Mythmaking: On YouTube “Celebrity” Cults, Their Hubris, and Avarice

By Johnny C | Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | 21 Comments

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The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man. – Frank Herbert, Dune

In Dave Eggers’ foreword to Kurt Vonnegut’s last posthumous publication, While Mortals Sleep, he highlights three points about getting attention the Information Age we live in, especially with new media like YouTube and Facebook and Twitter. If back in the day you actually had to be good and had morals and wisdom to impart in order to be published as a writer, now you have to have at least one of these characteristics to be noticed: loud, radical, and insane. Oftentimes, people are all three. But that doesn’t mean they are good or imparting anything worth learning from–or at least, they help us to learn what not to do or who not to be (see Alexandra Wallace and her Asians in the Library video for an example of having all three characteristics).

I’ve never been gullible or lacking in self-esteem enough to see “celebrities” as gods the way many I have encountered often do. There’s something about the whole “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” act people put up when encountering Steven Tyler or Alice Cooper in public or the complete inability to just say “hi” to someone. Actors, musicians, directors, and writers are people too, and though many have flamboyant personalities, that doesn’t come from being too holy to touch, that comes from exuding a certain kind of self-assured confidence that allows them to be themselves since they’ve already impressed the right people (or at least have a few influential names they call friends). Worship of a celebrity makes about as much sense as kowtowing to the class clown because “everyone knows him”.

Though I don’t doubt there is definitely talent to be found when you have the freedom to express without the bullshit bureaucracy of Hollywood or major publishing houses that comes from personal politics rather than actual talent, you will find a lot of garbage out there. It’s like sticking your hand in multiple toilets hoping to find diamonds once in a while, fully aware you’re getting into shit every time. Nietzsche once said that with universal literacy, the standard goes down, and with universal access on YouTube and blogging, there are less filters and more garbage that comes out, which are often the aforementioned “loud, radical, and insane”. Of course, someone will argue and try to retrofit postmodern attitudes and values to downplay the context of Nietzsche and say things like “He’s elitist!” which is true, I don’t deny that, but I haven’t seen a hell of a lot of movement forward, just a lot more niche groups and isolationist silos. It’s a sign of the times rather than the integration between music and cultures in the past, but let’s not get into that discussion yet.

Asian America is itself by nature a niche group. It does not have to be an exclusive silo, and the very idea of trying to fight for representation, equality, and visibility in America and American media is immediately forgotten by the politics and attitudes of many “celebrities” and their fans (cult members), especially at film festivals. There are indeed some celebrities who live up to the arrogant snob image, and at times, have rightfully earned it for their talent with the likes of Christian Bale and Sean Penn, because they are good at what they do and it warrants those six-figure paychecks for their talent. But go into any Asian American event where YouTube personalities (who believe they themselves are celebs) gather en masse, and for a good number of them, you have the same attitude–whether they have a million views or a few thousand views, it’s baffling to see elements of that incessant and incestuous pride. All the while, it’s a wonder they survive when the general quality of what’s come out of most of the peanuts gallery of YouTube artists is essentially glorified home movies with people acting “loud, radical, and insane” and not being very good at it either. Think of the kid in the 1980s and 1990s who had a camcorder and shot cheesy movies on a Super 8 that he wants to show off every time you come over: that’s what a lot of YouTube is.

Now to be fair, it’s also a good way to connect with supporters and like-minded people to improve, but there is a certain zenith people reach too early, from the circle-jerking that comes from being in a room full of kids who think they’re hot stuff, talk about “doing lunch” and “talking shop” and the whole “fuck yeah, we are gonna make it!” and then they get too comfortable and end up not pushing as hard to go mainstream. If the Raelians and Flat Earth Society people can find their lambs, and Count Victor Lustig can find his marks to play for suckers and cheat out of their money, then likewise with the Asian American YouTube mafia, there’s not much motivation to go beyond the circle of Asian America as the social climbing is all about being the big fish in a small pond as opposed to preparing for the sea of life. And even if there is still desire to go beyond the online frontier, most of them still aren’t that good at what they promote. They’ve found their niche making juvenile videos and unimpressive music, they have viewers and attention, they can make a little money to live fairly well– but the message of inclusiveness, visibility, and representation becomes lost. Yet somehow, they attempt to build a reputation to everyone else while portraying a very different story, about promoting Asian America and working to make the community more visible, represented, and diverse–however, you can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do, especially with what you haven’t done, let alone what you aren’t doing anymore.

So for every time I’ve encountered these YouTube “celebrities” who think they are too self-important to say hello back or give the time of day (especially at Asian American film festivals), I laugh and remember the words of Hunter S. Thompson: “A professional is someone who can get work any time he wants because he is that good at what he does”, and the words of Rousseau: “One does not seek a great name, but knows how to honor that which he has.” For every time I see someone about to go into a seizure for seeing a celebrity, YouTube or mainstream, I remind them that everyone farts, and they stink.

For the TL;DR crowd who want the Cliff’s Notes version of this article: Celebrities are normal people too and can be assholes. YouTube celebrities are no different and are mostly not that good at what they do. They think they can use YouTube to promote Asian America’s goals of diversity, representation, visibility, and inclusiveness that mainstream Hollywood and television don’t allow, but once they hit their niche crowd and make a little money, they develop huge egos and don’t care to improve their skills or continue trying to go beyond the small pond they live in while believing they are the big fish. They remain social climbers and arrogant; they do not recognize that they are not as good as they believe they are, and won’t improve until they acknowledge that Asian America is only a stepping stone. Popularity does not indicate they are good, either, otherwise it is the same as saying Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby” are better than any song in existence for their sheer number of views. Breaking into mainstream isn’t about racism, it’s about actually being good enough and mixing outside the community, which almost nobody is doing.

Author’s note: No YouTube artists’ egos were harmed in the making of this article.

photo credit: Jonathan Kos-Read via photopin cc

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

http://twitter.com/CatherineTurng Catherine Turng

This is really interesting…so how would you suggest Asian American Youtube celebs break into mainstream media? I know you say a lot of them aren’t that good, but I feel like there are tons of extremely talented Asian Americans on Youtube…
LTE2

“And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions.”

– Frank Herbert, Dune
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Doing that usually gets you called a smart ass.
LTE2

“so how would you suggest Asian American Youtube celebs break into mainstream media?”

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Say or do something intelligent.
LTE2

“They think they can use YouTube to promote Asian America’s goals of diversity, representation, visibility, and inclusiveness that mainstream Hollywood and television don’t allow,”
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While this issue may affect A-A’s, I think this line of thinking is faulty because major media junkifies everything. Part of the problem is the audience they play to, you can’t sell great anything when they do not come to watch.
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I do not think Hollywood wouldn’t allow it, I think they feel people will not watch. If Asian anything was hot, Hollywood would grind out endless Asian themed materials. Hollywood is a business where art occasionally happens.
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I have thought for sometime the Asian-American gets little play in the major media simply because the Asians across the sea get the bigger play and are always in the news. The problem with Asian-Americans are, well, they’re American.
http://www.8asians.com/author/ancientone95131/ jeffat8asians

“Say or do something intelligent.”

Just like Kim Kardashian did to break into the mainstream! Oh wait…
LTE2

“Just like Kim Kardashian did to break into the mainstream!”

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I didn’t want to mention any names because I had a hunch you have lurid fantasies about her (and I know technical people have tastes that lean towards the bizarre).
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Actually, she was an example of what I had in mind.
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

The first thing I believe about getting into mainstream media is best summarized by a quote from an old Zen master: “When you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing.” They have their niche on YouTube–but the hunger for more isn’t there once they make money as I’ve said.

Granted, it’s good to have themselves out there to brand themselves, because for all my criticism here, I’m a bit puzzled why many of them don’t make the effort to keep going higher. I have a few friends who use it as a demo reel, and that’s one way to start; using YouTube as a supplement to their ongoing drive to make it in mainstream. I started out blogging on WordPress, and that became my portfolio that got me gigs for various magazines around the world besides here–just one way to look at it.
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

Sir, you’re hammering a lot of points that I expected you to hit and thank you for all of that. One thing about Hollywood and Asian-America I’ve noticed is many Asian-Americans tend to typecast themselves–auditioning only for Asian roles. I had a friend who played Paul McCartney in an off-Broadway play. His advice to the west coast Asians? Stop marketing race and stop selling themselves; only prostitutes sell themselves, and they should instead be themselves while presenting themselves in the best, most adaptable, diverse way possible, and by diverse, being able to go outside of their expectations of whom they think they can or can’t be.
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

And unfortunately, Paul Atreides never followed this advice as we can see in the Dune saga.
http://www.8asians.com/author/ancientone95131/ jeffat8asians

Wow, how do you know us techy types so well? Here’s my Kim Kardashian fantasy: I’m coding in a quiet cafe when Kim approaches. She says to me: “I’ll pay for your kids’ college tuition.” That would be a fantasy come true! So lurid!
http://www.8asians.com/author/ancientone95131/ jeffat8asians

“If Asian anything was hot, Hollywood would grind out endless Asian themed materials.”

When something from Asia is hot, Hollywood often takes it and makes most/all of the actors white, e.g. The Grudge, The Ring, The Departed, Old Boy, etc.

“Hollywood is a business where art occasionally happens.”

Very true. I wonder how much of casting is done with an international market in mind and the expectation that non-American audiences expect an American movie to be mostly full of white people.
LTE2

“makes most/all of the actors white, e.g. The Grudge, The Ring, The Departed, Old Boy, etc.”.
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There is no obligation to remake a movie with an Asian cast. It’s the producer’s money they can do what they want. On the other hand, you have no obligation to pay to see it (on cable tv you’re only obligated to subsidize ESPN).
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On the other hand… there were several movies made in Asia where they could only be remade with an Asian-American cast because the story lines were peculiar to the culture. Americans are well known for their distaste of subtitles and dubbed films and this opens up an opportunity.
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“Very true. I wonder how much of casting is done with an international market in mind and the expectation that non-American audiences expect an American movie to be mostly full of white people.”
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More than likely. Europeans invented the American brand. In the totality of the European people, they have pretty much remade the world. On the other hand, some America made movies with Asian themes have done well such as Li Of Pi and Memoirs Of A Geisha so it’s not an absolute. An American movie with a majority non-white cast can do well if it has a compelling story.

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The compelling story standard might seem to be a high bar, on the other hand, it could enhance the reputation of Asian-Americans in the Hollywood film universe.
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I bet someone like Steven Spielberg would back a movie of high quality on an Asian subject. 20th Century-Fox seems to be Asian-American friendly.
LTE2

“I had a friend who played Paul McCartney in an off-Broadway play.”
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That’s a bit of a stretch for me.
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Then again, Juanita Hall played a Chinese woman not once, but twice in Rodger and Hammerstein musicals (South Pacific and Flower Drum Song).
LTE2

“That would be a fantasy come true! So lurid!”

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She could be wearing something low cut as she writes the check
LTE2

The spice…the spice…
LTE2

“Wow, how do you know us techy types so well?”

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Almost forgot to answer this one.
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I was a techy!
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

I am reminded of the epic Seven Samurai, which I believe was what led to the remake into the classic Magnificent Seven. If we look at it as part of the monomyth in the Joseph Campbell school of thought, we can see universal themes that are more easily understood upon crossing the Pacific, and the cultural localization process of the time.

When I look at The Grudge and Ring in particular, I see two approaches in terms of trying to remake Asian films localized for American tastes.

For The Ring, the convenient and coincidental discoveries of the protagonist seemed a little too lucky, since they removed the element of having a psychic in the story. If I’m going to believe in cursed videotapes and wraiths, I’m willing to suspend disbelief and accept psychics too, but apparently, people liked it as it was enough.

For The Grudge, I think it’s a good idea (at least for the first film) that a good middle ground was met by having Americans in Japan whilst maintaining the distinctively Japanese cultural flair towards that folk belief of the onryou, to capture the culture shock and introduce to the characters and audience something new.
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

If it was a reference I made before, the closest variant I can think of is the Cronenberg film “M. Butterfly” but I must commend your remarkable memory. Remind me to buy you a pint of whatever you fancy at the pub if I ever run into you next time I’m out in the Mid-Atlantic.
LTE2

“the closest variant I can think of is the Cronenberg film “M. Butterfly”
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It was Miss Saigon. I have seen just a few minutes of it but never watched it in full (as I understand it, it was a Madame Butterfly updated). I think it would be difficult to top the original which was a well thought out, complex train wreck of a love story. When it came to tragedy, Puccini gave his audience their money’s worth.
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David H. Hwang had written M.Butterfly to play off the opera but it appears he never understood the foundation, a story about a young girl who was traumatized by 2 events that occurred in her formative years, leaving her with a fatalistic view of her life and future. Your mention of the movie made me realize Hwang’s “discussion” of the opera in the early part of the movie is where the white guy saves the Japanese girl comes from (I have seen this view posted on other forums)..
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There’s a great irony in this, for when Hwang’s character asks, what would you think of a white girl leaving a Kennedy to run off with a Japanese guy, if Hwang had paid closer attention, the Japanese “Kennedy” (Yamadori) was a serial marrier and effectively, a Japanese B.F. Pinkerton. Butterfly was well aware of his reputation for dumping wives.
http://twitter.com/heyitsjohnnyc Johnny C

Agree with you there about Madame Butterfly and Puccini’s knack for tragedy. Maria Callas’ voice is the one that I remember best though more than Cristina Gallardo. And yes, Miss Saigon, now I remember: one group of Asian-Americans in the 1970s were fighting about how they felt an Asian should play the role of the Engineer instead of yellowface on Jonathan Pryce, then when it was changed, they were then met with resistance from another group who thought the show should be banned altogether for the exotic Oriental sexual fetish they felt was being promoted, which was mentioned in Helen Zia’s book “Asian American Dreams”.

Funny enough, when living in Manila as a lad, I recall when the show came and Lea Salonga was performing, people flocked to see it with excitement, and heard no protests about yellowface (for we had some Anglo-Americans coming in to play significant roles) or exotic fetishes–to most of the audience, it was just a great show they had to see. Considering it was also expensive and the majority of the showgoers were the privileged elite in a city with no middle class, they weren’t uneducated either, as they joined their expat brethren literally across the street from my old home where the Cultural Center of the Philippines was.
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