Metal is a commitment. A passion.

June 8, 2017 3:35 PM

Johnny received a very special present yesterday from his dad, who sadly passed away in April. Reddit pulled together to celebrate birthdays, missing parents, and the dedication to f***ing rock.
posted by endotoxin (16 comments total)

Dude, not while am at work. Please.
posted by signal at 3:48 PM on June 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

The first thread is so funny
posted by growabrain at 4:07 PM on June 8, 2017

"If he stops by Georgia and needs a Sarbanes-Oxley Internal Control Audit, I would love to help!"

*wipes away a single tear*
The Internet is an amazing place.
posted by redsparkler at 5:00 PM on June 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

I feel kind of bad for watching that.
posted by amtho at 5:26 PM on June 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

The mother in the first video needs to be a little less aggressive with the camera and questions and just let Johnny, like, feel his own emotions.
posted by palindromic at 5:41 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

The videomaker and the person who posted the video to reddit is his older sister apparently.
posted by Bobicus at 5:48 PM on June 8, 2017

Because, you know, you can't extract the maximum feels out of a video like that without a hydraulic feels press.
posted by Samizdata at 7:06 PM on June 8, 2017

Honestly I just think it is extremely fucking unhealthy that we as a society think it's normal that shit like this should be recorded and put on the internet. I feel gross having watched that.
posted by the bricabrac man at 7:10 PM on June 8, 2017 [19 favorites]

Yeah wtf. Why would you record and post something like that? I guess some people find stuff like that uplifting, but I was viscerally disgusted by how exploitative that was.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:26 PM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Metafilter: I feel gross having watched that.
posted by intermod at 7:31 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maybe it would be worth it to try to clarify why this experience might not be the best choice for recording and sharing?

Something to do with the extreme vulnerability of the kid, and the fact that he couldn't really have anticipated the very personal nature of the gift. That's got to be such a heart-rending thing, with the loss of his father being so recent, and the gift really reinforcing that loss; his father will never hear him play that instrument, and they can never play together. Ugh.
posted by amtho at 9:02 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Huh, I thought the traditional metal birthday gift was box of fucking nothing. This seems way better though?
posted by pwnguin at 10:12 PM on June 8, 2017

Who plays a Dean?
posted by humboldt32 at 11:00 PM on June 8, 2017

I can understand some people being upset that this very private moment was posted on the internet.

But (although it was an unintended consequence), the deeply human reaction by the internet at large is incredibly uplifting. It made me believe again that we as a society will prevail over our aberrant leaders and the systems they represent.
posted by Captain Fetid at 3:21 AM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Whatever discomfort I feel at having been invited to someone's private moment is washed away in an instant when I see "Nita from Alice Cooper here." in reply to it.
posted by crysflame at 7:43 AM on June 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Also buried in the thread is $16k of donations to the music store in support of his education. It's weird to have a moment out in the open be posted like this. I'm just thankful the Internet rolled a 20 today for this guy.
posted by crysflame at 7:47 AM on June 10, 2017 [2 favorites]