Letters to the Editor
-
A Knowing Student of Andy Kaufman and Borat
I taught studio television to high school juniors before internet era. Yet I was stunned at how quickly they could pick up and apply the structure of a comedy sketch. This was when there were few comedy collections on video, they just goet it up from SNL and whatever was showing on cable.
Even if the timing was awkward and the humor was a bit too close to how they really felt, these kids knew how to crack jokes and make personas. Sarcasm and parody comes naturally to a teenager.
These days, if you haven't noticed, Borat was a huge hit among teens. Super awkwardness and put-ons and meta jokes is the common language of Wonder Showzen, Robot Chicken, Family Guy, The Office, etc. Believe me teenagers can grasp this sort of humor, it's as old as "I'm kidding...no I'm not...ah, got you again...no, no, really, I'm not kidding."
More than that, every aspect of spin, media hype and pranks is analyzed on the web - a huge portion of the videos on youtube is devoted discussing what's real or not, and other videos are making fun of those videos.
As the Stranger profile note's Crocker may live in a small remote town, but he's been an online maven for years. Thing about that - it can expose you to all sorts of theory and knowledge, as well as The Encyclopedia Dramatica, which is like a handbook for those wanting to fake being crazy, and the crazy wanting to pretend their just faking, on the interwebs.
So far these comments are a bit blinded by Crocker's homosexuality and his youth. Has no one noticed Michael Cera is also 19 and he's making his own online sitcom? Has no one read any queer theory online, or watched a clip of Buddy Cole?
So if one is shocked! shocked! by Crocker's intensity, or by the offensiveness of his rants - you really need to check out Wonder Showzen's deliberate taboo assault or google "Andy Kaufman" or any other satirist going back to Ernie Kovacs. You'll be stunned at how much of it is online for free. If Crocker has seen a 10th of it, he knows what he's doing, even if his form of expression is rooted in genuine anger and confusion and celebrity worship.