More than a load of crock
January 31, 2008
A lot of people don’t like me.
That’s OK – the more haters, the merrier.
But if you don’t like me, I have something to say to you.
Go to www.youtube.com/user/itschriscrocker.
You may know Web celeb Chris Crocker from his series of homemade videos, the highlight of which gained national media attention last September.
“She’s a human,” Crocker shouted at the corporate moguls capitalizing on the undoing of the once pop queen Britney Spears.
Sometime between a journalist happening upon Crocker’s video and the media frenzy that sent more than 16 million viewers to YouTube, everyone forgot who Crocker really was – an average, 20-year-old outspoken gay guy from California who happened to post 50 or so videos to a social networking Web site out of what I’m guessing was mostly boredom and disdain for popular culture and his peers.
I’d go as far as to call him crazy, but then again, I can’t – because I would never hold back from applying the word to myself. Yes, if you haven’t figured it out already, I can’t help but see a bit of myself in Crocker.
As I was walking from Starbucks to Franklin Hall during the first week of classes, someone in the line of traffic along Lincoln Street knew me, recognized me from one of my columns or just decided to be ignorant.
“Whore,” he shouted.
I kept walking. Honestly, I was more flattered that my reputation had come to precede me in day-to-day life than offended that a stranger tried to insult me.
In Crocker’s “The Bitch Bell,” he presents a similar scenario.
“If you in KMart, and somebody walks past you, and you in some ugly-ass spandex, what do you do?” he asks.
“What’d you call me? Say it again. Say it loud and clear,” he shouts, ringing a tiny bell with insane voracity.
This column is my bitch bell.
While many find both Crocker and myself inappropriate and offensive, I’ve come to realize that, though it’s rarely easy, we both live pretty real lives and regret very little.
“I know what real is,” he claims in “F*** personality.”
“I remember what real was before Avril Lavigne came along, before 2002 hit.”
In the storm of the “Leave Britney Alone” video, FOX News discussed a clip.
“Here’s a guy, or a gal, on YouTube sticking up for the Spears woman,” one commentator said.
“That’s a guy or a girl, do we know?” another asked, laughing, as they tried to discern Crocker’s sex.
“She has an Adam’s apple,” yet another remarks amid a storm of laughter from everyone on set.
I don’t necessarily intend any of that to surprise, but rather to make example of what Crocker calls “fake-ass bitches in a real-ass world.” When all is said and done, I know saying the things I say doesn’t sit well with everyone.
“The moment you decide to believe in yourself and listen to your own voice, there’s no getting to you,” Crocker preaches in “A self-love how to.” “When you are your own pedal, there’s no stopping you.”
So, you have a problem with Chris Crocker? You come to me.
“You got the balls? Get to typin’,” as Crocker challenges in another one of his more discerning videos, “Mission: Extinguish hate.”
Adam Griffiths is a sophomore information design major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Check out five of his favorite Chris Crocker videos at KentNewsNet.com, and then let him know what you think at [email protected].
Five of my favorite Chris Crocker videos
The one that got him famous, of course.
For real-ass bitches in a fake-ass world.
The real conspiracy, brought to you by yours truly. Hallowed be thy name.
Over the past twenty-some years, AIDS culture hasn’t changed much. One of Crocker’s more powerful videos.
Gender identity is the new LGBT. This is why.
