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I Love Hank: Esther Day 2010

2010-08-02 · letter vlog · John · 3:33 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: History & curiosities, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, community lore, punishment or challenge, civic or action cta

For Esther Day 2010, which Esther asked to be about family and love, John argues through 'freedom fries' that the words we use for feelings matter, tells Hank he loves him, and asks Nerdfighters to say 'I love you' to someone.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Esther Day: Nerdfighter Esther's 16th birthday and John's promise to make videos on whatever she chooses

  • ★★★ John says it is Monday, August 2, 2010 (August 3 in Australia), so in Australia it is Nerdfighter Esther's 16th birthday, a.k.a. Esther Day. — 00:00:00 · Esther Earl, Esther Day, Australia

  • ★★★ John says that when he met Esther in Boston, he promised her that on her birthday, forever, the brothers would make videos about whatever she wanted. — 00:00:00 · Esther Earl, Vlogbrothers

    “I promised her that on her birthday, in perpetuity, we would make videos about whatever she wanted”

00:00:29 — Esther picks family and love; the 'Freedom Fries' at a local restaurant, the 2003 Congress renaming, and Juliet's 'a rose by any other name'

  • ★★★ Esther told John she wants Esther Day to be about family and love. — 00:00:29 · Esther Earl, Esther Day
  • ★★ John jokes that showing Hank love should be enough without talking about it, but because it is Esther Day they will talk about family and love. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Esther Day, Esther Earl
  • ★★ A restaurant near John's house, Hotcakes Emporium Pancake House Restaurant (he nicknames it 'Heifer'), still sells 'Freedom Fries' that look and taste like French fries. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Freedom fries
  • ★★ John recalls that in 2003 some members of the US Congress, angry that France saw no link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, renamed French fries and French toast 'Freedom' in the congressional cafeteria. — 00:00:58 · United States Congress, Freedom fries
  • ★ John says French fries are not actually French but Belgian, and are very bad for you. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John asks whether a freedom fry is a French fry; Juliet's 'a rose by any other name' says names don't matter, but that worldview did not end well for Romeo and Juliet. (playful) — 00:01:27 · Freedom fries

00:01:56 — Words for feelings matter: freedom fries are not French fries, and showing love is not the same as saying 'I love you' to your brother

  • ★★★ John argues the words we use to describe what we feel matter: a French fry is a delicious if carcinogenic food, a freedom fry a stupid political statement. — 00:01:56 · Freedom fries
  • ★★ John says all American political parties now admit the US was wrong and the French were right, so maybe Americans should quietly go back to saying French fries. (hedged) — 00:01:56 · Freedom fries
  • ★★★ John's hypothetical: saying you like your brother and showing love (thousands planting trees for his birthday) is not the same as telling him you love him, which John thinks Esther wants. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:26 · Hank Green, Esther Earl

00:02:55 — Who is it hard to say 'I love you' to; John tells Hank he loves him, sets Hank's makeup-tutorial punishment, and asks Nerdfighters to tell someone they love them; sign-off

  • ★★ John suggests that maybe this is the day to think about whom you love but find it hard to say 'I love you' to: not a romantic interest, but family or platonic friends, which he finds even harder. (hedged) — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ John tells Hank that he loves him. — 00:02:55 · Hank Green
  • ★★★ John sets Hank's punishment: a makeup tutorial in the style of YouTube makeup tutorials, deadline September 1. — 00:02:55 · Hank Green, Punishment, YouTube
  • ★★★ John asks Nerdfighters to join Esther and him in telling someone they love that they love them today. — 00:02:55 · Nerdfighteria, Esther Earl, Esther Day
  • ★★ John invites viewers, if feeling exhibitionistic, to say in the comments who it is hard for them to say 'I love you' to. — 00:02:55

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description points to Esther's own vlog and asks viewers to wish her a happy birthday and to make someone they love aware of that love today. — video description · Esther Earl

Humor (significant)

  • John repeats the restaurant's very long name, Hotcakes Emporium Pancake House Restaurant, then abbreviates it. — 00:00:29

    “Let's just shorten it to Heifer.”

  • Saying France shouldn't want to be associated with French fries, John imagines a nation called heroin whose drug we angrily rename 'Freedom'. — 00:00:58

    “The nation of would probably be like, thank you.”

  • John cites Juliet's 'a rose by any other name' as the view that names don't matter. — 00:01:27

    “But, spoiler alert, it's worth noting that that worldview does not actually spell success for Romeo and Juliet.”

  • Hypothetically, instead of saying he loves his brother, someone might show it by having thousands of people plant tens of thousands of trees for his birthday. — 00:02:26

    “I don't know what the thing is.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Esther Day · Esther Earl · Freedom fries

Also: Works: Romeo and Juliet

Organizations: al-Qaeda · Hotcakes Emporium Pancake House Restaurant · United States Congress · YouTube

Rituals: Punishment

Places: Australia · Belgium · Boston · France · Iraq

Characters: Juliet

animal: Willy

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2010-08-02 – 2010-08-27.