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Im sure there are people in the world who could genuinely say an eight-second event changed their life.
They were one way before that eight seconds and another way after.
Personally, my eight seconds are a video ofbeloved character actress Jennifer Coolidgesaying the word Hi.
It doesnt sound very remarkable, Ill grant you.
Have you seen that video of Jennifer Coolidge saying Hi?
Its fucking incredible, I might say to a friend or acquaintance on the street.
She just says Hi?
And then I rush to bring up a video that I myself have watched no less than 200 times.
It has not even once failed to make me laugh.
Its a reaction thats beyond me at this point.
But here I go, trying to explain it.
Rocket Man, byElton John, plays softly in the background.
We pan up a figure dressed in an elegant black lace cocktail dress.
Then, the reveal: Its Jennifer Coolidge, looking pensively out the window at the city below.
Then the video ends.
Just as soon as it arrived.
Eight seconds of perfection.
I have questions, too.
Where did this video come from?
After an exhaustive ten-minute scour of the internet, I had found nothing.
Its probably for the best.
Hi is the kind of video that appreciates in value with less context.
But still, I like to imagine how it went on the day.
Whatever the reason, magic was created that day.
It encapsulates everything we love about Jennifer Coolidge.
No one would remember how I would say the line, Im taking the dog, dumbass.
But they remember Jennifer Coolidge saying it.
The euphoric rewatchability of the Hi video is owed to Coolidges tiny but powerful comedic choices.
My mom used to tell me, Brevity is the soul of wit a lot.
Probably when I was talking too much.
I finally feel I understand, thanks to Jennifer Coolidge.
The Hi video means nothing, and so it means everything.
