As someone who actually knows her and is friends with her, I’ve occasionally been annoyed by the stuff people say about her. So, I’m gonna take this opportunity to share a few words about “iJustine”.
Truth is, as much as Justine fits the ultimate “pretty girl” stereotype by her looks, she is much more than just that.
Of all the people I know—and trust me, I know a lot of people—she is one of the most dedicated, hard-working people in the industry. She works an effective fulltime job, 40 hours a week, doing all sorts of miscellaneous consulting & contracting, but on top of that she performs (and has to keep up) a second fulltime job, which is her online presence and image. It’s a big part of what she makes a living with, as it gives her new leads, new contracts, and new opportunities.
More importantly, though, it’s her energy. She works 80 hours a week (easily), but remains one of the most driven, energetic people I can think of, bar none.
An example: on some Friday night, I was hanging out with her and a couple of other people at the PixelCorps office; I got there at 6pm but Justine, Lisa Bettany and Alex Lindsey & crew had just finished shooting some stuff for the entire day and had started making cocktails. Around 8pm most of Alex & crew had taken off, with six of us remaining. We played music and danced and jumped around to it, making more random off-hand videos and singing along loudly. We continued doing so until 1am that night, without getting any dinner at all (each of us had only had lunch as the last meal). Throughout the evening, very often we’d sit down, tired, and discuss dinner, when suddenly a song would come up that Justine really liked and she and her energy just spurred us all on again.
Honestly, I’ll never forget that night because it taught me the core reason I’m friends with her: she has an energy and spirit that you just very rarely encounter, and it’s a very strong, infectious and positive kind of energy. It sucks you in and drags you along for the ride, but ultimately you end up feeling excited, happy and energized.
When push comes to shove, I understand a lot of the criticisms towards her, but the reality is that she works really hard behind the scenes, doing good stuff a lot of the time, and working with her or even just spending some quality time with her outside of work, is nothing but an immense joy and pleasure.
To me, that’s the stuff that matters most.
I completely agree.
No one can deny Justine’s energy and drive. And I didn’t — and while others may use my criticism as an excuse to start ripping apart the lady’s entire being, I intend to criticize just one thing: She’s not a particularly great performer.
Maybe her looks factor into it — I don’t really think so, there are millions of conventionally pretty women vying for attention. I bet a lot of it is her energy and drive. That drive can get someone far within small circles. But in the world at large, it takes more — either a hook for mass appeal (shitty things can be popular!), or actual talent. And Justine doesn’t have enough, not right now. I’d love to see her get it and star in something bigger, or at least some better-produced commercials.
But I feel Justine is one example of a sinister truth: Internet fame is nearly always mere personality-worship or weirdo-gawking, and it has little to do with talent.
Not always, obviously. Plenty of talented people start their artistic careers online: The Lonely Island, Alison Weiss, Brandon Hardesty. They have as much energy and drive as anyone else, but they also dedicate themselves to being better entertainers. And my initial post was a reminder to myself: Pay attention to my work first before I try to build my audience. Or I’ll end up hawking computer repair.
Towards a system of categorisation of male looks.
So here are three kinds of male attractiveness.
1: Hyper-pretty men that everyone knows are attractive even if straight guys don’t say it because they are afraid of being called gay. IE Brad Pitt.
2: Handsome guys that make women go week at the knees because they’re good looking but also somehow masculine: IE Clive Owen.
3: Guys that it would be awesome to look like because they’re not good looking but they look like they were carved out of stone with a chainsaw.
EG: Jurgen Prochnow. Even his name is fantastic. Say it. It’s like chewing tobacco and a handful of gravel at the same time. That’s one magnificent brute.
you can only come up with 3? as a straight woman, I could certainly come up with more than 3 kinds of female attractiveness.
There’s definitely a fourth category for “cute but not hot,” which include me and, if I’m not being insulting, our dear indefensible. Ladies: You are allowed to call me hot! But I’m not gonna say I’m any of the three above.
This looks fantastic
Oh my god, they are gonna have the greatest kissfest in that closet EVER
After talking with comedian friends who made him laugh, such as Sinbad and Bill Cosby, he decided against suicide.—
Mark Curry (actor) - Wikipedia
What is the most badass way to decide not to kill yourself?
I’ll take “celebrity non-deaths” for 800, Alex.
My wife works for DC’s Center of Military History in a huge underground warehouse (think the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark). She spends her days sifting through old guns, ammo and uniforms. In the last couple of week’s she’s played with Robert E. Lee’s cap and Hermann Goering’s jewel-encrusted wedding sword (I know).
Today she came home looking like she’d been hit by a truck. She told me that because her building is moving, her department has to go through every single box and re-catalog every single item in the army’s collection.
Today she heard muffled crying coming from a far corner. She followed the noise and found several coworkers kneeling over a wooden box, crying openly. This is especially strange because my wife works almost exclusively with hardened Vietnam veterans. One guy, who was high-ranking Special Forces (basically a real-life Rambo), had tears streaming down his cheeks, soaking his handlebar mustache.
As she approached, my wife found the box full of baby clothes. A torn pair of frilly socks. A bloodstained onesies reading “Tuesday” to help a mother manage the week’s laundry. A charred sling patterned with princesses.
She eventually found the box’s tag. It read:
“Infant Clothing | Flight 93 | 091101”
Spotted on a piss-poor commercial: “internet celebrity” Justine Ezarik.
This is what Internet celebs accomplish. This is not what talent accomplishes. But your Wikipedia entry will never be as thorough as Justine’s.
I still don’t know what to think about Justine. I go from finding her funny to irritating and back frequently.
I love the iJustine haters. They just don’t get. How the hell does somebody get so many fans and not be talented (if that’s what’s being insinuated)?
If thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people click on a link you posted or watched a video you made or pay you lots of money to be in a commercial — even if it’s piss-poor — you are talented.
I think she’s hilarious. Always believed that. Yeah, she’s created plenty of cringe worthy videos, but haven’t we all…
iJustine is just the best. Everybody knows that.
