casey neistat premiered his new documentary “under the influence” at sxsw last weekend. it features the rise and fall of david dobrik specifically but offers a broader lens of dobrik navigating (and dominating) today’s social media landscape. or at least that is what i have heard! i (regretfully) did not join my family in austin for spring break and i (thankfully) did not spend 500 dollars to view the film online. i am sure casey’s unfettered access to david the past few years offers unique insight, but i pretty much have all that i need as someone who regularly viewed david’s content since 2015. and from the sidelines, what both dobrik viewers and casey discovered that youtube’s ability to leave no distance between creators and an audience is far more capable of doing more harm than good.
regarding why this is a 95-minute doc versus a series: i think it could have been shaped in myriad ways but it had to be long form. the characters in david’s videos, the subjects in this documentary…
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