I saw you covered The Veil and I like Elizabeth Moss, so I gave it a try. First episode was so painfully boring I couldn't continue forward, and it seems that was the smart call. Also, all due respect to Moss, who is usually fantastic, but that accent wasn't it. Something was just off about it and I can't put my finger on what. Between this and Kate Winslet's dictator flop, what's going on with usually excellent leading ladies picking projects that crash and burn?
I feel happy in my life choices because I haven't seen a second of this idiotic drivel on "my side" of TikTok but that could be because I do as much as possible to stay on "following" and not "For You". And I haven't even really heard of these supposedly huge creators. I have seen reference to Yuval, who looks like the most annoying dude in the world. This is only because a creator I actually do respect and follow, Christian Divyne, referenced this saga obliquely and has some minor side narrative with Yuval. I just reject this kind of thing completely. I don't go on TikTok for long form narrative
I appreciate learning about all of this, but it just feels so empty. I went straight to the old form vs function debate. Because, after all, what is the point of storytelling? To me, regardless of form, great storytelling illuminates a deeper truth that reveals and unites us in our common humanity. I found myself wondering what this story even was - that people will use their real-life personas to create false narratives so they can make money? We know that. That's just reality TV. And, at the extreme, porn. Which somehow feels more honest than this. Because this isn't a romance. There's no love or connection or anything here; it's just manipulation to gain attention (and thus money). At least love triangles in scripted narrative can sometimes get at something deeper - the choice illuminating how characters see themselves or what they believe about what they deserve, etc. - leading to a catharsis or a revelation.
They may be using all the tricks of story mechanics - cliffhangers, crossovers, etc - while also being specific to the TikTok form, but it's all in service of...nothing. I suppose a gifted storyteller could use this form to craft a narrative that says something deeper, but this all just feels like soulless attention-seeking. It has the form of a narrative without its function.
Stepping outside that for a moment, I found myself troubled by something here. It essentially fetishizes men tracking down the precise locations of women. Sure, she invites it, but that's part of the problem. It casts stalker behavior as romantic instead of its more common interpretation: creepy. It feels like the start of a true crime story about a dead woman. Maybe that's the grand finale they're building to here that would give it all some meaning - it certainly would be a twist - but I doubt it.
I mean, this is the reality of a parasocial network - those involved can never be entirely real, but they also can’t be entirely fake. People crave story, and latched onto this one as a result, but to embrace the full narrative potential would require either getting too real (and disrupting the cleanliness of the fiction) or becoming too fake (abandoning their established identities in favor of full-on characters).
The stalker overtones are definitely something the story grapples with, and something TikTok as a whole details. Another of Yuval’s crossovers was (as another comment notes) with josemonkey, who focuses on geolocation but specifically for people who ask to be found on camera (so as to avoid his powers being used for ill purpose). But he is at least implicitly giving people tools they COULD use to stalk someone, albeit ones that are widely available in our online reality.
As a non-TikTokker, was fascinated by this breakdown thank you! Also, would love to hear your thoughts on Mr and Mrs Smith, which I found really interesting but ultimately incredibly unsatisfying as a show.
I saw you covered The Veil and I like Elizabeth Moss, so I gave it a try. First episode was so painfully boring I couldn't continue forward, and it seems that was the smart call. Also, all due respect to Moss, who is usually fantastic, but that accent wasn't it. Something was just off about it and I can't put my finger on what. Between this and Kate Winslet's dictator flop, what's going on with usually excellent leading ladies picking projects that crash and burn?
I feel happy in my life choices because I haven't seen a second of this idiotic drivel on "my side" of TikTok but that could be because I do as much as possible to stay on "following" and not "For You". And I haven't even really heard of these supposedly huge creators. I have seen reference to Yuval, who looks like the most annoying dude in the world. This is only because a creator I actually do respect and follow, Christian Divyne, referenced this saga obliquely and has some minor side narrative with Yuval. I just reject this kind of thing completely. I don't go on TikTok for long form narrative
I appreciate learning about all of this, but it just feels so empty. I went straight to the old form vs function debate. Because, after all, what is the point of storytelling? To me, regardless of form, great storytelling illuminates a deeper truth that reveals and unites us in our common humanity. I found myself wondering what this story even was - that people will use their real-life personas to create false narratives so they can make money? We know that. That's just reality TV. And, at the extreme, porn. Which somehow feels more honest than this. Because this isn't a romance. There's no love or connection or anything here; it's just manipulation to gain attention (and thus money). At least love triangles in scripted narrative can sometimes get at something deeper - the choice illuminating how characters see themselves or what they believe about what they deserve, etc. - leading to a catharsis or a revelation.
They may be using all the tricks of story mechanics - cliffhangers, crossovers, etc - while also being specific to the TikTok form, but it's all in service of...nothing. I suppose a gifted storyteller could use this form to craft a narrative that says something deeper, but this all just feels like soulless attention-seeking. It has the form of a narrative without its function.
Stepping outside that for a moment, I found myself troubled by something here. It essentially fetishizes men tracking down the precise locations of women. Sure, she invites it, but that's part of the problem. It casts stalker behavior as romantic instead of its more common interpretation: creepy. It feels like the start of a true crime story about a dead woman. Maybe that's the grand finale they're building to here that would give it all some meaning - it certainly would be a twist - but I doubt it.
I mean, this is the reality of a parasocial network - those involved can never be entirely real, but they also can’t be entirely fake. People crave story, and latched onto this one as a result, but to embrace the full narrative potential would require either getting too real (and disrupting the cleanliness of the fiction) or becoming too fake (abandoning their established identities in favor of full-on characters).
The stalker overtones are definitely something the story grapples with, and something TikTok as a whole details. Another of Yuval’s crossovers was (as another comment notes) with josemonkey, who focuses on geolocation but specifically for people who ask to be found on camera (so as to avoid his powers being used for ill purpose). But he is at least implicitly giving people tools they COULD use to stalk someone, albeit ones that are widely available in our online reality.
As a non-TikTokker, was fascinated by this breakdown thank you! Also, would love to hear your thoughts on Mr and Mrs Smith, which I found really interesting but ultimately incredibly unsatisfying as a show.
I have a vague recollection that Yuval has been posting his donation totals that gives us some idea of the dollars involved.
The FYP brought me from georainbolt -> Jose Monkey -> Yuval. Apparently it's decided I like geolocation videos.
I've been engrossed by this saga on my own FYP!
Ayamé was the first person to show up on my feed via her reaction vids. Yuval showed up in that first "find me" response.
However, I had never encountered Oliver nor even heard of him before his call-out speech.