Last month, Hbomberguy (a.k.a. Harris Brewis) published another viral video on YouTube longer than a Scorsese flick before presumably disappearing for another several months. A key theme of the video was how plagiarism by James Somerton and others contributes to the erasure of marginalized creators.
With that criticism, Brewis and co-producer Kat Lo created a playlist highlighting the work of LGBTQ+ video essayists named Your New Favorite YouTubers. It’s a stellar playlist mostly made up of creators whom I watch already and everyone else should, too. I’m talking Herby Revlous, Maggie Mae Fish, Kaz Rowe, Shanspheare, Khadija Mbowe,and verilybitchie. Former Mary Sue editor Princess Weekes made the list, too!
Despite the incredible list, there were some big omissions, in my humble opinion. So, in the spirit of the phenomenal playlist, here are six additional creators—people who, if you dig Hbomberguy’s work, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy their art analysis, too!
Honorable mentions
Before getting into the meat of the list, I did want to shout out some people as honorable mentions. First, there’s Jessica Kellgren-Fozard. She talks about disability, gender, fashion, and now, motherhood on her channel. I just don’t watch her enough to really go in depth like I will with the people below. Another person worth mentioning is AdrianXpressions! He does more short-form reaction videos as opposed to video essays. Adrian First in His Name discusses pop culture news (especially music) and loves SFF media!
Tee Noir
Many of the newer Black video essayists on YouTube who became popular in the last three years can trace back their rise to Tee Noir. This includes a handful of the people in Hbomberguy’s playlist. Tee migrated from TikTok and shorter-form video. This is hard to imagine because of her video length and thoughtful analysis.
Tee centers her research and reflection on femininity and Black women in media—not just film and TV, but also on social media and in the music industry. Like Hbomberguy, she’s a person that can put out a video on any topic and I’ll give it a try. Quite a few of my faves from Tee include subjects I’ve avoided or didn’t feel could be adequately given the grace that Tee gives.
Some of my favorite video of hers include: Stars of the 2000’s Who Deserved Better, The Market of Humiliating Black Women, Hypersexuality & the Perfect P*ssy Complex, and Zeus Network & the Baddie Apocalypse.
Xiran Jay Zhao
Whether it’s their tweets calling out the bullshit of publishing or for their best-selling mecha fiction based on Chinese history, Xiran Jay Zhao is known across the internet for their writing. They had started making video essays at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve created a library of thoughtful videos on Chinese history, diaspora, and representation in media! This includes introducing a three-part video series on how Disney commodifies culture. This series was mostly written and created by a cohort of South East Asian voices and centers Raya and The Last Dragon. The Chinese Canadian writer and French Revolution enthusiast just hosted the discussion.
Some of my favorite video of theirs include: Why American Chinese Food Deserves Respect (And Why the MSG Fear is a Hoax), Relatable Cat Poems From 800 Years Ago (feat. Accented Cinema), and Chinese Cultural and Philosophical Inspirations in Kung Fu Panda.
SkipIntro
I was kind of hesitant bringing Jackson of Skip Intro to the final list. After all, I can only recall watching videos in or related to his series on copaganda—that is, media that reinforces positive and/or sympathetic messaging about the police and similar groups to counter valid criticism. However, I watch and rewatch the hell out of the videos in that series. It’s not only a critical look at power, but an illuminating examination of TV (and sometimes film) history. Fans of Wisecrack or former Wisecrack writers will also dig SkipIntro’s work.
Since I don’t have favorites outside of videos about the cop media, I’ll do something else. I’ll recommend some videos on my Watch Later playlist. These include: How BARRY Writes Men, The Sopranos Episode That Defined an Era, and Why Black Mirror Had To Change.
Verdis Joe
Another person worth checking out is Verdis Joe. Since starting their channel back in high school, Joey has made videos about cartoons, anime, and art. Sometimes it’s comparing different media, and other times it’s looking at how a certain piece of art depicts race, gender, and disability. Now, a significant portion of their videos has shifted into analysis and criticism of toxic fandoms. While certain stories attract a large quantity of terrible people, Joey understands that these people are everywhere. They advocate for people to not forgo community and their fave art because toxic people are loud about it online.
Some of my favorite video of thiers include: Why MILES MORALES Will ALWAYS Be Spider-Man, Stop Pretending 80’s Cartoons Had Better Character Design, Pride Is for Everyone, and Cosplaying While Black | An Open Problem in the Community.
Rowan Ellis
On the other side of the pond, there’s Here and Queer: A Queer Girl’s Guide to Life author Rowan Ellis. Those in the U.K. might have seen her speaking on these topics at panels and in the news. She makes videos specifically on queer media, pop culture, and history. Like many on this list, this of course extends to film and television. However, Ellis also goes into how the gendering of food, the ethics of sponsorships, and more.
Some of my favorite video of hers include: unhinged lesbian hosts disney’s “first gay character” olympics, comforting lgbtq+ movies for difficult times, The Ugly Truth of Acne Representation, and The Insidious Erasure of Straightwashing.
Jessie Gender
Jessie is a producer, writer, and soon, debut director, who centers her discussion of pop culture (especially that of a geeky variety) through a social and political lens. She mostly does this by zeroing in on the performance and depiction of gender and sex. That sounds very narrow, but not when you’re as thorough as Jessie is.
Not to scare the non-Trekkies (like myself), but she’s also an expert at all things Star Trek—across two channels. In addition to episode recaps and interviews, she’s done entire feature-length exploration of how the series handles (and sometimes mishandles) topics, like a two-hour-and-forty-minute dive into Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek and how the series historically handled sex and relationships.
Some of my favorite video of hers include: How Hollywood Corrupts Trans Stories, The Revolutionary Spirit of Star Wars Andor, The Anti-Trans Disinformation Pipeline, and How Superhero Films Misunderstand Revolutionaries.
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If you’re looking for more people to subscribe to, Lo initiated a whole thread on the topic on r/Hbomberguy.
(featured image: Jessie Gender, Tee Noir, and edited by Alyssa Shotwell)
