Me at the Zoo

Me at the Zoo is the title of the first video ever posted on YouTube. It was uploaded by one of its founders, and has subsequently spawned a social phenomenon that will forever be ingrained in the fabric of our lives. Nowadays all you need is a million hits and you can be a celebrity.  Viral videos can take anyone from nobody to international superstar overnight.  This is exactly what happened in the case of Chris Crocker.

Raised and currently residing in a small Tennessee town, Chris is a charismatic, electrically gay teenager who has been filming himself since he was a child—doing interviews with his grandmother, creating fictitious characters, and of course, dancing and lip-synching to Britney Spears songs.

I thought Chris Crocker was just another viral ‘sensation’ with little to add to life itself.  You know, someone just looking for some attention.  But when I actually sat down and learned his story, I changed my tune a bit.

I’m from a small town that shunned anyone even remotely different from the standard, Baptist status quo.  But unlike Chris, I never had to be home-schooled because I was worried about my safety.  It was disgusting to see how many people sent this kid messages that go beyond the realm of hate mail—threatening to beat him with a bat or even posing a death threat to ‘put him out of his misery’.

Me at the Zoo is a film that serves a bigger purpose.  It successfully shines a light on the heavily parodied video that made Chris Crocker a ‘star’.  We might all know him from his plea to just "Leave Britney Alone!", but in the end there is much more to this YouTube phenom.

Me at the Zoo is competing in the US Documentary Competition.