Ingrid Nilsen came out in a video on her YouTube channel yesterday, and in spite of the video being nearly 20 minutes long, I watched it several times because I was so moved by her bravery and just the rawness of it all. [Scroll down to the bottom of this post to watch!] When I saw the thumbnail for the video, I honestly thought "What?" because I had no idea, and I think that goes to show that even when you make your life public on the internet, so much of yourself is still hidden.
I've been a viewer of Ingrid's before I even created my own YouTube channel. I love her adorable and bubbly personality and her goofy sayings. She's such an inspiration to, not only me, but also the more than 3 million viewers who are subscribed to her channel.
Even though, I'm not gay, it doesn't mean I can't relate to some of the struggles that Ingrid faced when trying to mask this part of her. She talks about how society put a stamp of disapproval on being gay, thus building the foundation for a metaphorical prison for her. She then continued to build the prison herself while suppressing her true feelings and her true self.
I think a lot of people can relate to trying to hide the parts of themselves that they don't want other people to see. It's like everyone has their own idea of what perfection looks like, and there's always someone who is going to complain. As the saying goes, "You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there will always be someone who doesn't like peaches."
It's so incredibly brave and moving that Ingrid wanted to share this part of herself with all of the people who essentially allow her to do what she loves for a living. I appreciated the fact that she spoke to her viewers as if they were in the room with her. She shed light on something that needs to be talked about, especially with the current Supreme Court deliberations on same-sex marriage. The amount of love and respect I have for Ingrid has grown tenfold, and I really hope that a lot of good comes out of her being willing to share her story.
If you haven't watched the video yet, grab a box of tissues and hit play.
What are your thoughts on Ingrid's coming out video?
I started fangirling from a young age. From my obsession with Britney Spears and NSYNC to my current obsessions with Harry Potter and Supernatural, I guess you can say that I'm a fangirl at heart. I've always said I have an obsessive personality, and that's not isolated to just one thing. It can be music, movies, books, food, people, anything. I go through phases of loving certain things, and while my obsession with die down a little, the full love will still be there.
So I talk about fangirling because I used to be a huge High School Musical fangirl. I watched the premiere of the movie on Disney Channel, I watched the third movie in theaters, and I was even in the musical production of it at my school. I was one of the skater girls. See proof:
My fangirling was so hardcore that I decided to make a YouTube channel so I could mix clips from different parts of the movies and make my own little "ship" videos. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Gabriella, but from the videos I found on my old channel, it looks like I'm also a Troypay "shipper."
From the about section | "troy and gabriella were dating, but he cheated on her with sharpay; so now she's breaking up with him"
I used to enter the videos that I made into YouTube contests, and I actually won one of them! More on that later. I'm sad to say that I don't know the login to this YouTube channel, so it's just sitting there getting views and comments, and I can't respond.
My YouTube channel (with videos from six years ago, mind you) wasn't just purely made up of High School Musical videos. I also made videos of other people too. Check out these gems:
Mary-Kate and Ashley
My idols. I seriously love these girls. Mary-Kate has always been my favorite because she's was the spunky one who was more sporty, and while I wasn't sporty at all, I related more to her than to Ashley who was really girly. This video was made to the "Suffragette City" cover that was in the New York Minute movie. Check out the rainbow effect starting at 1:36. I thought I was so cool.
Lizzie and Gordo from Lizzie McGuire
This is another couple that I wanted to get together. This video is pretty much dedicated to them being perfect for each other. It's set to "I'd Lie" by Taylor Swift, which is one her "unreleased" songs.
From the about section | "i didn't have much material to work with, so it's not my best"
Miley Cyrus
I was a huge Miley Cyrus fan back in the day. I feel like I was a little older than the Hannah Montana fan base, but that didn't matter to me. I loved HM, and my sister and I went to go see Hannah and Miley in concert "together."
From the about section | "not one of my better videos, but it's ok i guess.."
THE AWARD WINNER: Vanessa Hudgens
As I mentioned earlier, one of my videos was a contest winner, and this is the one. I entered this video in a contest, and it won first place. What?! It's just a bunch of clips of Vanessa Hudgens set to the Lillix version of "What I Like About You."
I know what you're thinking. 'Tiffany, why would you ever stop making YouTube videos like these?!" Guys, I just felt like it was time to move on, so I did. (Embarrassing side note: I also made a YouTube "series" that was about the characters from High School Musical in college. I had commentary and everything, but I thought it was embarrassing, so I took it down. Why I didn't take down the rest of these videos will forever be a mystery to me.)
What are some embarrassing things you did when you were younger?
