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Politics & Government

'Extranormal' YouTube Video Compares Geneva, Teachers to Fictional 'Mainville, WA'

Strange, video mentions Geneva specifically, lampoons teachers.

An unusual YouTube video with a title "Teachers Union Explained" lampoons Geneva teachers-union arguments, praises Bob McQuillan and the TaxFACTS group and probably doesn't do a lot to help ongoing negotiations between the Geneva Education Association and the Geneva School District.

The video is posted by a YouTube user named Adam Jones. Whether that's a real name or psuedonym is difficult to determine. No response was given to Patch questions posted to the YouTube user Sept. 18.

What's also hard to know is whether Jones is mimicking the right-wing Battlefield13 YouTube video series or a participant.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Both the "Teachers Union Explained" video and the Battlefield13 YouTube videos were created through a website called Extranormal, which allows users to "instantly turn your words into a 3D animated movie."

The Geneva-specific video creates a fictional conversation between a teacher and a political conservative.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

McQuillan and Geneva Education Association President Carol Young each said via e-mail that the video's origin is unknown.

"I have no idea who posted that video or where it came from. It was not from the GEA," Young said.

"I honestly do not know who made it," McQuillan said. "I did check out the website of the company, and it looks like it is pretty easy to do but would take a long time to complete."

The video's URL was posted by an anonymous user named "Ed" in the comments field of a story on Geneva Patch with a headline Geneva Teachers Express Frustration Over Stalled Negotiations.

The video, published Sept. 14 on YouTube, compares Geneva to a fictional town of Mainville, WA. It's subtitle says, "A discussion about Teacher Pay Raises, with some interesting facts."

"As far as the video itself, I think it is an interesting way to get the message across to a wide number of people," McQuillan said. "I support the message of the video but don't like the way it portrays the teachers."

"Some are trying to make this an issue of people being against teachers and not respecting them. That is not the case," McQuillan said. "This is purely a financial issue being driven by today's economic environment. Those that don't understand that don't understand reality."

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