Youtube Nation: Hot For Words and The New Celebrity

I'm a naysayer. Whenever something new and potentially groundbreaking pops into existence I'm much more willing to assume it'll fail to live up to anyone's expectations for it than to hope it'll be the next big thing. Especially where the Internet is concerned, I just don't have much faith in the ability of individuals or groups to realize true potential. Virtual systems almost all necessarily start out as toys, only later blossoming into useful technologies and often through inexplicable means. Youtube is a prime example. In its humble beginnings I was pretty sure it would remain a full-motion version of Livejournal, but then something strange and wonderful happened to the Internet. In short, it became legitimate. With the help of a few dedicated individuals who actually know what they're doing, web media evolved beyond the toy chest. Case in point, Marina Orlova, a spunky Moscovite who may just be the world's only celebrity philologist.

It tickles me all kinds of cotton candy colors to realize that the Internet and some of its potentially most ridiculous tools have actually introduced the world to a brand new batch of entertainers, many of whom are more respectable than the folks churned out by our older media institutions. While I certainly set out to use Youtube Nation as a way to point and laugh at the silly vlogging idiots and backyard wrestlers of the world, I find myself gravitating to the positive aspects of the medium more each week. It's simply more interesting to listen to a tidbit teacher with a sense of humor than it is to endure yet another basic cable pundit wannabe.

Marina Orlova has been making her Hot For Words etymology videos for over two years now. The gig has gotten her guest spots on TV shows, special appearances at the ever-growing geek conferences around the world and even a book deal. All things considered, Orlova is a public intellectual, an endangered species as of the 1980's. I dig that like cold spoons dig ice cream.

But there's something different about Marina and the other ascending vlog talents. Watching her videos evolve from their early "webcam in a small apartment" format into slick productions with computer-generated sets and trendy editing tricks reveals some conspicuously neglected rough spots. Why are her sets increasingly smooth but her costumes still so ramshackle? Why are her obviously practiced, scripted bits punctuated with moments of tone-deaf line delivery and high school talent show level skits? Just like her rising star contemporaries, I don't think that it's for a lack of talent, time or effort that Orlova slaps on cheap wigs and lets her cutaways last too long.

So, I've got a theory. The appeal of the Internet is that, even when it's actually very professional, it still seems so cheap and easy. People watch these obviously proficient Internet performers while suspending any belief that their videos take a lot more talent and resource than the overwhelming majority of people possess. If the skits were too sharp, the costumes too nice or the jokes too funny, it would be like watching magical, inaccessible media like television and film. It's the once-true but increasingly antiquated idea that the Internet is "ours". I'm not saying that the likes of Hot For Words and Community Channel are cynical careerists. In fact, I genuinely believe that they perform from the heart. Still, I think they kneecap their own material to stay middle-brow.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. I don't want to see committee-run Internet entertainment that keeps smart, talented people from producing and disseminating content. No, I don't believe any kid with a generous chest and a linguistics degree can even begin to create entertaining philology lessons on Youtube, but I'm beginning to believe that the Internet is the only place where one-of-a-kind projects like Hot For Words can get the attention they deserve.

*I'd also like to take a reader suggestion and award Depression Cooking with Clara the AK Smile Seal of Approval. Consider this one a double award for both Clara and Marina Orlova. Keep on making exemplary programming, you two. The Internet needs its credibility if it's going to finally consume television like it really ought to.