"The only thing people will remember is how you made them feel. I'm worried that if I go up there, and I don't believe what I'm saying. I won't make them feel any type of way."-Lilly Singh
February 10 marked the release of YouTube Red, an online streaming site/upgraded version of Youtube that allows you to play videos without ads and play videos in the background. The streaming service costs $12.99 a month. As of right now it only has four videos up: A Trip To Unicorn Island, Lazer Team, Scare PewDiePie, and an AwesomenessTV movie called Dance Camp.
*WARNING: If you haven't seen AT2UI yet, and don't want spoilers, don't read ahead.
A Trip To Unicorn Island or AT2UI follows famed YouTuber Lilly Singh as tours with her traveling show , "A Trip To Unicorn Island". Her show has dancers, music, animated sets, and strong stand-up comedy bits. The documentary begins with Lilly Singh, aka iiSuperWomanii, talking about her channel and why she started making videos. She talks about her struggle with depression and how going to school didn't make her happy. She talks about how she came up with the idea of Unicorn Island, how it's a state of mind that you reach when you decide that everything's okay.
The movie then goes on to discuss how she brought the tour together. Lilly says be came up with the idea because she wants to "connect with her fans from beginning to end." They show how they got the dancers together, some of the rehearsals, and the general process of putting the tour together. AT2UI does a really good job of showing how many obstacles and challenges they had to face to make everything work. For instance: One dancer realizes they can't get a Visa which would prevent her from actually being able to dance on the tour. They also show how much trouble they had trying to find an animator for the set design. Luckily, everything works out in the end and they go on tour.
The tour is very successful. They start out in Mumbai and go off to some other cities in India. Then, they go to Australia along with China, Hong Kong, and Southern California. All of the shows are sold out. Most of the fans are in their early to mid teens. Some of the bits she does include parts where she dresses up as mock-ups of her parents and makes fun of the stereotypical Indian parent. She says that she takes bits and pieces from how other Indian children talk about their parents and creates the characters from there. Her stand up is really good and it does leave the audience feeling ten times happier from when they walked into the building like Lily wanted.
Of course, actually being on tour comes with its challenges. At their venue in Adelaide, they have to re-do all of the choreography because they were approved for a really small space. In Melbourne, a fan runs up on stage to try and take a selfie with her while she is performing. This causes here to talk about how much it bothered her. She says that she's fine with it. But, she wants her fans to at least talk to her about how her stuff made them feel instead of bumrushing her, taking a selfie, and then running away. (Disclaimer: If you are ever in a situation where you spot a celebrity in person and you want a picture with them. Please be a respectful as possible.) Another part that really stuck out to me was where she says something about how she's worried about working the hardest and ahving the least fun. Being a YouTuber is a huge responsibility. You have to be constantly planning and making videos and engaging with your followers and it's a tough life.
Luckily, In the end, Singh re-unites with her parents and Dwayne Johnson gives a cameo where he talks about how much good Lilly Singh has done for the community.
Honestly, I think that AT2UI is the only think that's worth watching on YouTube Red right now because it represents what YouTube is all about. Being a Youtuber is about making people happy with your videos even if you don't have millions of subscribers like Lilly Singh. It's about helping people and getting through their darkest hours. It's about showing the world that they're not alone. Lilly, if you ever see this: From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.
