peoples republic of desire
People’s Republic of Desire talks about how people in China flock to live streaming website YY to watch some of their favorite musicians, actors, and comedians perform for them every night. The film, directed by Hao Wu and co-produced by one of my favorite artists Xin Liu, shows how people, rich and poor, form almost parasocial bonds with these public figures, while the figures rake in tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars each month.
Machines are able to connect humans with other humans. In this case it intervenes through YY, an almost twitch.tv like platform designed for China. People develop feelings, sometimes crushes, other times mentorship like feelings, on people they don’t know. This goes back to the idea of parasocial relationships, or relationships where you know someone through a screen but they do not know you. This is extremely dangerous, as you can see the look of disappointment when someone donated $3 but their favorite streamer did not acknowledge them. In addition, people feel obligated to spend thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, in order to be seen by a creator. This changes the mode of communication by prioritizing money and the top donor, leaving everyone behind. Gone are the days when one or five dollars matters to a creator, most won’t even acknowledge you if you don’t put down at least $20. It places an emphasis on money and not on a fan’s care or dedication.
The iPhone is revolutionary in the world of live streaming. With this simple device, a creator is able to go out and stream their everyday life. In addition, it has paved the way for up and coming filmmakers to explore the options of making good films. The versatility it has provided for this area, although niche, is absolutely massive. While not creative in of itself, what is creative that uses the iPhone as a main part is the streamer backpack. Using the iPhone and an external camera, the streamer backpack allows for streamers to go out into the world and explore while still livestreaming to their audience of millions. This also allows streamers to show a more natural side of them, such as how they interact with fans, how they are in the public, and more. This one invention has been able to absolutely skyrocket the careers of some streamers and allow for others to show anything from their day to day lives all the way to fun events they’re attending.
For more information about parasocial relationships, I strongly recommend watching this video from YouTube streamer Ludwig
For more information about streamer backpacks, watch this video