You may recall Ian Danskin, the one-man videographer behind Innuendo Studios, from his short documentary This Is Phil Fish (a meditation on internet celebrity that’s still worth a watch). Danskin has returned with another YouTube documentary called Why Are You So Angry, published in six parts on his channel.
The video series begins with a brief summary of Anita Sarkeesian’s notorious experiences with her Kickstarter campaign, then delves into several other lesser-known stories, concluding with Danskin’s own insights on hate campaigns and harassment. I don’t agree with all of Danskin’s theories; I was glad to see he’s recently apologized for his ill-considered discussion of mental illness in Part #3, for example. Nonetheless, it’s great to see such a thoroughly researched attempt to shed light on why internet hate mobs congregate, rather than yet another dismissal of the problem as unimportant and/or humorous.
Full Disclosure: the series makes very brief mention of some of my journalistic work (as well as an allusion to my experiences having been harassed by an unnamed man who works at Anime Boston and PAX East). I don’t know Danskin personally, and the citation appears alongside several other similar stories as an example of how harassment in nerd spaces can happen both online and in person.
(Image via Innuendo Studios)
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