On the internet, it’s really easy to hide behind a screenname and be a real asshole. It’s even easier when you’re being an anonymous asshole to someone on TV or in a movie that you don’t care for, as what are the chances that they’ll see it? But when Travis left some reeeeeal harsh words on Chris Gethard’s IMDB profile after watching and not liking his Comedy Central show Big Lake (“You have no discernible talent, no charisma, no personality, and no recognizable skills. Unless your performance is some kinda of meta joke a’la Andy Kaufman or, to a lesser extent in every sense of the word, Joaquin Phoenix, you need to stop acting, spend a few years making atonements for your sins, and vow to never ever ever ever stand in front of a camera for the rest of your life.”), Chris tracked him down and got him to agree to talk to him on camera.
The results are…weird. You sort of expect Travis to feel somewhat guilty about being such a prick for no reason, especially when Gethard is so nice and good-natured about it, but he does not. In fact, he is still a prick. He’s so blasé about how much of a jerk he is it’s disconcerting, like he’s some sort of haughty robot that was not programmed to feel empathy. And it’s clear that poor Gethard was expecting some sort of genial moment in which the two could bond over how weird and dehumanizing the internet is, but Travis was only barely genial and did nothing to humanize himself. So next time you read a really mean-spirited internet comment, just remember: there’s a really mean-spirited person behind it, and he probably lives in St. Louis.
