Post by vespamonkey on Sept 7, 2006 12:42:55 GMT -5
This is a compilation of ideas I've read or dreamed up.
The Good
This is just a couple of kids being creative. Bree is a very intelligent girl. She seems older than she is because she is so bright and does not relate well to kids her own age. It is an uncommon intersection of qualities: She is probably a genius, she is very nice-looking and she has the time and interest in technology and communication. She has a working knowledge of the internet / video editing / blogging, etc. that older adults just do not comprehend.
a. This is real...but a little sad. She doesn't smile much and rarely laughs. She really is alone, considered freakish by her peers. The only person at her last school that she could relate to was a male teacher. Her parents are clueless academics who have swallowed some isolated religion hook line and sinker. Maybe she just is a lonely, extremely creative girl who is stranded by circumstances and her place on the bell curve. However, the dropping of clues and the Alistair Crowley thing makes my think there is something more than face value going on.
b. This is real...but some kind of project. The domain name was registered and then her and her friend(s) planned their script and characters, etc. The Goodfried and Goodfried connection also suggests some kind of sponsored or supported project. This means it is a mix of a fictitous story and the autobiography of a very intelligent young woman. In this case, she might not be 16 but a 19 - 23 year old in some kind of RTVF program, though still highly autobiographical with a story woven in. In this case, way to go for being able to produce something that is engaging and enigmatic.
c. This is real...but tragic. Maybe she has serious problems. Maybe she has gotten in over her head with the occult. Maybe Cassie really is evidence of a personalitiy disorder. Maybe her parents are completely clueless to the point of negligence. Maybe we are watching as an older boy seduces a vulnerable, younger girl. If any of these things are true, she probably needs outside help, though I consider these scenarios as unlikely.
The Bad
This is a commercial enterprise that is going to leave many of us frustrated with other online mysteries. There is an agenda going on here and Bree and others are getting paid. It is a new type of gig, a 21-st century opportunity to go to Hollywood without leaving Iowa, New Zealand or some isolated California suburb.
a. Product promotion - but what? With an underage girl and the association with the occult and the strange behavior of Bree's parents, what product could run a promotion like this and live to tell about it? The backlash a mainstream company might experience from using a method like this would counter any profits they might make from Brees videos.
b. A movie or other on-screen entertainment promotion - Since Bree and DB are not known to have any previous on-screen experience (and the bizarre fact that no one seems to recognize them) I doubt that they are actors in an upcoming movie. My theory is that by 10/12/06 they encounter someone from a film that is released on Friday the 13th. A dangerous Thelema priest or that goat-faced demon or perhaps they witness some ritual that flows right into a movie / movie trailer. If so, hats off to an amazing idea. Even more amazing if Bree and DB have actually spend months on a movie set with no one knowing about it and are actually in this film or TV show (or internet movie).
c. An AGR promotion - If you consider the complexity of the on-line promotion of Beast/A.I. and ILB/Halo 2 this could easily be another highly successful viral marketing effort. The game itself could be based on a novel (Lovecraft?) and some of the other clues in the youtube tags point to some unusual possibilities. It could even be a cross between several genres (horror, the DaVinci Code and Myst).
The Ugly
Let's hope this is not the case. However, the vague post by the person who supposedly worked on this production makes me a bit worried. Here are some of the uglier possibilities:
a. Christian "Hell House" stunt - I would be surprised if this was an attempt by a Christian group to scare young people out of dabbling with the occult. Certainly this approach is very clever. The Hell House strategy, however, is creepy and without any precedent in their scriptures. So these people would have to be very conservative, on-the-fringe and unlikely to be as savvy and creative as the LG story.
b. Pornography - See "product promotion" above. Besides a horror movie or game, this is the only other thing I could see them selling out of this (since ewetube has made formal denials). That would be very sad but unlikely, IMO because of the amount of what seems to be legitimate but goofy stuff tossed in the story and probably added by the actors themselves. Despite the alleged scriptedness of LG, it still has qualities of innocence and spontaneity that would seem completely out of place in an elaborate pornography stunt.
c. Scientology or Thelemite promotion - Perhaps the story will turn in a way to make either of these groups appealing. Someone suggested that Hubbard and Crowley spent some time together before Crowley's death. Worse case - not because of the brand of religion, but because Bree is a devotee and the religious leaders are using her to fulfill their agenda: <boss from Office Space>Uhm, yeah. Okay, Bree, the little monkey is cute, but, uh, dont' forget to include 10/12/06 in this episode. Uhm, okay?</smarmy boss from Office space> If this is what is going on, there is a definite religious exploitation going on assuming, of course, that she is underage. If she is over 18 then this is simply an innovative yet strange "evangelism" method.
The Good
This is just a couple of kids being creative. Bree is a very intelligent girl. She seems older than she is because she is so bright and does not relate well to kids her own age. It is an uncommon intersection of qualities: She is probably a genius, she is very nice-looking and she has the time and interest in technology and communication. She has a working knowledge of the internet / video editing / blogging, etc. that older adults just do not comprehend.
a. This is real...but a little sad. She doesn't smile much and rarely laughs. She really is alone, considered freakish by her peers. The only person at her last school that she could relate to was a male teacher. Her parents are clueless academics who have swallowed some isolated religion hook line and sinker. Maybe she just is a lonely, extremely creative girl who is stranded by circumstances and her place on the bell curve. However, the dropping of clues and the Alistair Crowley thing makes my think there is something more than face value going on.
b. This is real...but some kind of project. The domain name was registered and then her and her friend(s) planned their script and characters, etc. The Goodfried and Goodfried connection also suggests some kind of sponsored or supported project. This means it is a mix of a fictitous story and the autobiography of a very intelligent young woman. In this case, she might not be 16 but a 19 - 23 year old in some kind of RTVF program, though still highly autobiographical with a story woven in. In this case, way to go for being able to produce something that is engaging and enigmatic.
c. This is real...but tragic. Maybe she has serious problems. Maybe she has gotten in over her head with the occult. Maybe Cassie really is evidence of a personalitiy disorder. Maybe her parents are completely clueless to the point of negligence. Maybe we are watching as an older boy seduces a vulnerable, younger girl. If any of these things are true, she probably needs outside help, though I consider these scenarios as unlikely.
The Bad
This is a commercial enterprise that is going to leave many of us frustrated with other online mysteries. There is an agenda going on here and Bree and others are getting paid. It is a new type of gig, a 21-st century opportunity to go to Hollywood without leaving Iowa, New Zealand or some isolated California suburb.
a. Product promotion - but what? With an underage girl and the association with the occult and the strange behavior of Bree's parents, what product could run a promotion like this and live to tell about it? The backlash a mainstream company might experience from using a method like this would counter any profits they might make from Brees videos.
b. A movie or other on-screen entertainment promotion - Since Bree and DB are not known to have any previous on-screen experience (and the bizarre fact that no one seems to recognize them) I doubt that they are actors in an upcoming movie. My theory is that by 10/12/06 they encounter someone from a film that is released on Friday the 13th. A dangerous Thelema priest or that goat-faced demon or perhaps they witness some ritual that flows right into a movie / movie trailer. If so, hats off to an amazing idea. Even more amazing if Bree and DB have actually spend months on a movie set with no one knowing about it and are actually in this film or TV show (or internet movie).
c. An AGR promotion - If you consider the complexity of the on-line promotion of Beast/A.I. and ILB/Halo 2 this could easily be another highly successful viral marketing effort. The game itself could be based on a novel (Lovecraft?) and some of the other clues in the youtube tags point to some unusual possibilities. It could even be a cross between several genres (horror, the DaVinci Code and Myst).
The Ugly
Let's hope this is not the case. However, the vague post by the person who supposedly worked on this production makes me a bit worried. Here are some of the uglier possibilities:
a. Christian "Hell House" stunt - I would be surprised if this was an attempt by a Christian group to scare young people out of dabbling with the occult. Certainly this approach is very clever. The Hell House strategy, however, is creepy and without any precedent in their scriptures. So these people would have to be very conservative, on-the-fringe and unlikely to be as savvy and creative as the LG story.
b. Pornography - See "product promotion" above. Besides a horror movie or game, this is the only other thing I could see them selling out of this (since ewetube has made formal denials). That would be very sad but unlikely, IMO because of the amount of what seems to be legitimate but goofy stuff tossed in the story and probably added by the actors themselves. Despite the alleged scriptedness of LG, it still has qualities of innocence and spontaneity that would seem completely out of place in an elaborate pornography stunt.
c. Scientology or Thelemite promotion - Perhaps the story will turn in a way to make either of these groups appealing. Someone suggested that Hubbard and Crowley spent some time together before Crowley's death. Worse case - not because of the brand of religion, but because Bree is a devotee and the religious leaders are using her to fulfill their agenda: <boss from Office Space>Uhm, yeah. Okay, Bree, the little monkey is cute, but, uh, dont' forget to include 10/12/06 in this episode. Uhm, okay?</smarmy boss from Office space> If this is what is going on, there is a definite religious exploitation going on assuming, of course, that she is underage. If she is over 18 then this is simply an innovative yet strange "evangelism" method.