234 | Alex Winter (The YouTube Effect)

My Summer Lair Chapter #234: What Is The YouTube Effect?

The first time the words the “YouTube effect” were used were in an LA Times article in 2006. At the time it was focused on the “phenomenon” of individuals uploading clips. Now it’s shifted as this documentary explores the positive and negative aspects of the popular platform.

You know Alex Winter as the non-Keanu Reeves half of Bill and Ted. While Keanu is busy avenging his dog (mash those guys up!); Alex has mainly been directing documentaries that explore the impact of technology on our society.

Downloaded in 2012 (the impact of filesharing and Napster), 2015’s Deep Web (Silk Road and the politics of the Dark Web), The Panama Papers (leaked documents about tax havens) and Trust Machine (blockchain) both in 2018.

His latest The YouTube Effect is a nuanced look at the utopian and dystopian aspects of the popular platform we all use. You know the negative: misinformation has ruled creating a Bogus Journey for many Lost Boys. The positive is it’s an Excellent journey especially for Showbiz Kids typically ignored by traditional media.

All of this leaves us with a “strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.” feeling.

Just a sample of the themes explored in Alex Winter’s The YouTube Effect documentary now playing at Tribeca Film Festival. (Oddly enough you can see the trailer on YouTube.) The documentary posits we’re currently in a  “misinformation apocalypse.” Sounds like we need a John or Sarah Connor.

(Gale Anne Hurd was a producer on The YouTube Effect…she of course produced along with James Cameron the original Terminator Trilogy. Originally Skynet was a cautionary tale then it became a meme; sadly we diluted the danger. We’re not often a wise society.)

The YouTube Effect trailer:

The YouTube Effect @ WT F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Monday June 13, 2022 at 10:30am

What are you watching on YouTube? There’s divine delight at discovering delicious pop culture. Sign up now so you can enjoy the My Pal Sammy newsletter.

Literally anytime Keanu or Alex or Chris or Ed would say anything about Bill and Ted 3 there would just be this little explosion of interest on the internet, kind of culminating to the point where finally Orion and MGM decided, ‘Yeah we’re gonna do this’. We announced that it was possible and there was a huge explosion of interest, and I have to say that made [the studios] feel like, ‘Well, I guess we made a good decision here.’

In a separate interview, producer Scott Kroopf – who’s been a producer on all three movies – said fan interest also went a long way towards convincing the studio that Bill and Ted 3 was worth making.

Whenever a fool opens their dumb mouth to say Zack Snyder’s Justice League was unprecedented to giving in to the fan boys. It’s how it’s always been done.

Metrocenter Faces The Music

Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix, Arizona is closing as another coronavirus casualty. (Kinda…the mall was already dying.

This is one of the few shopping malls we’ve all visited: it’s where Bill and Ted took all the historical figures for an Excellent Adventure.

?No word if the Circle K is still there or not (hopefully it is…strange things will be happening again when Bill and Ted 3 opens in August.)

After 47 years in business the mall closes on June 30. That’s not…excellent.

-28-

Posts, blog and musings.
Events, gigs and appearances.
News

bookcover

"Red Letter Nights"
by Sammy Younan is available!

 

Click here for to enjoy a yummy sample...