Jacob Geller

Are you such a dreamer, To put the world to rights? | See tons of bonus videos and support more work like this by joining my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Social media and merch links at https://jacobgeller.com/

Thanks to on4word for the cover of 2+2=5 (Super Mario 64 soundfont): https://youtu.be/IgmxcZtguFE?si=EMOJ5bLNGgxEDt3S

Sources:
George Orwell’s writing sourced from The Orwell Foundation: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/
The Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey, 2019
On 1984: The Story of George Orwell's Masterpiece by D.J. Taylor, 2019
Thomas Pynchon foreword to Nineteen Eighty-Four included in the book’s “Centennial Edition,” published in 2003
On the Contrary by Mary McCarthy, 1961
Literature in Politics: The Appropriation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in contemporary British parliamentary debate by Imogen Birkett, 2023: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/article/view/1197/1070
He’s Dead, but He’s Everybody’s Weapon of Choice by Matthew Purdy, The New York Times 2025: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/magazine/trump-george-orwell-1984.html
Gary Varvel cartoons from his website: https://garyvarvel.com/
Additional Gary Varvel cartoons from https://www.creators.com/
Parler Scroll from: https://www.reddit.com/r/ParlerWatch/comments/ksir70/just_a_lil_scroll_through_parler_to_really_show/

Media Shown: Steve Jobs (Boyle, 2015), The Simpsons, Futurama, Half-Life 2, Fortnite, Big Brother, Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore, 2004), Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009)

Music (Chronologically): Invention No. 4 In D Minor (Bach), Little Lion’s Song (Skin Deep), Spoiler (Cyberpunk 2077), Clocks (Coldplay), Sins of the Father (Metal Gear Solid V), Max — Panama (Max Payne 3), Run (Hotline Miami 2), Main Theme (Steamworld Dig), Scenes from Childhood op. 15 (Robert Schumann), Abyss (Hotline Miami 2), Crypt of the Addict (Superhot: Mind Control Delete), Minuet In G Minor (BWV Anh. 115), Stepping on Glass (Eneide), Tvivel (Hanna Ekstrom), Bitter Swirl (Line Neesgard), Control Sample (Skrya), Pilgrimage (Gorogoa), 2+2=5 (Super Mario 64 Soundfont cover of Radiohead by on4word), Ambiguous (Rina Rinoa)

Additional Music by Epidemic Sound
Additional Footage by Getty Images

Thumbnail and Graphic Design by https://bsky.app/profile/hotcyder.bsky.social

Upon it, their imagination shaped new ideals. They returned to their homes, each one of them carrying in their soul the shadow of the white cloud, each of them permeated by the most subtle and slow-acting of poisons.

Follow me: https://twitter.com/yacobg42

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

Readings provided by Zac Frazier (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkcVWQA-buWJc9Qm0SFqsLA)

Visual Media used: Mirror’s Edge, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Far Cry 2, GTA IV, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Battlefield Bad Company, Shenme, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Wind Waker, Uncharted, The Witcher 3, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2

Music used: Still Alive (Lisa Mikovsky), Robocop GBA theme, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 theme, Dream Chaser (Super Smash Bros, F-Zero), Trois Hymnopededies (Gary Numan), various tracks from Mirror’s Edge, Living in Infrastructure (SimCity 2013)

For all park is policy, all verse is nurse, Every habitat a cradle for the soul. At least for the time being. | See tons of bonus videos and support more work like this by joining my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Social media and merch links at https://jacobgeller.com/

The Evolution of YouTube by 4096: https://youtu.be/wYUY3Cb7-ks?si=ksyolANyD9L8Gx5L
The World Trade Center in 176 Video Games (1983-2025) by Данил Карпенко: https://youtu.be/AWaQx7nt5uk?si=lVtYsLXD-_lLS28Z
Additional footage of Max Payne on PS2 from Weiss Network TV: https://youtu.be/mB4rzarOw-o?si=hUcxF4hBul1yaGeZ

Media Shown: Parasite Eve, Max Payne, Max Payne 3, The Division, The Time Machine, The Utility Room, A Trip to the Moon, Driver Parallel Lines, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0, Final Fantasy VII, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Music (Chronologically): Waiting for Something to Awaken (Parasite Eve), Overture (Parasite Eve), Bells of Laguna Bend (Cyberpunk 2077), Lemniscate (Ethan Sloan), Main Theme (Max Payne), A Cold Day in Hell (Max Payne), Max’s Nightmare (Max Payne), Afterlife (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare), Skyline (The Division), Safehouse (The Division), Flock (Hyper Light Drifter), Petrichor (Hyper Light Drifter), Story of Rainy (Death Stranding 2)

Additional Music by Epidemic Sound

Thumbnail and Graphic Design by https://bsky.app/profile/hotcyder.bsky.social
Description credit: “Child of Nature” by Rowan Ricardo Phillips

a mystery which will never happen again,
a miracle which has never happened before–
and shining this our now must come to then

Follow me: https://twitter.com/yacobg42

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

Readings provided by:
MML: https://www.youtube.com/user/MML129
EuroThug4000: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxddeIv7GdHNcVPZI9JvGXQ
Tayls: https://twitter.com/TalesOfTayls
GamesD: https://www.youtube.com/user/HotCyderable (also thanks for the exceptional opening montage and thumbnail bby)

Additional Footage Provided by Nomad Colossus: https://www.youtube.com/user/Nomad0168

Script Consultation: Writing on Games (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlWv88ZRMxCcK3BGjrX7ew)

2013 Eurogamer article on "The Last Big Secret" by Craig Owens: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-02-the-quest-for-shadow-of-the-colossuss-last-big-secret

The Thread: https://community.playstation.com/content/pdc/us/en_US/pdc-communities/playstation-general.topic.topic.0.25.html/quest_for_the_lastb-chNB

Opening track: For Her Soul, Alex Roe: https://youtu.be/fo7MaxhyeXA

Visual Media used: Shadow of the Colossus (2005 and 2018), ICO, Adventure, Mortal Kombat

Music used: For Her Soul (Alex Roe), Castle in the Mist (ICO), The Gates of Hell (Bayonetta), One Who Craves Souls (Demon's Souls), Various tracks from Octopath Traveler, Main Theme of Castle in the Sky

Just moments ago I had no vision at all. | See tons of bonus videos and support more work like this by joining my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Flashing lights warning: 26:25 - 26:29

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Social media and merch links at https://jacobgeller.com/

Thanks to ADAMNATOR for additional color correction: https://www.youtube.com/adamnator

Sources:
Camera Experiments in 'Lady in the Lake', Crowther, 1947, NYT
Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth, Axmaker, 2015, PBS
How we made The Blair Witch Project, Hoad, 2018, The Guardian
The history of the first-person shooter, Evans-Thirlwell, 2017, PC Gamer
Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First-Person Shooter Genre, Carl Therrien, 2015, Game Studies
Hythe Mk III Gun Camera, Forgotten Weapons: https://www.forgottenweapons.com/accessories/hythe-mk-iii-gun-camera/
RAF CAMERA GUN FOOTAGE: https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/1653
Wearing body cameras increases assaults against officers and does not reduce police use of force: Results from a global multi-site experiment, Ariel et al., 2016, European Journal of Criminology
Body-worn cameras associated with increased assaults against police, and increase in use-of-force if officers choose when to activate cameras, 2016, University of Cambridge
The Illusion of Accuracy — How Body-Worn Camera Footage Can Distort Evidence, Yu, 2017, Upturn
Participatory Policing: Code Blue Cam and the Disciplinary Power of Police Body Camera Videos on YouTube, Clark and Arcy, 2026, Television and New Media
Was the 2005 Doom film ‘Doomed from the beginning?’: First-person shooters, subjective cameras and intertextuality in the critical reception of the film adaptation Doom (2005), Ward, 2018, Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance
Cinema’s Turing test: Consciousness, digitality, and operability in HARDCORE HENRY, Yu, 2017, NECSUS
Origins of the First-Person Shooter, Galloway, 2006, Essays on Algorithmic Culture
Body-worn images: Point-of-view and the new aesthetics of policing, McKay and Lee, 2019, Crime, Media, Culture
The Searching Camera: First-Person Shooters, Found-Footage Horror Films, and the Documentary Tradition, Hart, 2019, Journal of Cinema and Media Studies
How Hardcore Henry’s POV shots were made, Failes, 2016, FXGuide
White Supremacist Kills 49 Muslim Worshipers in New Zealand, 2019, PBS via Democracy Now!
The teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were latest to cite prior atrocities, Johnson, 2026, AP News
Seeing 'The Blair Witch Project' Opening Nite, 90's Grunge Dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR1jzO5TDWY
VFX Artists React to Bad and Great CGi 141, Corridor Crew: https://youtu.be/u2gn2_9mQzc?si=yydb-5SQk86mzxtI
Danny Macaskill: The Ridge, Cut Media: https://youtu.be/xQ_IQS3VKjA?si=Wff73D2fL3oqpI-x
GoPro: Soul Flyers 33,000 ft Above Mont Blanc, GoPro: https://youtu.be/me6BgmeTH3k?si=V9Jn8sWpD71WdfKt
Paris Rooftop Parkour POV, STORROR: https://youtu.be/H6AO-RhaG_4?si=sxUNyNgIPfsVvKwi
The Psychic Burden of Being Watched, Lily Alexandre: https://youtu.be/gStjfje6Mq4?si=Youhk6yriK4vumuG
Tom Uban plays Maze on 1972 Imlac, Dr. Bruce Damer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbZTzs6te7Q
DOOM Deathmatch 1995 Final!, Alexey Usachev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIrTwZjxcQ8
DOOM Tournament 1996, Jonathan Barbara: https://youtu.be/m47fDoFjNh0?si=-CaUlA_ANwXMXFBg
Over the Front - original aircraft footage (b and w, silent), Australian War Memorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwrIf_5gEEM

Media use cited within video

Music (Chronologically): Totalimmortal (Cyberpunk 2077), Rite of Passage (Cyberpunk 2077), Future (Max Payne 3), Winter Hibernation (Magnus Ludvigsson), A Massive Mist (Ethan Sloan), Sunset Drone (Greener Grass Awaits), Alt’s Theme (Cyberpunk 2077), The Facsimile (Citizen Sleeper), One Legged Waltzing (Franz Gordon), Hel

A world of made is not a world of born

Support me: https://www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

Follow me: https://twitter.com/yacobg42

What’s Spoiled?
Control: No character arcs are spoiled. One mid-game sidequest is briefly mentioned. Footage shows late-game areas and abilities without context.
Anatomy: Some footage and voiceover clips taken from late-game.
The Haunting of Hill House (book): One character’s fate is implied.
House of Leaves: Third-act actions of one character are discussed.

Anatomy: https://kittyhorrorshow.itch.io/anatomy

Mokumokuren: http://yokai.com/mokumokuren/

When buildings kill: https://placesjournal.org/article/when-buildings-kill/?cn-reloaded=1

Thanks to Ewan Wilson for research consultation: https://twitter.com/ewanwilson4

Thanks to Jay Taylor for Nioh footage: https://twitter.com/JaySevenZero

Footage used: Control, Anatomy, The Haunting (1963), NaissanceE, Haunted Castle Dark Ride at Santa Cruz Boardwalk (SoCal360), Mickey Mouse: The Haunted House (1929), Nioh, Scooby Doo: When Ghosts Go Boo, Yom Kippur Torah Reading (Moshe Weisblum)

Music used: Various tracks from Control, various tracks from Silent Hill 2, Humphrey Seale Suite (The Haunting, 1963), Max Docks (Max Payne 3), Serenity (Resident Evil 4), Sea of Stars (Bayonetta), Mental Caverns without Sunshine (The Caretaker), Save Theme (Resident Evil 2)

Between each telephone wire, I undress my memory to when he saw the sky and land touch in prayer | See tons of bonus videos and support more work like this by joining my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Social media and merch links at https://jacobgeller.com/

Additional editing by Toadchurch: https://www.youtube.com/@toadchurch/videos
Additional voices by Dan Olson
Shots of Odessa, TX by Austin Baltes (https://www.youtube.com/@austinbaltes) with additional thanks to Callaway Kobes
Very special thanks to Bill Paxton, Head Librarian, Universal Film Library

Paul Frosh on Stock Photography:
2020: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338880857_Is_Commercial_Photography_a_Public_Evil_Beyond_the_Critique_of_Stock_Photography
2001: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249722940_Inside_the_image_factory_stock_photography_and_cultural_production
Brian Barrett on the Distracted Boyfriend meme: https://www.wired.com/story/distracted-boyfriend-meme-photographer-interview/
The Idée blog on The Everywhere Girl: https://web.archive.org/web/20080728232359/http://blog.ideeinc.com/2008/01/22/everywhere-girl-the-book/
CixxFive Concepts LLC v. Getty Images Inc: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/washington/wawdce/2:2019cv00386/270868/61/
Obituary of Wayne D. Gilliam Sr. (“Curley”): https://theflashtoday.com/2020/01/13/wayne-d-gilliam-sr-curley/

Media Shown (other than Stock Imagery): Friday Night Lights (2004), Friday Night Lights (2006), The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Spider-Man 3, Deathloop, Groundhog Day, Palm Springs, Edge of Tomorrow

Music (Chronologically): Stomp and Shout (Candelion), Ray of Sun (Hanna Lindgren), UnearthU (UnearthU), You Can Always Come Home (Mike Franklyn), Silent Heaven (Silent Hill 2), Tears of… (Silent Hill), Ennui (Cody High), Old Time Circus (Luella Gren), Reminiscence Captured on Tape (Ave Air), Streets of Seville (Jose Barrios), Fallow Deer (Martin Klem), Trivalve (Ethan Sloan), The Facsimile (Citizen Sleeper), The Beautiful Blue Danube (as performed by the U.S. Marine Band), Baja los edificios (Despelote), Fading Glint (Citizen Sleeper 2), Of Sober Mind (Cristoffer Moe Ditlevsen), Beach Goer (Frook)

Additional footage from Getty Images and Storyblocks
Additional Music by Epidemic Sound

Thumbnail and Graphic Design by https://bsky.app/profile/hotcyder.bsky.social
Description credit: “Golden Hour” by Huan He

They walk out under the branches of hopelessness
They think of this world welcoming
the bodies of their sons.

Support me and receive a full-length video commentary on this essay: https://www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

Follow me: https://twitter.com/yacobg42

Additional voices provided by Zac Frazier (youtube.com/c/ZacFrazier) and Laura Crone (youtube.com/c/lauracrone)

Additional footage provided by Jesse Guarascia

Robert Cockrell, Battlefield 4 Footage: https://youtu.be/T0Y3G-kLBYs
Arronmunroe, Time Crisis Arcade: https://youtu.be/DjOnbYXhrBo
LopMusic1, Red Dead Redemption 2 Sunrise: https://youtu.be/XiPXXPVnlB4
The Mad Rush to Bulletproof American Schools: https://slate.com/business/2019/08/school-shootings-design-architecture-sandy-hook-columbine.html?src=longreads
How UT architecture restricts activism: http://courses.jilliansayre.net/files/Politics%20of%20UT%20architecture.pdf
Metal Detectors and Feeling Safe at School: https://journals-sagepub-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/doi/abs/10.1177/0013124510380717
Were Brutalist Buildings on College Campuses Really Designed to Thwart Student Riots?: https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/10/campus-brutalism-were-the-buildings-designed-to-thwart-student-riots.html
13 On Your Side- Fruitport High School: https://youtu.be/mXeMGMtOB2Y
NBC News- Inside the Safest School in America: https://youtu.be/kcpsnrxHdCc
CBS News- New Sandy Hook School Opens: https://youtu.be/Ayi69eQd6A8
UNC Protests, September 8 2018: https://youtu.be/iRKuNTY6yKM
University of Texas Austin Tour: https://youtu.be/QklCIStFv5I
On the Humanist Ethic Behind Brutalism: https://www.spiked-online.com/2016/02/25/brutalism-and-the-word-was-made-concrete/

Games shown: Gears of War, Red Dead Redemption II, Max Payne 3, Vanquish, Minecraft, Uncharted 4, The Evil Within, Battlefield 4, Spec Ops: The Line, Time Crisis, Control

Music used: Red Dead Redemption II (Fleeting Joy, Outlaws from the West, Icarus and Friend, The Wheel), Max Payne 3 (DEAD, Painkiller), Sunset (Dancing in the Sand), Uncharted 2 (Bustin’ Chops)

And for an hour I fly without thought, without any feeling except the smooth stone joy of doing something that takes everything. | See tons of bonus videos and support more work like this by joining my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/JacobGeller
Social media and merch links at https://jacobgeller.com/

Additional footage generously provided by:
Rook: https://www.youtube.com/@RookFox
ACF Nugget: https://www.youtube.com/@acfnugget

Special thanks to Luke Jones for filming

Sources:
“I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter” by Isabel Fall, 2020
“How Twitter Can Ruin a Life” by Emily St. James, 2021

Media Shown: Air Combat, Ace Combat 2, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, Ace Combat 04: Shatter Skies, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Project Wingman, 1000xRESIST, Batman: Arkham Knight, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Many Nights a Whisper, Baby Steps, Boomerang X, Hollow Knight Silksong, Final Fantasy XIV, Helldivers 2, Into the Breach, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Pragmata, Save Room, Outrun, Daytona USA, Resident Evil 4, Top Gun: Maverick, Fast and Furious, Fast 5, Fast and Furious 7, F9: The Fast Saga

Music (Chronologically): Daredevil (Ace Combat 7), Zero (Ace Combat Zero), Frozen Soul (Ace Combat 3), Stardust (Ace Combat 4), Dual Wielder (Ace Combat 7), Prelude (Ace Combat 4), Glacial Skies (Ace Combat 0), Curtain Rise (Project Wingman), Coronation (Project Wingman), Sudden Signs (Ethan Sloan), To Be Still (By Lotus), Offline (Ace Combat 7), Fort Grays Air Force Base Hanger (Ace Combat 7), Daredevil (Ace Combat 7), Prelude (Ace Combat 4), Final Flight (Project Wingman), The Journey Home (Ace Combat 5)

Additional footage from DVIDs and Getty Images
Additional music from Epidemic Sound

Thumbnail and Graphic Design by https://bsky.app/profile/hotcyder.bsky.social
Description credit: “I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter” by Isabel Fall

and you leave behind you a heroic
trail of desolation

Support me and receive a full-length video commentary on this essay: https://www.patreon.com/JacobGeller

Get a free trial of Audible AND a free audiobook by visiting http://audibletrial.com/jacobgeller

Follow me: https://twitter.com/yacobg42

---------------------------------
Thanks to Laura Crone for script revisions: https://www.youtube.com/c/lauracrone

The Feather Thief (Kirk Wallace Johnson, 2018)
Western Reactions to Benin Bronzes: https://youtu.be/rp8flCwvoAU
Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World's Most Ingenious Thief : https://www.wired.com/2010/03/ff-masterthief-blanchard/
The Feather Heist (This American Life): https://www.thisamericanlife.org/654/the-feather-heist
Secrets of the World’s Greatest Art Thief: https://www.gq.com/story/secrets-of-the-worlds-greatest-art-thief
Nairaland Forum: https://www.nairaland.com/984559/walls-benin-mankinds-largest-ever
Will The British Museum Ever Return These Stolen Artifacts?: https://www.history.com/news/british-museum-stolen-artifacts-nigeria
Long in Exile, the Looted Benin Bronzes Tell the Story of a Mighty African Kingdom: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-long-exile-looted-benin-bronzes-story-mighty-african-kingdom
Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)

Music Used: Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A major op.92 - II Allegretto, Invisible Inc: Mission Select, Nier Automata: Forest Kingdom and Peaceful Sleep (Music Box), Roller Coaster Tycoon 2: Main Theme, Max Payne 3: FUTURE, World of Goo: Burning Man, Are You Coming Home Soon Love MOM