Last year, more than 10,000 people attended the first ever Cat Video Festival, a massive celebration of some of the Internet’s most insanely popular cat videos by the nation’s presumably loneliest people. Needless to say, the event was such a hit that the festival’s organizers not only decided to host it again this year, but they’re also taking it on the road.
The Cat Video Festival’s birthplace and annual home is at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, where the second annual convention will take place in August. However, like all good things, the brighter lights of New York City are calling, and Brooklyn will also play host to another Cat Video Festival later this year.
So why just cats? Why not a more inclusive Animal Video Festival or a much more awesome Dog Video Festival? Because just like cats, cat video fans are snotty and exclusive.
Short videos of “cute” animal behaviour are often popular on video websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, but cats seem to be a perennial favourite.
A one minute film of a cat “hugging” its kitten uploaded in May 2011 has been seen more than 50 million times on YouTube since it went viral after being posted on social news website Reddit.
“I think [cats] are easier to anthropomorphise and harder to herd,” said Plymouth University Professor Susan Blackmore, author of The Meme Machine, in an interview with website knowyourmeme.com on the reason why cats are such an internet hit.
“There’s something secretive about them. When I was a child I used to imagine that all our local cats met up every night after dark to plot schemes against the grown-ups… One would never imagine this of dogs.” (Via the BBC)
Yeah, because dogs are cool and they have awesome personalities. Cats crap in boxes in your house and try to sleep on your face so you’ll suffocate and die. Dogs chase toys and bring them back to you. Cats judge you and talk sh*t about you to all of their stupid cat friends.
All I’m saying is that this kind of segregation is everything that is wrong with society today. Tear down these walls, Cat Video Festival! Open your doors to all wonderful animal videos. Here, let me offer you this year’s Jackie Robinson.