People opening game boxes as entertainment – surely it'll never catch on? Ryan explores the soothing, hypnotic and faintly erotic phenomenon of the unboxing video...
Of all the weird and inane things that show up on YouTube – memes involving cats, young men ineptly wielding Lightsabres, panicked ramblers screaming at their dogs – the unboxing video is surely one of the most strange. If you’ve never seen one, simply type the word ‘unboxing’ into YouTube’s search box, and marvel at the sheer number of results that come back.
All over the world, people are filming themselves opening a box – usually an electronic item, but occasionally something equally geeky, like an old game or a collection of trading cards – and excitedly displaying the contents to the rest of the world. As I type this, I’m currently watching someone opening a huge box of old Famicom cartridges they’ve just received from Japan.
Now, there are many reasons why someone would choose to make an unboxing video. They’re a form of bragging, a means of proving to the online community that you’ve bagged a shiny new PlayStation Vita or the latest Call Of Duty game before everybody else. Unboxing videos are also a chance to show just how enthusiastic and dedicated you are to collecting something – an overwhelming number of them are made by people obsessed with collecting old games and consoles, and there’s a palpable sense of excitement in some of these videos, as various dog-eared treasures are torn from their bubble-wrap and paraded lovingly in front of the lens.
The unboxing video phenomenon poses a bigger question, though: who in their right minds would actually sit and watch them? The slightly sheepish answer: I would.
The first time I stumbled on an unboxing video, I reacted with a mixture of incredulity and scorn. Why should I care what the postman’s delivered to someone I’ve never even met? Why would I want to sit and watch as a pair of disembodied hands peel off cellophane or claw into cardboard boxes?
Gradually, however, the scorn subsided, and something else took its place: an eerie sense of relaxation. I can only compare the experience to my childhood memories of watching British artist and presenter Tony Hart paint pictures on the television. I’d come home from school, and allow myself to become hypnotised by Mr Hart’s soothing voice as he gradually built up a picture of a Tudor house with a piece of charcoal. It was simultaneously as boring as hell and extraordinarily relaxing.
Similarly, the gradual peeling back of sticky tape, the slow reveal of treasured items, and the minute study of manuals, registration documents and dusty old cartridges is like being lulled into a waking dream. There’s a faint yet pleasing sense of eroticism, too – they’re a seductive undressing, full of hushed reverence and barely-suppressed glee as box flaps are eased back with a gentle squeal of plastic and cardboard.
The absurdity of the phenomenon was perfectly lampooned in the video below – though it’s worth noting that, even though it pokes fun at people filming themselves as they open a cardboard box, the video reaffirms just why they’re worth watching. The unboxing video is the 21st century equivalent of a lava lamp – essentially useless, but relaxing to watch and strangely compelling all the same.
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