Preach on, Ginger Brotha...

When I was born, as the nurses were cleaning me up and doing whatever it is they do, one of them called to my mother, “She has red hair!” I do not know what the normal response to this statement would be after nine months of carrying a child and an exhausting delivery, but I do know that my mom’s response was to scream. Yes, she screamed at the thought of having given birth to a redheaded child. And so begins the story of my life…

Having red hair has always made me stand out in a crowd. People who dye theirs various, hideous shades of red come up to me and ask me if my hair color is natural—since I was a few months old actually (as if I would get my hair dyed as an infant)—and it is very easy to find me in a crowd of people. Just look for the bright red illuminating from my head. It was always a good thing to be a redhead, especially with role models such as Ginger Spice to look up to (kidding…). Then, however, the show South Park came along and changed the meaning of being a red head forever. If you are unfamiliar with the episode, Cartman gives a speech about how “gingers” (red hair, pale skin, freckles…check, check, and check for me) have no souls. He had a lot to say about my particular…species, and since this episode in 2005 aired, this term and ideology has spread like wildfire.

As a “ginger”, I have learned to accept that people think that this episode of South Park is hysterically funny. I don’t really mind it, and I agree that it is hard for us to survive in the daylight. However, some of my fellow gingers take serious offense to the message of this episode. One boy in particular posted his views in a video on YouTube. The video is entitled “GINGERS DO HAVE SOULS!!” I wish that I could tell you about the poignant, well-spoken argument that he is making, but that is simply not the case.

It is understandable why this kid would use the scene and genre of YouTube in order to get his message across. After all, the video has been viewed over 2 million times. These days, using YouTube as a genre of expression/”writing” is one of the best ways for everyday people to get a message across to a large audience. Not everyone can get an article published, or form a big enough gathering of people in order to make their argument. Even genres such as blogging that could lend themselves to a larger audience are restricted. It is difficult to just stumble upon interesting blogs unless it is on a site that you check regularly. Besides that, people are much more inclined to watch a video than read a diatribe about gingers (I suppose this would be a good place to apologize for making you read a diatribe about gingers). All you have to do is press play, sit back, relax, and enjoy this unstable boy.

Aside from the fact that this focus on genre simplifies the way we consume information/arguments, it has to be interesting in some way in order to succeed. The genre of YouTube depends on word of mouth to spread in the way that this particular video has. It has been posted on my Facebook wall twice in a week. Why is it so compelling and worth so much attention? If you have to ask, then you clearly have not seen this video. This boy is yelling in the camera for 3 minutes about how he is teased at school because of the notoriety of gingers in the post-South Park episode era. His main argument is that we do, in fact, have souls. He responds to these accusations of soullessness by repeatedly yelling about how he is a Christian, and even goes so far as to mention how he has thought about killing himself. I’m telling you, you cannot make this stuff up. The fact of the matter is that this kid does not make himself appear likable to his audience, so the basic appeal of this argument/video is not really that he pulls at the heartstrings. It is compelling because he is insane. Screaming, swearing, and pointing his finger in the camera...thanks for perpetuating the “Redheads have bad tempers” stereotype, buddy.

Essentially, this kid’s argument would not be worth discussing if he had made it in any other genre. If it were written out in any form, it just would not be the same. As the audience, we need to see this kid’s, um, passion in an uncensored manner. Although his mental stability is now being questioned on the grand stage of YouTube, his genre selection was perfect because he is awkwardly speaking from the heart. If he had a delete key, it would destroy the experience of his argument, and it truly was an experience.