Follow This (2018) s01e01 Episode Script

[whispering] Hi, guys. Welcome back.
I hope you're doing well.
Without further ado, let’s start.
And I hope that you enjoy this.
- [distorted rubbing]
- [light music]
[quiet slurping]
[quiet slurping]
[indistinct whispering]
Love you, guys. Bye.
[electronic music]
I mean, I have a good job.
I get to sit on the Internet all day
and see what it’s doing to me.
Then I go to my editor
and I stress her out with what I've found.
[upbeat music]
[Scaachi] I write stories about culture,
and right now, culture is something
that's shaped by the Internet -
a place that gives me mixed feelings.
On one hand
I think the Internet provides a community
that you wouldn't have normally.
I grew up in a really white neighborhood,
and I didn't know anybody who looked
like me or did things like me.
I think the Internet opened a room for me
to sort of see what that looked like.
On the other hand, Nazis
[music stops]
you know?
[ringing tone]
Hi, Bill. My name is Scaachi Koul.
I’m a reporter from BuzzFeed News.
I'm calling because I'm working
on a story about ASMR, and I wanted to see
if this was something
maybe you were researching.
It's a brain reaction to certain sounds,
like people tapping,
or touching fabric,
or eat really loudly into microphones.
[laughing]
No, it's not I don't think it's porn.
It doesn't, um
[laughing]
[string music]
[Scaachi] A lot of times, the Internet
takes me to some pretty weird places,
and my next article is no exception.
I'm writing about the Internet phenomenon
known as ASMR.
[crispy crackling]
[slurping]
[gentle tapping]
- [rustling]
- [crunch]
Succulent.
ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory
Meridian Response, which is
a brain reaction to certain
visual and auditory stimuli.
[Scaachi] In a practical sense,
this is a genre of YouTube videos
where people whisper
tap
[rapid clinking]
or do whatever they can
to induce a warm, fuzzy feeling
many users describe as a head orgasm.
[rapid clicking]
- When ASMR works,
- [gentle clinking]
it creates this sort of tingling feeling
in my spine and in my brain.
I have a busy life and a hectic job.
This is one thing
that quiets my brain.
- [music stops]
- [soft scrunching]
I don't feel like it's a new thing
that people want to feel better
or that people want comfort.
We always want that.
But there's something that's happening
in the last, probably, three years
where it's really sort of exploded
in a bigger way.
[upbeat music]
[Scaachi] Even though
only some people get the tingles,
last year, the number of videos tagged
"ASMR" on YouTube more than doubled,
growing from five million
to more than 11 million in just one year.
Hundreds of new ASMR videos
are posted every hour.
I'm really curious about why it's gotten
so popular in the last few years
and what that popularity says about us.
[music fades]
[whispering] Good evening.
Welcome to another ASMR session.
[soft scrunching]
[very faint rustling]
[ethereal music]
[whispering] I'm just examining
Just paying attention
Making sure that you're in good health.
[very faint rustling]
A little brushing
for your cheeks.
My God, my brain's on fire.
Oh, my God. We've got to get out of here.
- [laughing]
- [electronic music]
[Scaachi] With half a billion views
since she first started in 2011
[whispering] Thank you so much
for joining me tonight.
..Maria might be the Internet's
most watched whisperer.
We’ll start with infamous crinkle comb.
I’m really excited because I feel like
it’s a new thing for me to fail at.
- I’m really looking forward to it.
- [laughing] You're going to do great.
Our main concern is a viewer’s sleep.
I would suggest
sometimes looking at the camera,
as if you're looking at the viewer's eyes,
and then just gently creating
the little soothing sounds,
and just saying something.
For example, "Listen to this crinkle."
- Enjoy this comb sound.
- Yes, nice and crinkly.
[gentle crinkling]
- [soft chiming]
- [ethereal music]
[Maria] In 2009,
I was going through anxious times.
There was a video that said "whisper"
in the title, and I was so intrigued.
I just got this weird, tingling sensation
all through my legs, through my arms,
and there was no turning back.
[music fades]
So now, let's try
a little bit of whispering,
- or just lowering down the voice.
- [breathily] Lowering down the voice.
- Very good.
- Oh, thanks.
Great job.
I'm just thinking about, like,
my extremely Indian mother,
and how she would watch this
and be like, "This is nonsense."
You have to realize that there are people
- who really, truly enjoy it.
- Oh, yes.
And there are people
who really benefit from it.
[light music]
Why do you think
it's gotten so popular recently?
I think it's just with the emergence
of more stress.
For a lot of people, insomnia is an issue,
and sometimes medication
could have a side effect to it.
We're hoping that we can have a research
to prove that it actually benefits you
on deeper levels than we can even imagine.
Do people ever come up to you
and think that what you do is porn
or that it’s sexual?
A lot of people have this misconception.
I usually try to be as nurturing,
almost a motherly figure in the videos.
I enjoy this effect of intimacy
and personal attention during the videos,
but I can see how a lot of people
would take it for the wrong thing.
Is artificial intimacy better, in a way?
Of course,
artificial intimacy is not better,
but if it helps someone, it helps someone.
That's the bottom line.
[light music]
- [phone ringing]
- [music fades]
- I'm good. How are you?
- [Karolina] Good, good.
We just left Maria's house. She's the ASMR
artist with a million subscribers.
There has to be some study
of that particular phenomenon.
I know. It's so bizarre.
The Internet. Where else?
[laughing]
[light music]
ASMR was probably the first
psychological phenomenon
that was discovered by Internet users,
rather than by scientists.
You guys are kind of playing a bit
of catch-up, then, with the Internet.
Which is a strange position to be in,
as a scientist.
So I’m one of the people who gets it.
Why doesn’t everybody get it?
We essentially put
two groups of individuals
into a functional MRI scanner,
one with ASMR, and one that was
a group of matched controls.
[Scaachi] Steve says
that when a typical person is relaxed,
certain brain areas
tend to fire together as a network.
But in ASMR brains,
this network is different,
swapping out some of the traditional
brain areas in favor of using other parts,
like the areas related to vision,
sensory information and movement.
[music fades]
So what we found
was that individuals with ASMR
have networks that are fundamentally
different than people who don’t have ASMR.
- Why do you think we're wired this way?
- We’ve done one personality study
where people with ASMR
were more open to experience,
but they were also more neurotic,
so a greater level
of emotional instability.
I feel like you’re really writing
my dating profile right now.
- Yeah, and less agreeable.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So
- Great.
Joking aside,
there's no real answer to your question.
At this point,
a lot of it’s just speculation.
Right.
[light music]
[Scaachi] So the science of ASMR
is still far from settled,
but it seems that some people -
a lot of people -
are really benefiting from it.
Users on Reddit and YouTube
post story after story
of how ASMR is helping them cope
with depression, anxiety, PTSD and more.
Who are these users,
and how is it helping them?
[children's voices]
[Scaachi] Glue, string.
What else do you need?
- [Joanna] Not yet, no.
- [Scaachi] Okay.
Oh, I like the gold glitter.
Maybe I'll do some of that.
Do some of everything.
So we’re making jewelry?
- [Joanna] Yes.
- [Scaachi] Okay.
[quiet clicking]
What’s the appeal for her?
This whole thing
feels like an ASMR experience.
[Joanna] What are your triggers?
Tapping.
The back-scratching videos are nice.
- Yeah.
- And then when they do
the ones where they have the microphone
where it feels like it’s behind your ear.
They kind of like move their head like
- [whispering]
- [laughing]
So clearly,
you watch a lot of ASMR videos.
- I do.
- So how often do you watch them?
Every day.
- Every day?
- Constantly, yeah.
Like during the day or at night?
During the day,
when I'm not doing anything, yeah.
I don't even watch TV.
[light music]
Welcome to this relaxing
towel folding tutorial.
[Joanna] I was mainly raised
in, like, the inner city.
High crime and
It wasn't all that great of a childhood.
A couple of years ago, I was really sad
and, like, really depressed.
I didn't like how my life was turning out.
Coming across the ASMR videos
and just watching it,
it just took me
out of reality for a second.
It really, really helps, like,
with my depression and the anxiety.
Do you think ASMR
is a kind of therapy for you?
Yes, definitely, a hundred percent.
Free therapy.
I don't even feel, like,
depressed any more or anything, no, no.
Would your ideal scenario be
that you could have somebody here
doing a one-on-one live ASMR session
to and with you?
I don't know.
I like the fact that
no one knows.
Like, she doesn't know me,
I don't know her,
but she's doing this for me.
So it's kind of like me wearing a mask.
I can be private about it.
[light electronic music]
I'm in Jersey.
I just left from visiting
an ASMR superfan.
It sounds like she had
a really traumatic childhood,
and, you know, it’s like
accessible therapy for her.
[music fades]
Thank you so much
for coming to Whisperlodge.
If at any point you feel unsafe
or even uncomfortable,
please ask one of the guides.
Let them know.
We're happy to adjust anything
or change anything.
Take the last couple of minutes
to listen to the city around you.
This will be the last of the outside world
you hear for the next 90 minutes.
[ethereal music]
[man] Whisperlodge is a sensory journey
of live ASMR.
The practice of live ASMR involves
a lot of personal attention,
whether it's focusing
on an object or a person.
And in doing that,
you naturally create
intimacy between two people.
Okay?
[Andrew] Watching YouTube videos of ASMR
gives you intimacy without vulnerability.
When you come to Whisperlodge,
you're getting intimacy
and you are vulnerable.
Our hope is that they find a deeper state
of both relaxation and presence.
- [music fades]
- [buzzing]
[Melinda] The bulk of the activities
we offer are one-on-one sessions.
So, effectively, we are playing out
the ASMR role plays that you see online.
[melodic music]
[Andrew] My scene is the office,
so my dynamic is meant to invoke
the teacher-student dynamic.
[soft crunching]
[Melinda] Another scene we offer
is "The Boudoir."
[rustling paper]
The character in that scene
is more flirtatious.
[gentle spraying]
[soft squirting]
[squirting]
[Melinda] If it arouses someone,
then that works for that person,
and I don't think that we should say
that that is wrong.
What we are doing here is, in a way,
trying to combat
how everything is being digitized
in our lives.
And by bringing this into a live setting,
we are forcing you
to try to have this intimate connection
with someone.
[Andrew] I think the essential reaction
to Whisperlodge is that moment
when people walk back into the world.
When they step out that door,
the wind is louder,
the light seems brighter
and
that's the gift of Whisperlodge.
[music fades]
[laughing]
That was the most complicated
experience I've ever had.
I don't know if that was the worst thing
I've ever done or the best.
It could have been both.
They gave me a melted chocolate.
I got some of it.
I got it when she did the ear exam.
I got it a little bit with the brushing.
I’m kinda bummed.
I really wanted to
I wanted it to, like
work, but it required me, like,
giving up pieces of myself,
and I don't want to do that.
[upbeat music]
[Scaachi] I'm realizing more and more
that everyone is entitled
to a little bit
of one-sided intimacy now and then
because, well, you get tired.
And if that means asking
a stranger to make you feel better
using clicks and taps and whispers,
then so be it.
In an era when we eat our meals
in front of a screen,
when kids spend more time on their phones
than they do with their friends,
and when neighbors
rarely stop to say hello,
this seems to be one instance
where the Internet is introducing
some of that human connection
back into our lives
one gentle whisper at a time.