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Interview With "Switcher Girl" Ellen Feiss
Ed over in Accounting writes in with a Macinstein interview with Ellen Feiss, an Internet cult figure of a bygone era. Back in 2002, in the heyday of Apple's "Switcher" ads, the 14-year-old Feiss garnered a bit more than 15 minutes of fame. Her Switcher ad became an instant classic — partly because of the widespread belief that she was stoned while filming it, which she says was not the case. In the interview Feiss, who is now a college student with one movie behind her, talks about pseudo Internet fame, drugs, and acting. She says she's still using the same G4 she had when the ad ran. Nostalgia bonus: the ad is embedded at the end of the interview.
She actually says "Psych!", as if she is still 14. She may have well as ended a hilariously fallacious statement with "...NOT!".
I wasn't stoned when I saw the ad either!
It's not like the kids these days will believe the conditions we lived under back then anyway (both ways), or our strange social customs, or that we really risked prosecution to download that shitty, old fashioned music.
And Jesus we dressed funny. No, that half decade is an era best left bygone alrighty.
KFG
It's been 5 years or so. And still most of the Apple ads represent one or at most two objects (frequently human actors it seems), which are speaking about how much PC-s suck, and occasionally, ONLY occasionally, also mentioning how Mac software never has problems (lie) or how on Mac you can process photos and videos, and on the PC you can't (lie).
And you suddenly know why most people just don't buy Macs. Mac marketing makes impression of being really really desparate.
Maybe they should try some of their iPod concepts for advertising the Mac? This could work better. Show people having fun with a Mac, show Mac being used.
Stop with the "PC sucks" nonsense.
Interesting to hear she's still using the same G4. I'm using the same PowerBook G4 I bought in 2003, because it still is a surprisingly competent notebook after 3.5 years, even for my daily graphics work. I hear all these Windows people complaining about how a PC only lasts a couple of years before you have to buy a new one; I hear that and think, well, that just about negates the "PCs are cheaper" argument...
...What do you think it was about your ads that made you a stand out?
Ellen: I don't know? Because people thought I was stoned, because there aren't that many young girls in computer commercials.
Ellen seems to have figured out where fanboys come from.
- - - -
You can't be ahead of the curve if you're stuck in a loop.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
I saw her Switch ad when it came out. I didn't get the cult fascination then, and I don't get it now either. So fine, whatever. Fast forward 5 years later and I'm wondering what the hell any of us are doing reading an interview with her.
I read part of the interview and have concluded that it's just as interesting as most blogs by strangers I'll never meet. Funny thing is, most people are immediately appreciative of how much most blogs suck, yet an interview with Ellen Feiss is somehow above that.
Please, someone tell me, what the hell am I missing here? Really. I don't get it.
2002 is not a bygone era damn it. We haven't even decided what to call this decade yet.
as quoted by a MacFan magazine...
Macenstein: What do you think of the newly announced Apple iPhone?
Ellen: Sounds expensive.
Macenstein: Ok, we've taken up far too much of your time already.
- - - -
You can't be ahead of the curve if you're stuck in a loop.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
I was reading the story, and thought I was going to see something interesting, and it was like "beep beep beep". It's kinda... a bummer.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
The internet highlights a rather interesting aspect of human nature - the need to idolise other people.
The rise to fame of actors and actresses is a bit more straightforward, since their performances are laid bare for all to rewind and review. We needed to see something about a person before we decided that they were worth the worship.
Now, as we move forward, it seems the time and effort required for someone to bask in the aura of fame is drastically reducing. What we find more often in public forums are people, represented by no more than the text of their name or a default avatar, enjoying heroic receptions.
I guess anonymity of others allows us to identify one or two things we like, and then our imagination fills in the rest.
I think this will negatively effect self esteem in the long run.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
Yeah, I agree, PCs should really stop sucking. However, I wonder why you're telling that to us. Most of us aren't working on Windows.
Seems to me fanboys are bang outta luck. The fanGIRLS though....
Commodore64_love: I don't comprehend people who're so frightened of death that they'll bankrupt themselves to stay alive
It could simply be that she had a crush on the camera person. Pupils dialate for all manner of reason.
When filming a scene, there's all sorts of lights pointed at the set, and you can see there's a light pointed right at her face. Natural causes of pupil dilation simply don't dilate THAT much when there's a light of any noticeable intensity on the eye. To have eyes like that without a chemical influence, she'd have to be in dim light AND having a physiological response, or complete darkness, to get that wide.
That said, the chemical influence causing it isn't necessarily a hallucinogen (or a stimulant), it could be the same stuff the optometrist uses, to simulate the effect of drugs. The actors in drug movies don't really take drugs in front of the camera, most of the time anyway.
or maybe she was frightened by rogue clowns from outer space who just flew into the room wearing nothing but loincloths and Cyndi Lauper concert T-shirts. That's a perfectly reasonable explanation too.
That said, the chemical influence causing it isn't necessarily a hallucinogen (or a stimulant), it could be the same stuff the optometrist uses, to simulate the effect of drugs.
Atropine is available in eye-drops, it blocks muscarinic receptors and causes pupillary dilation. It has been used for hundreds of years by women because they thought dilated pupils make them look "sexy". In fact atropine is derived from the "belladonna" plant, bella donna meaning "beautiful woman" in latin.
There are other antimuscarinincs that can be used by hollywood to acheive this effect, since atropine can dilate pupils for weeks at a time which is not a good thing if you plan to be outside once in a while...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Wow am I square. It took me until this post (I haven't RTFA yet) to realize that the summary wasn't referring to a Biblical stoning. Yikes.
"Clear eyes? How would that protect this poor girl from a thrown... ooooh!"
...following the principles of Heisenburger's Uncertain Cat...