A few years back, one of my daughters introduced me to “Charlie Bit My Finger,” a home movie of two British brothers that at the time was YouTube’s most watched video. We watched it over and over, laughing hysterically at the climactic moment when the older brother’s grin turns to agony as he yells “Ow! Chowlie!” For a time in 2011, “Charlie Bit My Finger” was supplanted by “Friday,” a music video starring an unknown named Rebecca Black. Eager for American Idol–style instant stardom, Black’s family paid a company called Ark to write her a pop song and produce her video. Almost overnight, “Friday” became a YouTube sensation, but not in the way the California teen had hoped. I watched the video about half a dozen times and I must confess, I found it hilarious. It was not so much that Black’s singing was bad—although unlike the teens and 20–somethings who were gleefully sharing the video on Facebook, I had no idea her voice had been...
Kathleen McDonnell has been writing for and about young people for more than two decades. She is the author of more than a dozen plays and five novels, including the well-regarded fantasy trilogy The Notherland Journeys and Emily Included, a true story about a disabled girl who fought for the right to be educated in a regular classroom. Her non-fiction includes Honey, We Lost the Kids: Re-thinking Childhood in the Multimedia Age, published by Second Story Press (revised edition, 2005).
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