Because the medium is the message, I don’t care if Lonely Girl (lonelygirl15) is marketing. I think it is interesting to see how pandemic this simple intrique has become and admire the memetic engineers who may or may not have orchestrated it.
lonelygirl15 is a fictional video blog that came to international attention via YouTube, a popular video sharing website. The central character is a YouTube user of the same name, although she is commonly known as Bree. The character achieved massive popularity with her series of videos, which acquired over 24 million cumulative views. But after viewers grew suspicious (see Initial speculation), lonelygirl15 was exposed as a fictitious character played by New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.[1][2] An interview with The New York Times then revealed the series creators, Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, California, and Miles Beckett, a surgical residency dropout turned filmmaker.[3]
The series, which began June 16, 2006 is still running, with new videos appearing regularly.
Additional characters
Gemma: A YouTube user named gemmers19, who claimed to be an old friend of Bree’s from her days in Britain. Although it shared the same editing style as the lonelygirl videos, viewers were unsure if she was part of the LG15 storyline. This video confirmed her to be part of the so-called ‘Breeniverse’. Her videos are now being included in the official website. She also seems to fit the profile for the second female lead in the project’s initial casting call.
Jonas: A YouTube user whose videos also resemble lonelygirl15′s editing style, Jonas has made videos offering Bree some advice, which were later taken into account in her “Thanksgiving” video, integrating him into the story. Jonas’ videos are now considered part of the canon, being displayed on the official website. He tells the story of his parents becoming lost at sea six years ago,[4] leaving him to be raised by his nanny.[5] He later offers to help Bree and Daniel by letting them stay at his house.
Cassie: In her “Swimming” video, Bree mentions a girl named Cassie. She would later mention her again in another video, stating that she was a friend of hers when Bree attended regular school. As Bree reassumed homeschooling, however, the friendship fizzled. Shortly after the first mention of Cassie, videos from a user named cassieiswatching started appearing on YouTube. Unlike lonelygirl and Danielbeast’s videos, which tell a story, cassieiswatching’s videos would feature clues for viewers to find, in the manner of an Alternate Reality Game. The lonelygirl15 creators claim them to be unconnected to the Bree storyline.[1] No further mention has been made about Cassie in the lonelygirl ‘Breeniverse’. Only five videos were produced and the cassieiswatching story apparently has been abandoned.
Lucy: First appearing in the episode entitled “Who Is This?”, which is told from Daniel’s point of view, Lucy is seen guiding Bree through steps later revealed to be in preperation for her ceremony. Bree refers to her as “my helper” in response to Daniel’s video but seemingly loses trust in her after Daniel breaks into her apartment and discovers photos of himself on her computer.
[edit] Themes
The central themes of their video blogs are:
* Unrequited love/romantic confusion – Bree does not know how to react when her friend Daniel confesses that he ‘likes her’.
* Rebellion against parenting – Bree is homeschooled by parents who she implies are also strictly religious.
* Forbidden experimentation – her parents are apparently unaware of her video blogs.
* The Occult – Bree has a picture of Aleister Crowley in her bedroom, and she is involved in preparing for a ‘ceremony’.
There are also other recurring motifs in the videos. For example, the phrase “Proving Science Wrong” is repeated on many occasions, often in reference to her spirited science experiments with Daniel.
In one episode, Bree states that her parents are not the Order of Denderah.[2], and “Denderah” is one of the keyword tags on the blog. Bree was learning Enochian for the ceremony she was supposed to take part in.
[edit] How the series was revealed to be fictional
[edit] Initial speculation
Several fans of lonelygirl15′s video posts began to wonder[6] if Bree was, in fact, a real person or if the posts were part of a teaser campaign for a television show or an upcoming movie[7][8] (similar to the viral marketing used to hype The Blair Witch Project). Others felt that the blog might be part of an alternate reality game.[9]
Daniel attempting to light a candle underneath a picture of Aleister Crowley.
Daniel attempting to light a candle underneath a picture of Aleister Crowley.
At first discussion regarding why they thought lonelygirl15 might be a fake went on in her video comments. In early August 2006, a fan named HyeMew began a discussion at the previously stagnant www.lonelygirl15.com message boards and instigated an all-out investigation into the who, what, and wheres behind lonelygirl15. Soon the message board became invigorated with discussion about even the tiniest details in each of her videos, everything from the quality of the lighting to the flora seen in her outdoor videos. In this forum fans were able to collect, organize and share their findings, making the investigation a truly collaborative effort. Fans pointed to small inconsistencies within the videos as evidence that the story might not be genuine.
* The website lonelygirl15.com, supposedly created by a fan, was registered in May 2006, a week or two prior to Bree actually uploading her first video.[10]
* Bree has had several fights with Daniel, the boy in the video that supposedly does the video editing, on webcam. However, he still edits the videos and leaves the fights on video to be posted on YouTube.[10]
* The only mention of specific YouTube users occurred in the first postings. Thereafter, the only responses to user comments were generic and vague, e.g.: “Some of you guys were asking about …” This theory was shown to be incorrect, or at least incorrect in reference to the episode “Bree the Cookie Monster”, which cites certain comments.[10]
* A US federal trademark 78957059, for the term ‘lonelygirl15′ was filed on August 22, 2006, stating that it had been used in interstate commerce since May 24 2006.[11]
* A post made at 1:41 AM on September 12, 2006 on a lonelygirl15 message board eventually broke the story, proclaiming that “Bree” was in fact an actress named Jessica Rose.
[edit] Media reports
Lonelygirl15 has been extensively covered in traditional media such as television and print, as well as Jessica Rose and others appearing on talk shows and televised interviews. This is remarkable attention for a videoblog which is seemingly no different to any of the hundreds of thousands of videoblogs currently being watched online.
* The September 4, 2006 podcast of ABC World News (Enhanced) covered lonelygirl15
* The Los Angeles Times reported in an article dated September 8, 2006, that three lonelygirl15 fans – Shaina Wedmedyk, Chris Patterson, and an anonymous law student – set up a sting operation using IP address tracking software that showed that e-mails sent from a lonelygirl15 MySpace account were traced to the offices of Creative Artists Agency (“CAA”), a powerful Hollywood talent agency based in Beverly Hills[12]
* The New York Times, on September 12, 2006, confirmed that the creators of the series are represented by CAA and that CAA was one of several locations used by Flinders and Steinfeld to send emails from lonelygirl15 accounts[3]
* The website Top of the Tube, on September 12, published a video identifying the character Bree as a woman called Jessica Rose, on the basis of photographs found on the photo hosting site Photobucket[13][14] The website also revealed Jessica Rose as an “aspiring actress” from New Zealand who currently lives in Los Angeles[13], which explains her occasional accent[15][16]
* The Silicon Valley Watcher, also on September 12, published several articles, “The identity of LonelyGirl15″[17], “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…”[18], and “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found”[19], likewise naming Jessica Rose as the actress portraying Bree, and reporting on the uncovering of the hoax.
* The website Blogger’s Blog, on September 12, produced evidence that the actress’ name is “Jessica Lee Rose”[20]
* The Los Angeles Times On September 13th, 2006, featured the first interview with the creators of lonelygirl15, confirming the link between the creators and the CAA [21]
[edit] Admissions by creators
New York Times reporter Virginia Heffernan expanded on the series of revelations on September 12th out with an article which confirmed Jessica Rose’s identity, and revealed the identities of her “co-conspirators”, Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, Calif., and Miles Beckett, a doctor-turned-filmmaker. According to Heffernan, speculation that a professional studio was used for the filming is incorrect — Bree’s bedroom scenes were in fact filmed in Mr. Flinders’ very own bedroom using nothing more than a Logitech QuickCam, a Web camera that retails for about $150. Software engineer Grant Steinfeld was also involved in this project, as a photographer. Amanda Solomon Goodfried, an assistant at Creative Artists Agency, assisted in their efforts to hide their identities, and a lawyer — Ms. Goodfried’s father-in-law, Kenneth Goodfried — handled various legal matters. The personnel involved worked under an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) according to Grant Steinfeld. Steinfeld has verified most of this information to the Times, and provided photographs he took on set of Ms. Rose as proof.[3]
The three main creators gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times, which appeared even later in the day on September 12.[21] Besides Mr. Beckett and Mr. Flinders, already revealed, the third major partner was revealed as Greg Goodfried, who presumably is related to Amanda and Kenneth Goodfried, although he states that the CAA connection came “through a friend who works at the agency.”[21] Associated Press published an interview with Jessica Rose on September 14 in which she described how she had become involved in the project and stated that she would continue working on it.[22] In addition to the Associated Press interview, she also appeared on MTV News on September 14th alongside Ramesh Flinders.
On September 13, the site Top of the Tube, began circulating the trailer for Jessica Rose’s first film Dearly Beloved directed by Leah Salvesen in which she starred as a distressed bride-to-be.[23]
On the evening of Thursday, September 14th, Jessica Rose[24][25] made a surprise appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During her brief appearance she stated her name, where she was from, her actual age, and that she was not lonely anymore. Following her last remark, Tucker Carlson came out on stage and music was cued. The two began dancing together until the commercial break. Jessica Rose (referred to as lonelygirl15) also appeared on the Internet talk-show Tom Green Live on September 29, 2006 in which she danced with Danielbeast and friends while the band Reel Big Fish played live music in host Tom Green’s living room studio[26].
The actor behind Danielbeast is named Yousef Abu-Taleb. He was discussed by name by Ramesh Flinders and Jessica Rose during their September 14 MTV News appearance. Photos of Abu-Taleb from outside of the lonelygirl15 project have started to appear, and were compiled on YouTube into a video scrapbook called “Danielbeast Exposed”.
[edit] Current developments
Since the fictitious nature of lonelygirl15 has been revealed, the storyline continues to develop via new videos posted to both YouTube and the money-making website Revver. The continuation of the series fulfills the promise that the authors made in a New York Times article, stating that they will continue the story of lonelygirl15 and Daniel despite the public’s awareness that the blog is fictional.[27]
From September 9, 2006 onwards, lonelygirl15.com has served the series from Revver, a service that allows video creators to make money from their videos by having ads automatically inserted after their videos. When the creators came forward on September 13, 2006, Revver was publicized as the official home of lonelygirl15[citation needed]. Recently, videos have appeared on lonelygirl15.com significantly in advance of appearing on youtube.com.
The online star was recently hired by the United Nations to fight poverty through an online anti-poverty video[28]. Rose will be playing her infamous lonelygirl15 role as she sits by herself in her bedroom talking to the camera. This time, however, she will be talking about the antipoverty cause rather than her boyfriend troubles.
On November 20, 2006, lonelygirl15.com announced that the spin-off OpAphid was the official Alternate Reality Game of lonelygirl15. [3] OpAphid began in late September with what many speculated was a well-produced fan effort, and this announcement merges its characters OpAphid, Tachyon, and 10033 into the series storyline and continuity.
Wired Magazine ran a story on YouTube titled “YouTube Grows Up” in their December 2006 issue, featuring lonelygirl15 on the cover.[29]
[edit] Trivia
* The series was developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove [4].
* lonelygirl15 has various signature items/props that appear in its episodes. Recurring props include a pink feather boa, a safari hat, and her beloved puppet Purple Monkey (a.k.a. “P-Monkey”).
* There are references to the occult philosophy of Thelema; on the lonelygirl15.com website, the greek letters ????µa (“Thelema”) appear at the bottom of the page, along with three unicursal hexagrams on the header bar, and the phrase “Site design by Darbyite Design” at the bottom.
* The video from Thursday November 23, 2006 was filmed at the Laemmle Theatre in the Encino Town Centre, which, at the time, was showing none of the films Bree listed.
* A recent episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent parodied lonelygirl15. She was known as weepingwillow17 and had very religious parents like the subject of the parody, and she and her boyfriend were kidnapped by men in black who demanded her fans donate money to a website to save their lives. Various other video bloggers were also seen decrying weepingwillow as a fake, just like many did on the real website.
* The lonelygirl15 blog won Biggest Web Hit Award on VH1′s Big in ’06 Awards.
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