« How to monitor Wikipedia | Main | Speak like an Internet Pirate »
September 14, 2006
The future of entertainment or just a clever vlog?
That's what MSNBC is wondering after YouTube personality "lonelygirl15" was exposed as a hoax this week. That lonely girl is really Jessica Rose, a 19-year-old aspiring actress who has been broadcasting from her bedroom to YouTube for the past three months, courtesy of three equally aspiring screenwriters.
LG15 had a simple story she was an average 16-year-old American girl, bored out of her mind thanks to a small town and being homeschooled by her parents. She supposedly created entries on her family, her friend Daniel (seen in clips) and even religion. Since her very first vlog, YouTube users have been criticizing the one- to two-minute clips as fake, citing the polished look, good use of music, seamless editing, and, well, her eyebrows...
- "are you ACTING ??? you sound like you are....are your eyebrows real ???"
OK, she was acting. Rose is actually originally from New Zealand and currently living in Los Angeles. Whether her next move is to Hollywood is still up in the air.
While the backlash from YouTube users was quick, just as many fans were still supportive of LG15. Even while posts began circulating trying to prove the whole thing had been a hoax, other comments on her videos and even her Myspace page encouraged her to keep up the good work.
Should we feel upset by hoax? This YouTube user thinks not:
- "Because when this was new 3 months ago it wasn't in the papers, people thought it was all real. They were trying to fool us and worked on a lot of people. Anyone who shows up now saying "Who cares if it's fake?" Missed the boat, because it was fun trying to figure the whole thing out. Sorry you don't get it now, you're late."
LG15 got thousands of viewers to watch and comment on her ongoing teenage saga, so she must have been doing something right. But was this really such a big deal? She wasn't a company trying to sell something. In reality, she was trying to sell herself as an actress looking for the next big part.
Jane Wells from MSNBC summed up her report on LG15 best:
- "But is there a movie here? Or do some things work better in two minutes on YouTube rather than two hours at the Cineplex. Yet to surface is the actress herself, who’s gone Greta Garbo as the Lonelygirl saga figures out how not to blow the next move."
Posted by Alicia Dorset at September 14, 2006 03:16 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.mslpr.com/blogworks/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/500


