GEORGIO'S HUNGRY!

Some say you are what you eat, and by that same logic it must be the case that you are what you watch.

In which case, I may be in trouble.

It's actually crazy what insanity you can end up watching when you actually had every intention to watch or read something profound.

Maybe it's a reflection of my current scattershot state of mind but somehow I've been sucked back into the vortex of live streaming content.  

My previous guilty pleasure in this relatively modern genre of broadcasting was Asian Andy who would stream unfiltered content whilst out and about in Los Angeles and further abroad in foreign, mostly Asian countries. With an amplified live chat feed that doesn't have any chill, he ends up putting his life at risk as he attempts to (mostly benignly) film his online adventures without getting arrested or sparked out by a member of the public.

Compelling doesn't do justice to the madness of it all.

I have no idea what algorthmic gremlin threw up Georgio (georgiovibe) on my social media FYP lately, perhaps it was a random caprice of fate but somehow I've been watching this North London Patrick Bateman/Tom Ripley hybrid for the past few nights and trying to assess the moral implications of his content. That's not to say anything particularly bad happens per se. That is, if you're even remotely comfortable (I'm still weighing it up) with the somewhat aggressively precocious manner he converses with most people which makes him appear like a hyper autistic rude boy.

The flip side of that borderline psychopathic behaviour is a sort of gregarious Robin Hood type characteristic as he stalks various fast food outlets, pop-up food places, restaurants and bars in pursuit of free food.

"Guys. I'm so hungry."

Like a sort of nocturnal vampire he feeds not on blood from victims' necks but McDonalds as well as frozen yogurt and whatever other tasty morsels he stumbles upon.

If Gollum didnt tend to live in the back of caves and had an iPhone I can imagine him being something like Georgio, scouring for fresh fish late at night to the gothic amusement of others.

The ethical questions about live streaming aside, what makes Georgio's live streams fascinating is whether he can get those free food hand outs or pull off his short cons on one of the harangued staff at the various food emporiums he visits. One wonders how long he can maintain this ruse of his whilst becoming increasingly internet famous.

Last night, for instance, he swaggered into a McDonalds somewhere in central London and casually asked someone waiting in the queue what number they had been given on their ticket order. In this case it was 19. With little hesitation he then asked one of the harried looking kitchen staff in a voice of understated indignation where order number 17 was. Then, realising he had potentially snagged a massive, family sized takeaway order, Georgio has to quickly re-think his plans as a Deliveroo driver standing next to him gave him a baleful stare. Eventually, after targeting another member of staff to harass, he changed his order number and they handed him a fresh bag of food after which he then darted off into the city night like a squirrel.

Criminal? Yes.

Morally abhorrent? Yes.

Entertaining? Frighteningly so.

"I don't give a fuck, guys! They can make up another order. It's only McDonalds!"

Having been mostly scorned by his live chat for essentially taking food he hadn't paid for, Georgio wanders off in search of a night bus home, not before opening up the takeaway bag to see what goodies lay inside.

"We've hit the jackpot, guys! This is a massive W!"

Then, withdrawing a dozen chicken nuggets, two double cheeseburgers and some fries he is so ecstastic with his scam that he proceeds to share some with random strangers and then, just for good merit, hands over the remaining change in his pockets to some homeless guy cocooned in his sleeping bag.

With all these moral contradictions it's hard to know what to ultimately conclude about Georgio other than in his mind, while he's streaming, he exists in a different moral universe than the rest of us. It's as if once he presses his red record button he's somehow exempt from any repurcussions in the NPC (Non Player Character) world he flits around in, his phone acting as his moral invisibility cloak.

There's also a Cinema Vérité vibe al la early Truffaut/Malle to proceedings as he taps up various staff like Harry at Snog Frozen Yoghurt bus on the South Bank.

"Let's see if Harry's in!"

I haven't yet seen Harry when I've tuned into the live stream, but Georgio makes a convincing case for his existence. If he doesn't exist it would make just as much sense as yet another conceit for one of Georgio's cons.

On the rare occasion he bumps into another IRL streamer, there is a sort of stand off where they'll compare audience numbers of their respective live streams as if they're two combatants playing a high stakes game of trump cards.

And after a few hours spent showcasing his skills as an uncoventional modern hunter gatherer, Georgio heads back on the night bus where things can either wind down or wind up depending on the amount of nocturnal lunatics our host wishes to engage with.

In the end, I'm pretty sure I'll not return to Georgio, but for a few hot sleepless nights I enjoyed the ride.

Plus, like the food he stole, I didn't pay for it.

Except, perhaps, with my soul.