Elizabeth Banks’ WhoHaHa; Upbeat and Bright, But More Targeted to Trendy Millennials Than Older Women
Review: Checking Out WhoHaHa – The New Website Created By Elizabeth Banks
This week, I had to chance to check out WhoHaHa, a new female-centric comedy website created by actress, director, and producer Elizabeth Banks. The website is a conglomerate of clips from comedians, YouTube personalities, Vine stars, and more. It’s similar to FunnyorDie, except it is entirely women based. It’s a home for Elizabeth and her team to bring together the best female-created videos all in one spot.
At first glance, the site is bright, colorful, and fun. It uses a color scheme of black, white, purple, and blue to make everything pop. There aren’t any ads yet, so it looks pretty clean. I started clicking on videos and I was immediately confused by the navigation of the site. The top bar switched out tabs every time I clicked on something. I realized it was the type of site that constantly presents new content, and I was thrown off because I do prefer organization. However, WhoHaHa is very new, so this could be an early stage layout designed to keep people engaged long enough for them to learn what WhoHaHa is all about. The language is very supportive and upbeat, which is pleasant. I’m not crazy about headlines that use cliché titles like “…and it is EVERYTHING” or “yaaas queens,” but I don’t think I’m necessarily the target audience in that respect. It’s extremely popular to communicate like that right now, so I can’t rag on it if I’m just being a wet blanket in my personal opinion on phrase trends.
The actual content of WhoHaHa ranges from relatable daily struggles to larger political commentary. There is a variety of different headlines at the top that only show short one or two word descriptions of the video, so you’re not sure what you’re getting when you click. On the right hand side are clickable videos that feature a screenshot of the clip with a description. I clicked around the site and found great videos from seasoned comedians as well as from up-and-comers that I hadn’t yet heard about. The website is a supportive environment for women to appreciate other women in comedy, and I like that positivity. I would like to see more videos with content that aren’t all about being a woman. It’s true there is a lot of untapped material about being female because there simply haven’t been enough females in comedy to have written about it in the first place, but I would love to see women being funny without it having to do with the female experience. For example, there’s a clip featured on the site by Kristen Wiig during her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel called “Crying in a Sweater” which shows off her comedic talent and creative thinking without commentary on being a woman. Another clip featured Marissa Strickland as she parodies the lead character from the 1994 film Nell, which was clever and original. However, the clips that do discuss struggles women go through are very relatable (catcalling, etc.).
It’s hard to toe the line between politics and comedy when you’re creating a gender-specific comedy website. Especially when it’s a site that does aim to mentor and support women in comedy. Whether we want to think politically or not, our history and daily life remind us where we came from and how far we have to go. In comedy, they say you should write what you know. When you’re female, you know about the specific struggles we deal with on a daily basis, whether it’s superficial problems like trying to get winged eyeliner perfected or heavier issues like catcalling and sexual harassment. So, maybe I’m wrong to criticize the amount of content related to feminism or women’s issues. It’s what we know.
Overall, WhoHaHa seems like a wonderful place for funny ladies to get their content out there. It’s especially great for up-and-coming comedians who have a place to present their content and to get their name recognized. It’s the supportive environment women need, especially when females feel like they’re competing against each other in the comedy scene. Often, women feel like there are only spots for a few females in comedy, so the natural reflex is to treat other ladies as competition. WhoHaHa breaks through that and offers a great destination for women to support women. With the website’s enormous potential, I’m excited to watch it grow.
Visit whohaha.com to check it out.
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Sarah Jacobs
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