Is there any gesture in our visual vernacular more visceral than a thumbs-down? It’s pure, unadulterated hateration, no holleration. Joel Kim Booster got to experience the power of the thumbs-down on April 20 while headlining the Kennedy Center as part of Asian AF, the Asian American variety show. While performing, Booster was heckled by an audience member who expressed his distaste by throwing out the thumbs-down. A photo of the interaction was posted on Twitter that night, and the app immediately began reveling in the delight of seeing the gesture, enjoying its simplicity and the way the photo told a story, with Booster appearing to be mid-fight with the heckler. There was an entire narrative visible through Booster’s active anger in the face of such a decisive gesticulation. “The fact that I have to deal with this shit, at the Kennedy Center of all places…,†Booster tweeted in response that night. “this is not community……â€
Yet while the photo appeared to tell a rich narrative, the reality was much different. A video of the interaction surfaced the next day, on April 21, revealing it had been [gasp] staged by Booster himself. It was crowdwork all along! “I need somebody in the front to stand up and pretend like you’re a heckler and we’re in a fight,†Booster says onstage before trying out a few “outraged†poses. Oh no … the thumbs-down was actually a thumbs-up!