“I am always two steps ahead…”

Nicholas Perry (known as Nikocado Avocado, with 4.5 million subscribers as of Oct. 2024) shocked the world with his transformation. Famous for his explicit mukbang content and provocative persona, the YouTuber went viral for his weight loss transformation through his video titled “Two Steps Ahead” after being inactive for 7 months. In the video, unlike his usual superficial, bombastic demeanor, Nicholas Perry gives a distinctly profound speech of his experience, where he leaves the question: who is the real villain? Through taking a closer look at Perry’s transformation, the dangers of unethical content consumption and the dehumanisation of content creators by the viewers will be explored. The following is a part of Perry’s speech:

“This has been the greatest social experiment of my entire life. It’s alluring, it’s compelling, it’s gripping to observe all these unwell, disoriented beings roam the internet and search of stories, ideas, rivalries, where they feel encouraged and engaged, where they involve themselves with the stories and become a product of influence thirsty for distraction from time unspent, spoiling their minds yet stimulating them at the same time. It’s brilliant and it’s dangerous. I feel as if I’m monitoring ants on an ant farm: one follows another, follows another, follows another. (…) All these little consumers, all of these lost and bored people. People consuming anything that they’re told to.”

In his speech, Perry constantly likens viewers to “ants” in his “social experiment” who are “thirsty for distraction from time unspent”. His speculation causes us to think about the negative reciprocation between the content creator and the content consumer. Perry’s succinct speech is followed by a mukbang video, and the uncanny discrepancy between the break in Perry’s Youtube façade, and his direct transition into his usual mukbang content seems to prove his message: “People consuming anything that they’re told to”.

Unethical content consumption leads to the unconscious dehumanisation of content creators, as they are viewed as a simple means of entertainment. From time to time, I would visit Nicholas Perry’s YouTube channel before his transformation. Although I never left any hate comments, I am proud to say that I would heavily judge him, thinking about the extent of human downfall. Despite his curated  toxic persona, my perception changed when I discovered his earlier videos. His early videos touch on his experience with veganism, and this is done through a soft-spoken, vulnerable manner. Perry also shares his life with his parrot, his partner and his love for violin.

In his earlier vegan days, Perry expressed his distress regarding the constant criticism and hate he received for the way he eats, and the toxic vegan community. Perry then denounced his veganism and fell into a spiral of unhealthy eating. The premise of my criticism towards Perry ironically prolonged his regression. I would frequently come across content from Nikocado Avocado’s YouTube channel or read explicit headlines on his obesity, which caused him to wear an oxygen mask and commute by scooter as he could not walk. These would fill me with a disturbing combination of emotions: pity, disgust, awe, and horror. The single view, the internalisation of his hate-filled comment section, and the passive manner in which I consumed all his content— while seemingly harmless— all heavily feeds into the toxic circulation of ‘unhealthy’ content and feedback.

While everyone openly berated Nicholas Perry, no one was willing to actually help him. It is true that the regression of Nicholas Perry into Nikocado Avocado can partly be blamed on himself, as he creates a superficial image for himself for quick views. However, I would argue that the responsibility lies more heavily on the viewers. We have viewed the individual called Nicholas Perry as a simple spectacle and dehumanised him into the hated ‘Nikocado Avocado’.

“You are what you eat”. If all that we are ‘consuming’ is toxic and explicit content that makes us numb to individual thinking, what are we doing to ourselves and the content creators? If our social media addiction has amounted to an obsessive, unfiltered viewing of human degradation and disaster, what does that say about our social media obsession or excessive content consumption?  If Nicholas Perry was able to gain millions and millions of subscribers through exceedingly unhealthy content, what does that say about us? We live in an era where we create villains with our eyes, with a single view or a click of a button. The case of Nikocado Avocado calls for the urgent need of ethical media consumption.