Robert Dinkins, Jr.
A&E Editor
Eli Millette’s ’17 answer to the question “What is your favorite Shrek film?” encapsulates him as a person. “That’s a tough question,” he said, “The first Shrek is like the Citizen Kane of that whole franchise. I think when you see Shrek, it’s not as good as Shrek 2, but Shrek 2 would not have been possible without Shrek. So with this knowledge I’m going to have to go with Shrek 3.”
Millette, a Cleveland native from Shaker Heights, is a senior at The College of Wooster known for his YouTube channel, Eli’s Trashheap (all one word). Inspiration for the channel’s name can be attributed to Millette’s belief that “Trash is honest” and “Everyone has trash.” On his channel, he has videos of him singing, acting and even creating a video for a class. “My videos are an accurate representation of who I am as a person,” Millette said.
With videos such as “I’m a First Year,” “College of Woshter Promotional Psychology Video,” “A Beautiful Mind” and the classic song where he details the struggles of romance at a small liberal arts institution, “Woo’ Lovin” (music video coming soon), Millette allows viewers a wide view into who he is as a person. “I usually don’t write ‘hard set’ scripts,” Millette said about his creative process. “I like to bounce ideas off of people and ask them, do they think it’s funny?”
Millette is a psychology major at the College and connects this with his videos in a unique way, showing the versatility in his sense of humor. “I try to talk about irrelevant stuff, but not harmful. I try my best to make videos harmless. If I don’t have to swear, I won’t. If I don’t have to make a joke overtly sexual, I won’t. Same goes for race and culture. There is this band called Chiddy Bang and in their album, The Preview, they only cursed once but the album was still good,” Millette said. “I think I wouldn’t try to have clean comedy if I didn’t take a psychology class that showed some of the effects of media on people’s opinion.” This does not mean Millette censors his jokes; it means Millette puts a lot of thought into the message he wants to convey to his audience because he does not want his videos to be at someone’s or some group’s expense.
Millette also had a lot to say about his work ethic. “I think if you start something you should finish it,” Millette said. “Often times we are given opportunities to quit and we take them, but I believe this is only an advantage allowed to some. So if we have an opportunity to finish something, we should finish it.”
I also asked him about the people who inspire him. “Shrek, Nicholas Cage and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street are some,” Millette said. “Kito Ashbey [’17], Marisa Adame [’17] and Savannah White [’17] are all talented people who I like to work with and model my work after. Also Eric Andre, creator of The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim.”
Millette cited Eleanor Roosevelt as an inspiration: “ She said, ‘Do one thing that scares you every day.’” Millette also offered advice for anyone that wants to start a YouTube channel or any other creative project. “Just do it,” Millette said. “Get a group of friends and just film anything and put it on YouTube. The people who want to see it will watch it.” Millette can be best characterized as a person who maximizes his opportunities in a bold way. From doing a Skype interview wearing shorts to not being afraid to express himself in the videos he creates on YouTube, Eli embraces his trash. We can all embrace the trash that we have in our own life.