I know. They’re trash. Watching a YouTube video of someone watching a TV show or a movie is pretty much the definition of banal. They can also be insultingly performative and insincere. 

And yet… I have found some that I like. Natalie Gold is a reaction video YouTuber that I enjoy. Sometimes, late in the evening, I don’t have the mental energy to watch something new. Watching something I’ve already seen doesn’t have much appeal. So what do you do? 

You watch something you’ve seen already…with Natalie, who’s never seen it! This way you don’t have to think too hard about the story because you already know it, but you get to vicariously relive that first viewing through her. You know how fun it can be to introduce someone to something you know is great but that they’ve never seen? It’s a little like that. 

And, it has to be said, it can be a comforting way to waste 30 minutes, especially in the midst of all the pandemic isolation.