Josh Hutchersons World Domination 

By Madison James and Fo Venne  

After a taxing day at school, all a student wants to do is lay in bed and scroll through social media. After mindlessly scrolling, a video with an attention-grabbing headline catches their eye. However, just as the video reaches its climax, it suddenly cuts off and is replaced by a poorly made fan edit featuring some random guy. This “random guy” just happens to be Josh Hutcherson. This edit, originally posted in 2014 by a YouTube channel called MetroGirlzStaton, has become the newest “rick-roll” sensation of this year. But how did this old video resurface and become popular again after nearly a decade?

Born in 1992, Actor Josh Hutcherson is prominently known for his role as Peeta Melark in The Hunger Games, and his lead role as Mike Schmidt in the recent Five Nights At Freddy’s film (FNaF). His recent rise to fame can be attributed to a few reasons. The main cause comes from the FNaF’s film's trendiness. This movie caught the internet's attention, with anything varying from memes to songs. With the trending of movies comes edits, on edits, on even more edits. This ranged from humorous skits to thirst traps. 

The most popular one by TikTok editor ‘herunoias’ is being honored with the title, “That one Josh Hutcherson Edit,” varying in multiple seductive clips of his acting roles. This edit, which accumulated 2.3 million likes, also drew some lewd comments that can only be summarized as the ‘Tik Tok White Boy’ effect. However, this isn’t a shared sentiment by all.

“He was an actor who was in a couple of movies and he hasn’t managed to make more of his five minutes of fame,” Mr. Frantzis, 447’s 6th grade science teacher, benignly complained when questioned about his opinion of Josh Hutcherson. 

Although his acting is celebrated by millions, others haven’t fallen for his charm. This has gone as far as the various edits have been matched with their anti-Hutcherson edits as well, some being collages of Josh Hutcherson’s ‘ugliest’ photos. This has done nothing to destroy the pride of Josh’s fangirls and, as nothing can stop them from popping more and more edits by the day.

“I don’t know much about their fandom but I would say they’re a little too into it, from all I’ve seen that’s all they post,” Gabe Vazquez from 803 commented when asked about Josh Hutcherson’s fandom. As seen from entertainment favorites like One Direction and BTS.  Unfortunately, there will always be fans who may be slightly, or in some cases entirely, off-putting and Josh Hutcherson's fandom is a prime example. His rise to fame is not without its issues.  Fans have gone to measures to dedicate entire ironic shrines or accounts to him. Some may say this is all in good fun but some actions may start to blur the lines between ironic and  parasocial interactions.

Josh Hutcherson is adored by many, and ridiculed by others, but no matter what you think of him, he has connected people across not only the country but the globe. Josh Hutcherson has brought together the Hunger Games fandom and FNAF fandom, who have both bonded over his looks and career. 

So no matter your opinion on his breathtaking jawline, thick brows, and striking big brown eyes, or astounding acting career; Josh Hutcherson has made a powerful impact on this generation, one that will not be forgotten.