The Shelf Life of Viral Videos Has Expired
Netflix’s ‘The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker’ lacks energy because we’ve grown tired of novelty internet stories
“No matter what you’ve done, you deserve respect. Even if you make mistakes, you’re lovable; and it doesn’t matter your look, skills or age or size, or anything, you’re worthwhile,” the frizzy haired, backpack wearing Kai says in his washy surfer voice as he’s interviewed by Jessob Reisbeck of KMPH News. The uplifting note from the transient man at the beginning of the interview isn’t the reason the video went viral, rather it’s Kai’s dramatic explanation of how he hit an assailant on the head with his hatchet.
“Smash! Smash! Suh-mashhh!”
In 2013, we were living through the heyday of viral video content. Double Rainbows, What Does the Fox Say? and the Harlem Shake were everywhere. A year after the Kony 2012 debacle, viral videos were a dominant part of internet culture. At the time, companies were constantly asking their millennial interns “how can we make this go viral?” and reality television was starting to intersect with the idea of the “influencer” (the term was partially invented for the Kardashians).
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker documentary attempts to make a 2023 audience care about this story, but…
