Jacob Geller (born February 8, 1995) 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,[2] with videos covering topics like horror, art, frigophobia, thalassophobia, and social justice. 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]
| Jacob Geller | |
|---|---|
 Geller in 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 8, 1995 |
| Occupation(s) | Video essayist, writer |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Subscribers | 1.29 million[1] |
| Total views | 118.16 million[1] |
Last updated: October 14, 2024 | |
Life and career
editJacob Geller was born on February 8, 1995.[‡ 1][‡ 2] Geller traces his experience with video games back to his childhood and cited his Jewish upbringing and background as a basis for his writing and analysis,[5] later describing Judaism as "a culture built on study, examination, argument."[‡ 3] Geller's video essays typically compile experiences or ideas from several different sources. Geller explained 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 legacy
editCorinne 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),[6] "I Want to Tell You About My Favorite Fight Scene" (2024),[7] and "Art for No One" (2024),[8] naming him "one of the best video essayists in the game" in 2023.[6]
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 on YouTube, crediting Geller with "baking sincerity, vulnerability, and so much care into his video essays."[4] Polygon additionally noted "The Strange Reality of RollerCoaster Tycoon" and "Fixing My Brain With Automated Therapy" as among the best video essays of 2020 and 2022 respectively.[9][10] Geller's work has also received mention in Kotaku[11][12] and Screen Rant.[13]
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, commentary by various authors, and art by Kilian Eng and others.[3][14] 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][14] Further topics include Returnal, the Golem, and Legend of Zelda,[‡ 4] with each essay featuring an afterword by writers such as Jamil Jan Kochai and Gareth Damian Martin.[14] A foreword for the collection was contributed by speculative writer Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah,[3][14] whose short story Through the Flash Geller had previously explored in the video "Time Loop Nihilism". A deluxe edition was briefly available, with additional materials including a six-track vinyl record of original songs produced by various musicians for Geller's essays, such as adaptations of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" for "Fear of Cold" or "The Kraken" for "Fear of Big Things Underwater" (2022).[‡ 4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "About Jacob Geller". YouTube.
- ^ Middler, Jordan (March 29, 2024). "Jacob Geller on his new book, games media and more". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e King, Andrew (March 15, 2024). "After Jacob Geller's Book, More YouTube Creators Should Release Their Work In Physical Form". TheGamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c Williams, Wil (June 1, 2021). "The video essays that spawned an entire YouTube genre". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Engber, Corinne (February 16, 2021). "Running on Serendipity: Jacob Geller on Video Game Journalism". Jewish Boston. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Schindel, Dan (October 16, 2023). "Five Video Essays That Go Beyond the Surface". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
- ^ Schindel, Dan (February 26, 2024). "A Batch of Video Essays for the Last Days of Winter". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
- ^ Schindel, Dan (April 4, 2024). "Art Made for Nobody, and Other Video Essays to Watch This Month". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Wil (December 30, 2020). "The best video essays of 2020". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ Williams, Wil (December 29, 2022). "The best video essays of 2022". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ Rivera, Joshua (October 3, 2019). "High School Redesigns Shouldn't Remind You Of Taking Cover In Gears Of War". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ Rivera, Joshua (August 9, 2019). "Why Video Game Headshots Will Always Be Popular—And Unsettling". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ Woods, Jordan (October 11, 2022). "10 Best YouTubers For Gaming Video Essays, According To Reddit". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "How a Game Lives". Lost in Cult. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
Primary sources
In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ^ a b Geller, Jacob [@yacobg42] (June 29, 2019). "whatup im jacob, im 24 years old, and i never fuckin learned what an AT Field is" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Geller, Jacob [@yacobg42] (February 8, 2024). "True Story: today is my birthday" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Geller, Jacob (March 30, 2021). The Golem and the Jewish Superhero (video). YouTube. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c Geller, Jacob (March 12, 2024). "JACOB GELLER BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
External links
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