Why this woman’s weirdly fascinating viral videos matter
By now, you’ve probably seen Showry’s delightfully weird (and very disgusting) videos circling around Facebook. For the casual viewer, they make little to no sense: In one of her most popular ones, the comedian douses a large pile of french fries with ketchup before shoveling gallons more on top and rubbing some on her arms for good measure. It has over 22 million views to date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-n2ltQ6jQ
In another, Showry shakes a two liter bottle of cola before dumping it all over herself; and in another, she dresses as a mermaid while sitting in a fridge, eating tiny octopuses, and screaming the lyrics to “Under the Sea.” The videos are absurd and silly and impossible to look away from — and it turns out her reason for making them is surprisingly empowering.
In an interview with The New Zealand Herald, Showry explained that her videos are meant to parody Muk-bang, a type of fetish porn where beautiful women seductively eat food on camera. Let’s be clear: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a food-eating fetish. But the trend has recently become increasingly popular in South Korea — and Showry’s videos hope to explore why.
In particular, the videos hope to dismantle our preconceived notions about Asian women by flipping the script on its head. Yes, the videos are disgusting and hilarious and ridiculously mesmerizing, but part of why they have such a strong effect is precisely because of how we’ve been conditioned to view East Asian women. In fact, when asked why she thinks her videos are so popular, Showry responds, “Maybe I am breaking the idea [people] have about Asian girls?”
Showry truly takes “reversing the male gaze” to new levels — and it’s all kinds of amazing. Based on what she had to say, we think it’s fair to say her videos are doing more than bringing some ridiculousness to our timelines. But whether you watch her videos because you view her as a kickass role model or just some quick entertainment, you can’t deny that she’s got something weird and unique going for her.
“I guess there’s no such thing like my video in Korea, and it seems like there isn’t that kind of thing anywhere in the world,” Showry told The New Zealand Herald.
You can watch more of Showry’s videos over at her Facebook page and YouTube channel.
(Image via Facebook.)