It’s kind of like a Fear Factor: YouTube Edition. Or maybe an Internet Celebrity Paranormal Project. Whatever mutant reality subgenre they fall into, one thing is certain about the wave of "reaction" clips that recently surfaced onto video sharing sites: They draw you in by manipulating the most morbidly fascinated masochistic part of your persona. You don’t want to watch, and yet you can’t turn away from the people who are filming themselves, as they watch horrifically foul, gag-worthy clips on YouTube. You may have seen Flickr streams capturing photos of the revulsion, awe and disgust of new inductees to the "unholy trinity" of viral ‘net shock sites — welcome to the upgrade via video.
Like part of a 12-step internet rehabilitation program (Step 1: Admit to others you have viewed the clip), the bravest among us have trained their webcams on themselves, and after a short introduction, clicked play to watch grotesque clips on YouTube, Vimeo, Break and a whole lotta other video sites. We witness not the unspeakable acts the viewers see, but their responses to them. Wild antics ensue, usually involving flailing arms in an effort to shield wide eyes from the videos, though funnily enough, those eyes usually never leave the computer screen.
By now, you might be wondering what new videos have sparked this new breed of user-gen content, but due to the unholy nature of Video Zero(s) we’re rolling Big Voldemort steeze on this one — we shan’t speak their names, so you’ll have to figure it out (read: Google) on your own.
Some of the uploaded "reaction shot" videos depict poor souls who seem genuinely disturbed and forever tarnished by the vids; others have elected to turn the challenge of taping themselves watching such clips into a parlor game, (party foul!). Some video responses to the clips seem deliberately campy, and the host of celebrity reaction shots and parodies that followed (some grosser than others — Perez, put down the peanut butter, please!) show just how far and wide this online echo can be heard. Users have even started upping the ante, vying to see who can endure double-, even triple-stacked helpings of gross-out gluttony, by filming themselves watching raunchy reels back-to-back.
But mainly, the people creating content about content (so meta! its a meta meme!) function as a filter, or buffer, for squeamish folk like myself, who want to participate or are at least curious about the original clips showing such unmentionable acts, but are waay too chicken to actually take the plunge and press play themselves. They also most likely serve the higher function to help the courageous voyeurs of visual punishment feel better about the fact they just watched something utterly disgusting and indelible — you’ll never be able to scrub your cerebellum hard enough — alone in their bedroom.
via newteevee.
