Have Viral Videos Gone Too Far???

WebJunk is asking people, through their website, to vote for the "40 Greatest Internet Superstars". These "internet superstars" consist of indivduals who have either popularized themselves through blogging, like Perez Hilton, or via video hosting sites, like YouTube. The viral video stars that you can choose from include Andy Milonakis, Ask a Ninja, Lonley Girl, and Brian Atene--to name a few. Perhaps the most disturbing of all the "superstars", however, is Gino the Ginny.

According to his EPK, Gino the Ginny is an 11 year old from New York who specializes in sketch comedy. Although at first Gino the Ginny's parody is hilarious, it becomes offensive and alarming in retrospect. In his video, "Gino Hits the Clubs", Gino talks about being on steroids, tweezing his eyebrows, buying $500 bottles of wine, going tanning, and being tripped up on ecstasy. An 11 year old could not possibly have come up with this idea..And, in, fact, he did not. A producer by the name of Renzo Da'More put Gino Meluzzio up to this. Da'More's proudction company, has created 19 other viral videos starring Gino the Ginny. Additionally, there is a Gino the Ginny movie in the works and Gino even makes personal appearances at clubs in the Northeast. It seems as though Da'More and crew are exploiting this child more than helping further his "career". So far, Gino the Ginny's "Gino Hits the Clubs" has generated over 670,000 views on YouTube. Gino even has both a website, and a My Space page.





Is exploiting the youth of America the future of online entertainment? More importantly, is laughing at the expense of others a viable means of entertainment? I know that the answer to both of these questions most likely is "yes". So expect to see more viral videos of this nature on the YouTubes and iFilms of the world wide web. But, when you really think about it, such exploitation of others is a direct reflection of the evils that are inherent in human nature. It's sad, I know, but we all need a little laugh every once in a while, right? What ever happened to stand up comedy?