Skip to content

★★★★ Review: The TFiOS Bench - Amsterdam

2017-04-14 · review / recommendation · Hank · 3:48 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location

In Amsterdam after VidCon Europe, Hank reads the Google reviews of the Fault in Our Stars bench, then leaves his own: the bench is not special except for what people bring to it, which he thinks is true of most important things and of people.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Intro song; Amsterdam thoughts: tulips, clogs, a fair and 'American sauce'

  • ★★ Hank finds Amsterdam very good and wants to have many thoughts there: about tulips, financialization, economic bubbles and genetics. — 00:00:10 · Amsterdam
  • ★ At a fair in town, Hank orders 'American sauce' expecting ranch dressing; it isn't, and he doesn't know the flavour. (playful) — 00:00:36

00:00:43 — The TFiOS bench on Google Maps and a reading of its reviews

  • ★★ Hank finds the Fault in Our Stars bench on Google Maps with 75 reviews and an average rating of 4.3, as good as the Van Gogh Museum. — 00:00:54 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ Hank reads reviews saying it is just a bench, an ordinary bench, noting one such review still gave four stars. (playful) — 00:01:16
  • ★★ Hank reports critical reviews: Milena's two-star review finds the bench extremely uncomfortable and wonders how Hazel and Gus did it; Dominika says people need to treat it better. (hedged) — 00:01:27 · Hazel Grace Lancaster, Augustus Waters
  • ★★ Hank says the bench seems the opposite of the world's largest ball of paint: tourists remove paint every visit rather than add it. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:38
  • ★ Hank notes that the 'few promise locks' one review mentions have apparently multiplied in eight months: there are more than a few. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:52
  • ★★ Hank passes on Maharlika's tip: recreate the famous movie poster by photographing the bench from the other side of the canal, as the film did. — 00:01:57 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
  • ★★ Hank reports positive reviews: Katerina says 10 out of 10, would sit again; Joanna calls it the best free attraction in Amsterdam, five stars. — 00:02:06 · Amsterdam

00:02:23 — Hank's own review: the bench matters because of what people bring to it; watching visitors; John's roadside attractions; sign-off

  • ★★ Since no review captured his experience, Hank left his own review of the bench. — 00:02:23
  • ★★ In his review Hank finds it weird and amazing that his brother wrote a book that made a bench famous enough to have 75, now 76, Google reviews. — 00:02:31 · John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★★ Hank says it is a fine bench, special only because of what people bring to it, as with most important things and people: we aren't much unless you know our story. (hedged) — 00:02:45
  • ★★ Hank sat by the bench a long time watching visitors: some just killing time between events, others clearly excited to meet a place important to them or their relationships; it made him happy. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ Hank says John is a little obsessed with America's roadside attractions, and it is cool and weird that he unintentionally inspired a canal-side attraction across an ocean. — 00:03:17 · John Green
  • ★★★ Each visitor brings their own stories and connections and makes the bench more than it was meant to be, maybe a little like all of us. (hedged) — 00:03:28

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says VidCon Europe was amazing, special and beautiful, and that Amsterdam and the Netherlands are gorgeous with very nice people. — video description · Amsterdam

Humor (significant)

  • Hank reads a review saying it's just an ordinary bench — 00:01:20

    “Though apparently that was worth four stars.”

  • Hank compares the bench to John's world's largest ball of paint — 00:01:38

    “in that many tourists seem to remove paint every time they go, rather than add it.”

  • A review mentions a few promise locks on the bench — 00:01:52

    “because this is more than a few.”

  • Joanna calls the bench the best free attraction in Amsterdam — 00:02:19

    “Though to be fair, there are no other free attractions in Amsterdam.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Amsterdam · TFiOS Bench

Also: Works: The Fault in Our Stars · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Organizations: Van Gogh Museum

Concepts: Love lock · roadside attraction

Places: World's Largest Ball of Paint

Characters: Augustus Waters · Hazel Grace Lancaster

Products: Google Maps

Only in the description or credits: Brodyquest · Neil Cicierega · VidCon Europe

← Previous: Making the World's Largest Ball of Paint · Next → Framing