Comments on: Chris Crocker, "internationally-recognized icon."

Chris Crocker, "internationally-recognized icon."

flyinghamster — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:49:59 -0800

"It's been six months since a sobbing plea on YouTube rocketed the then-19-year-old from Internet cult status to internationally-recognized icon. Yes kids, I said "icon."" Previous pre-"leave britney alone" mefi post.

His YouTube site More videos (some not on his YouTube) His newest video.

By: flyinghamster

flyinghamster — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:53:50 -0800

I know there was already post about him (almost a year ago), but I think the fact that he is gathering so much attention warrants another post (the three main links are all from the last few days)

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:55:23 -0800

For the love of all that is holy.... why?

By: nola

nola — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:01:32 -0800

*sigh*

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:03:22 -0800

I think the fact he is allegedly gathering so much attention is precisely a good reason not to make this post.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:04:17 -0800

flyinghamster writes "I think the fact that he is gathering so much attention warrants another post" Why, has he endorsed Obama?

By: Tbola

Tbola — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:09:05 -0800

For proof, look no further than the "Leave Britney Alone!" cameo appearance in the recent pop culture movie spoof, "Meet the Spartans." That appearance was proof of something, I'll grant you... but not quite what the article says it was. Closer, perhaps - proof of the absolute shittiness of the move that contained said cameo appearance.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:11:51 -0800

Posts like this make the baby Jesus cry.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:13:30 -0800

Ah, so it was a guy? Thanks for clearing that up for me.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:14:22 -0800

on non-preview: Ha ha! Suck it baby Jesus!!

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:15:28 -0800

Suck it baby Jesus!! Holy crap! I have a tattoo that says that!

By: nola

nola — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:17:08 -0800

prove it.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:25:01 -0800

I know there was already post about him (almost a year ago), but I think the fact that he is gathering so much attention warrants another post (the three main links are all from the last few days) posted by flyinghamster at 9:53 PM on March 25 The fact that he is garnering so much attention should send people to revolt. He has done nothing that merits attention, other than to be a personality. See, it's the popularity of stuff like this that proves that the media isn't feeding us mindless drivel, it proves that we want mindless drivel, and they just give us what we want. Why do I know who this person is? Has he done anything clever, or creative (not including clever or creative ways to get himself attention)? Is he making a contribution of any kind to the world, positive or negative?

By: flyinghamster

flyinghamster — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:30:19 -0800

i guess im the only real chris crocker fan

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:35:04 -0800

Well, there's Chris Crocker...

By: nevercalm

nevercalm — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:37:46 -0800

Oh please.....please. In the name of all that is good and right in the world, let this moron fade back into obscurity. Don't we have enough useless people making headlines already?

By: nola

nola — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:41:38 -0800

Holy crap that is uncalled for.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:42:27 -0800

the three main links are all from the last few days I evacuated my bowels in the last three days, too. I don't think that qualifies the results as link-worthy. Rule of thumb ... if you feel the need to defend your post before anyone replies, chances are, you probably ought to rethink your post.

By: nola

nola — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:42:31 -0800

and so is my comment it would appear. The mods are quick round here.

By: Mikey-San

Mikey-San — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:44:42 -0800

This post is fucking terrible.

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:45:15 -0800

Meh, he's like Bart the "I Didn't Do It Kid" Why do I know who this person is? Has he done anything clever, or creative (not including clever or creative ways to get himself attention)? Is he making a contribution of any kind to the world, positive or negative? Yeah none, so? The vast majority of us don't make a any contribution to the world- apart from solid waste and greenhouse emissions. He may not be to everyone's taste, but he makes people laugh- so that's a positive contribution. Anyway he'll be gone soon, to be replaced by another and another and another and another...

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:46:22 -0800

"Don't we have enough useless people making headlines already?" Yes. They are called politicians.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:49:24 -0800

By the way... y'know usually when a post is this bad, usually I find myself making a snarky comment about how bad the post is, that I think is funny, only to learn when I hit the 'post comment' button that somebody with the power to do it has already deleted the thread, thereby robbing me of my obvious fifteen minutes of fame for being such a witty and articulate scumbag. If you see these words, you are no more surprised than me.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:51:08 -0800

"This post is fucking terrible." I've had worse. You lie! C'mon you pansy!

By: owhydididoit

owhydididoit — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:55:10 -0800

Train wreck.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:55:38 -0800

This is your first post. If only you'd asked for a buddy.

By: flatluigi

flatluigi — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:55:58 -0800

Forgive the language, but from what I've seen of Chris Crocker he's a self-centered attention whore famous for a hysterical outburst over the criticism of a celebrity and he's desperate to get those 15 seconds of fame back. In my opinion, he doesn't deserve it.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:00:38 -0800

leave flyinghamster alone! *sobs*

By: Bighappyfunhouse

Bighappyfunhouse — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:02:14 -0800

Fame was one once like Bear Stearns stock. Out of reach for most people. Now any idiot with two bucks can buy it.

By: cashman

cashman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:08:54 -0800

I'd rather see a post about Tay Zonday's toe jam than this.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:15:49 -0800

That whole "content is king" thing that they used to push when coming up with stuff to put on the Internet, when they would insist that the key to finding an audience is thoughtful, well-crafted articles and videos? Lies.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:19:12 -0800

"Suck it baby Jesus!! Holy crap! I have a tattoo that says that! ... prove it." As I understand it, it usually just says suus. It takes some "assistance" to see the whole thing. That's the rumor on the streets of Jamaica, anyway.

By: Arturus

Arturus — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:30:34 -0800

I am legitimately a fan of Chris Crocker. The Britney video is what brought him to my attention in the first place, but I neither care for it nor care much about it. You're free to not care for him, or dislike him, or whatever. Here's the thing though: none of the criticisms commonly lobbed at him seem to stick, in my view. So he's famous because he's a personality. Well, okay, sure. So is every other comedian or internet celebrity. So he got famous for something reasonably stupid, and worse than that, something uncool. What strikes me about the Britney video, and the reaction to it is that it is a deeply and passionately uncool video in a medium where entire careers are built and traded upon coolness. His other stuff doesn't share the same standout nature, and so it gets largely ignored. Which is fine really, in a lot of ways he'd be better off if less people paid attention to him at all, but the way things stand he has become defined by the Britney video. That's crappy. The problem is, as I see it, that his other stuff doesn't scale in the same way that the Britney video did. Most of his output consists of subtle riffs on gay/southern/urban culture filtered through a fairly personal and hypermediated lens, which is stuff that by nature isn't going to appeal to a truly mass audience. There's simply not the salience there. The Britney video landed him before a mass audience, and that's where his issues come from. It would have been better for him to have kept building his audience gradually, connecting to people for whom he has salience. Oh, and pompomtom: There's a basic rule that if you can't tell what gender someone is, and you're not close enough to that person to know from interacting with them, you don't actually need to know. Whatever you think of the guy, the whole "lulz androgyny" thing that's built up around him is stupid and largely offensive. I realize that this thread is probably doomed, and if it wasn't from the start the amount of shit that's been thrust into it made it so, but whatever. I like the guy, and I'll defend him.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:32:40 -0800

I thought the whole Chris Crocker thing would be wrapped when he got out of Grandma's house and got some fucking action, y'know, got busy. Too busy for any more YouTube. Like, with Tina and junk.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:42:59 -0800

This kid is famous like the Star Wars Kid or the Numa Numa kid, the only difference is, those two other kids shunned the fame that was forced upon them. Chris actually craves it. His Britney lament video was an act, a con, a mass-manipulation. And I gather that he doesn't really discriminate between mass love or mass hate. He just wants the attention.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:44:19 -0800

Wow, and now I'm watching his more recent videos and he's ON. I wish there could be lasting crossover for even this kind of person in our media culture, but I have little hope for that.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:51:37 -0800

Lame (lame), burn your cam, you're so over Shame (shame), learn some pride, hard to swallow Game (game), lose today, lost tomorrow Blame (plenty to go around) Lame, it's not the same as real fame To force your folks to move and change their Name (name) Frame (frame), what you like is in the mirror Flame (right out), hystereophonics getting dimmer Claim (to fame), infamy is what's for dinner Defame (defame) Lame, "Nien! It's time!" To save the hive mind You crossed the line and now your light is dying Ready, take aim (aim) Could it be the end, could it be? Really be, Epic Fail? Could it be, you Fail, Epic fail? Really, really? Is it any wonder we reject you, Chris? Lame, lame, lame, lame Is it any wonder you play the fool too well Lame Lame, bullying you, easy for me Got to get a favorite for your pain Pain Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame, lame Lame, lame, lame Lame What's your name? (whispered) Leave Chris Crocker alone!

By: Jikido

Jikido — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:01:19 -0800

bitch, pleeeeze.

By: bwg

bwg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:05:37 -0800

Shaun: Oh, leave him alone. Pete: All right, I admit, he can pretty funny on occasion. Like that time we stayed up all night drinking apple Schnappes and playing Tekken 2. Shaun: Oh yeah. When was that? Pete: That was five years ago. When's he going home?

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:47:10 -0800

LEAVE CHRIS ALONE!!!!!1

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:49:04 -0800

oops.. I mean, what IRFH said. After his lame fame flame. **looking around** Can I smoke in this thread? Think anyone'll mind?

By: M Edward

M Edward — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:55:02 -0800

We need to "rid the world of all these fevered egos that are tainting our collective unconscious and making us pay a higher psychic price than we imagine." (i love you bill) Seriously.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:55:37 -0800

"Wow, and now I'm watching his more recent videos and he's ON." On what?

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:57:07 -0800

This guy is the perez hilton of youtube. DIAF

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:58:26 -0800

I am legitimately a fan of Chris Crocker. Me too. I think the guy's great. I'm sure it helps if you understand what it's like being gay in a small town, which makes it easier to cheer him on as he claws his way out. He's handling it pretty damn well - making money, getting laid, setting himself up so he doesn't have to be a victim...Hell, he's more interesting than almost any other YouTube celebrity I can think of, which may not be saying a whole lot, I know, but still. The problem is, as I see it, that his other stuff doesn't scale in the same way that the Britney video did. Most of his output consists of subtle riffs on gay/southern/urban culture filtered through a fairly personal and hypermediated lens, which is stuff that by nature isn't going to appeal to a truly mass audience. Yep. I still flip off whatever media outlet I see that describes him as "the LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE guy." Check this quote from the Advocate interview: I have to say, I hate the fact, first of all, that that's the video that was launched into the media, because I did videos before that were about really important topics. A lot of people want to say my priorities are in the wrong order, but, you know, I did videos about AIDS, and I was trying to spread awareness long before that. So the fact that that's the only video the media picked up on tells me their priorities, not mine. Smart guy. Hope he keeps it together.

By: Saydur

Saydur — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:58:31 -0800

This, like so many other things before it, only heightens my desire to personify the internet into a physical form, so that I may stab it repeatedly.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:59:17 -0800

Like, with Tina and junk. Yeah, that's the part I hope he keeps himself together over.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:59:18 -0800

Leave Obama alone! *cries*

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:19:26 -0800

Leave MetaFilter alone! *cries*

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:26:28 -0800

Leave Chris Crocker alone! Don't you know he brought peace to Northern Ireland and dodged sniper fire in Tuzla? And he's short on sleep, because he's up every night, waiitng to answer that 3am phonecall!

By: TechnoLustLuddite

TechnoLustLuddite — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:51:53 -0800

I'll say just one thing: I think it was funny how they made Butters be Chris Crocker on the latest Southpark episode.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:55:13 -0800

"... I'm just going to be defending myself from now on. ..." Boy meets mission.

By: PostIronyIsNotaMyth

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:15:44 -0800

"Unlike Andy Warhol, the 20-year-old Chris belongs to a media-saavy generation that instinctively knows how to work a camera." So Andy Warhol made a twenty four hour long movie, so effin what? Motherfucker pretty much invented "media-savvy."

By: sharpener

sharpener — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:48:54 -0800

Hell, he's more interesting than almost any other YouTube celebrity I can think of Damn, suddenly I am truly aware that I belong to a different generation. This guy, and so many others, just struck me as taking part in a worldwide fucking highschool popularity contest and little more. I didn't realize they were celebrities. Get off my lawn. *sigh*

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:46:57 -0800

If he'd been from LA or NYC in the first place - instead of "Pentecostal Tennessee" - we wouldn't know who he is. The buzz around this kid is simply due to his circumstances.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:36:34 -0800

As I understand it, it usually just says suus. It takes some "assistance" to see the whole thing. That's the rumor on the streets of Jamaica, anyway. Wow, the font must be really small then crash.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:06:29 -0800

One bent paperclip.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:31:54 -0800

Does the world really need another famous effeminate crybaby?

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:41:17 -0800

Motherfucker pretty much invented "media-savvy." The idea they were trying to convey is that in the present, everyone is approximately as media-savvy as Warhol (and not for just 15 minutes).

By: WalterMitty

WalterMitty — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:55:06 -0800

Meh

By: nicolin

nicolin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:58:00 -0800

I like his "best video ever". He's really looking good on this one.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:02:52 -0800

Damn, suddenly I am truly aware that I belong to a different generation. Oh, please. The concept of YouTube celebrity really isn't hard to understand.

By: flyinghamster

flyinghamster — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:41:39 -0800

I love you guys :D And those of you who still believe that Chris Crocker's videos are mindless drivel should really take the time to actually watch them. Sure it isn't classic literature or anything, but I would be lying to say that he hasn't been an inspiration to me. It seems like there is just too much I want to say about him and his importance, but I must aim for some brevity since what I am responding to is so often simply arbitrary dismissal. I used to dismiss Britney Spears. Sure, I had heard ...Baby one more time back when it was first released, and I actually thought it was kind of catchy. But any evolving musical taste quickly learns to exclude Top 40 hits in favor of more esoteric and nuanced audio, and with my newfound interests in jazz, modern classical, and avant-garde structures it was impossible to fit any kind of "pop music" into the pantheon. But it went further than that. Even though I was free to listen to any music I wanted and I chose to exclude most popular music, I became more and more critical of these "mainstream" songs - music and musicians that I never gave a chance. I never thought to question why I had this hatred for popular culture. Chris Crocker is, somewhat ironically, in a similar position right now in our society. Despite his large following, his impact is constantly marginalized by people that believe he is too popular and antagonize him out of envy or fear. Britney Spears, like Chris Crocker, has an interesting history. Neither of them are products of some sort of media machine. They are real people, with real stories and real lives, and they both worked hard for what they achieved, despite in completely different ways. I feel this is where I should say "Leave Chris Crocker alone!", and laugh obligatorily. I know this has been rather counter-intuitive for a lot of you, but maybe this video will help. Chris was in a 5-year long-distance relationship with a boy that he never even met in person yet is still so hopelessly in love that it almost makes me cry just thinking about it. A lot of Chris's videos have been taken down or are difficult to find but some of those are the most rewarding to watch, both for their substance and for the manner in which they contextualize the massive influx of opinion which invariably surrounds them.

By: octobersurprise

octobersurprise — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:47:54 -0800

Crocker's at least as funny as men with puppets. in the present, everyone is approximately as media-savvy as Warhol I don't think that's true, either. But Warholian media-savvy is life to a lot of people now and they don't need to move to NYC to exhibit it. That's what I find interesting. I've been absorbed lately by Nelson Sullivan's videos which are appearing on YouTube. Back in the day, someone like Crocker would've had to flee to NY to begin working his schitck. Now he can do it from his hometown.

By: octobersurprise

octobersurprise — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:05:37 -0800

Neither of them are products of some sort of media machine. They are real people, with real stories and real lives In spite of all appearances to the contrary, both Spears and Crocker are real people, true. But, in fact, everything interesting about either is a result of their use of the "media machine" and it's use of them.

By: kimdog

kimdog — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:35:14 -0800

I'm interested in Chris Crocker because he is from my home town. And I appreciate how difficult it can be to grow up there, especially as a gay kid. I wasn't gay, but one of my best friends is and at 36, he still hasn't come out to his family. So I give him kudos for leveraging his personality in a public venue to create... something- celebrity, infamy, or whatever you want to call it. I just hope he can keep enough of this capital to establish a sturdy platform for his adult life.

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:53:13 -0800

Britney Spears, like Chris Crocker, has an interesting history. Neither of them are products of some sort of media machine. Are you kidding? Crocker isn't yet a product of the media machine, I guess, but he's working on it. And Britney? Come on. Having an interesting history and being a real person does not mean that one is not also a media creation.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:05:17 -0800

TONIGHT ON THUNDERDOME CHRIS CROCKER VS GARY BROLSMA TWO MEMES ENTER ONE MEME LEAVES

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:13:47 -0800

flyinghamster - I tried watching the video you linked to, but I couldn't make it through. I thought, okay, I'll have an open mind - but it's just some kid crying into the camera. Maybe I'm just not into the genre of some kid crying into the camera. I'd rather watch videos that have plot and production value and entertainment than just some kid at home crying into the camera. Whether it's crying about Britney or emo concern of the week, it's not something that appeals to me in any way. Maybe it can be appreciated as camp and an object of ridicule as far as the Britney video goes, but this one is more like some kind of narcissistic video diary entry. And like most teary diary entries, better kept to one's self. But, as someone pointed out above, perhaps the whole thing is generational. I have little interest in watching anyone's personal video diaries.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:18:02 -0800

Neither of them are products of some sort of media machine. Well, yes and no. Britney is a product of the music and entertainment industry, but I don't think she bargained for the paparazzi tracking her, 24/7, completely invading her privacy. She's tried to turn the situation to her advantage, and used it to keep her name in the papers, since it's been (arguably) years since she's put out a good album or done anything careerwise that amounts to much. And I'd say it's had it's effects. Britney is a basket case at this point. But you can't say she went looking for that sort of attention I can't help but feel that the "Leave Britney Alone" kid would settle for just that.

By: sharpener

sharpener — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:54:32 -0800

Oh, please. The concept of YouTube celebrity really isn't hard to understand. Yeah, that's true. I guess the thing is, I didn't say that I didn't understand it. I said that the fact that they were celebrities didn't fit with my own perception of what makes a celebrity. Which, in turn, caused me to realize that maybe, despite having been in the web industry for 13 years, I am still beholden to my cohort (i.e., not Chris Crocker's) on some levels. So sue me. Not like anyone's reading at this point anyway.