Me @ the Zoo

Me @ the Zoo is a documentary about YouTube star Chris Crocker, who you may remember from his "Leave Britney Alone!" video in 2007*. This documentary was released on June 25, 2012 on HBO. I arbitrarily chose this documentary to watch from the selection available On Demand, because I personally didn't know much about him.

Courtesy of Tumblr.

Once I started watching the documentary, I remembered hearing about him in the 4th grade after he made the video defending his idol Britney Spears.

The documentary seamlessly incorporates Crocker's own YouTube and Myspace videos into present-day interviews with Crocker.

The story follows Crocker starting in the early 2000s when his videos on Myspace never received views. In the film, Crocker says that the videos served as an outlet for him to openly talk about being gay in a very close-minded town. This was very hard for me to grasp, because Maryland (and especially the Blair community) is very accepting of the LGBT community.

"It's a hairflip." was one of Crocker's
popular sayings. 

When YouTube first came out, it gave Chris a way to become a star. His videos were suddenly receiving thousands of views, and many other YouTubers were imitating his catch phrases that graced each video.

The documentary delves into Crocker's relationship with his mom throughout her time in Iraq and her post-war drug abuse.

The film has underlying messages about acceptance and the importance of family. It also critiques the world's view of the LGBT community as a whole.

I gave Me @ the Zoo 3.5 stars because it was a very touching documentary that I believe will resonate with any viewer. I did not think it deserved more than 3.5 stars due to the vast amount of repetitiveness throughout the documentary.

Below if the official trailer of Me @ the Zoo courtesy of HBO.com. More information about Me @ the Zoo may be found here.

"Me @ the Zoo" is rated TV-MA for nudity, adult content, and adult language. It is 90 minutes long.


*This video may be found on YouTube, however a link is not provided due to the language in the video.