Viral video sparks friendship debate
When USU roommates Jesse Budd and Patrick Romero shot and edited “Why Men and Women Can’t Be Friends” as a project for Romero’s English 2010 class, they never expected the success and popularity they have encountered since the beginning of December.
The three-minute clip, with more than 40,000 likes and 5 million views on YouTube, shows Romero interviewing a series of USU students to find out if men and women can be friends without having a romantic relationship. Romero posted the video to YouTube on Dec. 1 due to encouragement from his English professor.
Romero, a junior majoring in graphic design, said the assignment was to write a rhetorical paper and then make a correlating video to show the class.
“The teacher told us to make a video, so we threw it together really fast. It took maybe two hours total,” Romero said.
Jesse Budd, a junior majoring in business, said the duo didn’t expect the video to become such a success.
“We didn’t even show anyone at first; it was no big deal. I make a lot of videos,” he said.
Romero said, he watched a scene from “When Harry Met Sally” in which Sally (Meg Ryan) and Harry (Billy Crystal) uncomfortably part ways in New York City after a conversation in which Harry says, “Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.”
Crystal’s sentiments are echoed by multiple male students in the video clip.
“I mean, we’re all men, so of course we’re going to have those feelings. And we can be content with just friendship, and we can be silent regarding those feelings, but we’re going to have them,” one male student in the clip said.
Romero said he watched the film as research for the assignment but it wasn’t his sole inspiration, because he has held this belief for quite some time.
He said one of the main reasons he chose to make the video was to help men who try to explain the men-women friendship controversy to their female friends. He does believe there are exceptions to every rule, he added.
“But the exceptions are few and far between,” Romero said. “If I say yes, then every girl thinks they are the exception.”
He said he has two or three female friends he considers to be just friends, but with the rest there is a possibility, potential or desire for more than friendship.
When asked about the video’s popularity, Romero said he doesn’t quite feel like a celebrity, however, the video has attracted attention from the Ogden Standard Examiner, Fox 13 News, KSL, CNN.com and a request from MSN.com.
Though Romero said he wouldn’t disclose the amount of money the clip has earned, he said it’s making a sufficient profit, which is helpful in paying for school and other things.
“I think girls are capable of being just friends,” Romero said. “It’s usually the guy who ends up falling for the girl. And again, there are exceptions where it’s vice versa.”
Budd said he owed Romero a favor for his help in creating a situational comedy called “Clubhouse Rules.”
“I actually think girls and guys can be friends,” Budd said. “I just think it depends on the circumstances. In my experience, I’ve been able to maintain friendships, even with attractive girls. But sometimes you do end up as just acquaintances.”
A review of the clip, posted on doublebreviews.com, states: “I’m not sure who Jesse Budd and Patrick Romero are, except that they are some sort of scientists who have definitive proof of why homosapien males cannot be friends with females of the same species.”
“The video is not a scientific documentary. It was a rhetorical assignment and was meant to favor one view,” Romero said. “The whole purpose was to get an A on my English assignment. And of course we talked to cute girls; it was a great opportunity.”
Romero said he did receive an A on the project.
“We’re both single and looking,” Budd said about himself and Romero. “There was a bit of an ulterior motive.”
Romero said fans of his and Budd’s clip can look forward to more viral videos in the near future.
Budd said to keep an eye on his and Romero’s YouTube page, because the next topic is being kept top secret. He said the new clip could hit YouTube in about three weeks.
– natasha.bodily@aggiemail.usu.edu