I remember watching this live and I've thought about it ever since. On the one hand, I could never see any way that it could be fake - the camera is zoomed in and no tether is ever visible - on the other hand, I can't imagine how it would be real.
Two thoughts to break the tie. 1, if it is as simple as sucking in air powerfully, the gum should not be arcing upward. 2, She adjusts her head and mouth to follow the path of the gum which tells you it isn't really suction at work. If it was, the gum would follow her.
The comments' consensus is that the gum is tied to a strand of hair. With 1080p and frame-by-frame advance I see no hair but "it wasn't HD video back then" is the only thing I can conclude.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is finished, the end has come, the fifth and last Golden Ticket has just been found right here in Paraguay. the lost and banned episode of Sesame Street featuring the Wicked Witch of the West has turned up online.
I was planning on making a joke about how this post syncs up with "Dark Side of the Moon" but the video already did that joke.
And here is the episode:
For a compilation of just the Wicked Witch parts, click here.
And a few thoughts...
For someone who was trying to rehabilitate her image, this was an INSANE move for Margaret Hamilton. The stark contrast of with makeup/without makeup is one of your main tools to get kids to not be afraid of you. So why not have a plot where the wicked witch is proven to be able to disguise herself to look like an ordinary old woman? Yes, even though the old woman may look normal, she's still a witch underneath and, don't forget, she wants to steal your dog.
"I won't give her back this broom until she gives me a little respect" is terrible principle.
The guy's acting is also terrible. I've always accepted Sesame Street's "big" acting because it was for children and that's the norm for children's programming, but this is just bad.
A lot of the reaction to this episode involves adults being shocked that anyone found this to be scary - the whole reaction was a huge overreaction. I don't think so. In the 50 years or so of Sesame Street's existence, how many villains have their been? How many villains with magical powers? The bar is set by Oscar the Grouch whose main weapon is being impolite. This episode would be a violation of viewer expectations.
When I was a kid, my one friend opined that the scariest villains in the world were Darth Vader and the Wicked Witch of the West. I quickly realized the verisimilitude of the statement and assented. He then added that when he was younger he opined that they must be married and that was too large a logical leap for me.
Be warned that this isn't the usual light-hearted or "interesting" kind of video that I post usually. This is dark, disturbing and very sad. In fact, I marginally don't recommend watching it.
But what I wanted to point out is that there's another new Youtube grift that I never thought of. Here's what you do:
1) Find a "20/20" or "Dateline" or "Hard Copy" (etc.) story that's really interesting.
2) Record yourself recounting the story into your webcam.
3) Add a clickbait title.
4) Rake in the cash.
Think about it... the News isn't copyrightable. And they've already done all the hard work of researching, confirming, gathering video and pictures, creating visuals. So all you have to do is re-tell the details and you're golden. Even if you want to use the photos and visuals that are copyrighted, it's arguably fair use. It's genius.
I also found there's a video that's a person reacting to this video. That's a double-whammy. That's Youtube-ception.
