11:38 pm on 1 Feb, 2012
Looking for Destruction
This viral classic, while hilarious, was used as a weapon in the fight against violent videogames, and yes, the irony in that choice of words is intended. What's funny is that "Slikk," the kid who made it, staged it specifically to make fun of all the crazy anti-violent videogame psychology running rampant throughout Germany at the time (2006). Of course, since the kid is speaking German throughout the entire video, English speakers had no idea he wasn't legitimately pissed off at whatever the hell was happening on that poor computer (which, as it turns out, was probably absolutely nothing). But it wasn't just stupid Americans buying into the act. A German TV network called Focus TV picked up the rights to broadcast this gem and invented an entirely fictional story behind it; one about a boy named Leopold with a case of ADHD whose father hid a camera to record him playing his favorite violent videogame. I don't have any knowledge of whether or not the story had any real impact on Germany's oppression of violent videogames, but I do know the country has a history of more stringent censorship on the industry than most, so the oppression exists, regardless. The story Focus came up with was a complete fabrication, and "Slikk" has since become fairly well known for his sarcastic videos throughout Germany (if you're curious, here's a translated page with an article describing the incident). According to knowyourmeme.com, the kid posted a note on a blog that's since defunct explicitly declaring his own acting talent and unusual sense of humor. As far as the video's virality goes, as always, there are a thousand copies of it all over the place, but the version I've provided you is the oldest on YouTube with 2.3 million views. It's also been heavily parodied, mostly with lots of variations on the fake subtitles joke.
9:00 am on 19 Dec, 2011
