Alex Winter’s latest documentary is about the rise … and rise … of YouTube. This is all such recent history – as of course it must be – that it’s hard to get perspective on it, and I’m not sure there is much here that will be revelatory and/or new information. Worth a watch though. I reviewed for Ebert.
This is a good review, and it seems like an unusual case of ‘should have been a short series’ instead of the reverse. As you point out there’s an underlying systems architecture and company mission, many little ecosystems (positive and negative), effects on viewers, effects on content producers, archival effects, effects on the wider information systems of the internet. All interesting!
I felt a similar way about Winter’s Zappa documentary, where he had to find a very difficult balance between making it for the zappa nuts (the key audience and the people who want to roll around in the incredible archives he had unique access to) and making it for the curious general observer. He cut a really frenetic pace through all the different ways you can tackle Zappa: satire, design, zappa as bandleader, feminism, counterculture and laurel canyon scene, gail and the kids, tipper gore and the PMRC, zappa and vaclav havel, and finally and not least, an explication of the qualities of the music across all the styles he worked in. It was full of good stuff but not entirely successful. Winter likes a big topic, I guess!!
reading that paragraph back I have to wonder if my ideal version of the youtube docuseries would be INCREDIBLY dry, haha, but I calls it like I wants to see it
interesting comparison with the Zappa! In further reflection – I think this YouTube doc feels a little weird because his interview subjects are small in number. He’s leaning on the same “experts” throughout, and he really only interviews a couple of YouTube creators – I agree that this is probably a bigger subject and deserves a longer exploration. He’s going after the algorithm – which I think is a worthy cause, and he makes the case how detrimental it’s been to our whole way of life. It’s really wild when you think of it. How powerful those algorithms are. I am not sure the film really explains WHY these algorithms are such a huge deal though – it’s hard to grasp. I can see it at work when I’m on YouTube – I can see it at work everywhere – and I hate it. The whole “let’s curate your activity here” – “show you more of what you want”. Like, NO, goddammit, just let me BROWSE. stop recommending shit. It removes all the pleasure – Amazon does the same thing. One of my favorite things to do is walk through a bookstore and just browse. I’ve been drawn to books way off my radar doing this. This is a small example of the annoying nature of the algorithm but … it’s weird, it’s like I can FEEL I am being controlled – I can SEE it happening – and I HATE it but … what should I do? Log off totally? Go totally analog?
I have considered it. But I’m as entrenched in this as anyone else is. I find it pretty depressing actually.
and yet I get so much joy from YouTube! It really is an amazing thing!