I wrote an article before about some of my favorite Jenna Marbles videos, and she has continued to provide her viewers with excellent content. After creating videos for a decade, Jenna has matured and grown with her audience, a refreshing change that we don’t often see with those in the public eye.
Jenna even made a reaction video for her 300th post, looking back at her old videos (though it was rather cringey). She spoke about her immaturity level and that she was ashamed of some of the jokes she made or language she used. Most of the time, YouTubers tend to make excuses for their behavior and claim things were taken out of context, but Jenna was genuine in her apology to her viewers and has continued to show her growth.
Even though Jenna rarely does anything problematic, she immediately takes responsibility for her actions when criticism arises. One of her longest videos lasts 47 minutes and thirteen seconds, and it is entitled “What Happened To My Fishies Video.” The video mostly consists of Jenna apologizing after commenters told her that she was not properly caring for her new pet fish, particularly taking issue with the tank they were living in. She blamed herself for not doing enough research and planned to immediately make them more comfortable.
She posted another apology video recently after deciding to test a new car seat product for her dogs. Viewers commented on her video, claiming that her dogs looked uncomfortable and she shouldn’t have tried to put them in the car seat. However, Jenna has proven time and time again that loves her dogs more than anything and was simply trying to find a safer way to transport them from place to place. Even so, she explained what happened and apologized, putting a warning statement at the beginning of her video that some viewers may not be comfortable with what happens, but she knows that her dogs are safe and well taken care of.
Along with her YouTube channel, Jenna and her boyfriend, Julien Solomita, have a podcast where they discuss various topics from week to week. Around Halloween, the two read scary stories from Reddit without realizing that they were infringing upon copyright policies. Again, rather than putting the blame on someone else, Jenna took down the videos of them reading the stories, explained they were sorry, and said they would never do that again unless they went through the proper channels. These are small issues in comparison to what others have done, but nevertheless, Jenna Marbles holds herself accountable for her actions, no matter what.
Lastly, one of my favorite videos of Jenna isn’t even one that comes from her own YouTube channel. She guest starred on the short-lived talk show “Kocktails with Khloe,” where the guests were answering questions from a card. The one Jenna drew happened to be a question about what privilege means to her and how she’s contributed to it. After being told to pick a new card, Jenna owned her privilege and said that “white privilege is a privilege, and if you don’t acknowledge it, that’s contributing to the problem.” It was hard to believe that this silly, care-free YouTuber had such a well thought out answer that made people take a step back and recognize their own privilege. Everyone was speechless.
Like fine wine, Jenna Marbles just gets better with age. With each Thursday that goes by where Jenna posts a video, she becomes more mature, patient, and kind. I only hope I can say the same for myself after growing up with her over the past ten years.