Hillhead Review

Pillars of Extremity

Our contemporary cultural climate of information-seeking is reigned by two dominant extremes: firstly, the streamlining short-form content of TikTok and reels, and secondly, the elaborate projects of academic endeavours. 

Needless to say, news channels and newspapers are timeless and conventional. There will always be individuals who trust in and rely on them to expand their knowledge. However, as of late, I am confident in my assertion that the short-form and the academic are our present go-to’s. 

TikTok FYP’s and Instagram/Facebook reels are intentionally addictive; they are algorithmically-ruled. These platforms thrive on “brainrot”. They rely on giving their users schoolings that are short, snappy and simplified. The possibilities of these sites really are endless: in a ten-minute scroll, I could learn (key word: briefly) about the fascist undertones of ongoing fashion trends; a history of Christianity in the West; the evolution of Marxism; the looming threats of climate change; the gentrification of Asian food; even an overview of any ongoing humanitarian conflict. In other words, anything my heart desires. 

A sixty-second video on each, and onto the next I go, another thrown-in-your-face gurgle of facts. Definitions must be refined, analysis must be condensed, and information is always left out. I do not intend to portray short-form content as a dumbing-down of information. Undoubtedly, these snippets can be a wonderful and efficient starting point, but that is all. A three-minute video is simply not enough. To fully understand a topic, one must fact-check, consider counter-arguments, have time to question and understand the intentions of the information-giver. So, where does one go after the short form?

A three-minute video is simply not enough. To fully understand a topic, one must fact-check, consider counter-arguments, have time to question and understand the intentions of the information-giver.

Academic journals, peer reviews, lecture slides, bibliographic entries. This side of the pendulum, which academics know of all too well, more often than not, dooms the information-searcher to a myriad of hours in which they must chomp down on never-ending pages of part-explanation, part-overcomplication, part-filling-the-word-count and part-trying-to-sound-super-smart-for-the-sake-of-it. 

Once again, I do not intend to reign on anyone’s parade, especially not the academics. Of course extensive discussion is a necessary instance of scholarly writing, but for a simple searcher who may only have a lunch break to spare, what other options are available to them to develop upon what TikTok or Instagram has “taught” them so far? 

Middle Ground 

What if there was a way to research, delve deeper into a topic and come to a conclusion, where you didn’t have to choose between under-explanation and over-explanation? If that quick clip on doesn’t do it for you, but an eighty-page chapter feels a bit overenthusiastic, what is the solution?

For some time I wandered in this maze of confusion, saddened by the limitations imposed on the ways to learn. Only two exit signs entered my periphery, but after searching, a secret third door revealed itself to me: the innovative, the contemporary, the hybrid: the video essay.

Only two exit signs entered my periphery, but after searching, a secret third door revealed itself to me: the innovative, the contemporary, the hybrid: the video essay.

Macalester defines the video essay as “an in-depth analysis that allows you to take advantage of image and sound to present an argument or develop a thesis.” The website lists a number of possible features identifiable in the realm of the video essay, to name a few: on screen text; talking heads; found footage; illustrations; screen capture and sound tracks. So here we have it, our halfway house. 

The Video Essay as Intersectional 

The video essay is not only appealing, however, because it is a conventional middle ground; it is, in my belief, an inherently feminist and anti-oppressive mode of online and educational expression. Women from all backgrounds, particularly diverse economic and financial ones, are able to voice their own rhetoric, given a chance to shine, whether they study a degree or not, and beyond a two minute video. 

Even the integration of images, memes, drawings, and recordings to create a modern-day essay form took me aback. It defies pretension, promotes accessibility and mainstream assimilation without surrendering the protections of fact-checking, credible sources and sufficient research. The video-essayist is held accountable and forced to sufficiently analyse and elaborate in ways the TikToker or the Reeler are not. 

Both the dangers of false/misleading information and the barriers of supremacy hold no place in the video essay. The video essay is not the rage-baiting ill-informed TikTok; it is not the unchecked patriarchal podcast ; it is not the rigid on-paper discussion from twenty years ago. It is a new and upcoming artform where the good of social media can be combined with authorly freedom, academic creativity and a positive spread of information. It is a collaboration of worlds which works brilliantly, so here are two of my most recent favourites, and my “to watch” list:

“The Doomed Politics of the Pick Me” by Jordan Theresa 

Theresa’s overarching thesis is centered upon what she coins as “the shortcomings of digital feminism.” What Theresa discusses throughout, is how initial media phenomena such as “not [being] like other girls” or being a “girls-girl” have drastically altered in their meaning and now serve the patriarchy. She argues that these phrases/trends were once the means through which one could revolt against gendered expectations, through which a woman could be proud of her authentic self and hold the patriarchal system to accountability for being the root-cause of societal issues such as blatant misogyny.

Theresa argues, however, that in this new wave of social media (which plays such a huge role in society) a desire to condense and oversimplify has taken over, and led these once inherently feminist statements to become yet another avenue through which gender inequality and hate against women can be encouraged. One thoroughly interesting part of this video essay was its exploration of pick-me (female) figures as calculated people, who dangerously align themselves with conservative rhetoric for social success and financial gain. Theresa found herself conflicted on the matter of whether to even discuss such figures, or if potentially exposing their wrongdoings gives into the crux of the problem. Theresa’s essay includes various citations from a number of studies, even articles from Psychology Today. Alongside them, she includes an abundance of evidentiary content from TikTok itself. 

“Love Island: A Flirtation With Surveillance” by Broey Deschanel 

This video essay is unarguably of a higher production-scale. It is set in a makeshift Love Island set, and various figures are accredited as joint-creation of the essay. Deschanel enters into a world of analytical critique, picking apart one of the biggest reality TV shows in the UK. She brings to her viewer’s attention various elements to ponder on that the average Love Island viewer never consciously considers. Deschanel’s explores Love Island as an example of the panopticon model, where a constant guard of surveillance always looms. 

She suggests that it is this very aspect of hyperawareness that has reduced the show’s wachability. Furthermore, she argues that the contestant’s constant anxiety has influenced them greatly, consequently leading them to regulate both their sexuality and general authenticity. For Deschanel, Love Island was once a genuinely entertaining piece of media which showcased normal and raw emotions, but through the years, the contestant’s internal-revelations that there are always cameras around them – the invisible powers that control them – has led to a drastic change in behaviour. One of the biggest takeaways of Deschanel’s essay, in my opinion, is the concept of marketable/monetesiable identities, which people – in her opinion –  quickly form as they are stripped of their privacy and thrown into the limelight of public scrutiny. 

To Watch (Youtube)

1. Anasi’s Library: “James Baldwin and the Annihilation of Gender” 
2. Jessie Gender: “The Cultural Stories White Supremacy Tells”
3. Lindsay Holiday: “A History of Menstruation” 
4. PosiTVty: “The Nature of Good and Evil in the Good Place”
5. Shanspeare: “Femcel Feminism and Transgressive Girlhood”