Leave LonelyGirl Alone

Okay, after the awkward seriousness of the previous post, let’s get back to the tasty inconsequential stuff.

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported the true identity of the videoblogger lonelygirl15, a.k.a, “Bree”. Some feel betrayed by this “hoax” and that they were “scammed”. To these people, I say, “why?”

First, let us all just admit the perverse pleasure we got out of the lonelygirl videos. Over 30,000 people subscribed to see a shy, pretty 15-year-old confess her inner-most thoughts and feeling to the entire Internet. The character was designed to appeal to a fantasy and I think some people are upset not that their fantasy was shattered, but that they realize what they’ve been fantasizing about.

Second, is this revelation all that shocking? I loved people who would point out things like “Look closely when she yawns! She has molars that are too developed for a fifteen-year-old!” or “She’s in a field with a type of flower that is indigenous to California! The plot thickens!” This isn’t LOST people. You have a teenager who never comments on the fact that she’s the most popular person on YouTube. There’s shy, there’s sheltered, and then there’s just plain gullability.

Finally, you didn’t get “scammed”. Did anyone pay to see the lonelygirl videos? At any point was anyone asked to send money to Bree or her friend Daniel? Did Bree put a lot of product placement in her videos? No, and if anything, the kids who put this together should be applauded, not condemned. They embarked on an artistic project that would get them professional attention and did so by utilizing new technology and combining it with a charming teen drama done in cinéma vérité style.

Personally, now that it’s been confirmed as fake, I can just enjoy the story, which is just starting to get interesting. Bree is rebelling more and she still has this weird ceremony coming up. I’m going to enjoy the story as a story, strange as that concept may seem.

As for those who continue to whine about someone pretending to be someone they’re not, Welcome to the Internet.