Apparently I’ve been living in a cave all summer. I only recently heard about the lonelygirl15 / youtube phenomenon, and LA Times staff writer Richard Rushfield insinuates that the only plausible explanation is recess-dwelling. I think that’s his way of making himself, & the millions of others like him who’ve fallen down this rabbit hole, feel better about their obsession with the videoblog of an unknown 15-yr old girl. She’s home-schooled in a small town and is very sheltered, in part, she says, because of her family’s religion. That she’s cute goes without saying. In other words, she’s every compu-geek’s fantasy. Just to emphasize this point, her sidekick in this drama is compu-geek Daniel, or as she calls him on her YouTube page, “Computer Genius.”
No, there’s no new license for public fantasizing about underage girls. In fact, Bree, as she calls herself, has a female fan base that’s just as dedicated as the males. With an adorable, animated face, a “Purple Monkey” hand puppet, and the hint of a life just different enough to catch our attention, she joined the YouTube world with her first blog in June. The videos are short, mundane clips of a too-clean bedroom with a bed on the right side of the screen, and bookcase with candelabra on the left. She introduces herself as a shy young girl holding her knee, but it doesn’t take long for her to open up & display her feather boa, or to read seconds-long passages from her school-books
“The ancient Roman’s were the Western World’s only known cannibals. At the height of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest delicacies was flesh cut from a life slave – eww! - who was in the room to watch himself being eaten. Eeeewww. That’s really gross. I’m really glad I didn’t live in those days.”
Very slowly she begins to reveal bits and pieces of her apparently not-so-mundane life, with allusions to having “certain beliefs” which mean she “can’t do the same things as other kids, all the time.”
There was little question of her authenticity in the beginning, but as her video library expanded & her cult following grew, everything she said or did was called into question. The lighting is just a little too perfect. The lines are a little too glib. The production is a little too smooth. The story became a little too consuming. And thus explains the obsession. It’s not with her, per se, but with the compounding mysteries surrounding who she is. It’s become one giant, collective puzzle to occupy the waning weeks of summer: Who is she? Who created her? Why was she created? Everyone not living in a cave is able to come together and flesh out the clues that explain both her story & her existence. It’s the epitome of the internet, proving that people from all walks of life can work peacefully together toward a common goal. In fact, the finale of this first act culminated in the scheming of a 36-yr old software engineer, a 23-yr old law student and an 18-yr old college freshman, which produced proof of who Bree is – or at least who she isn’t.
Part of the fuel for this obsession was introduced about a month ago, when the weird picture above her candelabra was positively identified as the famous occultist Aleister Crowley. Then she begins talking about participating in a very important religious ceremony. A few weeks later, the Purple Monkey rates her cookies with a 10, 12 & 06. Some astute fans quickly shared that Crowley’s birthday is October 12th, and suddenly her allusions to the occult were analyzed under a microscope (see above reference to cannibalism. She says it at least another 3 times). It’s conjectured that she’s part of a marketing campaign for a horror movie, a la Blair Witch Project. This whole puzzle, in fact, bares a striking resemblance to William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition.
If you haven’t entered this foray yet, don’t. At least that’s what all the blogs say. On some half-witted conscious level they know the obsession with this puzzle is playing right into someone’s hands. They also know it’s more addicting than Soduku, and now that summer’s over, we’re supposed to actually be getting something accomplished. But for anyone who dares, the blogs are full of links to take you through the mystery, starting with Bree’s most ardent supporter, NY Times Virginia Heffernan. Hope you have some extra time on your hands.
