Why Protopod's Boring And Bizarre Videos Are Addictive [Steemit Exclusive]

Steve Sutton is the odd man behind the Protopod and Steve Sutton Archive YouTube channels and I discovered him a few years ago with his infamous video, How To Make Iced Tea:

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"How To Make Iced Tea") A lot of people on the internet describe him as creepy, and there are definitely elements of that but Steve reminds me of all those boring moments in life, when you feel like your alone, and can do whatever the hell you want. Steve certainly seems isolated from other people, and that is the quality that I like about him.

His isolation has made him very unique, even in his most boring moments, like showing us what's in his chester drawers, talking about the weather and detailing his latest unspectacular dinner.

Steve shows us the most boring objects that he keeps in his drawers, like plain white envelopes, airmail stickers, an old TV Guide from 1998, notebook, notes that contain ingredients to make mustard gas, a solar panel that he never opened up, another old notebook and a 1996 Astronomy magazine, among some other stuff.

There's something about Steve that doesn't allow me to tear myself away from watching this video about the boring stuff in his drawers. I think it's Steve's shameless approach plus I'm reminded of my own boring crap in my own room. Steve is so human, so utterly un-self-conscious that I think any human being will be able to relate to him. Even people who are not introverted nuts like Steve, will find something they can relate to in his videos.

I think there's a little Steve inside each of us, and that's why we can't tear ourselves away from watching him. After I watched the Stuff in My Drawers video, it made me want to re-discover what I had hidden away in my own drawers. I'm a pack rat like Steve. And I also have a solar panel that I haven't opened up. I have weird notes in notebooks that contain stuff I'm no longer interested in, and like Steve, I won't be throwing them away. I've gotten rid of most of my material possessions like furniture, but I've managed to keep every journal and photo I've ever taken. I still have my postcard collection too. Even though I'm not as isolated as Steve is, he does, on some 10% level remind me of myself (minus the off-kilter eye and habit of talking slow)

It's easier for me to announce something to random strangers in a video than it is to tell someone something face-to-face.

I think back to my college days, when I would spend entire days in my room, inside my own mind, making video feedback movies, some days I would wander around early in the morning, collecting and recording sounds on my little portable recorder. Being random and interested in the world was my way of life. I liked the freedom to explore whatever I was interested in at the moment. Steve reminds me of that kind of energy, the kind that just emerges from within, that doesn't appear to have any rhyme or reason to the outside world.

Steve's video, Supper, shown below is tragic for a few reasons: 1. it shows how sometimes our lives are so boring that we don't have anything to talk about except what we're having for dinner. 2. Isolation can be really depressing, and having a meal alone, year after year, can take an emotional toll on those who experience this kind of deep loneliness.
I would say that the loneliness becomes so engrained, so much a part of life, that those who experience stop noticing it after a while. Some people are just solitary. I wonder if Steve has mentioned loneliness in any of his videos?

The food in Steve's supper is kind of depressing because it looks really bland, and flavorless. There's something disturbing about it, and I guess when we watch this video, we feel the heavy weight of Steve's isolating life. It kind of makes me look at my own life defensively like I have nothing in common with Steve. But I do have some things in common with Steve..............

I suppose since I've decided to publicly spill my guts on a regular basis, I'll just go ahead and say why I like protopod's videos and why I see myself in them: I never matured into an adult in a number of ways. In some ways I have, but others remain frozen in time, like around my early twenties. My frozen time capsule areas are: relationships (I'm stuck in my twenties because I don't want to settle for anything less than amazing), organization (my world is a huge mess of unfinished projects and I use the excuse that I'm an artist to cover up for my scattered environment).

Steve is making an animated series called Commander Neat. I just watched episode 5 and it's really bizarre, twisted funny. It's like being inside's Steve's mind:

What part of yourself do you see when you watch Steve's videos?

ps- The Iced Tea video was removed by Steve because he got so many "this is creepy" comments on it. The video, had been mirrored by another youtuber though, so that's why it's still up.