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\nMy main online hangout these days is YouTube, scrolling around the “reactor” community. These people go in HARD to the songs they listen to, researching them, pulling up facts, trying to understand the context, so they can understand everything. This is what you’re supposed to do, this is how you’re supposed to read. You’re supposed to be open and curious and trying to figure out where the writer is coming from, so you can get into their groove. When people just read the headline and click off like “Oh. I already know what that’s about. And I hate\/love it. And I won’t even read it but will Tweet it out” – you aren’t part of the problem, you ARE the problem. It’s somehow connected to the deep anti-intellectual strain in American culture, a true suspicion of being open to learning, of RECEIVING knowledge from someone who flat out knows more shit than you do. If there’s one thing all of my friends and all of my boyfriends have had in common it’s – well, sense of humor, particularly of the self-deprecating kind. So there’s that. But the MAIN thing is CURIOSITY. Curiosity always comes with a host of other “perks” – they seem to go together, so if you’re curious it always follows that: <\/p>\n
1. You have empathy for others, or at least curiosity about where they might be coming from. This is hugely important. Curiosity is essential for democracy to work. Not exaggerating.
\n2. You LISTEN better than other people do. You’re not just waiting for the other person to stop talking so you can then speak.
\n3. You pay attention to the small things, you have an appreciation for the moment because The Moment is where it’s AT.
\n4. You are always learning new things. Your mind is open and receiving. Learning is a lifelong process. My parents were like that. Everyone in my real life is like that. It’s so weird to meet someone who isn’t like that.
\n5. TMI time, family members stop reading: If you’re a grown adult man and you still have a sense of curiosity you’re probably good in the sack. It’s one of the “tells.” Why curiosity is a good thing when you go to bed with someone should be obvious. <\/p>\n
Ya see? It’s all connected. <\/p>\n
I’ve been struggling with where I want to hang out online. It’s become too toxic. I’m off Facebook. I’m mostly off Twitter. I go on Twitter in a completely selfish way, just to drop links. And then I’m off. Twitter is the worst. I need it since I’m a writer but I cannot bear the TONE of conversations there, not to mention not just the lack of curiosity but the HOSTILITY to curiosity. You can’t even ask a damn rhetorical question anymore because some jagoff thinks you actually want an answer. Like … I don’t hang out with people like that in my real life. I’m outta here!<\/p>\n
YouTube is where it’s at. There are toxic corners, for sure, but the cultures I’ve tripped over – the “reactor” channels and the “commentary” channels are no bullshit. They do research, heavy research sometimes, and they value freedom of speech. Unless an actual crime is being committed by a YouTuber (which is actually unfolding right now with a certain famous YouTuber who seems to have used the platform to commit actual crimes – case still unfolding) – so, with that exception, among YouTubers it’s considered a big no-no to try to get someone’s channel shut down because you are offended by their content, or you don’t like what they say, because you wouldn’t want that to happen to you. Epic fights break out. People say horrible things about each other sometimes. There’s a lot of competition. But there isn’t a race to silence people – like you definitely see on Twitter – because there is an awareness on YouTube that freedom of speech has to go both ways, as messy as that sometimes is. And many of these YouTubers are Generation Z and younger. So they understand the complexity and also the blessing of freedom of speech. Hence: it’s raucous over there, and democratic in the truest sense of the word. <\/p>\n
My current favorite is a channel run by two guys – filmmakers, animators, who appear to be lifelong friends – who do in-depth – and I mean IN-DEPTH, people – “breakdowns” of song lyrics, mostly in the hip hop genre. A lot of “reactor” channels are people reacting to songs they’ve never heard before, and I LOVE those. But these guys – who use the handle “Script Work”<\/a> (get it?) – listen to songs they HAVE heard, and pause it every other line, sometimes every line, to discuss. They pick up stuff I never would have picked up, linguistic stuff, jokes, references. But sometimes songs inspire in-depth conversation about emotional stuff, childhood stuff, and they don’t hold back there either. The best rap game has layers, layers baked into the song linguistically. That’s the whole point: be the best with your words. Script Work also just flat out know hip hop way more than I could ever hope to, so they pick up references and basically SCHOOL me on what the hell someone might be talking about. “Oh yeah, member back in the 80s when so-and-so signed with such-and-such label and then this beef started up between this group and that group?” And I have no idea what they are talking about because I wasn’t listening to underground hip hop back then, but they’re teaching me. Watching these guys is like going to school. Member what I said about curiosity? I love these two because when I listen to them I get to go into a zone of curiosity, just like they do. Googling stuff, cross-referencing, etc. You can nerd OUT with curiosity. <\/p>\n So in these weird days of quarantine, where I’m stressed out and really struggling with my mental illness (this shit is HARD), I pull up one of their videos, bust out the lyrics sheet, listen to the song being discussed (once through), and then sit back and listen to these guys break it DOWN. Their “Eminem” video catalog is gigantic. They are MASSIVE fans. <\/p>\n \n I’ve been on board with Eminem since his first album, The Slim Shady LP<\/i>, when everyone thought he was The Devil, but I’m going through a super heavy Em phase ever since he dropped Music to be Murdered By<\/i> in January. I knew instantly what that title was in reference to, and it made me sit up and take notice. <\/p>\n \n \nHitchcock, back in the day, came out with a freakin’ album with the same title. Now I don’t know how many Hitchcock films Eminem has seen, but he has made countless references to Norman Bates in his songs, so at least he knows Psycho<\/i>. Both Norman and Eminem are mother-obsessed mother-haunted …. psychos, so it’s not a surprise Psycho<\/i> resonates with him. <\/p>\n So anyway, Hitchcock’s album got on Eminem’s radar, and he was fascinated by it. He thought it would be fun to create a whole album inspired by it, interspersed with clips of Hitchcock talking in his spooky voice. When Eminem announced the album on Twitter he wrote:<\/p>\n Inspired by the master, Uncle Alfred! #MusicToBeMurderedBy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ilXAjJtqzV<\/a><\/p>\n — Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) January 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/source.gif\")
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