A Youtube Lament

Tags

ashley mardell, audible, democracy, grace helbig, Hannah Hart, mamrie hart, My Drunk Kitchen, myharto, sparkles of glitter, the trevor project, youtube

So I’m not very good at talking to a camera, but I want to get in on the conversation that’s been going on about youtube. First, a few weeks ago, SparkleofGlitter talked about the pressures of being a youtube celebrity and how foreign it was to her, whenever she went to a convention, then Ashley Mardell addressed the situation and I know countless have spoken about this, far more than I could list here, but the breaking point for me was Hannah Hart’s last episode.

It actually made me sad, and that’s saying something. MDK never makes me sad, in fact it’s usually the bright spot in my week, not to sound pathetic, but hey I’m living in a foreign country, dealing with the aftermath of coming out. Anyway, Hannah made a point this week of getting plastered, to almost prove she was still Hannah Hart. I never questioned this fact, but apparently more than a few people on the internet have. Towards the end of the video it turned incredibly poetic. She put a video of her sober self almost pleading to her audience, that she was still her, over the back drop of her drunk self.

Isn’t the fact that the past few months of episodes she’s produced been of  a sober Hannah, been more authentic than anything we’ve seen? And hey, we all know youtubers make a living off of ads. Hannah Hart however seems to always choose sponsors that would enlighten us. For god sake she has a book club. Other youtubers promote audible, but they don’t actually discuss the books they have been listening to with their viewers.

I know that there has been, for lack of better word, a rift forming between creators and viewers. As the audience of the site expands this is inevitable. I can’t even imagine the pressure that she and other well-known youtubers are under. They make a living by exposing themselves to the public, yet the public is always thirsting for more blood. In many ways I think the pressure they face is worse, than the usual trials a traditional celebrity has to face. They are their own paparazzi.

 We as a community should be happy that youtube has evolved into a forum that in some ways is being taken seriously by more mainstream forms of media. Youtube is democracy at work, we collectively have made all of these people “famous” and we should stand by them and believe that their integrity won’t be lost.

The website has exploded within the past four years and its evolving. I have no idea what it will become, but I still see it as a forum that can ignite change. I can’t tell you how many social causes I have gotten involved in because of some off hand comment or perhaps pre-moted soapbox: ie The Trevor Project, that a youtuber has pushed forth.

So let’s be patient as a community, I still have faith that this platform can be true and honest. We’re all figuring it out together, creators and viewers. Let’s not be so hard on them and let’s remember they’re people too. That’s all I have to say.

My Drunk Obsession

Tags

comedy, cooking, drinking, drunk, Hannah Hart, My Drunk Kitchen, my harto, review, yourharto, youtube

            So let me preface this entire piece by saying I still can’t believe I found this show on a day that I truly needed to laugh. This past week, it hasn’t been the best: I lost my job (yay for waitressing), I lost my boyfriend (yay love sucks), and I’m currently stuck in my apartment with a glass of wine, (ok I’ll admit its actually a bottle), binge watching My Drunk Kitchen.

            Technically, it’s a cooking show and the host, Hannah Hart, always makes a valiant effort to create something that could be considered appetizing to the starving drunk. However, I’d like to argue that really it’s a drunken philosophy show. Most of the conversations she has with the camera would be one’s I would drunkenly have with my friends as well. The puns, euphemisms, and occasional “idioms” are just the spice that makes this show explosive. I could even watch it sober, but I’d rather not!

              The first season primarily focused on Ms. Hart getting, well, plastered. Almost never making anything that was appetizing. The pilot episode is essentially Hannah eating a piece of bread, while talking for five minutes. It’s not cooking, but god you’re tricked into thinking that perhaps she really will make that grilled cheese sandwich. What stands out about that episode, and the subsequent eleven after that is that it felt honest. It was as though there was no acting persona, but perhaps she is just an incredible performer.

              In season 2 the only change was that she was shooting in HD. The heart of the show was still there. The style wavered occasionally, depending on the guests she brought on, but most episodes are still just her alone in the kitchen. In my opinion, the essence of My Drunk Kitchen is Ms. Hart, drunk, alone, and talking to the camera, spewing out whatever comes to her mind. Honestly, when someone else is in the kitchen in many ways she becomes filtered, but don’t we all?

               The cooking that takes place is merely the filler between conversations that give life lessons, revelations and time to finish a bottle of something, at least during the first two seasons. The style of the show changed abruptly at the beginning of season three. Ms. Hart was able to self-fund a tour of the show and for this reason every episode has guest stars that are hosting her in their kitchen. Although its not apparent until the Minneapolis Hot Dish, the show has become a skit show of sorts and although improvisation happens, the show begins to feel scripted. This is blatantly apparent in the Chicago episode when there are puppets in the kitchen. I’ll admit it was funny, but I wasn’t watching My Drunk Kitchen any longer.

                Ms. Hart is a talented comedienne, but she is making a mistake by changing the layout of the show, especially with the new trend of bringing guests on in every episode. On her other youtube channel, yourharto, she is able to experiment with different types of acting and comedy. Honestly, though, she needs to keep the scriptedness to that channel and not fundamentally change the show that garnered her fame in the first place. Not to say Ms. Hart isn’t funny, she is. But it’s not the best idea to change the make up of a “character” during the third season. Youtube in truth is democracy at work, and ultimately that’s what art is at its truest form. I would argue that My Drunk Kitchen is actually art, but only if it stays with its roots. 

 

Please check out her channels… its worth it! My Drunk Kitchen can be found at the first link.  

http://www.youtube.com/user/MyHarto?annotation_id=channel%3A5241496f-0-2d9f-8df2-89e013a2908&feature=iv&src_vid=nIvOqHfia2s

http://www.youtube.com/user/yourharto