Skip to content

Thoughts from the TFiOS Premiere!

2014-06-06 · letter vlog · Hank, Katherine Green · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life, Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, timely hook, self promotion, guest or collab

Hank, back from the TFiOS premiere in New York, argues that while the trend is to hide complexity behind effortless perfection, Vlogbrothers shows how things are made, and says the film is great and adds to understanding of life, love and hurt.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Weird and fancy things in New York: white asparagus, mirror lens, broken umbrellas, ice in a urinal, TFiOS clouds in Central Park, tiny chairs, a Times Square ad

  • ★★ Hank flew in a tiny plane to New York City and lists weird and fancy things he found there. — 00:00:00 · New York City
  • ★ Hank explains that white asparagus, served at the most expensive restaurant he has been to, is asparagus that never saw light, so it is milder and not green. — 00:00:04
  • ★★ Hank points out TFiOS clouds in Central Park, jokingly calling them a permanent city installation, and a Times Square advertisement for the film of his brother's book. (playful) — 00:00:37 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

00:00:58 — The real reason: the TFiOS premiere and red carpet with his wife; unpublished photos; Katherine on sweating

00:01:35 — Can't show the movie, so intellectualize: Shades of Milk and Honey asks whether understanding hidden systems changes beauty; hidden systems on display at Uniqlo and the MoMA Design store

  • ★★ Hank finished Shades of Milk and Honey in New York and describes it as like Jane Austen with magic; the description calls it good. — 00:01:50 · New York City
  • ★★★ Hank says a big question of the book is whether beautiful things are more or less beautiful if you understand the hidden systems that create them. — 00:01:53
  • ★★ Hank kept seeing hidden systems on display in New York: a Uniqlo escalator with a side window showing its workings, and the Museum of Modern Art Design store. — 00:02:08 · New York City

00:02:24 — The trend hides complexity behind effortless perfection; Vlogbrothers has done the opposite by showing how things are made

  • ★★★ Hank thinks the long-running trend has been to hide complexity for an illusion of effortless perfection: technology in beautiful boxes, entertainment as magic show, celebrities as perfect embodiments of cool. (hedged) — 00:02:24 · celebrity

  • ★★★ Hank says Vlogbrothers has done the opposite from the start: his real office, no makeup, T-shirts from a local printer with the process shown, set videos, and how both brothers feel. — 00:02:39 · Vlogbrothers, The Fault in Our Stars (film), John Green

    “since we started here on Vlogbrothers, we have kind of been doing the opposite. That is the whole point!”

00:02:56 — Hank's feelings: overwhelmed and worried about press and attention, but sure the movie is great; it added to him and opened up life, love and hurt for understanding

  • ★★ Hank admits feeling overwhelmed: afraid of missing opportunities, of not making sense to the New Yorker or the Wall Street Journal, and worried about all the external attention. — 00:02:56 · New York City
  • ★★★ Hank is not worried that the movie is bad or that people won't like it: it is great, people will love it, and he cried several times because it added to him. — 00:03:14 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
  • ★★★ Hank says the film opened up the mysteries of life, love and hurt for examination and understanding, which he thinks the world needs more of. (hedged) — 00:03:26 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

00:03:38 — Proud of John; see the movie on release day in your country; sign-off and outtake

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • White asparagus is grown without light, which Hank finds weird. — 00:00:18

    “I feel like I have robbed asparagus of reaching its full potential.”

  • Hank offers New York advice over footage of broken umbrellas. — 00:00:31

    “when your umbrella breaks in New York City, just throw it on the ground!”

  • Among the oddities of New York Hank spots in Times Square, he casually notes one billboard. — 00:00:54

    “That is just an advertisement for the movie that they are making out of my brother's book.”

  • Hank says he can't show the premiere's film because of copyright. — 00:01:35

    “Also, that would be a really long YouTube video.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: New York City · Shades of Milk and Honey · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Also: People: Jane Austen · Katherine Green · Sydney Green

Organizations: Museum of Modern Art · The New Yorker · The Wall Street Journal · Uniqlo

Concepts: celebrity

Places: Central Park · Times Square

← Previous: The Fault in Our Stars Movie Premiere · Next → Our Old Friend Complexity: Behind the Beautiful Forevers