On Creating the Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns Video

[andyrowe]

I feel guilty sometimes that my name has become linked to Hitler by speculating on his thoughts on current events. Here's the story:

So, there I was on the couch multitasking. I was watching Palin's premature resignation speech on tv as well as surfing the nets watching the Downfall meme take on the passing of Michael Jackson and an idea hit me. Why not be the first to do a Downfall video on Palin resigning?

I literally stayed up all night drinking beer, chain-smoking and trying to come up with clever lines that fit. I finished the video and posted it to youtube on the 4th of July around six in the morning (a great time to post political humor I've learned). I then posted it here on DU and watched it get a trickle of views. I had to work at 10am and reluctantly left the interweb behind to go pour bloody marys (maries?) for the day drinkers.

Now, I forward all my emails to my phone so I wasn't totally in the dark about the video quickly going viral. Every comment the video received on youtube resulted in my pocket vibrating manically. I eventually learned that evening that Alan Colmes had blogged it and it was briefly featured on the youtube front page, for perhaps two hours. After around six days the views started drying up, but it has averaged 1,000+ views a day ever since. My video should likely reach 500,000 views on this coming Monday.

By far most views these days come from people simply searching "Hitler" on youtube, though it also gets a lot of hits from the related videos. Some days I'm not really sure if I'm proud of the video, particularly the attempted humor in it. When one has a tool like Hitler to twist and use sardonically against the Repugs, one tends to say things unlike anything they could or would otherwise. But most days I am proud. I feel that unlike the majority of people I come into contact with, I know Palin. I understand and am a bit more informed about politics than my fellow appalachian brethren. This video resulted in me briefly exchanging tweets and emails with Alan Colmes discussing the issues of the day, and my motive and thinking in creating something viral. It was quite grounding to interact with one of the many talking heads I'd spent so much of my time watching on television.

Most of all though I realized the power of this new social media that is the internet tubes. If you're insightful (and quick to the punch) you can help close the gap between perception and reality for your fellow citizens. And I learned that if you're going to use Hitler (or something similarly polarizing and distateful), you'd f#@%ing best be funny.

Thanks to everyone who watched and enjoyed the video, but mostly to DU, Alan Colmes, and especially all the tea-baggers who watched it and hated it.

If you haven't watched it yet, it's linked in my sig. Let me know what you think.