Pewdiepie used to be pretty well known among gaming circles. You can say that he was internet famous. Now, he’s actually famous.
Last night, Pewdiepie appeared on Conan to promote his new YouTube Red series Scare Pewdiepie. What’s truly remarkable isn’t that Pewdiepie is a guy who made his name with funny and interesting “Let’s Play Videos” on YouTube or that he has over 42 million subscribers or that he’s launching a TV series on YouTube Red. What’s remarkable is how normal all of this has become.
Remember how it used to be a BIG DEAL when any mainstream celebrity would show a healthy interest in either net or game culture? I do. Now, we have a word for those celebrities and that word is “normal”.
This wasn’t Pewdiepie’s first appearance on mainstream late night television. Last October, he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There were some good-natured cracks about “Let’s Plays”, but Pewdiepie wasn’t just there to explain internet culture. He was there to plug stuff (here, a new game and book), just like nearly every celebrity that appears on late night television.
On Conan, the whole thing seemed even more normal and Pewdiepie seemed even more relaxed. And once again, he was appearing on late night television to promote a project, which is fine, because that, along with comedy, is what late night television is for. A lot of the “Wow, Pewdiepie is on TV” goes right out the door — not that this sort of validation was ever necessary anyway considering how large Pewdiepie’s audience is and how successful he is.
In the past, people built their audiences over the radio, through television or at the cinema. Now, you can add the internet to that list as just another medium where people an express themselves, reach others and create a fanbase.
No doubt, Pewdiepie will continue to appear in mainstream media. The idea of someone making funny “Let’s Play” clips on YouTube will continue to be less and less a novelty and Pewdiepie will be another normal celebrity, plugging his last show, book, whatever. And that’s OK.
Comments
30 responses to “Pewdiepie Is Just Plain Famous”
There is nothing normal about celebrities of any type.
But he isn’t funny…. i fully feel like my life is that episode of southpark, i cannot work out why people watch this guy… dont get me wrong good on him for living the nerd dream.. but what is the appeal???
I don’t particularly find him funny either. He seems funnier on the TV when he’s generally talking. The reason I haven’t found him appealing is that the games he plays are not to my liking.
Maybe not to you, but there’s a huge audience to him. Personally I like a Let’s Player called ‘Robbaz’. He does exactly the same thing but in his own way that I enjoy. So I can’t really rag on Pewdiepie, even though I think he’s crap, because I like what he’s doing but just not the way he does it.
And you can’t deny the appeal of watching someone play a game as a form of entertainment, else twitch would not be the juggernaut of success that it is.
I can honestly say I’ve never watched even a single episode of his web shows.
I’m with you. I’ve not watched a single second of him.
I’ve also never listened to a whole Skrillex song. Maybe I’m just old.
I didn’t even know who he was until Kotaku started posting stories about him 😛
His Youtube humour appeals to teenage boys whose brains haven’t fully developed and yeah (I am actually being serious here, those are the stats). Basically his audience is one half of the worst the internet and multiplayer matchmaking have to offer.
And girls, lets just say adolescence in general find him hilarious. I think he invokes the inner child in people when they watch him
Pretty much, although I guess that means I was also a very different sort of child haha.
I adore PewDiePiee!!!!!!1111111111
Protip, you don’t have to find him funny for him to be funny to someone else
Protip – read the question properly, i’m curious as to what the appeal is to others.. you know since he doesn’t appeal to me but im fully aware he has some sort of appeal…
“But he isn’t funny” That’s a statement buddy.. What’s the appeal? It tickles the humour part of someone else’s brain, simple as that
Thank you for your thoroughly thought out and educational point of view that continues the discussion…. oh wait… nvm that wasn’t you.
Why do you need a thoroughly thought out and educational point of view on why someone thinks someone else is funny lol.. it’s funny because someone finds it funny, stop trying to overcomplicate it 🙂
So i should stop trying to learn or interact with people because it overcomplicates things? got it.
Thank you, without your wisdom i might have gone through life asking questions and broaden my understanding of things.
Ive read a lot of replies that is like that: either, “I dont watch his videos…” or “I dont like his videos…” but because “he seems like a nice guy”, they find him appealing. So its like, “ok, he should be a celebrity cause.. hes a nice guy?” There’s plenty of ‘nice guys’ out there, but hey, he has a youtube channel so… celebrity!(?)
I don’t like sports/late night hosts/certain singer, I don’t get the appeal of watching/listening to them, but because some folks enjoy watching/listening, I guess they’re celebrities?
Shrug. Same basic reasoning. He’s an entertainer – he entertains some people. Well. Not ‘some’ people… a fuckload of people. I don’t get the appeal but having that number of folks following your work definitely seems to qualify for being a celebrity.
At least it’s actual work being produced and not those fucking ‘Help I’m a celebrity’ ones where we really have to take it at face value that these are in fact celebrities because, uh… they were at some point in close proximity to a different celebrity who actually did something.
If he’s got over 42 million subscribers I would say there’s a few people out there that find him funny. Definitely not for everyone but the same could be said about any show / youtuber / comedian etc.
Yeah, I can understand that. I like Felix as a person, but PewDiePie is a tough sell for me.
If you are a person who feels lonely, or you’re bored, or you aren’t allowed to play games, PDP is a great way to have fun.
Firstly, in a lot of videos he seems to great the viewer as a friend, and chat to them as if he were in the room with them. It’s probably comforting for a lot of people that have less of a social life, and it would make them feel included in something.
Building on that, have you ever just looked for stuff to watch on the internet? I mean, I must admit occasionally I just browse reddit, looking for interesting things. PDP is probably that for Youtube. So many videos, you could probably browse his channel and find a video about a topic that interests you. Not necessarily a good video, but still a topic that interests you.
I, for example, have watched his play-through of The Last of Us, probably my favourite game. I don’t love his personality, but I don’t hate it. Seeming him react to something that I feel strongly about, and often reacting in similar ways probably makes me feel good on some subconscious level. I don’t know enough about this stuff to go any more in-depth.
The other thing I think that makes is channel popular, is the gaming stuff. I mean, he’s played a lot of games, and whenever he does, people flock to give the game a try themselves. I work in retail, and I see a lot of people that come in-store to buy Minecraft or Terraria etc, who’ve seen a youtuber play it online. If you aren’t allowed to play GTA V as an 8 year old, chances are you’ll find a way to watch people play it on youtube.
Personally I don’t watch his content, although again I’ve seen his TLOU play-through, which I really enjoy. He also seems to be someone who has copped a lot of abuse through social media and Youtube for absolutely no reason, which makes me feel for him a little. Even though there are others that have probably copped more and worse.
These are all just some thoughts of mine, I don’t know if parts of this are particularly accurate or not. Anyway, he seems like a nice guy to me, good on him for a making a living out of Youtube.
On point reply!
Just to add to this, not all people can afford to own every single game they want to play. Let’s play video’s, like Pewdiepie’s, enable people to experience the games they typically would not have been able to play, all the while feeling somewhat socially involved.
For some reason, this one cracks me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBDtVjtJf8
Mind you, it was the first of his vids I ever watched (and easily the funniest). And I was pretty, pretty drunk when I first watched it.
I think the issue with elucidating “somebody’s problem” with Pewdiepie (and the more successful breed of Lets Player) is that it comes from a perceived position of being out-of-touch, or petty-ness.
I can find fault with the guy on a few levels, and that’s OK too.
When the Next Big Thing comes through – whether it uses games a vehicle or not – and PewDiePie’s virtually thrown on the trash heap, we’ll be subjected to the same amount of hand-wringing from both sides of the fence. Those who like it and those who don’t.
Good for him. 🙂
Seems to me like the article is trying too hard to proclaim he’s relevant, because his handlers bought him spots on late-night talkshows. Pets from funny clips make it on Conan, and they get millions of views too… doesn’t make them mainstream celebrities.
Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.
you can’t knock the guy being able to get paid a shit load…i mean, you have to give him credit for that, but i tried watching 1 of his videos ages ago and after seeing him screaming and overacting to a scary vr game i have to wonder…you can get paid for acting like this?
It’s a weird sort of fame. Like, a youthful fame. My grandparents, parents…or most people I know over 30 don’t have a clue who he is or what he does…but they’re familiar with people like Shia Labouf, Chris Pratt…Kardashians…
In fact, just a few weeks ago I was watching a Lets Play from Achievement Hunter while eating lunch and my granddad asked what it was. I explained how people record themselves playing games and post it online for other people to watch and how some people do it as a career. He flat-out refused to believe it was possible to make money from doing it. I then explained that Pewdiepie made something like 12 million…he still refuses to believe, even after explaining how he makes the money.
Even weirder is that everyone that i know that does know about him, doesn’t watch his stuff…
I MADE PEWDIEPIE A TATOO!! 11/10