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Jacob Geller

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Auric (talk | contribs) at 17:45, 21 June 2024 (Filled in 0 bare reference(s) with reFill 2). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: Hyperallergic seems to pass most reasonable qualifications as a RELIABLESOURCE in spite of a tentative "blogazine" categorization on its own article, so that and the Gamer article should cover GNG between them. The subject was professionally affiliated with Polygon but I think it's up in the air if it falls under COISOURCE or not, its rankings should count towards the "recognized body of work" criterion of NAUTHOR either way. Orchastrattor (talk) 21:25, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Jacob Geller is an American video essayist, critic, and writer known for his analysis of video games and popular culture. Geller's YouTube channel has over 1.2 million subscribers,[1] with videos covering topics like horror, art, frigophobia, thalassophobia, and social justice,[2] and he published an annotated print collection of his essays in 2024.[3] Geller's career has included writing for Polygon, which named his 2019 video essay "Games, Schools, and Worlds Designed for Violence" as one of the best in YouTube's history.[4]

Life and career

Geller traces his experience with video games back to his childhood and cited his Jewish upbringing and and background as a basis for his writing and analysis,[5] later describing Judaism as "a culture built on study, examination, argument."[6] Geller's video essays typically compile experiences or ideas from across several different games or other properties, explaining in an interview that he often discovers the focus of an essay while writing it.[5] In addition to his YouTube channel, Geller has interned for Game Informer and written for Polygon.[5][4]

Reception and notable works

Corinne Engber of Jewish Boston noted "The Decade-Long Quest For Shadow of the Colossus' Last Secret" (2019), a documentary work of Internet history, as the first viral success of Geller's channel, additionally naming "Judaism and Whiteness in Wolfenstein" (2019) as a personal favorite.[5] Hyperallergic praised several of Geller's videos, including "Art in the Pre-Apocalypse" (2023),[7] "I Want to Tell You About My Favorite Fight Scene" (2024),[8] and "Art for No One" (2024),[9] naming him "one of the best video essayists in the game" in 2023.[7]

Wil Williams of Polygon named "Worlds Designed for Violence", an essay comparing the level design of cover shooter video games to the architectural renovations at Sandy Hook Elementary following the 2012 mass shooting, as one of the best video essays in the history of "breadtube and beyond", crediting Geller with "baking sincerity, vulnerability, and so much care into his video essays."[4] Polygon additionally noted "The Strange Reality of Roller Coaster Tycoon" and "Fixing My Brain With Automated Therapy" as among the best video essays of 2020 and 2022 respectively.[10][11]

In 2024, Geller published How a Game Lives in collaboration with independent publisher Lost in Cult.[3] How a Game Lives is a print collection of ten of Geller's video essay scripts alongside extensive annotations by Geller, a forward by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, commentary by various authors, and art by Kilian Eng and others.[3][12] The essays include "Fear of Cold" (2023), on frigophobia and extreme survival across culture and history; "Does Call of Duty Believe in Anything?" (2019), an ethical evaluation of Modern Warfare (2019); "Who’s Afraid of Modern Art" (2019), analyzing attacks on Barnett Newman, Robert Mapplethorpe, and other contemporary artists; and "The Legacy of the Haunted House" (2019), on the role of architecture in works like Control and House of Leaves.[3][12]

Geller's work has also recieved mention in Kotaku[13][14] and Screen Rant.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Middler, Jordan. "Jacob Geller on his new book, games media and more", Video Games Chronicle, 29 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  2. ^ Jacob Geller videography by popularity, YouTube. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d King, Andrew. "After Jacob Geller's Book, More YouTube Creators Should Release Their Work In Physical Form", The Gamer, 15 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024
  4. ^ a b c Williams, Wil. "The video essays that spawned an entire YouTube genre", Polygon, 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Engber, Corinne. "Running on Serendipity: Jacob Geller on Video Game Journalism", Jewish Boston, 16 February 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  6. ^ Geller, Jacob. "The Golem and the Jewish Superhero"
  7. ^ a b Schindel, Dan. "Five Video Essays That Go Beyond the Surface", Hyperallergic, 16 October 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  8. ^ Schindel, Dan. "A Batch of Video Essays for the Last Days of Winter", Hyperallergic, 26 February 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  9. ^ Schindel, Dan. "Art Made for Nobody, and Other Video Essays to Watch This Month ", Hyperallergic, 4 April 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  10. ^ Williams, Wil. "The best video essays of 2020", Polygon, 30 December 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  11. ^ Williams, Wil. "The best video essays of 2022", Polygon, 29 December 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ a b How a Game Lives, Lost in Cult. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. ^ High School Redesigns Shouldn't Remind You Of Taking Cover In Gears Of War", Kotaku. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Why Video Game Headshots Will Always Be Popular—And Unsettling", Kotaku. Retrieved 2 June 2024
  15. ^ "10 Best YouTubers For Gaming Video Essays, According To Reddit", Screen Rant. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
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