my online “persona” has always been built on being honest, so I think I’m going to kick that into gear right now and talk about something that’s been on my heart for a couple years now.

I love my partner kyle. if you’ve been following me for a while you know this. well, kyle has spent the last 10 years of his life on youtube. it’s been a very isolating experience for him. and it’s an experience that I have often struggled to understand.

if you’ve watched his stuff, you know how brilliant he is. you know how much he cares about world cinema, language, emotion, empathy and everything that a film critic is supposed to care about. I don’t know a person who thinks more about being thoughtful about art.

in comparison, i’ve been a film critic for 3 years, writing essays and podcasting. it’s a different world for me, less isolating. writing essays and appearing on podcasts has allowed me to make friends, host screenings, go to film festivals. it’s been collaborative.

well, last year I fell out with a group of youtubers who had been pretty awful to me. in solidarity, kyle fell out with them too. but while I had other friend groups to fall back on, he didn’t. and while i’d only known them for a handful of years, he’d known them for a decade.

so, I guess the whole point of this thread is that the man I love doesn’t feel like he is part of the film lovers/critics community and he really needs that, especially now that we’re in quarantine. but he’s very shy and youtube has been so isolating, so he’s struggling.