In this spoken monologue, Tom Guarriello reflects on a recent YouTube video by his collaborator Renato that featured a white performer using blackface. He wrestles with the ethical question of whether blackface can ever be acceptable, and expands the inquiry to whether such provocative content can be considered art. Guarriello argues that art must disturb, provoke anger, discomfort, and thought, and uses Renato’s video as an example of a work that fulfills that role. He examines Renato’s (and a friend named Paul’s) motivations, noting that while they seek views, they also appear to be creating content that challenges audiences rather than merely chasing clicks. Guarriello suggests that many YouTubers may unintentionally be producing art, even if their primary goal is viewership, and he concludes by encouraging continued contemplation of these issues.
Chapters
Well, hi, it's Tom Guarriello. You know, yesterday morning I watched Renato's video and it was disturbing. It was disturbing all day and it was disturbing because it kind of raised the question in my mind, and it was a question that I didn't have a ready answer for. And the question was this: Is it acceptable under any circumstances for a white person to put on blackface makeup to perform? And, you know, that question just kind of kept rattling around in my head all day. And, you know, the more— every once in a while I'd come back to it, and every once in a while I think, you know, geez, it was very powerful. The message was very powerful. And what What role did the makeup play in the message? Hmm. Well, it played a role. And so I kept going back and forth for myself and back and forth for myself. And then there was a point last evening where I sort of thought, you know, here's what it is. This is Renetto, and this is YouTube. Now, if this had been— I'm making this up— Steve Martin, and if this had been television, what would my reaction have been then? What would our reaction have been then? Well, that got me thinking about a bunch of things, one of which is that— another question. And the question is, is it possible that anything that we do here can be construed as art. You know, it used to be that for something to be construed as art, it had to be produced by somebody who had been certified as an artist. And certification as an artist could only be done by people in very special kinds of positions, authorities. But now that we're doing these kinds of things, is it possible for something to be construed as art? Well, I started thinking about art. And, you know, one of the things that art does, or else it's not art, is that art disturbs us. Art disturbs. Art does not present the conventional, easily acceptable easily understandable point of view. Just the opposite. If something is art, it makes you think, it makes you angry, it makes you question, it makes you— and I started thinking just the things that this video did. Made people angry, made me uncomfortable, it made me think, it made me wonder, it made me— but it's Renato. And Renato, depending upon the way you look at Renato and depending on the way you think about Renato, "Renetto is..." Fill in the blank. Fill in the blank. Do a sentence completion. "Renetto is..." And when you do that sentence completion, what you're doing is telling whoever you're completing the sentence for more about yourself than you are about Renetto. Why? Well, because Renetto is a complex and many times kind of uncertain stimulus, kind of like a Rorschach in a way. Renato is only doing things for views. People say that often, right? Well, let me tell you something. You know that Renato is somebody that I've been working with, Renato, now for the last several months. Paul is a friend of mine, and when I think about my friend Paul, the friend that I know, I know that that friend, if he was only doing things on YouTube to get views, could have gotten a hell of a lot more views or over the last 6 months than he's gotten. Trust me, trust me. This is a guy who knows how to get views. This is a guy who, I'll say this, anytime he wants to, can produce a video that gets more views than he's gotten on any of the videos that he's made over the past 6 months. Now, does that mean that Paul doesn't want to get views? Of course not. He does want to get views. He wants his work to be seen. He wants his work to be accepted. He wants people to like what he does. He's not crazy. He wants people to like what he does. But if all he was interested in views, don't you think he would have better ways, simpler ways other ways to just get views than to do the kinds of things that he's done? I know he had, I know he would, and I know he could. But, but the, the point is that if you think that it's impossible for what Renato does to be art, then you're going to reduce anything that he's done this video in particular into just simply an attempt to get more views. Um, but for me, what I found myself doing after watching that video was exactly what I find myself doing when I'm experiencing a disturbing work of art. It made me think. It made me consider that question, and for that I'm grateful. And for that, I think we need to consider the possibility that not just Renato, but that a lot of other people who've been producing material here on YouTube and other video medium might actually be engaging in art. It feels odd, doesn't it? But I think it's not just possible, I think it's what we're doing. Not all of us, but some of us. So those are my thoughts, and, uh, see you again soon. Bye-bye.
