For a lot of people, video recording and uploading 15-second scenes and then instantaneously making thousands of dollars looks like a dream. For many of the most famous influencer’s, it’s reality
Lot of users of social media are undoubtedly aware with the Hype House, a content house that held famous TikTok stars as Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio. Hype House presently displays 10 or so members who create contents together, plus popular dances, lip syncs and imitations of current trends. The house was founded by 23-year-old Thomas Petrou and 19-year-old Chase Hudson back in December 2019. According to Petrou, the whole objective with this house in the first place was, why can’t people who hit millions of other people be as famous as A-list celebrities?” During late 2019 and early 2020, when the app was on its rise, the group was possibly one of the most well-known content houses across the entire platform. Netflix’s newly released reality show, “Hype House,” looks at what day-to-day life is like for members of the content group.
The show mainly centers on Petrou’s frustration with members of the house who he feels aren’t doing enough to support the group. The first major conflict is between Petrou and Hudson. Petrou is annoyed that Hudson seems to have moved on from the Hype House while still reaping the financial benefits of being associated with the group because Hudson would rather focus on releasing music and making an album. In Hudson’s interviews it’s clear that he doesn’t care to be in the Hype House any longer, but given his significant amount of internet fame, the house would likely dig deeper into irrelevancy if he finally left. However, Hudson battles to relay his true feelings about his participation with the house to Petrou.
Petrou is also always irritated by other members of the house not doing enough for the group’s success, despite being given an otherwise free place to live with all their friends and very little accountability. The laziness of many members is obvious, and it begs the question of how exactly the Hype House is entertaining and even relevant to begin with. With so few distinct names, the house that was formerly a star of TikTok now seems like nothing more than a group of somewhat nice-looking white people laying around all day, occasionally doing a trending dance to post online, then complaining about how tired, bored, or apathetic they are.
There is something to be said for how social media can affect mental health and how the constant pressure of upholding an online persona can be exhausting, but much of the cast fails to see or acknowledge the massive amounts of privilege they have because of their careers. They’re only focused on how horrible their lives have become due to social media, causing the group to come across as even more unrelatable and unlikeable. At one point, Hudson, whose entire career, and way of life were made possible due to the Internet, talks about managing personal relationships and how he has become more closed off due to being online, ironically saying “Thanks for that, Internet.” The irony is painful.
Even more upsetting to witness is how monetarily driven the members of the Hype House are. Comprehensibly, Petrou believes that Hudson leaving would be “bad for the business,” but he fails to acknowledge any emotional toll Hudson’s absence has taken on him. They both claim they were once like brothers, but Petrou goals to make Hudson leaving come across as solely a financial decision. Perhaps the most upsetting incident of views, clicks and likes offsetting personal emotions is when member Alex Warren records a bogus wedding with his girlfriend and fellow Hype House member Kouvr Annon. Annon claims she’s honestly ready to start a family with Warren and would’ve really married him, but Warren was more interested in the monetary benefit he would gain from the video. In the end, the video didn’t even accomplish as well as he would’ve liked.
For the most part, the show did nothing other than emphasize why the group has lost its hype, but there were also more interesting moments, mainly those featuring Nikita Dragun and Larray, two less-involved members of the group who both started on YouTube and branched out to TikTok when the app took off. Dragun launched her own makeup brand, Dragun Beauty, and devotes a significant amount of time on the show talking about running that business and her motivation to start it: the need she saw for products that would inspire trans women. Meanwhile, Larray argues what life was like for him growing up in Compton, coming out as gay to his family and how social media has changed his life, leading him to become the influencer he is nowadays. Both gave some much-needed energy and excitement to the show. Maybe a remake showcasing just the two of them would’ve been more watchable than the constant cycle of idleness and complaining the show was.
The Hype House’s finale has been a long time coming, and perhaps for the own good of the audiences, as well as the members, it’s finally time to put the Hype House behind us.