The Watcher Effect: Why The Nerve Trailer Has Over 13M Views..

Article by Conor Smith

If you’re a regular at the local cinema like I am and pay very close attention to the movie trailer channels on Youtube to point of refreshing the Movie Clips and Trailers page at least twice an hour like I do, then you willl have no-doubtedly seen the intense and heart pumping trailer for Dave Franco’s latest film ‘Nerve’. If you haven’t I strongly reccomend you go check it out.

The film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, is based on a world that completely revolves around an online truth or dare game called ‘Nerve’, in which people known as ‘watchers’ pay to view the people who actually play the game pull incredibly dangerous stunts, take on insane feats of daring and compete for huge cash prizes.

Emma Roberts stars as a high school senior talked into playing the game by her friends, as they claim she needs more risk in her life. Early into the movie she meets actor Dave Franco when the watchers watching her dare her to randomly kiss a stranger. The two team up and play Nerve together. However, they soon find their identities stolen and well..I’m not going to spoil the rest for you.

The first trailer was released on May 11th and since then has been viewed over thirteen million times. A fantastic figure compared to a lot of other film trailers. But what is it that has people so interested in Nerve?

At the very start of the trailer, footage of the game being played is shown and a robotic voice describes how it works. But just before the trailer goes into the real plot of the movie it asks in a cynical, almost daring voice, “are you watcher or a player”.

“The first trailer was released on May 11th and and since then has been viewed over thirteen million times”

You see the truth is that we would all like to be players, at least we would all like to consider ourselves players, but we rarely are. We stay wrapped up inside our own bubbles, our own lives and mostly sleep through our nine to five. It is for that reason that being a player holds such value.

When you get right down to it, being a watcher or a player is the very same as being a one or a zero (yes I did just reference Mr Robot). It is the very same as being a blindly following sheep or a righteous guiding shepherd. Are you dead or alive? Are you making the most of your time or are you squandering it?

And so creates what I like to call ‘The Watcher Effect’. Seeing what it is you want to do being done by someone else motivates you to do it yourself. The Watcher Effect takes hold and in the end you most likely end up doing what it is you wanted to do.

In my opinon, this film is playing immensley on that. With that intro, that question, Nerve, excuse the pun, strikes a nerve that every human has. The longing to make most of life, to find purpose, to generally just do meaningful sh*t.

If you still don’t believe me, take a look at the internet phenomenon of ‘People Are Awesome’ videos.

“You see the truth is that we would all like to be players, at least we would all like to consider ourselves players, but we rarely are.”

These videos get millions upon millions of views everyday. They’re usually short compilations of incredible stunts, trickshots, talents and wins, that have hype music in the background. Each video follow that very same formula mentioned above to the point that you basically know what’s going to happen next. To say the least they’re…predictable. Yet why are they so popular? Because they create a watcher effect.

I actually dare you right now, go watch one, come back and try to tell me your not inspired.

You may not think it but apart from movies and YouTube videos, the watcher effect is present a number of things. It’s the reason why self help articles make up a huge percentage of the content here on Medium. It’s the reason why I can write an intelligent think piece like this and some wack four hundred word piece with a crappy stock photo as it’s header will probably get far more reccomendations. Because the people who reccomend it are compelled by the watcher effect to hit that small green heart at the bottom of the article.

They’ve been motivated, inspired by it. Making them come away feeling that the post was indeed valuable because it made them feel like could do something greater then themselves. Like they could hold value. Like they could be a player. So they give it a heart.

The sad thing is that, like I said about the people are awesome videos, they all become the same after a while. Predictable. Every article starts to contain the same recycled advice as it’s predecessor. Just worded and titled differently.

Worse again these posts out of sheer popularity rise to the top of the Medium newsfeed. Tainting it. Leaving the more thoughtful and valuable posts at the bottom of the food chain. Making us, the readers, consume the same sh*t over and over unbeknownst to ourselves.

This is just one example of how the watcher effect, can negatively affect our judgement. But I argue it does more good then bad.

“It’s the reason why I can write an intelligent think piece like this and some wack four hundred word piece with a crappy stock photo as it’s header will probably get far more recommendations.”

We need the Watcher Effect in our lives. So what if someone else gets more reccomendations than me. Heck, the watcher effect is what probably inspired them to write the article in the first place.

In a world where if it bleeds it leads and the most pressing issues rise to the top of the bigoted newsfeed that is the media, we need people to be inspired and motivated to do something. Because its the people who are inspired and have the motivation to do something that usually do.

It is for that reason alone that I think the watcher effect, however controversial, deserves a bit more recognition and maybe a tad more appreciation.

So let me be the first to say it:

Thank you….and just maybe you could tone it down a little on the self-help and give me a chance?

If you enjoyed any part of this post I urge to hit that 💚 button and follow me for future articles. If you would like to write a response, I would love to hear your opinions.-Conor