There were plenty of reasons to be concerned about the nature of Antoine Dodson’s sudden, viral-video-starring fame after the attempted rape of his sister. But now, thanks to their own determination and appeal, there are some reasons to be optimistic.
Three weeks ago, Antoine became a star on YouTube via a local news report in which he angrily discussed the home invasion, attempted rape, and choking of his sister, which he interrupted. Tens of millions of views, an Autotune The News remix and hundreds of spinoff tributes followed. It was an irresistible yet jarring phenomenon: here was an effeminate black man, rightfully enraged at repeated crime in his community hitting close to home, and plenty of people seemed to find it hilarious. As Hortense wrote at the time,
Is it okay to be horrified but to laugh, as well? Can we understand the frustration and anger but still smile at the delivery? If the Dodsons are handling this with a bit of humor, is it okay to find their reactions funny? It boils down to differentiating between laughing at and laughing with, I suppose.In an NPR report on the Dodsons, Baratunde Thurston of The Onion and Jack & Jill Politics argued that the phenomenon erred on the side of “laughing at,” and that he’d come to think of the video as a form of “class tourism.” Kenyatta Cheese of Know Your Meme disagreed:
“Kelly and Antoine may be victims but they are fearless. They both take control of the camera and call out their attacker. They issue a call to action telling people in their community to look out for the perpetrator. And yes, Antoine may not seem traditionally articulate, but he uses his time on camera to be performative and create spectacle and that gets our attention. In that sense, he’s probably more effective in getting his message out there than a more traditional community ‘representative’ would ever be.
The two views aren’t mutually exclusive. Plenty of the Dodsons’ “fans” could be condescending or looking to confirm their own stereotypes about poverty, race, and gender. At the same time, the Dodsons are trying to talk about their personal stories and the broader implications of crime and autonomy in their community, as much as they’re leveraging Antoine’s instant fame.
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