Supplemental Post #7 - KC Chow

Watching Nanette Burstein’s The Creators, I was very surprised with the transparency Zoella and Niki ‘n’ Sammy had on the way they were depicted; they acknowledged that the representation they put out in their videos is them but only the fun, edited parts.

It was also interesting to hear how “normal” all of them were when they started Youtube and how the platform helped launch them into stardom. For example, Tomska didn’t have a job and didn’t know what to do with his life, and Zoella had worked odd interior designer jobs.

With this, I wanted to state how much Youtube has played a part in not only catapulting regular people to stardom but also putting normalcy on the map. Last semester, I took a 191 Television & Video course here, and I remember that our guest speaker said that Youtube was an integral platform for gay representation with popular personalities such as Joey Graceffa and Connor Franta owning their sexuality and uploading “Coming Out” videos to their millions of subscribers. With creators doing such, they helped normalize “coming out” in society.

In addition, Youtube has been a platform for showing “normal” representation, particularly Asian citizens. In opposition to Hollywood films that omit the population, YT has helped Asian “stars” and representation seem normal, bringing them to the laptop screens of many. Think Michelle Phan, Nigahiga, and Wong Fu Productions.