Riverdale Vs the YouTube Community
by
Kaiya Simon
Reaction and commentary channels on YouTube have blown up recently – whether it’s someone testing a new product or watching something for the first time. REACT – the channel that literally reacts to anything – has over 903 billion views. There must be a satisfaction of watching something for the first time on camera and having your audience enjoy and relate to your opinions. And what better show is there to react to than Riverdale? Kaiya Simon spoke to some of her favorite YouTubers to see the fascination behind the reaction genre and what makes Riverdale so react-worthy.
Some may think it’s a new phase that the younger generations are going through. Others may understand reaction videos on a deeper level – empathy. Like previously stated there is something interesting about watching people react to things, especially when they’re reacting to something you watch and have the same views and opinions as you on the topic. On the contrary they might make you question a thought you had on something or see another side to a debate you’ve been having with yourself.
There’s a common theme of sharing opinions and how YouTube’s an easy way to interact with people for Ifan Barber, 20 and Joe Harding, 24. “Friends so often ask my opinions on current shows, movies and general popular culture,” says Ifan. “I was inundated with thoughts/feelings about various shows and decided to express them in an outlet I had grown comfortable in,” he adds.
Joe’s always enjoyed sharing his thoughts about tv shows online. “I used to do reviews prior to reaction videos and loved interacting with people about episodes I’d just watched, so changed the content to reactions,” he says.
One thing for sure is Riverdale brings a lot of entertainment to people’s lives. “The show itself is very entertaining,” says Angel Perez, 24. “Sometimes the dialogue is a bit cringey but that makes it fun to watch and have snarky commentary,” he continues.
Watching people watch television is more entertaining than you think
Alex Meyers, 32, loves how the show leans into its own absurdity and Ifan thinks it’s something refreshing to see on Netflix as it comes out in weekly instalments, along with being prominent on social media. “There’s definitely a love/hate relationship there. It’s the pinnacle of ‘trash’ tv in the modern era,” according to Ifan.
All four YouTubers think their Riverdale reactions are so popular because their opinions are so relatable and honest. “I think people just like to come on to those reactions to have a good laugh about how silly the show is,” Joe explains. “I try not to take the show too seriously.”
“It’s a cross-internet situation of “if my opinion is in a prominent internet forum then it’s valid’,” Ifan explains. Alex says there’s something instinctively pleasing about hearing someone else say the same thing you’re thinking. Joe adds that it may make the audience notice something they have possibly missed.
When asked if anyone from the show has noticed their reactions, they all answered no, but Angel expanded on his experience with his friend Sean who has his own channel.
“Sean’s channel reacting to Game of Thrones had one of the actors come to Chicago and watch it with them for the final season,” Angel explains. Almost all of Alex’s Riverdale reactions have over a million views so he’s sure that someone from the show’s aware of them.
One great thing about Riverdale is the whole series is pretty chaotic. When asked what their favorite episode of Riverdale is, each person had a different answer. For Ifan it was episode 4×08, In Treatment. “I enjoyed reacting to the episode with the psychologist. I thought it was an interesting insight into the psyche of the characters at that point,” Ifan explains.
“As for a least favorite, I would say one where there wasn’t much going on, or it was more focused on school drama, mainly because there’s not much to unpack there,” he continues, which is ironic as it’s a teen drama currently set in high school but not much happens in the school itself.
“Cheryl in season four has been a gold mine of reaction material. From the gas mask to the “Hello daddy, hello mom” scene, it’s been a fun time,” Alex says.
As for giving their true opinions on screen, they’re all pretty honest and uncensored. “As much as I dunk on the show, I do actually hope it keeps on going because then all the cast and crew can keep their jobs and I can keep reacting,” Alex says.
“I’m always vocal about how flawed that show in particular can be,” Joe admits.
Lots of people hate-watch Riverdale, watching to complain about or laugh at, but Ifan says there’s enjoyment in comedy because the show’s genuinely laughable if you dislike it. For Joe, Riverdale makes for good content and is always fun because you never know what’s going to happen. “A guy literally tried to fly to the moon in a missile,” he says.
“I think there is something innate within us that really enjoys the combination of pleasure and pain, or, finding pleasure within pain? If that makes sense,” Alex explains.
“Like people online who go out of their way to find something to get upset about. They enjoy being angry or annoyed. This could be applied to a lot of things, but in this case I think a lot of people will watch something they hate (like Riverdale or reality tv) because it mixes pleasure and pain,” he continues.
There’s a community on YouTube that creates Riverdale Crack videos – edited funny or bizarre moments that are put together to make one humorous video. “I am aware of crack videos, and some are fairly funny, but I’ve found, in the case of Riverdale, they’re mostly cringe videos from fans who don’t realize how bad some of the storylines really are,” Ifan explains.
There’s been a lot of controversy, particularly this season, surrounding the relationship between Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews – next door neighbors and long term best friends. Betty grew up in love with Archie but ends up in a relationship with Jughead, and Archie with Veronica.
The series has played around with the Betty and Archie relationship throughout that came to a head in season four when Archie and Betty cheated on their significant others with each other and it’s safe to say the fandom wasn’t impressed – causing a war between people who ‘ship’ (support) Betty and Archie, or Betty and Jughead or Veronica and Archie and between them, the crew and cast of the show.
Ifan is not personally a fan of Barchie (the ship name of Betty and Archie) and doesn’t think that hate towards creators should be encouraged no matter how mad the fandom are. The others, though, liked the twist and the foreshadowing and appreciated what the creators were doing.
“Many shows have been ruined because they either gave into fan requests too much or went too far to oppose them. I think the show creators/writers should just tell the story they want to tell,” Alex says.
“I think ship wars are fine, to a point. A show needs to change things up with their relationships or it gets boring and stale. Let the show do its thing,” Joe agrees.
There are some very random moments in Riverdale that these YouTubers had no problem talking about, such as the cult, the tickle porn, Archie fighting a Grizzly bear and plenty of slow motion walks, but there was one inexcusable moment for Angel.
“One of the biggest loophole dialogues is the “Wait, you box?” How have you lived in Archie’s boxing gym for months, where not only does he own it but trains there and always talks about boxing in that season and does not know he boxed?” Angel exclaims.
The show and characters are an adaptation of the Archie Comics and some are of the opinion that the show hasn’t stayed true to the comics or that it has too much.
“The show has stayed true in character name and vague background only,” Ifan thinks. I would call Riverdale a gritty homage more than a direct adaptation. But no, I don’t think that matters. At this point, they’re separate entities with different fan bases,” he continues.
“I think it’s okay to deviate a little but to keep the solid structure from it,” Angel thinks. “Walking Dead kept characters that died off early in order to create character development and that’s okay because it’s an adaptation of the comics, and translates differently on television,” he explains.
Alex adds that comics get adapted all the time so it doesn’t matter, and Joe thinks it may add to a watching experience, but the original works shouldn’t be essential to enjoy a show.
As viewers and fans we get quite attached to television shows and characters and there are debates on whether this is a good, healthy thing or not. “Escapism definitely plays into our attachment to characters. For as long as I can remember I’ve latched on to a particular character in the media I consume, in the case of Riverdale it’s Jughead, probably because he’s shaping the story in his narration,” Ifan explains.
“It’s a good thing because it allows us to engage the story better, but I feel the bad aspect is toxic fandom, people who become too aggressive as a consequence of their choice.”
Angel thinks it is because we see ourselves in certain characters and that Riverdale does a good job in creating good television and the cast for molding the sculpture of a character for you. Joe agrees that we spend so much time with the characters and get invested in their stories. As long as it’s a healthy attachment it is a good thing.
“The overwhelming majority of people live boring lives. I don’t mean this as an insult, but it’s true. Most people just go to school, go to work, come home, scroll through Twitter, go to sleep. So, seeing someone solving a murder mystery, finding a magic sword, dating the hot football player, buying a 10-million-dollar house, buying 1000 lotto tickets, etc… you get to see someone else doing things you wish you could do,” Alex explains.
“As for why some people get so attached, they obsess over them? I have no idea. I guess it’s fun to fantasize.”
