markiplier's getting over it and try not to laugh series are the first bunch of american media that i've consumed in my life. he was the first online internet personality that i discovered upon coming to america. and although i dont usually watch his videos (since i have better things to do than watching a 30-smth year old guy playing horror video games lol, and i think his gameplay videos are just side hobbies not his current true passions), i immensely enjoyed each and every big budget project that he made.
for example, a heist with markiplier got me into writing interactive ARGs. it was an incredibly fun and unique experience. and i think it was definitely as long as if not longer than a typical feature film. a date with markiplier was subpar but that was actually his first attempt in making an interactive, choose-your-adventure game series and some of the scenes are genuinely scary. i think there was some underlying lore with all these series btw, which is something i enjoy doing when i craft my stories/narratives in music.
then it was in space with markiplier. and holy that was the best experience i have had with any interactive stories. it had good scifi elements and plot devices, the story is chaotic (oroborus), and i also enjoyed the acting. it was a very fun and unique experience. when i was watching that series i was still back in my high school freshman year, back when i was still wearing masks.
when he first released a trailer i think 2 years ago about iron lung, i was like holy shit this man doesnt stop creating content. hes just going and going. he and pewdiepie are probably at the opposite end of the "youtuber spectrum," where one retires and the other one tries to do smth much more ambitious. but the trailer was only 2 years ago and he kept saying he has been working on filming and editing, with no end in sight.
sometime along the way i heard that he needed his other prime video project to succeed (i think it was called edge of sleep? i havent watched it yet) to have iron lung be pushed for theatrical release or smth. regardless of what was happening, two days ago, the trailer got released on youtube, and ever since then, a bunch of indie theatres and now amc (!) have put it on queue for its theatrical debut on jan 30 (i might not be able to watch it by that time, but i definitely will watch it).
im not too deep in the iron lung lore, but seeing how his other projects turned out, i have a pretty good level of trust in this one. ppl said his acting with this amazon series was mid, so we will wait to see. thing is he has been working on this for a long long time. about 2 years since production started.
the reason im talking about all of this is that he made it. this lengthy duration prob took the most toll on him since he had to carry the weight of being the actor and the director, while releasing his normal gaming videos on youtube. and he didnt give up. watching him cry in his latest video sparked smth in me.
i've been complaining and have been having silent thoughts of quitting what im trying to build. but seeing him going from a silly online caricature into a film director AND actor really encouraged me to keep going. i know he wanted that theatrical debut. i know he wanted to create things. content that that ambitious scale. and he was the goofiest person i saw the moment i downloaded youtube. within the span of what, like 10 years? he has stepped into the hollywood game, while having almost no online controversies, and he also just started his marriage.
that is to say, it's easy to look at people when they had made it. especially in startup and biotech world, where you see oh this person has to be a genius how did they lawfully scam or actually attract that many vcs, versus this entirely transparent authentic youtube community where you actually see the full trajectory of someone grow, because all they do is publicizing everything they do online, even before they can make it.
therefore, there is no excuse for me to give up on smth im passionate enough to work on. lets keep going.