VIDEO: Filmmaker, 32, Has Conversation With 12-Year-Old Self
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Jeremiah McDonald(PORTLAND, Maine) — A Maine filmmaker has managed to answer all of the burning questions his 12-year-old self was dying to know — 20 years later — via the meshing of not-so-modern video, current footage and some creative editing.
In an innovative clip published on July 5, comedic actor and filmmaker Jeremiah McDonald playfully cuts together VHS footage of himself as a curious, fidgety 12-year-old boy asking himself questions, which his somewhat more jaded, sarcastic 32-year-old self responds to.
The clip entitled “A Conversation with My 12 Year Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition,” which has topped over one million YouTube views since Thursday, opens with a slate reading: “20 years ago I left a tape for myself…”
The film then cuts to McDonald in 1992, saying to the camera, “I think I’d like to talk to myself in the future — yes, that’s something that I’ll do!”
After a fast forward montage showing footage of the comic through the years, we see McDonald at 32 in his bedroom — bearded, boozing, and a bit bemused with his younger self.
The two soon begin a quick back-and-forth — riffing on Star Wars, this thing called the Internet and the sad fate of childhood pets.
At one point, young McDonald asks his older self if he still likes the TV show Dr. Who. Given the amount of paraphernalia from the newer version of the hit British show the 32-year-old still has in his room, the younger self would be pleased.
In less than four minutes, McDonald’s clip manages to be both heartwarmingly nostalgic, while conveying how jaded Generation-Xers can become when compared directly to their idealistic childhood selves.
McDonald, who told ABC News he is a comic actor and filmmaker, was raised in South Paris, Maine, and now lives in Portland. He has posted more than 50 clips on YouTube under the username “weepingprophet.”
Though the clip has attracted a fair share of skeptics, who believe the McDonald hired a child actor to play his younger self, his inclusion of the footage of himself through the years makes it clear it’s likely him — and he steadfastly maintains that the clip is legitimate.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio