It is weird to see you describe the connection between increasingly “edgy” porn consumption and autogynephilia as forbidden discourse. It has been well known to clinicians for decades and radfems talk about it all the time.
The edgelord perv Tyson was and the man pretending to be a woman he is now: it’s the same picture, as the meme has it.
AGP men on the internet dont want it discussed but the dscussion is large and lively all the same.
That's just been my experience with the topic. The majority of the time AGP comes up in any broad discussion, it's quickly shouted down and drowned out, especially on large, heavily monitored and moderated social media sites (e.g. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook). The only exception to that is this site (though I don't follow a lot of people who post regularly about that topic) and 4chan, where the complete anonymity enables people to speak freely about the subject. I feel as if the AGP-Transgender-Porn connection is something that is something well known in certain circles but outside of them, I don't think it is. Again - this is all just my experience. If it is more widely discussed, that's good. It's something that shouldn't be relegated to fringe spaces since ignorance on the topic is a shield predators hide behind.
You know what's funny? Not in the har har sense, but in the bitterly ironic sense.
I've had a number of ex cons present in my life. Many were coworkers from my earliest jobs, a small handful were friends, and in the case of one who sadly passed a number of years ago, he was as family to me. These guys did time for a number of crimes ranging from the petty to the serious - things like tax evasion, all the way to assault and battery and murder. These guys knew plenty of other men who did worse things than they did, especially if they did time in medium or maximum security facilities.
These are the types of people that the sane general public doesn't like to defend. They're often considered to be among the worst of the worst. Sometimes that's not deserved, but there's plenty of times where it is. Yet even these guys hold to the general understanding that there's one thing which you simply don't do:
You don't mess around with kids.
This rule is taken so seriously that the stories of the reactions men like this have to prisoners who are found out to have messed with children are almost mythical in their telling. Doling out some prison justice on a convicted PSD-file is seemingly one of the very few things that crosses the numerous social dividing lines behind bars. It's a sentiment that's felt so strongly that even members of differing groups that vehemently hate each other will stand side by side to bloody and butcher a pedo in their midst.
Amazing how even those generally thought of as the most reprehensible elements in society can still hold to this understanding, isn't it? Really activates the neurons when compared to how this situation with Tyson was handled.
I've heard similar things about prison. One of the best lines in Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" is "Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young. You better not ever go to cell block one." It's an open secret that those types of people usually don't fare too well and often have to be placed in special units or even solitary confine for their own safety (which, I mean... do they really deserve that protection?). Even the most violent and ruthless individuals in society have more scruples than the journalists that covered this story with kid gloves, among others. What's even more astounding is the fact that if the claims about Donaldson are true, he was willing to cross that egregious line for the sake of saving money (the alleged offender he had on payroll was a "production manager" and reportedly did a lot of cheap labor to build sets, though he also did appear in person in numerous videos).
That prison shit is simply shit. They take that attitude so that even they can feel morally superior to SOMEONE. It also gives them free reign to indulge their violent tendencies, usually without repercussions
Criminals ought to get the punishment a court sentences them to, not extra punishment other criminals, in their moral indignation and Solomonic wisdom, decide they deserve. How would you like it if someone decided that your children deserve cruel and unusual punishment?
Always found the Mr. Beast smile creepy, there's something soulless and unsettling about it. Not surprised he's turning out to be a creep. What's odd is that I don't know a single person irl who does like his videos or watch them, then again I don't interact with a great many people irl as I'm pretty private and shy.
As a Russian acquaintance explained it to me when I asked why so many Russian nationals I met all had weird smiles and looked like they were going to kill me when they did smile, it’s “all in the eyes”. They don’t smile with their eyes most of the time because, apparently in Russia they just don’t smile at one another like we do in America and genuinely smiling is usually something reserved for when you’re around friends, family, or people you feel candid around. Not to say that they weren't all polite and perfectly nice, but they don’t just flash a stranger on the street a grin or a the cashier when they check out the way we do in the West. It's a cultural thing. At least, that’s what this guy told me. Point is, I think that's why MrBeast's smile... looks like that. There's nothing in his eyes. They're just cold, dead, and emotionless, which makes the smile utterly insincere and off-putting.
Also, for what it's worth, I don't know anyone who watches his content, either. I've always seen it but I've never watched it, and it seems like that's the case for most people. It is kind of strange but at the same time I also don't know anyone who really listens to Taylor Swift despite her being the biggest name in music at present.
I think the Russian smile-lessness might be a throwback from Soviet times:
'In general, the American smile has a terrible reputation in Russia.
The campaign started in the early Soviet era.
Look at the sinister smiles on old agitprop posters of caricatural “U.S. imperialists” wearing trademark cylinder hats, smoking cigars, salivating and smiling as they relished their piles of money and power over the world’s exploited classes.
Later, starting from the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras and continuing until the late 1980s, the Soviet print and television media carried regular reports called “Their Customs,” which focused on contemptible bourgeois lifestyles in the United States and other Western countries. '
That makes sense. This guy literally told me that in Russia if you smile too much people think you're trying to decieve them or that you're untrustworthy. Very interesting cultural difference that makes them seem rude and brusque to westerners, even when they don't mean to be.
Yeah, I've also heard that one from multiple sources. As often tends to be the case, we're kind of between east and west here in Scandinavia. American-style exuberant cheerfulness and small talk with strangers or customers can come across as overbearing and superficial, but we'd probably find the Russians dour and unwelcoming too, even before the current bout of anti-Russian sentiment.
Very well put, what’s funny is I’ve met one man for a teaching job years ago, and he was Russian. Nice guy, he smiled heartily at me and was warm and genial. I really liked him. He felt I could use more experience.
I got it then refused me on the basis of Putin’s dislike of the French.
But I still remember him warmly we talked for an hour and half after the interview by video-call was done all about Tolkien. I’d love to get some of my books out to him, but fret it might bring undue attention to him.
Yeah, there's definitely something uncanny about that smile, not to mention the even more outlandish thumbnails. As for not knowing anyone who watches his videos, isn't that simply because all his stuff is aimed at ages 13 and under? Makes sense none of your presumably adult friends would watch it unless they do with their kids.
"Mr. Beast". Porn. Demons. Children. This whole enterprise is rotten from the head down. It is my prediction that it will be revealed that good 'ol Jimmy is neck deep in this evil. I remember the first time I saw one of his videos - those dead eyes with the fake, Pennywise the clown smile; it raised the hair on the back of my neck. This is so much worse than we will ever know.
You should check out upper echelon's latest video on this situation. He and an ally have found out that Mr. Beast and his team are editing tons of videos to remove evidence of the shadman poster on his living room wall, it's pretty crazy.
Thank you for letting me know, I edited the article to make note of this. I've had to edit the last half of this entire thing after publishing because, of course, the moment I sent it out the MOAB of accusations dropped with the second Dawson video. The situation is extremely fluid and changing all the time so it's a little hard to pay attention to all the moving pieces.
I think you're right - "cannot" is the operative term more than "never". I genuinely don't think he's capable of smiling like a normal human being. I've done a lot of research and watched a lot of clips of him recently and not once did I ever see him genuinely smile, which means he either has an extremely impressive control of his emotions and expressing them, or he has some emotional disorder. I genuinely try to veer away from making claims as bold as "MrBeast is a psychopath" but the more that comes out about him the harder it is to see anything other than a guy that checks off most of those boxes.
Thanks for another interesting update to the saga. I don't have much to add to the drama itself, so here's a few tangential thoughts instead.
While it's not the focus here, I find it interesting that this guy has a staff of several hundred people. I've never thought much about the logistics of his videos, but I assumed he had maybe a handful of people helping out, but mostly doing it as a solo enterprise (a la AVGN/James Rolfe, for example). I have some sympathy for the argument that web content can potentially be less toxic than old-fashioned TV, since it's more about an individual or very small outfit showcasing their creativity rather than a megacorp. But if these Youtubers themselves are turning into big corps, what's the point of watching them anymore?
It's baffling to me that Donaldson and his team would try to edit old videos to remove smoking guns. That's the kind of gambit I'd expect from a megacorp staffed by Boomers. Shouldn't someone as internet savvy as Donaldson know you can never scrub anything like that from the internet, and that trying will just make it worse? Is he gambling that his audience won't catch on because they're children? But surely he knows there's a small army of adult nerds with sharp eyes and axes to grind out there who love to dig into this kind of stuff.
Also spot-on IMO re. LGB vs TQ-(letter soup vanishing into infinite distance). Back in the 2000s I was a very firm supporter of the "traditional" gay rights movement, even if that was admittedly much less fraught in this country than in the US, with its Evangelical scene. In fact, that's the reason it took me as long as it did to realize how toxic the modern Social Justice/DEI/Woke/whatever you want to call it movement actually is. My views are basically the same as back then, but it's telling that these people have managed to push me from a staunch ally to wary skepticism to someone who's outright hostile to much of their agenda on principle, even when I might be inclined to meet them halfway in theory. (Like I said last time, though, I do think there are sensible compromises that could be had on much of this stuff if both parties, but especially the woke, were more pragmatic and less fixated on their religious zealotry.)
That "white gay privilege" poster really is a case in point. I honestly can't tell if it's genuine or satire. Either way, you're probably right that there might not be that much common ground between the queer factions when it comes down to it. Some of the more extreme ones have even circled back around to a sort of homophobia when they complain about gay people not being attracted to certain trans people, but I'm not sure how many people who're that far gone actually exist outside of a few weird internet holes. While we're on the subject, I'd also recommend this short JMG post, which lays out how the new LGBTLettersoup flag exemplifies this (and how inept it is symbolically): https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/135695.html
This is also one reason I'm disappointed the new Doctor Who is so skewed towards this kind of virtue signalling. I had a small hope Russel T. Davies was more "old-school gay" rather than all-in on the gender stuff, but I guess that was always in the cards when Disney became involved. He does seem to genuinely mean it rather than just pushing the company line, though.
There really isn't a point in watching them. It's become a soulless enterprise, no different than television, just by a different name. More than anything I find it fascinating just how quickly "new media" collapsed under the weight of the same sins that have ravaged "old media". I think it probably has something to do with most of these people not being showbiz types or any prior lick of fame before exploding that leads them to ultimately flame out in the ways that they do.
Also, while Donaldson knows that many people are combing through all his videos for evidence, I think he's banking on the kids being too young to really get it or care. Most of the people piling on him now aren't his core audience; so long as he can keep the ship steady with the kids, I think he plans on that being his saving grace.
On the topic of Russell T. Davies, there's a writer on here called Millennial Woes who did a phenomenal deep-dive into the new season of DW and the burgeoning RTD2 era - I highly recommend you read it, since he explains that, unfortunately, RTD is not really one of these "old school gays" but rather a deeply embittered man who's using DW as a cudgel against those he thinks wronged him (read: traditional English society). It's inarguable that RTD is a talented writer - his previous work on DW is proof of it. It's a shame he's eschewing his talents in lieu of becoming just another political ideologue with an axe to grind. I'm a lot like you in the sense that, at heart, I'm a live and let live guy, and it's not me that's changed but rather the other side who refuses to let me be non-partisan in issues that have nothing to do with me. Unfortunately, I think that neutrality is rapidly becoming a non-option. And the worst part is whenever anyone forces a neutral party to pick a side, often times that neutral party will gravitate towards the other faction.
True, but at least there's still an opening for interesting small-timers to get a platform without getting past a behemoth media corp, even if they're buried under a lot of crap. And there's still some class acts who managed to keep their class after making it big, like the aforementioned James Rolfe (even if I think he has his detractors too these days?).
Thanks for the tip re. Davies. Maybe I will, but to be absolutely honest, I've kind of checked out of the whole DW thing these days. My personal conspiracy theory is that it's only a matter of time before Disney outright buys the whole IP, and then it's all over anyway. And I'm not sure I even want to know what Davies has done to it now, after I've finally gotten over the BS split regeneration, haha.
So yeah, I haven't watched the new season, since I know it'd only irritate me. As for RTD being a talented writer...I guess I'd have to be a contrarian for the sake of being contrarian to dispute that, but I'm tempted to say he's a "populist" writer above all else. Much of his stuff barely hangs together and is meant to work purely in the moment, and he often falls back on big dumb spectacle and fan service, but of course that does get viewers. He's a very canny showman and promoter more than anything IMO. Steven Moffat is far from perfect, but he's a much more intelligent writer for my money.
To be absolutely fair to Davies, though, he does have a very good ear for snappy dialogue and character beats (if a little melodramatic). The first season of NuWho in particular is very strong, and it's that one that won me over to the show, even if Eccleston is undoubtedly a big part of that as well.
Anyway, I guess it makes sense that RTD would use the American culture war stuff to grind his own axe, but I still hoped he had more integrity. And honestly, that he'd also be too old for all that nonsense at close to age 60 (?). Like we've talked about before, all that is more a Millennial and Zoomer thing, so it was a little weird to see an older X go so all-in on it. That whole "non-binary" angle in the specials was so cringeworthy, and not simply because of political disagreements. I've seen people even at the very Social Justice-leaning r/gallifrey complain about how ham-handed it was.
Still, I'll leave it there instead of rambling about DW all day, haha. Again, thanks for the reading tip.
"Estimates of his personal net worth vary wildly, with some reports claiming it to be seven hundred million, and others upwards of a billion"
Is anyone else getting a weird Revelations-vibe here? I mean, a guy named MrBeast with a creepy dead-eyed smile, building a weird, implausible financial empire by pandering to kids?
You're far from the only person to draw that line, believe me. If it's any consolation though today even more leaks dropped that I'm fairly certain he will not be able to recover from easily, if ever.
From Sleepycabin Wiki:" "Hello there. I'm Shadman, the social disease attacking family value and church dynamics until nothing sacred is left!" Sounds like a great guy, especially for someone who attracts children!
It is weird to see you describe the connection between increasingly “edgy” porn consumption and autogynephilia as forbidden discourse. It has been well known to clinicians for decades and radfems talk about it all the time.
The edgelord perv Tyson was and the man pretending to be a woman he is now: it’s the same picture, as the meme has it.
AGP men on the internet dont want it discussed but the dscussion is large and lively all the same.
That's just been my experience with the topic. The majority of the time AGP comes up in any broad discussion, it's quickly shouted down and drowned out, especially on large, heavily monitored and moderated social media sites (e.g. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook). The only exception to that is this site (though I don't follow a lot of people who post regularly about that topic) and 4chan, where the complete anonymity enables people to speak freely about the subject. I feel as if the AGP-Transgender-Porn connection is something that is something well known in certain circles but outside of them, I don't think it is. Again - this is all just my experience. If it is more widely discussed, that's good. It's something that shouldn't be relegated to fringe spaces since ignorance on the topic is a shield predators hide behind.
You know what's funny? Not in the har har sense, but in the bitterly ironic sense.
I've had a number of ex cons present in my life. Many were coworkers from my earliest jobs, a small handful were friends, and in the case of one who sadly passed a number of years ago, he was as family to me. These guys did time for a number of crimes ranging from the petty to the serious - things like tax evasion, all the way to assault and battery and murder. These guys knew plenty of other men who did worse things than they did, especially if they did time in medium or maximum security facilities.
These are the types of people that the sane general public doesn't like to defend. They're often considered to be among the worst of the worst. Sometimes that's not deserved, but there's plenty of times where it is. Yet even these guys hold to the general understanding that there's one thing which you simply don't do:
You don't mess around with kids.
This rule is taken so seriously that the stories of the reactions men like this have to prisoners who are found out to have messed with children are almost mythical in their telling. Doling out some prison justice on a convicted PSD-file is seemingly one of the very few things that crosses the numerous social dividing lines behind bars. It's a sentiment that's felt so strongly that even members of differing groups that vehemently hate each other will stand side by side to bloody and butcher a pedo in their midst.
Amazing how even those generally thought of as the most reprehensible elements in society can still hold to this understanding, isn't it? Really activates the neurons when compared to how this situation with Tyson was handled.
I've heard similar things about prison. One of the best lines in Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" is "Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young. You better not ever go to cell block one." It's an open secret that those types of people usually don't fare too well and often have to be placed in special units or even solitary confine for their own safety (which, I mean... do they really deserve that protection?). Even the most violent and ruthless individuals in society have more scruples than the journalists that covered this story with kid gloves, among others. What's even more astounding is the fact that if the claims about Donaldson are true, he was willing to cross that egregious line for the sake of saving money (the alleged offender he had on payroll was a "production manager" and reportedly did a lot of cheap labor to build sets, though he also did appear in person in numerous videos).
That prison shit is simply shit. They take that attitude so that even they can feel morally superior to SOMEONE. It also gives them free reign to indulge their violent tendencies, usually without repercussions
Oh no, I feel so bad for pedophiles who get preyed on by people stronger than them.
Of course you don’t. You have a sadistic craving for revenge
I have two children.
Pedophiles deserve no mercy.
Criminals ought to get the punishment a court sentences them to, not extra punishment other criminals, in their moral indignation and Solomonic wisdom, decide they deserve. How would you like it if someone decided that your children deserve cruel and unusual punishment?
Always found the Mr. Beast smile creepy, there's something soulless and unsettling about it. Not surprised he's turning out to be a creep. What's odd is that I don't know a single person irl who does like his videos or watch them, then again I don't interact with a great many people irl as I'm pretty private and shy.
As a Russian acquaintance explained it to me when I asked why so many Russian nationals I met all had weird smiles and looked like they were going to kill me when they did smile, it’s “all in the eyes”. They don’t smile with their eyes most of the time because, apparently in Russia they just don’t smile at one another like we do in America and genuinely smiling is usually something reserved for when you’re around friends, family, or people you feel candid around. Not to say that they weren't all polite and perfectly nice, but they don’t just flash a stranger on the street a grin or a the cashier when they check out the way we do in the West. It's a cultural thing. At least, that’s what this guy told me. Point is, I think that's why MrBeast's smile... looks like that. There's nothing in his eyes. They're just cold, dead, and emotionless, which makes the smile utterly insincere and off-putting.
Also, for what it's worth, I don't know anyone who watches his content, either. I've always seen it but I've never watched it, and it seems like that's the case for most people. It is kind of strange but at the same time I also don't know anyone who really listens to Taylor Swift despite her being the biggest name in music at present.
I think the Russian smile-lessness might be a throwback from Soviet times:
'In general, the American smile has a terrible reputation in Russia.
The campaign started in the early Soviet era.
Look at the sinister smiles on old agitprop posters of caricatural “U.S. imperialists” wearing trademark cylinder hats, smoking cigars, salivating and smiling as they relished their piles of money and power over the world’s exploited classes.
Later, starting from the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras and continuing until the late 1980s, the Soviet print and television media carried regular reports called “Their Customs,” which focused on contemptible bourgeois lifestyles in the United States and other Western countries. '
(Moscow Times article)
That makes sense. This guy literally told me that in Russia if you smile too much people think you're trying to decieve them or that you're untrustworthy. Very interesting cultural difference that makes them seem rude and brusque to westerners, even when they don't mean to be.
Yeah, I've also heard that one from multiple sources. As often tends to be the case, we're kind of between east and west here in Scandinavia. American-style exuberant cheerfulness and small talk with strangers or customers can come across as overbearing and superficial, but we'd probably find the Russians dour and unwelcoming too, even before the current bout of anti-Russian sentiment.
Very well put, what’s funny is I’ve met one man for a teaching job years ago, and he was Russian. Nice guy, he smiled heartily at me and was warm and genial. I really liked him. He felt I could use more experience.
I got it then refused me on the basis of Putin’s dislike of the French.
But I still remember him warmly we talked for an hour and half after the interview by video-call was done all about Tolkien. I’d love to get some of my books out to him, but fret it might bring undue attention to him.
Yeah, there's definitely something uncanny about that smile, not to mention the even more outlandish thumbnails. As for not knowing anyone who watches his videos, isn't that simply because all his stuff is aimed at ages 13 and under? Makes sense none of your presumably adult friends would watch it unless they do with their kids.
Very good point that must be it.
"Mr. Beast". Porn. Demons. Children. This whole enterprise is rotten from the head down. It is my prediction that it will be revealed that good 'ol Jimmy is neck deep in this evil. I remember the first time I saw one of his videos - those dead eyes with the fake, Pennywise the clown smile; it raised the hair on the back of my neck. This is so much worse than we will ever know.
You should check out upper echelon's latest video on this situation. He and an ally have found out that Mr. Beast and his team are editing tons of videos to remove evidence of the shadman poster on his living room wall, it's pretty crazy.
Thank you for letting me know, I edited the article to make note of this. I've had to edit the last half of this entire thing after publishing because, of course, the moment I sent it out the MOAB of accusations dropped with the second Dawson video. The situation is extremely fluid and changing all the time so it's a little hard to pay attention to all the moving pieces.
Holy smokes. This is getting intriguing.
Great post!
For me MrBeast
- Never (cannot?) smile with his eyes
- Has nothing to offer his audience of any value other than perfectly harnassing and worshipping 'the algo'.
- Cloaks himself in charity to avoid any judgement.
I think you're right - "cannot" is the operative term more than "never". I genuinely don't think he's capable of smiling like a normal human being. I've done a lot of research and watched a lot of clips of him recently and not once did I ever see him genuinely smile, which means he either has an extremely impressive control of his emotions and expressing them, or he has some emotional disorder. I genuinely try to veer away from making claims as bold as "MrBeast is a psychopath" but the more that comes out about him the harder it is to see anything other than a guy that checks off most of those boxes.
Physiognomy
Never
Lies
Thanks for another interesting update to the saga. I don't have much to add to the drama itself, so here's a few tangential thoughts instead.
While it's not the focus here, I find it interesting that this guy has a staff of several hundred people. I've never thought much about the logistics of his videos, but I assumed he had maybe a handful of people helping out, but mostly doing it as a solo enterprise (a la AVGN/James Rolfe, for example). I have some sympathy for the argument that web content can potentially be less toxic than old-fashioned TV, since it's more about an individual or very small outfit showcasing their creativity rather than a megacorp. But if these Youtubers themselves are turning into big corps, what's the point of watching them anymore?
It's baffling to me that Donaldson and his team would try to edit old videos to remove smoking guns. That's the kind of gambit I'd expect from a megacorp staffed by Boomers. Shouldn't someone as internet savvy as Donaldson know you can never scrub anything like that from the internet, and that trying will just make it worse? Is he gambling that his audience won't catch on because they're children? But surely he knows there's a small army of adult nerds with sharp eyes and axes to grind out there who love to dig into this kind of stuff.
Also spot-on IMO re. LGB vs TQ-(letter soup vanishing into infinite distance). Back in the 2000s I was a very firm supporter of the "traditional" gay rights movement, even if that was admittedly much less fraught in this country than in the US, with its Evangelical scene. In fact, that's the reason it took me as long as it did to realize how toxic the modern Social Justice/DEI/Woke/whatever you want to call it movement actually is. My views are basically the same as back then, but it's telling that these people have managed to push me from a staunch ally to wary skepticism to someone who's outright hostile to much of their agenda on principle, even when I might be inclined to meet them halfway in theory. (Like I said last time, though, I do think there are sensible compromises that could be had on much of this stuff if both parties, but especially the woke, were more pragmatic and less fixated on their religious zealotry.)
That "white gay privilege" poster really is a case in point. I honestly can't tell if it's genuine or satire. Either way, you're probably right that there might not be that much common ground between the queer factions when it comes down to it. Some of the more extreme ones have even circled back around to a sort of homophobia when they complain about gay people not being attracted to certain trans people, but I'm not sure how many people who're that far gone actually exist outside of a few weird internet holes. While we're on the subject, I'd also recommend this short JMG post, which lays out how the new LGBTLettersoup flag exemplifies this (and how inept it is symbolically): https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/135695.html
This is also one reason I'm disappointed the new Doctor Who is so skewed towards this kind of virtue signalling. I had a small hope Russel T. Davies was more "old-school gay" rather than all-in on the gender stuff, but I guess that was always in the cards when Disney became involved. He does seem to genuinely mean it rather than just pushing the company line, though.
There really isn't a point in watching them. It's become a soulless enterprise, no different than television, just by a different name. More than anything I find it fascinating just how quickly "new media" collapsed under the weight of the same sins that have ravaged "old media". I think it probably has something to do with most of these people not being showbiz types or any prior lick of fame before exploding that leads them to ultimately flame out in the ways that they do.
Also, while Donaldson knows that many people are combing through all his videos for evidence, I think he's banking on the kids being too young to really get it or care. Most of the people piling on him now aren't his core audience; so long as he can keep the ship steady with the kids, I think he plans on that being his saving grace.
On the topic of Russell T. Davies, there's a writer on here called Millennial Woes who did a phenomenal deep-dive into the new season of DW and the burgeoning RTD2 era - I highly recommend you read it, since he explains that, unfortunately, RTD is not really one of these "old school gays" but rather a deeply embittered man who's using DW as a cudgel against those he thinks wronged him (read: traditional English society). It's inarguable that RTD is a talented writer - his previous work on DW is proof of it. It's a shame he's eschewing his talents in lieu of becoming just another political ideologue with an axe to grind. I'm a lot like you in the sense that, at heart, I'm a live and let live guy, and it's not me that's changed but rather the other side who refuses to let me be non-partisan in issues that have nothing to do with me. Unfortunately, I think that neutrality is rapidly becoming a non-option. And the worst part is whenever anyone forces a neutral party to pick a side, often times that neutral party will gravitate towards the other faction.
True, but at least there's still an opening for interesting small-timers to get a platform without getting past a behemoth media corp, even if they're buried under a lot of crap. And there's still some class acts who managed to keep their class after making it big, like the aforementioned James Rolfe (even if I think he has his detractors too these days?).
Thanks for the tip re. Davies. Maybe I will, but to be absolutely honest, I've kind of checked out of the whole DW thing these days. My personal conspiracy theory is that it's only a matter of time before Disney outright buys the whole IP, and then it's all over anyway. And I'm not sure I even want to know what Davies has done to it now, after I've finally gotten over the BS split regeneration, haha.
So yeah, I haven't watched the new season, since I know it'd only irritate me. As for RTD being a talented writer...I guess I'd have to be a contrarian for the sake of being contrarian to dispute that, but I'm tempted to say he's a "populist" writer above all else. Much of his stuff barely hangs together and is meant to work purely in the moment, and he often falls back on big dumb spectacle and fan service, but of course that does get viewers. He's a very canny showman and promoter more than anything IMO. Steven Moffat is far from perfect, but he's a much more intelligent writer for my money.
To be absolutely fair to Davies, though, he does have a very good ear for snappy dialogue and character beats (if a little melodramatic). The first season of NuWho in particular is very strong, and it's that one that won me over to the show, even if Eccleston is undoubtedly a big part of that as well.
Anyway, I guess it makes sense that RTD would use the American culture war stuff to grind his own axe, but I still hoped he had more integrity. And honestly, that he'd also be too old for all that nonsense at close to age 60 (?). Like we've talked about before, all that is more a Millennial and Zoomer thing, so it was a little weird to see an older X go so all-in on it. That whole "non-binary" angle in the specials was so cringeworthy, and not simply because of political disagreements. I've seen people even at the very Social Justice-leaning r/gallifrey complain about how ham-handed it was.
Still, I'll leave it there instead of rambling about DW all day, haha. Again, thanks for the reading tip.
"Estimates of his personal net worth vary wildly, with some reports claiming it to be seven hundred million, and others upwards of a billion"
Is anyone else getting a weird Revelations-vibe here? I mean, a guy named MrBeast with a creepy dead-eyed smile, building a weird, implausible financial empire by pandering to kids?
You're far from the only person to draw that line, believe me. If it's any consolation though today even more leaks dropped that I'm fairly certain he will not be able to recover from easily, if ever.
From Sleepycabin Wiki:" "Hello there. I'm Shadman, the social disease attacking family value and church dynamics until nothing sacred is left!" Sounds like a great guy, especially for someone who attracts children!
It’s amazing that some people are so rich and famous in showbiz, and I have little or no idea who they are or what they do