The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com the b-side Why we need h3h3 SINGLE REVIEW This February has been the time to be alive for indie rock/ emo/shoe- gaze lovers everywhere. All of the sad boys are crawling out of their introverted online per- sonas and are tweeting “#blessed.” The space goth girls are emerging from their black holes as they develop into their fan-girl alter egos. And this can all be blamed on the fact that not only has the lo-fi band Teen Suicide released a single, but their fellow emo/ indie cross friends, Pity Sex, have released a new song as well. Titled “Burden You,” Pity Sex’s new single does exactly that. Britty Drake’s soft voice cocoons your entire thought process and the only thing you can pay attention to is the music. The band attempts to pull off a shoegaze grunge sound and they do it so well with simple yet meaningful lyrics combined with dirty- sounding bass lines all laced with some spacey guitar rifts. The lyrics in “Burden You” are delivered softly, but they slowly creep into your head and create a tunnel connect- ing to your heart. Britty Drake sings about young love and inside the simple lyrics she gives you everything you’ve ever wanted. She addresses unrequited love, confusion, regret and the want to feel wanted in a way that’s not extremely cliche. Drake sings in a way that feels personal, like she’s whispering in your ear. Hearing her sing the lyr- ics “I’ll always think of your lips when I’m moving mine against his. I wanna know, I wanna know that I’m running in your mind also, don’t let me go,” puts your heart in your stomach and fills your lungs with flowers. “Burden You” creates a sadness that never felt so good. - SELENA AGUILERA Ethan and Hila Klein are relationship goals By JACOB RICH Senior Arts Editor They met on Birthright. He was a Jewish-American kid with a quick sense of humor and a bit of a belly. She was a charm- ing, shy Israeli taking a week off of her required military service. They didn’t hook up, but they hit it off — they spent the whole week of their trip talking and laughing. When he got back to the United States, an e-mail from her was waiting for him. A year later, she left her homeland to be with him in the sunny city of Santa Cruz, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Now, eight years later, Ethan and Hila Klein are YouTube’s ris- ing power couple. H3h3Produc- tions, their comedy channel, has nearly 1 million subscribers and over 100 million video views, about a quarter of which (accord- ing to SocialBlade) happened in the last month. To say their work is blowing up would be a huge understatement. Lately, their new videos have been routinely voted to the number one position on Reddit’s video aggregate site r/ videos, while more and more big YouTubers are giving the couple shout-outs on Twitter and on their own channels. It’s almost impossible to sum- marize what h3h3Productions videos are generally like. In recent months, they’ve been all over the place, from elaborately edited “.exe” videos to rants to comedy essays to skits. I guess you could think of them as somewhere between Adult Swim’s “Tim and Eric” and “Mystery Science The- ater 3000” — irreverent, surreal and charmingly lo-fi. But what really put h3h3Pro- ductions on the map were their “reaction” videos. On first glance, they just look like any other video response on YouTube — Hila holds the camera, while Ethan talks into it as he buffers through a video. But h3h3Productions is much more than just an exploitative commen- tary on popular videos. Their reac- tions blur the lines between satire and skit, comedy and tragedy. The second their catchy ’80s-tinged intro song ends, you know you’re in for genius improvisation and weird, uncomfortable video edit- ing. It’s avant-garde digital com- edy at its most bizarre. The reaction videos started in 2013 when Ethan saw “Girls who Read,” a pretentious video slam poem making the rounds on Red- dit. The poem, presented by a chubby British guy, posits the author as a classy gentleman who prefers a woman’s intellect to her “tits or ass” — well, as long as they’re drop-dead gorgeous like the actress in the video. Ethan was infuriated by the poem’s hypoc- risy. I have to agree — that video sucks. It’s a stunning example of male superficiality and the double standards set for women. Hila grabbed her camera and got to work. “Now look at this chubby little hunk here,” Ethan says, pointing to an overweight girl in the cor- ner of the video’s frame. “If she’s over there reading books, I bet he’s not making this poetic little video about her. I bet she could be smart as fuck. No, he chooses the CUTE girl who reads.” Since then, the couple has applied their unique formula to dozens of cringe-worthy, obnox- ious and toxic targets on You- Tube. They were among the first to point out the bizarre, embar- rassing eccentricities of recording artist DJ Khaled, the exploitative immorality of YouTube’s “urban pranksters” and the uncomfort- able sexual overtones of the oh-so- fake “kissing prank.” Ethan and Hila’s videos each have an unmistakable look to them, thanks to the couple’s unique and outrageous style. They’ve become somewhat famous for their thrift-shop cou- ture — beanie caps, turtlenecks, sunglasses and what Ethan calls the “Chub ‘n’ Tuck” (the act of tucking high-waisted sweatpants under one’s gut) are all essential aspects of the charming h3h3Pro- ductions aesthetic. Further amp- ing up the couple’s lovable style is Hila’s art, which is often on display in the background of the reactions. Her neon-drenched surrealist brushstrokes fit in per- fectly with their offbeat dress. The first h3h3Productions video I saw was “The Tai Lopez Conspiracy,” an absolutely savage comedic takedown of the “here in my garage” guy (you know the ad, he’s the get-rich-quick salesman that shows you his Lamborghini and lectures you on the impor- tance of “KNAWledge”). The video was a rollercoaster of emotions to say the very least. It started out simple enough, with Ethan taking jabs at Lopez’s meme-worthy speech patterns. This wouldn’t be nearly as funny if Ethan didn’t have the per- fect satirical tone. While many of h3h3Productions’s reactions are certainly condemning, they almost never feel mean-spirited. It’s a testament to the guy’s come- dic instincts that he can toe the line of, in his own words, “Goo- fin’ and Gaffin’ ” on others’ videos without resorting to bullying. Soon, things got crazy. Sud- denly, Ethan was convulsing on his chair like in “2001: A Space Odyssey” while frightening, clum- sily edited fake ads of Lopez’s face surrounded Ethan’s and a bright yellow “TRIGGERED” sign rose from the bottom of the screen. I laughed so hard I almost dropped my laptop. But then, the tone changed again. After some quick Google sleuthing, Ethan was able to reveal that Lopez’s luxurious Hollywood Hills mansion wasn’t, in fact, owned by Lopez at all — it was a short-term rental, easily available for cheap film shoots via a website. All of a sudden, Ethan’s video felt more like muckraking journalism rather than a bizarro-comedy. Of late, it seems like h3h3Pro- ductions’ videos have taken on this journalistic role more often. As cheesy as it sounds, Ethan and Hila have almost become Inter- net detectives. They certainly haven’t removed themselves from comedy, but exposing shady busi- ness practices, dumb clickbait and harmful, obnoxious “pranks” has become an essential aspect of their videos. In 2016, their most popular videos have been on their very public feud with SoFloAnto- nio, a profiteer who illegally steals other creators’ YouTube and Vine videos and uploading them onto his ultra-popular Facebook page, “SoFlo.” One of h3h3Produc- tions’ SoFlo videos even features a straight-up investigative inter- view between Ethan and a content creator whose video Antonio stole and profited off. This, and Ethan’s rant about the terrible business practices of the litigious Fine Brothers have pro- vided tent poles under which You- Tube’s creators can stand together — their anti-corporation, pro-cre- ator rhetoric has clearly resonated with the Internet. There’s a reason h3h3Produc- tions has an enormous fan base, their own thriving subreddit and a Patreon pulling in nearly $5,000 a month. They represent a chal- lenge to the status quo. They’re changing the terms of what can be done with YouTube comedy, one video at a time. This is really hilarious stuff, people. And by act- ing as a last bastion for the ethical creator, they’ve managed to rally those who believe in YouTube as a medium of quality entertainment. The Internet is h3h3Productions’ oyster, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW As well known as FKA twigs may be for visually striking, otherworldly music videos, “Good to Love” is remarkably minimalist. It’s just her, a bed and a camera. The degree to which she can stretch this medium speaks to the artistry of twigs, not only as a singer and a dancer, but as a director as well. For its minimalism, twigs still manages to bring an ethereal quality to this video. The sheets seem alive as they’re pulled and tossed, and clever camerawork blurs the line between skin and cloth. It’s a powerful reflection of her music, acutely preoc- cupied with lust and love. Her muses, however, are always peripheral. “Good to Love” is no doubt a plea to a lover, but it’s twigs who is center stage. Everything here is by her, for her, of her. It’s a solo sex scene on her own terms. The most consuming part of this video — and all of her videos — is of course twigs herself, spe- cifically her movements. They’re startlingly deliberate, yet still feel organic. She resembles a marionette as she throws her- self around with the sheets. As the camera moves to her face, we get a flush of deep emotion with only a glance of the eyes. The result is a video that says a lot with a little. twigs might be a “sweet little lover maker,” but she has some big ideas. - CHRISTIAN KENNEDY A- Good to Love FKA twigs Young Turks Thursday, February 25, 2016 — 3B “The Graduate” in this series, three daily arts writers in varying states of mind do the same activity and write about their experiences. this week’s event: Part 1: “The bathrooms down at the end of the hall,” I feel like this means something intense. Also s/o to Ms. Robinson for fucking inventing the term MILF. MRS ROBINSON YOU’RE TRYING TO SEDUCE ME. Every god damn line in this movie is beautiful. On a side note why do they make this pathetic dude out to be a track star newspaper editor straight A student I’m not feeling like this man is all those things. Part 2: Ben, you’ll never be young again. The one-liners in this film are changing. Every damn line has a profound effect on the total course of my life. I’m just worried about my future. Buzzed wonders how the filmmakers made this underwater diver scene and now I’m questioning how they make any scene. Or anything. Ha. Hoffman just walked into the hotel for an affair and it’s similarly life changing. Mrs. Robinson is the kind of forward woman I need in my life. That would definitely be life changing. Oh my god who is this woman and does she actually exist. I need to date older women. Not older like “oh she’s like 21” older like “she’s married with two kids.” Wait that sounds a little Freudian shit that was bad. Part 3: I wonder if the same situation played out in 2016 if it would play out the same. Are we at a point in society where we can accept a man having a casual relationship with his girlfriend’s mother, have we finally gotten to that point America? God. We need Bernie at a time like this. Which brings me to the point that Bored pointed out — he could have been an extra in this. The man was as young and able in 1967 as he is in 2016. Wow. Part 4: The vibe of the landlord in Berkeley is great. He’s probably the most stable character in this movie, which must stand for something. And now Kate Moss just comes in and screams her head off in the most terrifying shot I’ve seen in years. She sounds like she’s dying but she really is just upset at something so small and insignificant as Dustin Hoffman having an affair with her 45+ year old mother. That’s such a big deal. Children are starving in Africa dammit. And now Hoffman wants to marry this poor girl. The emotional strain must be a lot, so I apologize to Kate. But now she’s agreed to marry him so I guess that means it’s probably not that bad. Part 5: This may be entirely unrelated to this movie, but every time I see this movie I want to move somewhere west of Texas. That just seems like an entirely different style of living, an entirely new atmosphere of life. Imagine waking up in Denver, Colorado. How would who I am and what I stand for change. Coming for you, Denver. Part 6: The movie’s over: (add spoiler here). The Sound of Silence again coming in and changing my existence. And that last shot is so perfectly done that I think I am yet again: changed. Buzzed says it’s about the banality of life and that alters the world for about the 20th time this evening. But it’s ok. After this I can get some food. -Daily Arts Writer Here is a just a stream of thought: The beginning of this film is so brilliant – it’s not really iconic as it is unnerving in a really friendly way. Like, everyone is being so nice to him but it’s terrifying. I never want to grow up. This plastics line works so well. I see so much of myself in Dustin Hoffman, except the whole older-woman-seductress- attraction part, but I guess it’s something to aspire to. The Robinsons’ mini-bar has a little orb that says “BAR” on it, like I didn’t know it was a bar. Come on! This song that Mrs. Robinson plays is HOT. “Did you know I was an alcoholic?” *Gasp* “What?” The iconic scene “are you trying to seduce me” is the PERFECT scene for 1967. Braddock comes to the conclusion that Mrs. Robinson is trying to seduce him, she says she’s not, but of course she is. Mike Nichols must have been slapped down a ton between “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “The Graduate,” with studio folks telling him that he’s ruining film but NO he was transforming it. Ben Braddock’s reactions to Mrs. Robinson in the whole initial interaction are priceless. He’s got such a command on whimpers and little cries, it’s fantastic. 10 years before Darth Vader, we had Benjamin Braddock. His breathing during the scuba scene is wonderful. It’s like he’s really heavily sighing with disdain at how dumb this gift is. “Are you here for an affair, sir?” “Huh?” “The Singleman party?” “Ah yes” Benjamin Braddock has got to be a stand-in for baby-boomers and just discovering how messed up life is with his discovering how disastrous the Robinson family is—Mr. and Mrs. Robinson don’t sleep together, they got married because she got pregnant, she got a degree in art but lost her interest, and, of course, the whole Elaine plotline. Fun fact: Katharine Ross is married to SAM ELLIOTT. I wish I were married to Sam Elliott. Seems like such a cool dude. Oh, they’re making out, but she was just crying. Do you think Bernie Sanders is an extra in this movie? This is not Berkeley. This is USC. Choose a less iconic building. Richard Dreyfuss! I love Richard Dreyfuss. Elaine making moves! Part of me is doubtful that a person like Dustin Hoffman could ever pull this all off and then part of me feels ashamed that I would ever doubt Dustin Hoffman. I love Dustin Hoffman. This montage of Benjamin trying to find where the wedding will take place is so great, fueled by that great Mrs. Robinson soundtrack. And of course, THIS FINAL SCENE IS GLORIOUS. In the words of Baked, this is such a hippie movie. They’re just flipping off authority and society. But of course, it ends with sadness. Oh well, we all die. - Daniel Hensel This is the third night in a row I’ve gotten drunk, and it’s the weekend before midterm week. My jewish parents are rolling in their graves, but they’re still alive. Is it bad for to get crossfaded for these? I hope not. This movie is absolutely amazing. That intro sequence though. I’m really feeling the existential ennui right now. Mrs. Robinson is such a babe. We just looked it up, and this movie made SO much fucking money. Dustin Hoffman is so fucking perfectly awkward. How’d you even do this? God, four loko qSA A bad choice. The single fame boob gets me every time, so funny, “Oh jesus Christ.” I really want to stop drinking this four loko. Anne Bancroft is like a soulless husk. She reminds me of my exes badum chhhhhhhh Whoops I just told Danny what’s going on in my personal life. That’s okay, that guy’s alright. RUSHMORE (that was the devin faraci style, fucking deal with it EDITORS) totally ripped this part in the pool off. I want to work for Vulture if you’re reading this, fucking give me an internship you motherfuckers. Fyck you. This movie is just like, human beings are disgusting. I’m embarrassed at how drunk I am. Good thing we’re all going to die and life has no point, the central thesis of this movie and my life. -Daily Arts Writer baked.buzzed.bored. A- Burden You Pity Sex Run for Cover Records