By Jules Moskowitz ’17
Why do people enjoy watching disgusting, pimple-popping videos? The famous Instagram account, @drpimplepopper has 2.3 million followers and currently contains 3,140 video posts of Sandra Lee (the pimple popper herself) popping clients’ pimples, cysts, blackheads and any other peculiar lump.
Lee, who works out of her office in California, specializes in general and cosmetic dermatology. Her work has made her become a social sensation. Not only have her Instagram videos topped 750 million views, but she also has 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube.
If you have not seen one of the infamous @drpimplepopper’s videos, all you need to know is that they have footage of puss and blood oozing out of pimples, blackheads and cysts.
“Watching her pop the pimples is just so satisfying,” senior Gloria Hussain said. “I know it’s gross but at the same time it’s relieving.”
Personally, I think the videos are grotesque and make me squeamish, but based on her viewings and popularity, people worldwide and even here at West Essex are obsessed with watching her videos.
“Dr. Pimple Popper teaches me different techniques on how to keep my skin healthy,” avid viewer junior Julia Farese said. “I get so intrigued by the different strategies Dr. Lee uses to extract some of the worst pimples.”
On the contrary, some people cannot even glance at the sight of pimples being popped.
“The videos are disgusting. Who would want to see gross, pus-filled pimples being popped?” senior Matt Stout said.
I, for one, wouldn’t want to scroll through my feed seeing these queasy videos, though a large sum of people would disagree.
“I don’t know what it is, but I’m a huge fan,” freshman Brooke Schatz said.
According to an online article published by Medical Daily, “repulsion is a trait that humans evolved to keep themselves safe from the dangers of contagious disease or infection.”
Why? What makes people attracted to these clips?
In a November 2016 article, author Deanna Pai said, “These videos present a problem and the solution for it, all in a five or six minute clip.”
People are so intrigued by repulsion because, in some way, it is exciting. Human beings crave oddities like pimple-popping videos for no rhyme or reason other than it being a guilty pleasure.
Disgust is an emotion that one feels when they see or do something repulsive. This so-called “craving” isn’t often noticed or talked about because it is disgusting. But we are able to cope with this feeling through mediums such as social media.
“I don’t find Dr. Pimple Popper’s channel ‘disgusting,’ I genuinely enjoy these types of clips,” junior Frankie Pinetta said.
Dr. Sandra Lee’s Instagram page is proof of how many people need a little bit of disgust in their lives; and how many enjoy it.
