The It Gets Better Project is this pretty amazing youtube-based-grass-roots support group started by Dan Savage and his partner. The It Gets Better Project is promoting the Trevor Project, another support system for gay youth that offers a 24 hour hotline for people struggling with the pressures brought on by bullies, homophobia and growing up gay in a vastly heterosexual world. I really dig the attitude behind the IGBP because you can flip through what seems like infinite videos of people (gay and straight) encouraging others by way of personal testimony, sincerity, and often humor. The stars of these youtube-confessional-type videos are everyday looking people, some celebrities, some not... something really excites me about that aspect of the project...The website layout presents several different clips from different videos with one enlarged video in the middle. This grouping of multiple faces places the viewer face-to-face with a bunch of people all at once. And how do all these people look? They just look like a bunch of normal people. For me, this visual aspect of the project brings homophobic tendencies of seeing gay as "different", "abnormal", ultimately as "other" into high relief, possibly debunking those thoughts all together. In other words, (eh hem, Sydney and Lauren) good design can change things...for the better.
This so far is my favorite video from the project, for obvious reasons:
Check it out and let me know what you guys think...
www.itgetsbetterproject.com
www.thetrevorproject.org
another favorite:
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6 comments:
3rd favorite..again for obvious reasons...
http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com/#0AzUDFgaiXw
OMG, comforting bearded man with a CAT. Wow. It's no wonder you like that one.
This is fabulous Jamie. Thank you.
PS. The animated video was made on this site called Xtranormal. You can create videos and add text that is then turned into computer-voices. Jamie, if you haven't already played around on it, you should!
My friend Mark made one that we all have died laughing to. It might not be as funny to you, but here it is anyway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpWksflXfmY&feature=related
Seriously my entire day was just lost to that website.
AWESOME!
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