of a deal. If you’re going to be a parent then you’re going to love your kid no
matter what.
My Son is Gay?, 2007
Now
not all of the videos as of late have been completely political or funny. Some
of them are all about talent I am pleased to say that I went to school with
this young woman Anna.
"F*ck You" Sign language performance, 2010
Her
song is not the first ASL song to go viral however. There have already been
quite a few. I mention in my previous post during the Rebecca Black section of
my prior post that there are only a handful of viral videos that are ASL
compared to mainstream ones, but the deaf and hard-of-hearing community who
like to watch songs in ASL really like it. This provides a strong base for a
video to go small scale viral with a few mega videos such as “F*ck You” and
these:
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA - ASL song, 2009
"Fireflies" in ASL (LIVE!), 2010
and
Ke$ha-- We r Who We R (Sign Language), 2011
There
are plenty more videos that are made for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community
to include them in music appreciation. Part of what makes these videos so much
more exciting to watch is that the people who are doing them are really
charismatic and also sign really cleanly. There are also plenty of ASL videos
where the signer is in fact deaf or hard-of-hearing themselves.
ASL-Walk Away, Kelly Clarkson-Sign Language
While this video is yet to reach real viral standards we can see that it
is a well viewed video for its genre and also really impressive.
Viral videos are becoming a really useful tool to help spread political
messages and also to spread talent around. People are being discovered like my
friend Anna, and also are being shown for what they really are in the case of
the Woman from Nebraska. Also as seen in my previous blog post with Rebecca
Black and this post with Rick Perry there are a ton of videos that help create
parodies of them. Viral videos started out being something for people to use to
have a good laugh, but they are quickly evolving to become a thing of power for
people to see what is really going on out there in the world and for people to
show their stories and be discovered. What are your favorite viral videos?
Jason T Gaffney
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