THE RISE AND FALL OF AN INTERNET SENSATION
"… it’s interesting to consider the effect mass media can have on an individual, and the process that can reduce a real person’s identity into a three-minute clip. For Bruso, the type of fame YouTube stardom brought him wasn’t something he wanted. Read the full story below."
With Thomas Bruso, known to the internet world as Epic Beard Man, Oakland had a bona fide YouTube sensation, who managed to spark his fair share of controversy. For those who may have missed it, the 67 year-old Bruso’s fifteen minutes of fame were the result of a hail of punches he landed on a younger black man, who tried to fight Bruso after being offended by what he took to be a racist comment. Amid the controversy, there was a lot to talk about: the improbability of Bruso’s impressive fighting ability, the racial dynamics of the situation, and of course, the infamous “I Am a Motherf**ker” t-shirt. Behind the viral video, lies the story of a real person, as foreign as that concept might seem.
