I may have seen Donaldson's face before this, but if so, I immediately categorized him as Some Internet Dude and went about my business. I don't understand that weird smile of his and I instinctively distrust it, and those fries are a sin against God and man.
Also, I cannot throw stones at your fashion sense, seeing as how "oversize Zelda T shirt and cargo shorts" is my specific fashion wheelhouse.
First of all, I'm glad I found your substack. Some of your posts really hit that nostalgic high, which I somewhat miss from todays degenerate clown world. You surely know that picture..."You can go back, but no one will be there"...or something like that. Maybe, but I will treat these posts as some kind of memorials of that age. Will be writing some of my ramblings regarding to them, as even though I'm pretty far from the US, but still was part of it. The Scott Pilgrim one especially hit hard for me and I'm sure there is some worth in my experience in that one. Dunno...wanted to start my substack too but I won't be getting there for some time and it will be not about these stuff.
Also love the style, keep up the good work.
So on MrBeast...honestly, he was always something tangential for me. I'm turning 30 this year so by the time he really got going I was over these stuff. With the passing of the great meme war, gamergate and election of Trump my most active part on these parts were also gone. Also had to accept that the Filthy Frank Show was also over and generally the meatspace kicked the door on me pretty bad...but I digress.
I was simply too old for this stuff and had some resentment for his gaming of the system. Most importantly he was the pioneer of the maxxxing out of the algorythm phenomenon, which further made that part of the internet more insufferable. He does his charities and honestly, good for him.
I saw the first video fresh when the shit started rolling and although it surely wasn't the most diplomatic...I believe in personal agency and at that point he (seemingly) didn't do anything criminal, but it almost always end like this. Everything was out there and I know too much of the coomer types and the ones generally trooning out so to speak. It also connects why do so many of these manchildren end up in these scandals.
I too was a terminally online person, had my fights with the porn, but thankfully, always mantained a sufficient connection with reality, to be able to climb out. What I mean is that as they often missed a significant part of socializing, too many of them got stuck...in adolescence(?). It is on the same spectrum as when people in their 30s or slowly even 40s can't accept that their time has passed...time to grow up.
As there will be a second part, I won't comment on what happened with Ava yet.
Back to MrBeast. I kinda like him better this way. He looked really uncomfortable with some of Ava's stuff and tried to keep it together. It's a big business and as you said, purity for this market is of utmost importance. He still stood for his childhood friend possibly jeopardising the whole franchise. He for once seemed human(?)...not the calculative master of the algorythm as usual. I think he truly didn't know about the underage stuff.
Sorry for the wall of text, will be waiting for the next part. I still has some appreciaton for internet drama, but I think it is better not getting immersed in it too much. (I really need to structure my writing better, but in my defense I wrote this on my phone while going home)
I'm glad you found my Substack, too, and more so that you're enjoying the content. I'm especially glad you liked the Scott Pilgrim piece - that one was a lot of fun to write and, in a lot of ways, very cathartic for myself, and if it speaks to people, that makes all the effort that went into it worth it. I also have to sympathize with "meatspace kicking in the door", as it's done the same to me over the past couple years as it sounds as if we're of the same general generation. I will say that while I miss Filthy Frank content, it was suited for a certain cultural time and place that has, indeed, passed, and I'm glad it went out with some dignity and on a high note instead of grinding along until it became outdated and cringe.
I certainly agree that there is a direct correlation between coomers/porn addicts, immaturity (manchildren), and, as you put it, "trooning out". A lot of these people truly are the type who just never grew up and, for one reason or another (I suspect the internet), were never properly socialized and were perpetually behind the ball. I was watching old MrBeast videos for research and was struck by how awkward and stilted Tyson and Donaldson were. It wasn't just bad acting in their sketches, they just genuinely seemed awkward and uncomfortable, and that "acting" was very uncomfortable for them, but also something they saw as a necessity for success. I don't doubt they had fun when they were younger, making that content, but I also got the sense that if they felt as if they could have done something else, they would have.
Donaldson in particular definitely does still come off strangely stiff and impassive, even today.
Also, no need to apologize - I like long comments, and appreciate the feedback ;)
Excellent post getting into more deep internet lore. You’re so good at this stuff.
It’s important to understand who these influential people are and what they do, and maybe even why to the extent that they why matters. Corrupting children, sexually or otherwise, is so profoundly evil I want people who even think about it to be removed from polite society. What a freak show YouTube is.
From what I understand, the reason twitch didn't speak up about Dr. Disrespect was because they were illegally looking at private messages to find out what he did, and they didn't want legal repercussions so they let it slide. Also they paid him quite a large sum of money so they must've known they really fucked up.
So glad I found your Substack! Very comprehensive overview. You are right to point out that the level of vitriol (justified in my opinion) Dr.Disrespect elicited was far greater than Tyson. It is incredibly difficult to criticize people who claim to be trans woman in online and entertainment society. I truly believe there are good well meaning people who genuinely suffer from gender dysphoria and are helped by presenting as the opposite sex. However, we have to be able to talk about the portion of men for whom transitioning is a fetish. That is the main reason so many women like myself are concerned about allowing trans women into female only spaces. I can’t tell who is getting off on it and who isn’t and since you are bigger than me it makes me scared and uncomfortable. I don’t want to make anyone feel less than but I also wish we could talk about the increasing number of people like Tyson women are being pressured to accommodate
I agree. Everything I found while researching Tyson suggests that transitioning for him is a fetish and that, if he does have legitimate body dysmorphia, is a side-effect of excessive porn consumption. There needs to be a larger conversation on the topic of porn addiction and body dysmorphia as I believe the latter is a very prominent side effect of the former. I plan on looking more into it in the future.
Those are photos of MrBeast opening the burger place at the American Dream Mall and I was there. My son wanted to see him and I thought we would go, get a Beast burger and then be on our way but no. There were at least 10k people there. I’ve never seen any like it.
You asked why these entertainers,(that is, in essence,what they are) cannot resist the siren song of pedophilia. Clearly, it is the demon of our time and the focus of all the alphabet people. Having been overtaken by the demon of Fame and Fortune, of course he invites his friends to come over. Most are welcomed; it is just a matter of which. Every famous person has their demons; it is the cost of pursuing idols instead of God. Occam's Razor: The dead eyes say it all.
More like a power limiter. It makes me look more approachable and urbane. Otherwise, I would mog everyone with my very presence, and, like I said, I'm a magnanimous soul and I want to uplift others, not put them down.
Ah, all these internet rabbit holes. They never end, do they? Frivolous, I know, but my first reaction was that it was both nice and kind of jarring to see pictures of this guy looking like a normal person for once. I've only seen his video thumbnails in passing, with his obnoxious unhinged mug on them. Was Donaldson the person who started this trend? It's come to the point where I don't want to click and thus reward anyone who puts their face in a video thumbnail. Also had no idea there's a whole expanded universe around him, but I guess that makes sense.
I'm a bit hung up on how he narrowly avoided dying in that submersible too. So that's the second violent death of a major cultural figure avoided in a fairly short window? Sounds like there's an alternate history novel there...or even a Doctor Who episode, since that would be so hilariously jarring (and jarring mix-ups are kind of DW's raison d'etre when you get down to it).
When it comes to people in marriages with children who want to change sexes, we had someone become a celebrity for that here long before it was cool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esben_Esther_Pirelli_Benestad Apparently his son went so far as to make a documentary about this, but I've never seen it myself.
As with many things, I can't help feel we had a sensible compromise on the trans debate in the 2000s. Acknowledge gender dysphoria as a real condition, and set up a process where people can go to a psychologist and gradually confirm their desire to transition, or realize that's not what they need. Then, after a few years, they can legally change their gender and have treatment covered in the public system (for countries that have one, like ours). No surgical or chemical treatment whatsoever if you're under 18, but feel free to dress and act as the other gender if you prefer. I think that's pretty even-handed, and leaves it mostly between the person involved and their health care providers.
"I feel like they need to be studied to find out what exactly about internet success apparently makes one predisposed to creeping on minors."
Does this necessarily have anything to do with internet success? Or is it just a celebrity thing that's always been around, and it's so much easier to document when everything is online? (And that the internet makes it much easier for random individual 14 year olds to get directly in touch with a celebrity, I suppose)
"I feel the same way about divorce. If you have kids? Do your best to nut up, shut up, and put up with your dearly be-loathed for their sake"
Here I'll have to disagree rather strongly. On a personal level, my parents split when I was five, and in short, I'm firmly convinced my life would have been much, much worse if they hadn't. On a more general level, I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to stay in a miserable marriage and essentially live a lie for eighteen years. Does that help the kids, really? Especially when they learn the truth as adults themselves? I'd much rather say "if you have to divorce, be normal about it (ie. act like adults and not 5 year olds with tantrums) and live near each other if at all possible to make it easier for the kid(s) to 50/50". Or: the fighting, loyalty binds and pettiness are the real problems, aren't they?
...and thank you so much for that image with all the :O faces. That one will haunt my nightmares for sure, haha.
I don't think Donaldson started the O-face thumbnail trend, but he certainly popularized it and refined it to a science. I also steer clear of thumbnails like that; to me, it's like aposematism, or warning coloration. You basically know whatever is behind the thumbnail is not worth your time.
Personally, I don't think there was ever going to be a sensible compromise on the matter. I agree that there is one, but bad actors looking to manipulate it for their own gain, whether it be power or sexual pleasure, were always predisposed to take it and run with it and abuse it, as is the case with most things.
I definitely think that exploiting the power imbalance between fan and celebrity has always been a thing, and I agree that the internet has magnified the ability for those on the higher end of that imbalance to act more aggressively and with greater ease. I was recently reading about Tiger Woods' fall from grace and was struck by something he said about why he engaged in so much philandery - simply put, he felt as if he had worked so hard for his success that he was "entitled" to do whatever he wanted once he achieved it. He was remorseful about what he did, as he should be, but it was a very sobering look into how success, fame, power, and money can warp someone's views and not just encourage, but enable them to act on their worse impulses.
I don't want to discredit your opinion on divorce. My own was perhaps a gross generalization, as my own parents never split and my friends who did go through divorces always came out the other end worse for it. This isn't to say that there's never a time where it isn't justified or perhaps is, ultimately, better for the child, but it's just something I've never seen. At least, not until adulthood, where I met people who's parents divorced and they grew up to be... better than most of my friends and classmates who had similar experiences and didn't. It's a pretty nuanced and complicated topic that's a little too much to get into now but I respect your opinion, as always, and I appreciate that you can be candid with me about it. Truth be told, I always enjoy your commentary, even if we don't see eye to eye ;)
I apologize for any nightmares you might have about MrBeast soyjaking. Maybe I should make everyone sign a waiver before they consume my content that states I'm not liable for any nightmares going forward.
" I also steer clear of thumbnails like that; to me, it's like aposematism, or warning coloration. You basically know whatever is behind the thumbnail is not worth your time."
Hmm. Maybe I'm too generous, but to me the sad thing is that I feel like there's quite a few people around who probably have actual decent content, but they lean into this stupid trend because they're under the impression they "have to" due to The Algorithm. That said, I don't want to prove them right and click.
As for divorce, I'll be the first to acknowledge the nuance, and to agree there's probably a lot of people who take the commitment much lighter than they should. Maybe I'm poking the hornet's nest by mentioning a potentially hot political topic, but I've just finished JD Vance's autobiography, which I felt I should read after the announcement, and he talks a lot about this topic and shows viscerally what the lack of stability from unstable parental relationships can do to a kid. In my personal case, I was also lucky in that it happened when I was barely old enough to remember it and that I didn't have to deal with a succession of new partners or stepsiblings afterwards. Plus, again without boring you too much with the specifics, I'm convinced theirs wasn't really a healthy relationship for anyone involved. But yes, nuanced and complicated for sure.
I had watched a few mr beast videos. Ones like where he'd tried to see how many magnets can stop a bullet. Or how much stuff a gun can shoot through. Or buying a car entirely with coins.
Basically kinds of stuff I know I wanted to try and find out the answers to back when I was a teen, hey this guy was doing it. Entertaining enough, but I don't seek him out and watch him regularly.
They won't. He makes too much money for them to take down short of he himself getting caught messaging minors, and even then, I'm not confident that they wouldn't just look the other way simply because he's so profitable. We'll see if he was aware, as some people with ties to his company are claiming he was, but I agree. If he knew, he should have said something. But at the same time, those same sources are saying that Tyson had him by the short-hairs and basically had a deadman's switch to take the whole enterprise down if Donaldson tried to turn on him, so there's just as much a chance that he's a victim of extortion. Not saying that justifies silence, but it would explain a lot as to why he wouldn't say anything if he did know. Again - we'll see where the allegations go. This story is far from over.
I confess that my knowledge of MrBeast is just second-hand. At first, he struck me as yet another YouTube/Internet celebrity who hit it big. Yet people kept talking about him, especially his charitable activities which for some insane reason elicited controversy.
That said, I must confess that something about him made me wary. It's like an instinctive thing. But I didn't want to be petty (since I knew nothing about him, and his charity haters weren't making a good case for themselves), nor did I want to look into the guy, so I just put the whole thing aside.
But anyways, I'm not surprised when some celebrity with a squeaky clean reputation turned out like this. Yes, it's not him per se, but that's his best friend, and he's been covering for him; no way he's not complicit in a major way.
Not to be cynical, but nobody's perfect, not even Mr. Rogers. I'm not saying that everyone's secretly a degenerate, but there is such a thing as having a too clean of a reputation. It raises the question of 'what are you hiding'? Tiger Woods came to mind. Back in the day, he had a super clean reputation and living the life that everyone envied; and he was supposed to be a role model (esp. for blacks and asians). Then all his skeletons came out of his closet.
MrBeast definitely does have a very carefully, meticulously crafted facade that makes it incredibly difficult to feel as if he's anything other than disingenuous. The fake smile, the lightless eyes - he's a very unnerving figure who only gets more so the longer you look at him. I'm reminded of that line from Jaws - "Lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes."
I do think that Donaldson must know something, but I also have to give him the benefit of the doubt that A) he is not his brother's keeper and B) he's such a hyper-focused, single-minded workhorse that I genuinely do believe there's a possibility he might have not known because he was so singularly focused on his work. But I do agree that, to some degree, he knew. Recent leaks have proven that he was in Tyson's Discord not for months, but years. While I've been in Discord chats for years and only interacted with them sometime, I know that isn't damning evidence in and of itself, but it does suggest something.
It's also interesting you bring up Tiger Woods because I did a deep dive into him recently, myself. I'm fascinated about his fall from grace and, to grossly oversimplify it, I think his mindset reflects many of those that experience similar public meltdowns due to their own vice. I'm paraphrasing, here, but years after his troubles he did an interview and when asked why he did what he did, he said something to the effect of, "I worked so hard for my success that I mistakenly believe that I deserved to do whatever I wanted." And I think that rings true for so many in similar positions, Tyson and most likely Donaldson included.
Thanks for breaking all that down for us. I've seen the headlines all over but didn't look into it yet.
It's what I'm here for. And just you wait. This is the tip of the iceberg.
Seconded - an invaluable and exquisitely delivered service.
Yeah I instinctively don’t trust that overwrought grin coupled with dead eyes that he must think approximates a smile.
I may have seen Donaldson's face before this, but if so, I immediately categorized him as Some Internet Dude and went about my business. I don't understand that weird smile of his and I instinctively distrust it, and those fries are a sin against God and man.
Also, I cannot throw stones at your fashion sense, seeing as how "oversize Zelda T shirt and cargo shorts" is my specific fashion wheelhouse.
That fit still gets a lot of mileage.
First of all, I'm glad I found your substack. Some of your posts really hit that nostalgic high, which I somewhat miss from todays degenerate clown world. You surely know that picture..."You can go back, but no one will be there"...or something like that. Maybe, but I will treat these posts as some kind of memorials of that age. Will be writing some of my ramblings regarding to them, as even though I'm pretty far from the US, but still was part of it. The Scott Pilgrim one especially hit hard for me and I'm sure there is some worth in my experience in that one. Dunno...wanted to start my substack too but I won't be getting there for some time and it will be not about these stuff.
Also love the style, keep up the good work.
So on MrBeast...honestly, he was always something tangential for me. I'm turning 30 this year so by the time he really got going I was over these stuff. With the passing of the great meme war, gamergate and election of Trump my most active part on these parts were also gone. Also had to accept that the Filthy Frank Show was also over and generally the meatspace kicked the door on me pretty bad...but I digress.
I was simply too old for this stuff and had some resentment for his gaming of the system. Most importantly he was the pioneer of the maxxxing out of the algorythm phenomenon, which further made that part of the internet more insufferable. He does his charities and honestly, good for him.
I saw the first video fresh when the shit started rolling and although it surely wasn't the most diplomatic...I believe in personal agency and at that point he (seemingly) didn't do anything criminal, but it almost always end like this. Everything was out there and I know too much of the coomer types and the ones generally trooning out so to speak. It also connects why do so many of these manchildren end up in these scandals.
I too was a terminally online person, had my fights with the porn, but thankfully, always mantained a sufficient connection with reality, to be able to climb out. What I mean is that as they often missed a significant part of socializing, too many of them got stuck...in adolescence(?). It is on the same spectrum as when people in their 30s or slowly even 40s can't accept that their time has passed...time to grow up.
As there will be a second part, I won't comment on what happened with Ava yet.
Back to MrBeast. I kinda like him better this way. He looked really uncomfortable with some of Ava's stuff and tried to keep it together. It's a big business and as you said, purity for this market is of utmost importance. He still stood for his childhood friend possibly jeopardising the whole franchise. He for once seemed human(?)...not the calculative master of the algorythm as usual. I think he truly didn't know about the underage stuff.
Sorry for the wall of text, will be waiting for the next part. I still has some appreciaton for internet drama, but I think it is better not getting immersed in it too much. (I really need to structure my writing better, but in my defense I wrote this on my phone while going home)
I'm glad you found my Substack, too, and more so that you're enjoying the content. I'm especially glad you liked the Scott Pilgrim piece - that one was a lot of fun to write and, in a lot of ways, very cathartic for myself, and if it speaks to people, that makes all the effort that went into it worth it. I also have to sympathize with "meatspace kicking in the door", as it's done the same to me over the past couple years as it sounds as if we're of the same general generation. I will say that while I miss Filthy Frank content, it was suited for a certain cultural time and place that has, indeed, passed, and I'm glad it went out with some dignity and on a high note instead of grinding along until it became outdated and cringe.
I certainly agree that there is a direct correlation between coomers/porn addicts, immaturity (manchildren), and, as you put it, "trooning out". A lot of these people truly are the type who just never grew up and, for one reason or another (I suspect the internet), were never properly socialized and were perpetually behind the ball. I was watching old MrBeast videos for research and was struck by how awkward and stilted Tyson and Donaldson were. It wasn't just bad acting in their sketches, they just genuinely seemed awkward and uncomfortable, and that "acting" was very uncomfortable for them, but also something they saw as a necessity for success. I don't doubt they had fun when they were younger, making that content, but I also got the sense that if they felt as if they could have done something else, they would have.
Donaldson in particular definitely does still come off strangely stiff and impassive, even today.
Also, no need to apologize - I like long comments, and appreciate the feedback ;)
Excellent post getting into more deep internet lore. You’re so good at this stuff.
It’s important to understand who these influential people are and what they do, and maybe even why to the extent that they why matters. Corrupting children, sexually or otherwise, is so profoundly evil I want people who even think about it to be removed from polite society. What a freak show YouTube is.
Thanks Alexander, I appreciate the kind words. Though, I will disagree with you slightly - freak show is an understatement ;)
From what I understand, the reason twitch didn't speak up about Dr. Disrespect was because they were illegally looking at private messages to find out what he did, and they didn't want legal repercussions so they let it slide. Also they paid him quite a large sum of money so they must've known they really fucked up.
I see, thank you for clarifying. DrDisrespect will be touched on again in the conclusion to this series, and I'll bring that up.
So glad I found your Substack! Very comprehensive overview. You are right to point out that the level of vitriol (justified in my opinion) Dr.Disrespect elicited was far greater than Tyson. It is incredibly difficult to criticize people who claim to be trans woman in online and entertainment society. I truly believe there are good well meaning people who genuinely suffer from gender dysphoria and are helped by presenting as the opposite sex. However, we have to be able to talk about the portion of men for whom transitioning is a fetish. That is the main reason so many women like myself are concerned about allowing trans women into female only spaces. I can’t tell who is getting off on it and who isn’t and since you are bigger than me it makes me scared and uncomfortable. I don’t want to make anyone feel less than but I also wish we could talk about the increasing number of people like Tyson women are being pressured to accommodate
I agree. Everything I found while researching Tyson suggests that transitioning for him is a fetish and that, if he does have legitimate body dysmorphia, is a side-effect of excessive porn consumption. There needs to be a larger conversation on the topic of porn addiction and body dysmorphia as I believe the latter is a very prominent side effect of the former. I plan on looking more into it in the future.
When speaking about a man, you should continue to call him a he… do not play “their” game
Exactly! That’s what I came here to say. Controlled opposition.
He is helping the government make it pervasive in our language. This is how friggin sneaky they are. Disgusting.
Wondered about this story. Looking forward to part 2.
Those are photos of MrBeast opening the burger place at the American Dream Mall and I was there. My son wanted to see him and I thought we would go, get a Beast burger and then be on our way but no. There were at least 10k people there. I’ve never seen any like it.
You asked why these entertainers,(that is, in essence,what they are) cannot resist the siren song of pedophilia. Clearly, it is the demon of our time and the focus of all the alphabet people. Having been overtaken by the demon of Fame and Fortune, of course he invites his friends to come over. Most are welcomed; it is just a matter of which. Every famous person has their demons; it is the cost of pursuing idols instead of God. Occam's Razor: The dead eyes say it all.
WHAT?!
You aren't a hypermasculine manly mannington male with seventeen Y chromosomes and made out of 97% testosterone?!
I have been deceived. Bamboozled. Swindled even!
I actually have nineteen Y chromosomes, I just hide it well. I don't want to make anyone feel lesser by my extreme masculinity and impeccable fizeek.
So the salmon shirts are your disguise?
More like a power limiter. It makes me look more approachable and urbane. Otherwise, I would mog everyone with my very presence, and, like I said, I'm a magnanimous soul and I want to uplift others, not put them down.
Thank you for your sacrifice 🥹
Ah, all these internet rabbit holes. They never end, do they? Frivolous, I know, but my first reaction was that it was both nice and kind of jarring to see pictures of this guy looking like a normal person for once. I've only seen his video thumbnails in passing, with his obnoxious unhinged mug on them. Was Donaldson the person who started this trend? It's come to the point where I don't want to click and thus reward anyone who puts their face in a video thumbnail. Also had no idea there's a whole expanded universe around him, but I guess that makes sense.
I'm a bit hung up on how he narrowly avoided dying in that submersible too. So that's the second violent death of a major cultural figure avoided in a fairly short window? Sounds like there's an alternate history novel there...or even a Doctor Who episode, since that would be so hilariously jarring (and jarring mix-ups are kind of DW's raison d'etre when you get down to it).
When it comes to people in marriages with children who want to change sexes, we had someone become a celebrity for that here long before it was cool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esben_Esther_Pirelli_Benestad Apparently his son went so far as to make a documentary about this, but I've never seen it myself.
As with many things, I can't help feel we had a sensible compromise on the trans debate in the 2000s. Acknowledge gender dysphoria as a real condition, and set up a process where people can go to a psychologist and gradually confirm their desire to transition, or realize that's not what they need. Then, after a few years, they can legally change their gender and have treatment covered in the public system (for countries that have one, like ours). No surgical or chemical treatment whatsoever if you're under 18, but feel free to dress and act as the other gender if you prefer. I think that's pretty even-handed, and leaves it mostly between the person involved and their health care providers.
"I feel like they need to be studied to find out what exactly about internet success apparently makes one predisposed to creeping on minors."
Does this necessarily have anything to do with internet success? Or is it just a celebrity thing that's always been around, and it's so much easier to document when everything is online? (And that the internet makes it much easier for random individual 14 year olds to get directly in touch with a celebrity, I suppose)
"I feel the same way about divorce. If you have kids? Do your best to nut up, shut up, and put up with your dearly be-loathed for their sake"
Here I'll have to disagree rather strongly. On a personal level, my parents split when I was five, and in short, I'm firmly convinced my life would have been much, much worse if they hadn't. On a more general level, I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to stay in a miserable marriage and essentially live a lie for eighteen years. Does that help the kids, really? Especially when they learn the truth as adults themselves? I'd much rather say "if you have to divorce, be normal about it (ie. act like adults and not 5 year olds with tantrums) and live near each other if at all possible to make it easier for the kid(s) to 50/50". Or: the fighting, loyalty binds and pettiness are the real problems, aren't they?
...and thank you so much for that image with all the :O faces. That one will haunt my nightmares for sure, haha.
I don't think Donaldson started the O-face thumbnail trend, but he certainly popularized it and refined it to a science. I also steer clear of thumbnails like that; to me, it's like aposematism, or warning coloration. You basically know whatever is behind the thumbnail is not worth your time.
Personally, I don't think there was ever going to be a sensible compromise on the matter. I agree that there is one, but bad actors looking to manipulate it for their own gain, whether it be power or sexual pleasure, were always predisposed to take it and run with it and abuse it, as is the case with most things.
I definitely think that exploiting the power imbalance between fan and celebrity has always been a thing, and I agree that the internet has magnified the ability for those on the higher end of that imbalance to act more aggressively and with greater ease. I was recently reading about Tiger Woods' fall from grace and was struck by something he said about why he engaged in so much philandery - simply put, he felt as if he had worked so hard for his success that he was "entitled" to do whatever he wanted once he achieved it. He was remorseful about what he did, as he should be, but it was a very sobering look into how success, fame, power, and money can warp someone's views and not just encourage, but enable them to act on their worse impulses.
I don't want to discredit your opinion on divorce. My own was perhaps a gross generalization, as my own parents never split and my friends who did go through divorces always came out the other end worse for it. This isn't to say that there's never a time where it isn't justified or perhaps is, ultimately, better for the child, but it's just something I've never seen. At least, not until adulthood, where I met people who's parents divorced and they grew up to be... better than most of my friends and classmates who had similar experiences and didn't. It's a pretty nuanced and complicated topic that's a little too much to get into now but I respect your opinion, as always, and I appreciate that you can be candid with me about it. Truth be told, I always enjoy your commentary, even if we don't see eye to eye ;)
I apologize for any nightmares you might have about MrBeast soyjaking. Maybe I should make everyone sign a waiver before they consume my content that states I'm not liable for any nightmares going forward.
" I also steer clear of thumbnails like that; to me, it's like aposematism, or warning coloration. You basically know whatever is behind the thumbnail is not worth your time."
Hmm. Maybe I'm too generous, but to me the sad thing is that I feel like there's quite a few people around who probably have actual decent content, but they lean into this stupid trend because they're under the impression they "have to" due to The Algorithm. That said, I don't want to prove them right and click.
As for divorce, I'll be the first to acknowledge the nuance, and to agree there's probably a lot of people who take the commitment much lighter than they should. Maybe I'm poking the hornet's nest by mentioning a potentially hot political topic, but I've just finished JD Vance's autobiography, which I felt I should read after the announcement, and he talks a lot about this topic and shows viscerally what the lack of stability from unstable parental relationships can do to a kid. In my personal case, I was also lucky in that it happened when I was barely old enough to remember it and that I didn't have to deal with a succession of new partners or stepsiblings afterwards. Plus, again without boring you too much with the specifics, I'm convinced theirs wasn't really a healthy relationship for anyone involved. But yes, nuanced and complicated for sure.
Also appreciate the kind words :)
I had watched a few mr beast videos. Ones like where he'd tried to see how many magnets can stop a bullet. Or how much stuff a gun can shoot through. Or buying a car entirely with coins.
Basically kinds of stuff I know I wanted to try and find out the answers to back when I was a teen, hey this guy was doing it. Entertaining enough, but I don't seek him out and watch him regularly.
My only question is, and it’s a serious one, can you actually pull off salmon as it’s not a colour everyone can? 😂😉😂
Absolutely. It's all about confidence... and color matching, which is integral to mastering the color of salmon.
😂😂😂.
On a more serious note. YouTube need to take down MrBeast’s YouTube channel until he can be questioned about what he knew and when.
Because if he knew and covered it up then I want him in prison as well.
They won't. He makes too much money for them to take down short of he himself getting caught messaging minors, and even then, I'm not confident that they wouldn't just look the other way simply because he's so profitable. We'll see if he was aware, as some people with ties to his company are claiming he was, but I agree. If he knew, he should have said something. But at the same time, those same sources are saying that Tyson had him by the short-hairs and basically had a deadman's switch to take the whole enterprise down if Donaldson tried to turn on him, so there's just as much a chance that he's a victim of extortion. Not saying that justifies silence, but it would explain a lot as to why he wouldn't say anything if he did know. Again - we'll see where the allegations go. This story is far from over.
It’ll be a Netflix drama before we know with Mr Beast cast as a black lad 😂😂😂
Damn...it looks like I'm far more out of the loop than I originally thought. It is probably for the better.
Go back to Florida!
I confess that my knowledge of MrBeast is just second-hand. At first, he struck me as yet another YouTube/Internet celebrity who hit it big. Yet people kept talking about him, especially his charitable activities which for some insane reason elicited controversy.
That said, I must confess that something about him made me wary. It's like an instinctive thing. But I didn't want to be petty (since I knew nothing about him, and his charity haters weren't making a good case for themselves), nor did I want to look into the guy, so I just put the whole thing aside.
But anyways, I'm not surprised when some celebrity with a squeaky clean reputation turned out like this. Yes, it's not him per se, but that's his best friend, and he's been covering for him; no way he's not complicit in a major way.
Not to be cynical, but nobody's perfect, not even Mr. Rogers. I'm not saying that everyone's secretly a degenerate, but there is such a thing as having a too clean of a reputation. It raises the question of 'what are you hiding'? Tiger Woods came to mind. Back in the day, he had a super clean reputation and living the life that everyone envied; and he was supposed to be a role model (esp. for blacks and asians). Then all his skeletons came out of his closet.
MrBeast definitely does have a very carefully, meticulously crafted facade that makes it incredibly difficult to feel as if he's anything other than disingenuous. The fake smile, the lightless eyes - he's a very unnerving figure who only gets more so the longer you look at him. I'm reminded of that line from Jaws - "Lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes."
I do think that Donaldson must know something, but I also have to give him the benefit of the doubt that A) he is not his brother's keeper and B) he's such a hyper-focused, single-minded workhorse that I genuinely do believe there's a possibility he might have not known because he was so singularly focused on his work. But I do agree that, to some degree, he knew. Recent leaks have proven that he was in Tyson's Discord not for months, but years. While I've been in Discord chats for years and only interacted with them sometime, I know that isn't damning evidence in and of itself, but it does suggest something.
It's also interesting you bring up Tiger Woods because I did a deep dive into him recently, myself. I'm fascinated about his fall from grace and, to grossly oversimplify it, I think his mindset reflects many of those that experience similar public meltdowns due to their own vice. I'm paraphrasing, here, but years after his troubles he did an interview and when asked why he did what he did, he said something to the effect of, "I worked so hard for my success that I mistakenly believe that I deserved to do whatever I wanted." And I think that rings true for so many in similar positions, Tyson and most likely Donaldson included.