NOTES/CORRECTIONS: ⚠️ THE TIMECODE TO SKIP TO IN SECTION 5 IS 1:42:58 SORRY I FORGOT TO PUT IT IN THE FINAL EDIT ⚠️ 05/11 UPDATE: IN LIGHT OF BLOCKOUT/OLIVE BRANCH* a lot of people have been discovering this video through those movements and I want to say that I think they’re both great steps in the right direction, and fall into the “values-aligning” calls to action and offers of support that we mention at the end of this video. I am wary of the consequences of blockout being celebrities getting involved in things and doing more harm than good, but overall taking your attention AWAY from people who “aren’t talking about it enough” and towards “ways to help right now” feels like a net good and I’m here for it. There is no “right” way to handle any of this, I’m so glad we are all trying our best. Here is a link to the song at the end: open.spotify.com/track/3Qzlyj7GC2DDm2LJgLhhYV?si=qEcosPV0R-SMMQjZA0koXw 2:53:40 - I don’t know why the picture is so far zoomed in I don’t remember it being that way in the edit lol The Vlogbrothers video playing in section 9 is “Why We’re Donating $6,500,000.” ruclips.net/video/MfpXgkKTwmg/видео.html.
I think, rather than destroying the line between influencer and ordinary people, we may have blurred the line between personality and identity. You ARE your personality, whereas your identity is a reflection. Or, more likely a composite of the many available reflections. A digital schizophrenia, of sorts? I'm convinced this is the lesson within the tale of Narcissus. Love/respect yourself, but do not be misguided by the worship of others.
Love it when someone makes a piece so exhaustive or complete that it leaves me with nothing real to add, besides algorithmic support and personal gratitude.
"People may not have read Lolita, but they know what it's about" I think that's dubious. Similar to 1984, People think they know what it's about, because it had such an impact on the development of culture. However, the very reputation associated with the name, suggests that most haven't got a clue, and think it is about a young girl seducing an older man. I think the Kubrick's film contributes massively to this, because it sets up the story from Humbert's POV. If I remember correctly, his final confrontation with Quilty is key to the film, and in a way acts as exposition.
I get what you mean, but I also don’t think it’s entirely fair. What I understood from what she said is that most people have HEARD of Lolita and know the general plot. Now what you’re saying is, people don’t know the meaning of the book, the main point. In fact, in that same segment she goes on to say that, while it may not have been the authors intent, it does breed a victim-blamey environment BECAUSE of the misinterpretation. So I don’t think she was wrong in what she said, just not super specific I suppose.
The biggest problem with Lolita is people thinking they know what it’s about, missing the point, and refusing to listen to the people who actually have read it
You've explored a lot of what I've been feeling lately about online activism. Often times I feel like we're getting so caught up in saying that "thing bad", that I find myself increasingly lost and hurt by people I'm supposed to be in community with. Like, beyond saying "thing bad", what are meaningful steps that I, a nobody, can take? Where are the "boots on the ground" so to speak, that I would much rather support, VS posting an infographic? I find myself increasingly exhausted with always performing "good values" , that I don't feel like I have any space to just exist. Couple that with the moral judgements of "If you don't say anything, you're a bad person.", I find myself in an ever increasing hostile space with no end in sight. I just wish there was balance. Sometimes I don't know what to think. Sometimes I don't feel I'm the best voice to be championing the cause. Sometimes, I don't even know what the movement wants because the message is so jumbled. Sometimes, I just want to post about video games because I'm mentally exhausted. I just feel like community care has gone out the window, and I wish we would bring that back to the forefront of our activism. Giving people the balance and grace to just...exist.
For real, like what can I do? I can't even drive alone yet. Change how society works? Dream on. Sometimes I think if I was hurt by whatever I wanted to change or fight against, then, I would actually fight which makes me feel like a bad person. But I know that isn't entirely the case. So instead of feeling bad for myself and being angry at the world, I tell myself 'live your life the way you want the world to be' is all I can do right now. Time will come when I am able to fight.
My cousin was going on about how "if you're not posting about blm on instagram, don't talk to me." Meanwhile i was out actually doing work in the community, going to protests and doing volunteer work. I've even spoken to state representatives for a separate cause before. There are multiple ways to show your support for a cause and to actually help. It doesn't have to end in an ultimatum of "well if you're not posting on social media, then you're a bad person." I understand that these people's hearts are in the right place, but I also think it gets ridiculous sometimes.
People done understand that we aren’t all meant to care about the same things. 1. because it isn’t possible for each human to care about each problem in the world equally. 2. Because there are a plethora of problems in the world that need help fixing. 3. It takes all types of people in the world to change it. And that means everyone cares about the things they care about and make the efforts they can to change themselves and the world around them. Sure there is much more nuance in that but I understand how you feel the need to be a moral pillar at all times. But the reality is that it’s impossible and those going around shaming others do it not for “change” but for themselves and a deep rooted issue with needing to feel superior over others to validate themselves, their existence, and their beliefs.
Idk man I’ve just stopped caring tbh bc at the end of the day, we can’t really do anything about it. It’s the governments, the elites, top 1% that have all the power
I'm helpless to stop any of the shitty things in this world so I hear ya. Ignorance is bliss is true. What gets me is knowing certain issues already have answers that have been implemented in some countriesbut the powers that be won't follow it and some actively campaign against it. old people , disabled people are left to rot in homes and you better hope that those overworked underpaid caretakers stay and ruin their own bodies and minds. The care homes are making record profit, I SAY WTF CAN I DO. it's depressing and I can't do shit and I learn that there are people who trying to fix it been for years and that's a good thing but it's such a sad thing because why doesn't the gov like eten and fix it ? That's just one issue of many. The more people cry about social programs and help for other people is stupid too cause of selfish reasons people should be about the vulnerable being cared for , Ike they don't get that it is very easy for them to end up there? Homelessness , people screech no way I gotta work for my home , welfare, i gotta work for my scraps , and so on. So let's let t keep getting worse but you can ihnk it's gonna make your life better that people don't get the help they need cause themselves t don't deserve it it's gonna backfired in their faces cause there will,be more crime there will be more desperate people and good luck with that
I think the difference between us (the peons of society) and them (content creators with an audience and/or money) is that all some of us can do is spare our pocket change and go to protests. I don't have the audience or the money to make a big difference, but what I do have is information for protests and links for educational purposes. So that, at the very least, I can give information and I can show those in my life where I stand. If they don't want to have a conversation and learn about things that are harming others; if they don't feel empathy for those in pain, I know how to respond to that person. There aren't any blurred lines. It's small, but it's what I can do to help and protect the space around me. However, a lot of content creators don't seem to understand the power that they wield. They have a massive platform to help others and if they spout of rhetoric about "silence is complicity," then I get to remember and remind them of it whenever they go back on their word. If you only think that for some causes and not others, clarify that. If you don't want to say something for fear of public outcry, clarify that. Just be honest with your audience if you don't know something. But to be offended and angry when a fan or follower asks your opinion about something after you've claimed "silence is complicity," is pure hypocrisy. And people don't respond well to hypocrisy.
yesss i came for that-which part/timestamp is her part, bestie? i can’t find it 🥺 unless she doesn’t directly address it 😔 all i see is 2:30:00 but it was about elyse. (oh it was 4 minutes after and literally 23 seconds 😭 she didn’t talk about it only mentioned it ahh)
Being a tattoo artist with a big following on instagram I can tell you this: I built my platform around tattooing not around activism, people like you are the activists. My job depends on my platform and I can see people loosing interest when I speak up and post stuff like defund the pigs or fundraisers for charity. I still do post cause I don’t care to loose some engagement but there is a limit to what I can do or say on there since that’s not why people look at my page, they just want to see the pretty tattoos. So from your point of view you might look at the amount of followers I have and think I have a lot of power and influence, well yes but in the tattoo world, not in the activist world. I think it’s silly to expect artists to be activists when that’s not what made them famous in the first place. My opinion is that silence is not always complicit because silence is not consent. Some people do not speak up to preserve their own safety and jobs, not because they agree with what’s happening. But of course I’m not talking about huge celebrities that have the money and resources to take that financial hit, for them I agree with you, they should speak up and sacrifice their privilege because they can afford it. But I still think it’s silly to expect them to do so since that’s not why they got their platform in the first place. I think what we’re dealing with is a systemic issue about fame. The wrong people get platformed for the wrong reasons and now we are realizing this.
it feels like RUclipsrs like you and CJ the X and all the other wonderful video essayists out there are all making things to help me heal my relationship with the internet and whether that’s the intention or not I still have to say thank you for it
That warms my little heart ❤️ I feel like I’ve seen a real shift the last few months of people (especially leftists) saying “enough is enough can we have a discussion please” and it gives me so much hope! Thank you for taking part in this process ❤️
@@upinurbiz thank you for also forwarding the direction of this conversation. Leftist unity and healthy discussions with people are of few hopes to make all our lives better
I also believe we want influencers or celebrities to say genocide bad bc we dont want to give money to those who are indifferent or in support of genocide. Ppl have their fav celebrities bc they identify with them, they feel those people "get it", so sometimes on high impact issues people need reassurance that they're not being scammed by their fav.
Literally. I don’t want political commentary from an influencer or celebrity. But if they’re a genocide supporter, I want to know. I don’t want to give anything to powerful people so disconnected from their own humanity that they’d support this.
literally! it’s like i would never support an open nazi or anyone who would deny the holocaust especially as it happened, tf? how is that hard to understand?? It’s a totally normal position for any ethically driven person. :/
But it is different to not speak on a subject than to actively support it. Sure sometimes silence can speak volumes or make you guilty by association when you're being faced with a situation you can actually make a difference in. But it depends on the situation. Someone choosing to not speak on a subject they're not physically apart of especially if they lack a lot of knowledge on the subject matter is not at all the same as someone publicly expressing I'm an avid supporter of [insert bad thing]. Not to mention, while it's unfortunate we will inevitably support people with values that don't 100% align with ours and probably won't know. There are all sorts of opinions people have that they choose not to share, maybe aren't even aware that they have, that some portion of their audience isn't going to agree with. Whether it's something super big like murder or something a little less consequential like views on nudity. People are so complex with our values and ideals changing as we get new information plus being affected by the information previously gathered throughout life that even if you managed to find someone that 100% agreed with you someone would most likely have a change in perception fairly quickly with the introduction of new information. I think it's actually more important to learn how to have discussions on things we disagree about than saying "You disagree with me and my values so you're automatically a bad person and I think you no longer have a space here" Don't get me wrong I understand the desire to want to support people that are doing things you don't agree with but like I said no one is going to have 100% of the same values and opinions you have. So deciding which ideals are most important for you and choosing not to partake in those actively doing something or saying something against your core values I think can be a great way of adding your influence to the world. But deciding that because someone doesn't speak on it means they are also supporting it feels shortsighted to me. I think she did a really good job of explaining all lot of the intricacies and complexities that comes with this problem and why it not as simple as "You need to speak out no matter what"
I think you're asking how would a person differentiate the two, but let me know if I'm wrong. If that is what you're asking I don't think we can really tell the difference between someone who's silent because they don't feel it's their place/they don't have enough information, etc. and someone who's silent because they support the opposition. That's why I feel like it's not what we should be focusing on. At the end of the day we shouldn't force other people into advocacy. We can only control ourselves and what we advocate for. However the way to differentiate between someone staying silent and someone actively supporting something you disagree with is by their actions and words. Like if we take the war in Palestine for example if they're funding weapons for the side you don't agree with (or funding any weapons if you disagree with war in general), saying things in support of the side you don't agree with, or discounting things you're pretty sure are fact etc. Those would all be examples of actively supporting something that goes against your values. And in that case that's when I would suggest unfollowing them, messaging them about what brought them to those beliefs, or in extreme circumstances boycotting (although personally I think boycotting people is both harmful and unhelpful; more useful for companies, programs, systems, laws, etc. Because boycotting people vs bullying is a fine line and anyone could end up on the other side of "we don't agree with you so you can't exist." Which I think is really dangerous) But if we do decide to engage with a creator we disagree with I think it's important we seek to understand vs shame. Not only is it dangerous to create a culture of shame/bullying, but when you think about times you've been receptive to new ideas, especially if they went against your previous belief, was it when you were being shamed or when someone came to you with sincerity and a desire to see where you were coming from?
As someone who grew up in the heyday of "Our God is an Awesome God" being sung at Sunday school, camp, and every other church kids' occasion, complete with pseudo-ASL hand motions, I agree. It is totally a banger. My now-atheist self still wants to sing along with it.
I'm a non-Christian who joined some friends at church every once in a while when I was a kid, and I STILL remember Our God is an Awesome God! What an earworm.
As an agnostic, my favorite version of it is the parody Girlfriend Reviews did of it for Todd Howard during their E3 2021 or 2022 video, it’s always a delight when that version gets stuck in my brain 😂
currently in the middle of the ethics section (the video has been excellent thus far) and I just had to add this when you are talking about who is qualified to break ethical lines. I'm from Western Australia and we were once a penal colony (i have an ancestor who was a one of the first off the boat) and kept the old convict built fremantle prison from back then in operation through the World Wars, and is kept today as a heritage site. When I went there with my Catholic School on an excursion in Year 3 we went to the chapel and were explicetly told they changed the Very on display 'Thou shalt not kill' to 'Thou shalt not murder' during the World Wars to distinguish murderers in prison from soldiers fighting for their country, and it's always stuck with me as such an interesting way to differentiate people killing people. Not sure if that's necciarily that relevent to the topic at hand but I find it really intersting
Oh hey, a Perth compatriot. From what I understand, it's even more interesting than that. The list in the Anglican Chapel was painted as 'thou shalt not do murder' right from the start. The Gaol and the British colonies practiced capital punishment, so they didn't paint 'thou shalt not kill'. I bet some bureaucrat thought they were so clever to think of that little work around. But it's not a completely unknown translation. I've definitely heard people use those words to excuse killings by the state (such as executions) and killing in wars, like you said @oliSUNvia has an interesting video about that idea: how some people become something called 'homo sacer', and can be killed but not 'murdered' ruclips.net/video/DAAweBo_AWU/видео.htmlsi=H30eiTSlXnqSIq9g
Same here! Well, I watched it 4 times before watching the show, and then immediately watched it again, and will probably watch it again after this one, lol it’s just so good!
As a disabled person with a very small-footprint life, whose paranoia kept them off social media for long enough to see most of them wither away, I feel kind of polarized by the way Causes and Charities always push for more-more-more from their audience... I have no extra money to give, I have no physical ability to do volunteer work, I have no big online audience - I struggle to get out of the house for a walk every single day! It makes me feel like I may as well turn away from paying attention to The Cause (whatever it is), since it only makes me feel worse because I keep hearing about how I can't "meaningfully" support it. I've got to save my spoons for my own health, after all. I'm the one who needs the volunteer work DONE FOR ME, but it's on ME to request grants and do paperwork and everything?? I can't volunteer for someone else in addition to that... What makes me feel better is by reminding myself of the opposite of the Uncle Ben quote; "with little power comes little responsibility." With little power, I can do nothing BUT live a small-footprint life - I don't HAVE TO measure my performance by the standards of someone with much more power and ability. That helps me feel better, even if it causes no positive external change.
I think that it's bc we live with an altruistic mindset yet with an egocentric lifestyle and society ; We are taught to help your neighbor but not if they're struggling in any way as they become a burden to you , building capital and being productive is such an integral part of capitalism that straying from the path will set you back just for not focusing on yourself . But sometimes you can't afford to give pennies to the homeless guy and that's okay you don't have to break the bank or your body to bring change or uplift your community , but sharing a post or sending an email can help push people who have the drive to bring change .
@@Girlboss5002 I like that explanation, that our brains are altruistic - social animals that primates are and all that - but we've built a social world that tells us we should be selfish, so that's where the tension comes from - we WANT to do good, instinctively, but there are so many barriers up, we second-guess ourselves. That rings true for me, at least.
I really feel this. It's hard to be disabled, or poor, or disadvantaged in other ways, and feel like you aren't doing enough. Sometimes the only way anyone can contribute is by not adding to the awful in the world, and that includes staying alive, doing the paperwork, and being gentle with yourself. Your burn out or destruction helps no one. And you do have an impact on the world. You've definitely improved my day. I'm also disabled and struggling with this stuff, so what you wrote made me feel really seen and validated. It sucks not to be able to march at a rally, or donate $$$, or write regularly to my representatives. Sometimes I have to repeat to myself, 'From each according to their ability, (to each according to their needs)', over and over. Or I think on the slogan, 'everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to do the dishes'. I love your Uncle Ben slogan, too
@@bdm483 Aww, thank you so much for saying so! It improved my day to hear from you, too! There's something really unique to being disabled (in America specifically, but probably other places too), where a huge part of just existing is paperwork and appointments and feeling guilty for being exhausted - so hearing from someone who's legit going thru it too, is really supportive. Thank you
if you cant help as much as you’ve already, i dont think those charities are asking of you to go beyond what you actually can give. organizations and charities are pressuring people to donate, to spread the word because the people they raise that money are not getting enough. your frustrations are valid, but i think we should think of this as a common goal, if you cant donate - completely okay, but maybe someone who can will. (again not trying to say ur feelings or ur situation arent valid, just trying to give my perspective)
2:25:55 i would argue that a 4th thing at play is online culture. Theres a game like thing that we all do where we check the comments of a video before watching it. Some do it to see if the video is worth watching, others do it to find out what the general consensus is so they can watch the video through that lens. That definitely shapes the way we interact with each other
okay, I'm at part 6 and I finally have something interesting to share: you talk about this idea we generally take interest in the person who created a piece of art that calls to us as an individual. I think this is true, however I've noticed that i tend to avoid learning more about the artist who's work is the most important to me. I don't know if the fear of being let down, or if it's that I don't want to taint the art by knowing too much about the person behind it. it doesn't feel like that's the case rationally in my mind; it's just a weird passive avoidance that happens. for example, I love Sufjan Stevens. I have been so moved by much of his work since I was a teenager. The small details that I know about his life, little revelations that have been made public or that have been shared in Miss Lola's videos, are the only scraps of him i gave beyond what i interpret through his work. I don't seek them out and my instinct when they come up is to turn away. I don't think this is a totally unique experience, I think it might have something to do with my avoidant personality. anyway, just sharing, I thought it was an interesting contradiction to that. not an antagonistic contradiction: an interesting. counterpoint, i hope.
The photojournalism section is so interesting. I was just recently thinking about this because I came across the Soft White Underbelly channel here, where a photographer/documentarian Mark Laita interviews and shoots people on Skid Row in LA and recently got a lot of pushback for interviewing a minor-aged "sex worker", clearly mentally unwell people, an inbred family living in extreme poverty in Apalachia, or otherwise people who are clearly not in a right state of mind, and his claim is that he's simply documenting and showing the reality of life for these people. It's a difficult ethical conversation and it's so bizarre to see him just wash his hands off anything and just say "hey I just take pictures".
It reminded me of the train problem. A photo journalist hears there is a runaway train, heading to the local station, and sets off to get a picture. He arrives early, and seeks out the best position to take his photograph, which is the signal box, up above. Once in the signal box, he realises the situation, train destined to kill 5 people, but all he has to do is switch the track to save the 5, but it will result in one death. Since the PJ is only there to record events in the interests of the public, is he morally obligated to even consider the ethical decision presented?
As a German ex law student, the whole part about consequentialism and the questions of how responsible an artist is for the consequences of their work etc. esp. with the drunk driver comparison was very funny to listen to because on the one hand I understand the philosophical question being asked, on the other hand German criminal law provides a very elegant way of solving those questions which I had to learn in my first semester so I kind of sat there like This is easy actually Rip consequentialists, you would have loved/hated the modification of the conditio-sine-qua-non equivalence theory through objective attribution and adequacy theory
ok that Taylor Swift but around the 39:10 mark threw me off. like, what do these fans even mean? regardless of the "quality" of Swift's music, her entire career IS a highly commercialized, highly marketed mass product from day one. This argument coming out now is baffling to me.
Most works of popular art released in our capitalist society are highly commercialized, highly marketed mass products! It's entirely possible to find commercial art meaningful, beautiful, etc. I promise it doesn't automatically make you (general) a pro-capitalist bootlicker lmao.
@@ElectroSocketBlues except Swift's entire career is a manufactured product with well-crafted idea of 'sincerity' from its very conception. sure, you can find meaning in her works, but to expect her to be anything but a product is ridiculous, and shows the total success of her crafting that image and the sheer naivety of her fans. what you buy into is Swift the brand, not Swift the person, and the person won't do anything beyond what is within the confines of her brand, because that's just her business model.
BIZ! I was just talking to my friend about this issue, I don't know if I'm going to be able to process a 3-hour video right now but I'm really interested to hear your perspective on it. not that anybody asked: I don't think we should bully people off the internet. specifically, not bully tiny little micro-influencers, nor non influencers. They aren't politicians, bully them. jk but not jk. that said-- free Palestine.
I AM an Art Historian, have a degree and everything, and am honestly impressed. Aside from a few slight, and understandable, mispronunciations of words you probably have never tried to say out loud before, you did really well communicating some complex ideas in a clear and correct way.
God I love you so much. You were the only thing keeping me going in the ER waiting room while I thought I was dying of a perforated gut lmao. Your channel is the best thing thats happened to me since CJ the X. Id love an unhinged podcast with you two and Contrapoints or Caelan Conrad. And damn straight I watched your Succession video-it was incredible! As is this one. What a great topic to dive into!
Your video essays are some of the most detailed, clearly well researched, impactful, and relatable on this platform. I haven't seen all of your videos but every time I walk away feeling like I'd just learned something valuable, which doesn't happen for me very often anymore. Thank you so much, genuinely.
every time someone who has (afaik) never mentioned kpop before/isn't a fan mentions kpop in a video essay it changes the trajectory of my life forever bc my GOD you have no idea 😭😭 both biz and cj the x mentioning bts' military enlistment lives in my head rent free
Wow the first hour of this gave me more info on art philosophy than art school did. Professors would literally just show us a piece and be like “who thinks this is art? 😏” and let us argue in circles for four years.
You can't know that your work will be misrepresented, or misunderstood, but you can assume. I'm convinced this is why Socrates was opposed to recording his teachings. Sometimes it is the misunderstanding that is well-represented.
15 min in but felt pulled to scream into the void that your EP comes out on my birthday. I had mono for my birthday last year so hopefully the EP overshadows that memory this year.
Your Succession video is what finally made me watch that show. Although, you mentioning that video meant that from the 13:13 mark until...a month from now, I'll have "Biz gets to talk about Lord Byron" stuck in my head again.
What an amazing video omg! Not to rag on other video essayists too much since video essays are my favorite genre of RUclips videos, but I feel like a lot of video essayists say the same 5 things and I don’t learn very many new things. Genuinely I learned so much in this video and I don’t think you wasted my time at all!
i absolutely love the contrast when talking about St George and the Dragon, with this lavish poetic description followed by "the lance, which is the pointy stick thing"
still watching but just wanted to thank you for setting up this fundraiser. wishing you a really good spring. (also, every video you make, i learn so much from. thank you for all of your work and creativity, and sharing it with us!)
Impression Management is a really helpful framework, thank you for introducing it to me! In a totally mundane example - my roommates put dishes in the sink, and don't rinse them or hand-wash them or put them in the dishwasher. They do step 1, but not 2 or 3, and only after step 3 is change REALLY ACCOMPLISHED, so... It's not that Step 1 is USELESS, not at all, one can't DO step 2 or 3 without doing step 1 first! It's just NOT ENOUGH. Necessary, but not sufficient.
There are video essays I just watch and think are nice, and then there are the video essays that really make me think for days after and feel like they have a fundamental impact on how I understand the world. The latter category is much rarer and is mostly made up of Contrapoints videos, but now also yours
2:11:49 on that note of Taylor swift there’s a good essay on how she deliberately cultivated a parasocial relationship with her audience that I don’t think is a stretch to call teetering on the edge of being a cult.
funny how emotions work... when you were talking about how when taking a picture of the Mona Lisa and posting it online, it further distances the art from the viewer, I sort of scoffed. But when you mentioned Guernica in part IV, I understood it completely. Because I have seen that painting in person and I agree that, there's no other way to see it. It was a school field trip and they told us the whole story of the Civil War (and that was the first and last time we were taught about Spain's dictatorship years without censorship in my whole catholic Spanish school journey, so make of that what you will) I guess me being a short innocent child back then had something to do with how massive, ominous and "scary" the painting looked, and as the museum tour guide told us of the atrocities that happened, both in Guernica and all around Spain, I just kept looking at the different wailing faces, the fires, the bull (symbol of Spain) looking directly at the viewer, almost as if it were an apparition and not actually there (compared to the horse's expression, that's what I interpret the bull as) That painting changed so many people's moral compass both when it was first revealed, and today, it brought awareness. That's exactly why the UN "had to" cover it (as opposed to being decent people), and now we have that story as well to document the atrocities of the "current bourgeoise" per say, all of that together to me, is art, not more or less important than art for the sake of art of course, but still art. It was with Goya that I learnt about the practice of artists being commissioned back in the day, by church and state, hiding little "fuck you"s in their work, and as an artist myself that's so rad. I discovered you through the Snapewives video and I love the way you present your content! It's a really chill atmosphere and I always learn something new, keep up the good work :)
I love the art of the 38 hour review of whole tv series. Its scholarly art historical media needed to capture the effects of the media of the culture in ways writing about visual and oral media hasn't before and is amazing to be able to be here and experience.
Your video left me with a lot to think about, a lot of the times I find myself listening/watching video essays that leave me feeling like I just had someone think for myself, but you didn't get to that, you challenged the viewer to ask themselves about their actions and beliefs. It is an amazing video. Thank you for linking all the sources too.
Okay I've been thinking about the idea of "art for art's sake" some more and I guess I'm gonna write a whole thing about it, my apologies. I think that knowing art has historically been Purposeful™ rather than just an instrument of self-expression makes me dislike the idea that art SHOULD have a purpose. It seems obvious to me that, prior to the last couple of centuries, all art that didn't have a Purpose™ was discouraged, ignored, and destroyed in favour of whatever the people in power actually cared about. Who knows how much amazing art we have lost because the Pope was more interested in another sexy version of St Sebastian? We only know of artists like Vincent Van Gogh because we finally started rebelling against the idea of Art with a Purpose™. "Art for Art's Sake" is powerful because the only other choices available, for a long time, were "Art for the Sake of the Local Baron and/or Bishop", and "Art for the Sake of Educating People to the Greater Good." When every play is about teaching women that they should be the Angel of the House and men should be good and responsible pater familias and it really does suck to be poor, have you tried pulling yourself up by your bootstraps? It's actually revolutionary to say, "rip to you but I actually want to focus on making my play about two useless dandies whose name isn't Earnest (or is it?) good." So when I hear that the CIA funded Abstract Expressionism (which is a controversial take, but whatever), I don't think of that as a Take That, I think of that as horrifying. There's these artists saying, "can you see me?" And then there's the state ignoring that and coopting it as a weapon. Who cares about these artists, who cares about their vision, what matters is the Purpose™. And yes, of course, all those artists *were* saying something political. Swinburne explicitly wrote about Irish independence in his poems! Oscar Wilde was a vocal socialist! Of course they were political! But people weren't angry with them because they weren't political, they were angry with them because they weren't political *in the right way*. The problem with the Decadent movement was that they weren't writing stories about the angel of the house and good pater familias and how poor people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. I think that people get confused because when they hear an artist say some variation of the "I make art for art's sake" message, they assume that the artist doesn't care about whatever politics they care about (because, of course, the only politics that exists are our own; we're all the local barons demanding that the artist create a fresco of our family). What the artist is actually saying, however, is that they love the art rather than it's moral. It's the subtle difference between writing a gay story because you want to write a gay story vs writing a gay story because you think it's your duty to create more representation.
I’ve been seeing a few comments about that (and also operation olive branch) which are both such interesting movements and definitely a step in the right direction. Taking the focus away from “why won’t this celebrity speak on this” to “just block them” feels like a more effective way to clear the channels for direct tangible support options like olive branch which (as far as I can tell) seems to be very values-aligning where people are literally saying “here is how to help quickly and simply” instead of making it about themselves, i just hope that when these celebrities do backtrack (as they all will when their numbers go down) they don’t do more harm than good. pardon the very long response lol - I hope you liked the video!
if you're ever struggling with 'X is hard to define,' remember: *1)* words are made up and there is no ultimate arbiter, they are invented by humans to describe human concepts (miss merriam webster is not the final authority) *2)* definitions don't prescribe meaning, they describe the context surrounding use cases of a word (miss merriam webster herself didn't invent the word 'selfie' but it's in her dictionary still) *3)* many words have multiple definitions, and they are all susceptible to change (so using an """"""""""incomplete"""""""""" definition is still valid and not necessarily ambiguous)
At the end of the video, and it's excellent. This video has weirdly given me more thoughts about one of my favourite off broadway musicals, Octet by Dave Malloy (the show is about Eight people doing internet addicts anonymous and discusses a lot of the various ways the internet, social media, and video games are effecting us, it's pre-pandemic so a smidge dated but it's facinating in that time capsule way, and I think the emotional weight of the songs are hold up. Also it's an entierly A Capella). Anyway, there's a line in the song Fugue State "when we say 'in real life' this is a lie to protect us, this is all real, this is all real life". and I kept thinking of that in the way you discuss the line between the Truth and the Construct that is social media and how they aren't nessisarily at odds with each other.
The way I came across this video was impeccable timing, having recently been involved with such "drama" that comes with fandoms. This really summed up all my thoughts on it, based on my own experiences and my thoughts of how other people involved handled the situation. Just makes me scared for slipping up even once lest it get taken out of context.
I found you through the algorithm recommending the manic pixie dream girl video. And I loved it so much I decided why not and hopped right into this 3 hour video essay and I’m glad I did! It didn’t feel like it was that long, everything you had to say was very interesting and I agree that these answers are not easy to just figure out. It’s not as black and white as math. But it’s helpful for me as a disabled person with very little reach to hear what you have to say about internet activism. I’ve felt such a burden to do the right thing all the time I feel like I’m constantly thinking through the ethics of everything I’m doing and it’s exhausting. So thank you for helping lighten that burden a bit. Also it’s great to see another queer ADHDer out there! I love the way you format your videos, it works very well for my own ADHD brain.
thank you for another incredible video that has probably permanently altered my brain and worldview. i say this in every comment, i can't express how much i've learned and changed because of your essays. i'm learning more from you than from college. i'm a better writer and a better reader and hopefully a better person. i was inspired by your succession video (which i'm obsessed with) to learn more about faust and i'm even taking a class next semester on the history of faust in fiction, i'm so excited. sorry for always leaving such long comments, unfortunately this is how i am irl too lol. i hope this video absolutely blows up, you so deserve for your art to be seen and appreciated by more people, and more people deserve to feel and be changed by your art.
love this. I often wonder what my place is in the grand social scheme of things, and your videos are like a manifestation of my inner monologue. in a weird way, the "unreality" of watching a video like this helps bring me back down to reality. thank u for what u do biz 💚🙌
By far my favorite long video essay bc not only did you mention the green brother and are a nerd fighter but you also praised dodie. Also it was beautifully nuanced and informative 💛thank you!
I feel like you are VASTLY over weighing the CIA's ability to influence culture. Especially in a pre internet pre bot time period. Like people actually do like abstract art. "Abstract art" as a thing we do predates representational art. We splattered pigment on caves sometimes just because it looked cool. Society isn't made from one institution dictating what is cool. Culture is a collective understanding that has more organic threads than it does artificial.
Loved this video, was very interesting to watch after recently watching Dr. Fatima’s video ‘Astronomy has a colonialism problem’, which also talks a lot about Palestine, being online, empathy and action. Really appreciated the nuances of your thinking around these topics
I think there's a growing apetite for Art that reflects the public's values and hunger for change. Music and Art was once the playground of the rebel and the non-conformist. There's a niche not being catered for (enough) by mainstream media and demanding more is a natural reaction. Great essay btw ❤
Personally I don’t think “long form content” is growing online out of fear of being misunderstood or ostracized, but rather out of passion and respect for topics that deserve the time and effort, and can’t be done justice in 100 characters or 30 seconds. My time never feels wasted when I watch your videos (in fact this is my second viewing of this video, and I’ve been rewatching your others as well) because your dedication to your craft is palpable, and I catch things I didn’t the first time. Sometimes the quantity reflects the quality. It ties in with what you said about people wanting to take actions that align with their values, and you taking the time and energy making this video is that action, and me taking the time and energy to watch (and now reply to) it is also that action. So you may feel that this interaction being “parasocial” is fake, but that’s taking credit away from both parties. You reaching out and others listening is a bridge being built. We don’t need to know each other personally to empathize with one another, nor maintain a “real” relationship with someone to acknowledge their existence has influenced us at any point in time in any way, however big or small. Is this an instance of building something real out of something made up? A clock is a real thing people follow, structuring their entire lives around it, constructed from the lie of time. Anyway I really appreciate you talking about IT, and other things too :)
I love how thoughtful your content is and I appreciate how sincere you are in your efforts to be as informed or compassionate regardless of the topic you’re attempting to tackle. That being said, I do have a few critiques, but they’re mostly me being nit picky lol 1. The word ‘censorship’ should be reserved for describing governmental/state interference because if we keep calling a given social media platforms moderation policy ‘censorship’ and nothing of consequence comes from it, we’ve inadvertently normalized being censored. 2. I completely agree with your position on ‘Token Activism’ however, I disagree with the concept of ‘taking up space’. There is no situation where I’d ever tell someone else to ‘pipe down’ or ‘know your place’ and I find these sentiments generally harmful, regardless if they’re only directed at cis, white, straight males or otherwise. 3. Free Palestine. Oct 7th was not an act of armed aggression, it was terrorism and in the same way that the acts of Hamas shouldn’t condemn all Palestinians to a genocide, the Israeli governments actions do not justify the violence inflicted on civilians. Other than that, I really enjoyed this video and I hope you have Bugsy Malone a watch lol
2:44:30 on the note you’re saying about Taylor swift, her case is complicated. For about three years nazis loudly claimed her as an Aryan goddess and nazi icon on the internet to where NPR and others discussed and reported on it, and then claims she had no idea the entire time around when she went into her “I’m politically brave now” transition. She has endorsed democrats multiple times now has tried suing at least two smaller creators now, the private jet guy who revealed her excessive jet usage and a small blogger who called out her silence about white supremacist’s love of her (which reminder, she said later she didn’t know about) and almost got into a legal tussle with the goddamn ACLU. They talk about causes they want to and they can’t really claim “I’m just a celebrity” especially not taylor
Don't forget how she dated a racist who literally got off on watching torture p*rn of black women and did other bigoted things and literally did the nazi salute at a concert last year despite preaching how much she "cared" about marginalized people and their rights,and how she only brings up these issues when she can benefit from it also i'm pretty sure she called anyone who held her accountable for dating a racist "snakes & vipers" on one of her new songs so do with that as you will
As someone who didn’t know about the Elyse Meyers stuff until watching this video I am utterly baffled that this group of people successfully organized not to email/call their leaders, raise money, volunteer their time etc., but to cyberbully someone to make a statement
They’ve almost definitely done all of that though. It’s almost like all our politicians aren’t listening to us, aid is being blocked and aid workers are being made examples of. I wish Elyse the best, but silence on genocide is complicity no matter how you look at it.
@zkkitty2436 bullying creators over issues they have no control over is not how you get people to listen or join your cause. This whole silence = supporting genocide is not a pandora's box you want to open. Get a grip and boycott corporations, celebrities and politicians that do have the influence to change things. Money talks. But that requires putting your money where your mouth is so bullying creators is the second best thing for lazy people who just want to feel like they're making a difference. I'm curious to see what issues you are silent on that can be used to ruin your livelihood.
I wish I could 'like' this several times over. Immense respect to you for all the research, time, and emotion. You've made a beautiful thing about beautiful things that will inspire beautiful things 💝. I hope you're proud of yourself 😊
I do have a degree in fine art and drawing. Your overview on art and religion is spot on. " you are doing great sweety" Continue to absolutely love your output Beautiful and smart woman ❤
This is exactly the video essay I needed. All of the stuff you talked about has been on my mind lately in a big way. The issue of celebrities getting harassed over not speaking has been frustrating me, and sometimes it has felt like I’m the only person who feels like the cyber bullying is a little much. I’m also a HUGE advocate for the idea that works of fiction should not be equated with real world morality and should be allowed to deal with dark/controversial subject matter, so it was deeply refreshing to hear your deep dive into those topics as well. All in all another biz banger!!
"people would still be naming their kids Lolita" People _are_ still naming their children Lolita. It's still a moderately popular name in Spanish-speaking communities, where it originated. As for the Harry Potter video game; even aside from the association with JK Rowling, the game itself is rife with antisemitic and pro-cop propaganda. The lead developer is tied to the "alt.right" fascist movement (although he has since purged much of his more egregious work from the 'Net, after this came to light and resulted in his firing from his position, in an attempt to downplay his fascism and paint himself as a victim of "cancel culture").
1:48 Sorry to be a spoilsport but: Uncle Ben originally never said WGPCGR. That was an invention for the first S-M movie. In Amazing Fantasy No.15 the original version of the phrase appears in a narrative caption in the comic's last panel and reads "And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with Great Power there must also come -- Great Responsibility!" If anything it's the Stan Lee Principle.
@biz, you are amazing, and I love your deep and thoughtful commentary. I do need to push back on one statement you made at around the 3 hr mark. The attack by Hamas was not an "act of armed resistance." It was a terrorism. They brutally murdered innocent people - many of whom were some of the most committed to peace and a 2-state solution among the Israeli population.Two things are true: IDF is committing genocide against the Palestinians AND Hamas (specifically the military wing of the group) committed a brutal terrorist act against innocent Israeli civilians. I highly recommend watching Pod Save the World's breakdown on the situation. It's extremely sad, extremely complicated, and involves generations of genocidal maniacs pushing this conflict from both directions. Hamas are the underdogs in this fight, but that doesn't make them the good guys. Calling what they did "armed resistance" is giving cover to their horrific, genocidal behavior in the same way that Bibi Netanyahu and his goons call their warmongering anything other than genocide. DFTBA
Honestly that person at the end of the video was right. That midnight mass video essay was a spiritual experience especially when I heard “Burn Down the Farm” like that shit slapped. And this video essay is also really eye opening. I fell off several times (mostly because I don’t sleep like a normal person) but even when I did I could still like hear it. Like mf followed me into my dreams and idk if I was like just out of it or if that’s deadass what happened but it was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything
55:45 Guy Debord wrote Society of the Spectacle in the 60s, before Mark Fisher was born. It’s fine though because the book Fisher DID write (Capitalist Realism) is basically Society of the Spectacle for Dummies
incredibly interesting and insightful!!! I don't think you wasted my time. You gave me a lot of new perspectives and also made me feel less crazy about the tiktok pressure and bullying.
Watched this whole thing on 2x speed let’s GOOOO. This was such a refreshing perspective, thank you for putting into words what I wasn’t sure how to. You have a new subscriber!!!
Thank you so much, Biz, for being one of the few creators to speak out about the ongoing Palestinian genocide. I understand the (potentially) career-ending ramifications in which this activism could result, and just know that you're on the right side of history
The video is phenomenal and will have me thinking about it for days. I do think abstract impressionists had a lot more to offer, though. Ethan is online’s video “You’re Wrong About Modern Art” was quite persuasive to me and helped me understand Pollock and Rothko in a new way.
Did I fall asleep last night watching this? Yes. Did I finish it this morning over a breakfast-turned brunch? Also yes. I don't think my brain has processed enough yet to have a coherent opinion, but I'll just say that you very much Did Not waste my time.
i'm sorry i keep commenting the same thing with different words but youuuuu arrrre soooooooooo gooooooood at making these videos Oh. My. God. you are passionate and educated and a divine storyteller and on top of it all, tragically underrated. ilyyyyyy
Really appreciate the conclusion of this video. Let's keep perspective and work collectively to transform the injustice at the heart of our society. Get involved! Get organized! ✊
Biz I have been a long time watcher of yours and not nearly as good of a commenter as I should be and this has been on my faves of 2024 playlist since I first watched it but I'm back to grab the link to send to someone and I just need to tell you what an opus this is. This video is truly fucking fantastic. I've watched it twice and I'm going to watch it again very soon.
2:28:14 - This is it, this is the answer - Why aren't they talking about it? It doesn't affect them, probably. There ya go, that's the answer. Not a very satisfying answer, but probably the most accurate in the most circumstances.
absolutely agree. It's easier to ignore it than to care about it when you don't have any skin directly in the game. Now in reality this g3n0c1de affects everyone, the weapons, the diplomatic cover, the precedent of it all, the environmental and human disaster of it all. This affects everyone, some are just lucky enough to not be k1lled by it yet.
NOTES/CORRECTIONS:
⚠️ THE TIMECODE TO SKIP TO IN SECTION 5 IS 1:42:58 SORRY I FORGOT TO PUT IT IN THE FINAL EDIT ⚠️
05/11 UPDATE: IN LIGHT OF BLOCKOUT/OLIVE BRANCH* a lot of people have been discovering this video through those movements and I want to say that I think they’re both great steps in the right direction, and fall into the “values-aligning” calls to action and offers of support that we mention at the end of this video. I am wary of the consequences of blockout being celebrities getting involved in things and doing more harm than good, but overall taking your attention AWAY from people who “aren’t talking about it enough” and towards “ways to help right now” feels like a net good and I’m here for it. There is no “right” way to handle any of this, I’m so glad we are all trying our best.
Here is a link to the song at the end: open.spotify.com/track/3Qzlyj7GC2DDm2LJgLhhYV?si=qEcosPV0R-SMMQjZA0koXw
2:53:40 - I don’t know why the picture is so far zoomed in I don’t remember it being that way in the edit lol
The Vlogbrothers video playing in section 9 is “Why We’re Donating $6,500,000.” ruclips.net/video/MfpXgkKTwmg/видео.html.
You're brilliant.
Is it imitation, or is it analogue simulation?
Thought the extreme closeup of Demi moore’s chin was just a really daring artistic choice at first
I think, rather than destroying the line between influencer and ordinary people, we may have blurred the line between personality and identity. You ARE your personality, whereas your identity is a reflection. Or, more likely a composite of the many available reflections. A digital schizophrenia, of sorts?
I'm convinced this is the lesson within the tale of Narcissus. Love/respect yourself, but do not be misguided by the worship of others.
Plato warning us about falling for illusions whilst simultaneously creating his own myth, is legendary stuff.
Love it when someone makes a piece so exhaustive or complete that it leaves me with nothing real to add, besides algorithmic support and personal gratitude.
That's what this comment is to me
nobody ever embodied chaotic academia this much
it showed up on my suggested feed
it's amazing
her and CJ the X👏👏 bless
this was a new concept to me when I read your comment but I was like, "frfr"
my new favorite DnD alignment.
@@natapie8702That's what I was going to say! CJ the X is peak chaotic academia.
shanspeare 😂
"People may not have read Lolita, but they know what it's about" I think that's dubious. Similar to 1984, People think they know what it's about, because it had such an impact on the development of culture. However, the very reputation associated with the name, suggests that most haven't got a clue, and think it is about a young girl seducing an older man. I think the Kubrick's film contributes massively to this, because it sets up the story from Humbert's POV. If I remember correctly, his final confrontation with Quilty is key to the film, and in a way acts as exposition.
wtf lol most ppl can tell 1984 is about a totalitarian government even if they don't understand the message
I get what you mean, but I also don’t think it’s entirely fair. What I understood from what she said is that most people have HEARD of Lolita and know the general plot. Now what you’re saying is, people don’t know the meaning of the book, the main point. In fact, in that same segment she goes on to say that, while it may not have been the authors intent, it does breed a victim-blamey environment BECAUSE of the misinterpretation. So I don’t think she was wrong in what she said, just not super specific I suppose.
@@kriskross_ Oh, I didn't mean to imply she was wrong. Simply that people who think they know what it's about are often wrong.
The biggest problem with Lolita is people thinking they know what it’s about, missing the point, and refusing to listen to the people who actually have read it
people just interpret stuff how they want
You've explored a lot of what I've been feeling lately about online activism. Often times I feel like we're getting so caught up in saying that "thing bad", that I find myself increasingly lost and hurt by people I'm supposed to be in community with. Like, beyond saying "thing bad", what are meaningful steps that I, a nobody, can take? Where are the "boots on the ground" so to speak, that I would much rather support, VS posting an infographic?
I find myself increasingly exhausted with always performing "good values" , that I don't feel like I have any space to just exist. Couple that with the moral judgements of "If you don't say anything, you're a bad person.", I find myself in an ever increasing hostile space with no end in sight.
I just wish there was balance. Sometimes I don't know what to think. Sometimes I don't feel I'm the best voice to be championing the cause. Sometimes, I don't even know what the movement wants because the message is so jumbled. Sometimes, I just want to post about video games because I'm mentally exhausted.
I just feel like community care has gone out the window, and I wish we would bring that back to the forefront of our activism. Giving people the balance and grace to just...exist.
For real, like what can I do? I can't even drive alone yet. Change how society works? Dream on.
Sometimes I think if I was hurt by whatever I wanted to change or fight against, then, I would actually fight which makes me feel like a bad person. But I know that isn't entirely the case.
So instead of feeling bad for myself and being angry at the world, I tell myself 'live your life the way you want the world to be' is all I can do right now. Time will come when I am able to fight.
My cousin was going on about how "if you're not posting about blm on instagram, don't talk to me." Meanwhile i was out actually doing work in the community, going to protests and doing volunteer work. I've even spoken to state representatives for a separate cause before. There are multiple ways to show your support for a cause and to actually help. It doesn't have to end in an ultimatum of "well if you're not posting on social media, then you're a bad person." I understand that these people's hearts are in the right place, but I also think it gets ridiculous sometimes.
People done understand that we aren’t all meant to care about the same things. 1. because it isn’t possible for each human to care about each problem in the world equally.
2. Because there are a plethora of problems in the world that need help fixing.
3. It takes all types of people in the world to change it. And that means everyone cares about the things they care about and make the efforts they can to change themselves and the world around them.
Sure there is much more nuance in that but I understand how you feel the need to be a moral pillar at all times. But the reality is that it’s impossible and those going around shaming others do it not for “change” but for themselves and a deep rooted issue with needing to feel superior over others to validate themselves, their existence, and their beliefs.
Idk man I’ve just stopped caring tbh bc at the end of the day, we can’t really do anything about it. It’s the governments, the elites, top 1% that have all the power
I'm helpless to stop any of the shitty things in this world so I hear ya. Ignorance is bliss is true. What gets me is knowing certain issues already have answers that have been implemented in some countriesbut the powers that be won't follow it and some actively campaign against it. old people , disabled people are left to rot in homes and you better hope that those overworked underpaid caretakers stay and ruin their own bodies and minds. The care homes are making record profit, I SAY WTF CAN I DO. it's depressing and I can't do shit and I learn that there are people who trying to fix it been for years and that's a good thing but it's such a sad thing because why doesn't the gov like eten and fix it ? That's just one issue of many. The more people cry about social programs and help for other people is stupid too cause of selfish reasons people should be about the vulnerable being cared for ,
Ike they don't get that it is very easy for them to end up there? Homelessness , people screech no way I gotta work for my home , welfare, i gotta work for my scraps , and so on. So let's let t keep getting worse but you can ihnk it's gonna make your life better that people don't get the help they need cause themselves t don't deserve it it's gonna backfired in their faces cause there will,be more crime there will be more desperate people and good luck with that
1hr lunch break just turned into a 3.5hr lunch break i have no regrets tysm
I think the difference between us (the peons of society) and them (content creators with an audience and/or money) is that all some of us can do is spare our pocket change and go to protests. I don't have the audience or the money to make a big difference, but what I do have is information for protests and links for educational purposes. So that, at the very least, I can give information and I can show those in my life where I stand. If they don't want to have a conversation and learn about things that are harming others; if they don't feel empathy for those in pain, I know how to respond to that person. There aren't any blurred lines. It's small, but it's what I can do to help and protect the space around me.
However, a lot of content creators don't seem to understand the power that they wield. They have a massive platform to help others and if they spout of rhetoric about "silence is complicity," then I get to remember and remind them of it whenever they go back on their word. If you only think that for some causes and not others, clarify that. If you don't want to say something for fear of public outcry, clarify that. Just be honest with your audience if you don't know something. But to be offended and angry when a fan or follower asks your opinion about something after you've claimed "silence is complicity," is pure hypocrisy. And people don't respond well to hypocrisy.
yesss i came for that-which part/timestamp is her part, bestie? i can’t find it 🥺 unless she doesn’t directly address it 😔 all i see is 2:30:00 but it was about elyse. (oh it was 4 minutes after and literally 23 seconds 😭 she didn’t talk about it only mentioned it ahh)
Being a tattoo artist with a big following on instagram I can tell you this: I built my platform around tattooing not around activism, people like you are the activists. My job depends on my platform and I can see people loosing interest when I speak up and post stuff like defund the pigs or fundraisers for charity. I still do post cause I don’t care to loose some engagement but there is a limit to what I can do or say on there since that’s not why people look at my page, they just want to see the pretty tattoos. So from your point of view you might look at the amount of followers I have and think I have a lot of power and influence, well yes but in the tattoo world, not in the activist world. I think it’s silly to expect artists to be activists when that’s not what made them famous in the first place.
My opinion is that silence is not always complicit because silence is not consent. Some people do not speak up to preserve their own safety and jobs, not because they agree with what’s happening. But of course I’m not talking about huge celebrities that have the money and resources to take that financial hit, for them I agree with you, they should speak up and sacrifice their privilege because they can afford it. But I still think it’s silly to expect them to do so since that’s not why they got their platform in the first place. I think what we’re dealing with is a systemic issue about fame. The wrong people get platformed for the wrong reasons and now we are realizing this.
time for bizness
i love when she says “its bizzin time” and bizzes all over the video
I love being part of the bizantine empire
it feels like RUclipsrs like you and CJ the X and all the other wonderful video essayists out there are all making things to help me heal my relationship with the internet and whether that’s the intention or not I still have to say thank you for it
The works of CJ are just pieces of art
@@biosavat9475 CJs work is unparalleled they’re like Dostoyevsky levels of “but then also!” I would love to hear their thoughts on something like this
That warms my little heart ❤️ I feel like I’ve seen a real shift the last few months of people (especially leftists) saying “enough is enough can we have a discussion please” and it gives me so much hope! Thank you for taking part in this process ❤️
@@upinurbiz thank you for also forwarding the direction of this conversation. Leftist unity and healthy discussions with people are of few hopes to make all our lives better
I also believe we want influencers or celebrities to say genocide bad bc we dont want to give money to those who are indifferent or in support of genocide. Ppl have their fav celebrities bc they identify with them, they feel those people "get it", so sometimes on high impact issues people need reassurance that they're not being scammed by their fav.
Literally. I don’t want political commentary from an influencer or celebrity. But if they’re a genocide supporter, I want to know. I don’t want to give anything to powerful people so disconnected from their own humanity that they’d support this.
literally!
it’s like i would never support an open nazi or anyone who would deny the holocaust especially as it happened, tf? how is that hard to understand??
It’s a totally normal position for any ethically driven person. :/
But it is different to not speak on a subject than to actively support it. Sure sometimes silence can speak volumes or make you guilty by association when you're being faced with a situation you can actually make a difference in. But it depends on the situation. Someone choosing to not speak on a subject they're not physically apart of especially if they lack a lot of knowledge on the subject matter is not at all the same as someone publicly expressing I'm an avid supporter of [insert bad thing]. Not to mention, while it's unfortunate we will inevitably support people with values that don't 100% align with ours and probably won't know. There are all sorts of opinions people have that they choose not to share, maybe aren't even aware that they have, that some portion of their audience isn't going to agree with. Whether it's something super big like murder or something a little less consequential like views on nudity. People are so complex with our values and ideals changing as we get new information plus being affected by the information previously gathered throughout life that even if you managed to find someone that 100% agreed with you someone would most likely have a change in perception fairly quickly with the introduction of new information. I think it's actually more important to learn how to have discussions on things we disagree about than saying "You disagree with me and my values so you're automatically a bad person and I think you no longer have a space here" Don't get me wrong I understand the desire to want to support people that are doing things you don't agree with but like I said no one is going to have 100% of the same values and opinions you have. So deciding which ideals are most important for you and choosing not to partake in those actively doing something or saying something against your core values I think can be a great way of adding your influence to the world. But deciding that because someone doesn't speak on it means they are also supporting it feels shortsighted to me. I think she did a really good job of explaining all lot of the intricacies and complexities that comes with this problem and why it not as simple as "You need to speak out no matter what"
@@karaelders1546But how would a person differ from those two?
I think you're asking how would a person differentiate the two, but let me know if I'm wrong. If that is what you're asking I don't think we can really tell the difference between someone who's silent because they don't feel it's their place/they don't have enough information, etc. and someone who's silent because they support the opposition. That's why I feel like it's not what we should be focusing on. At the end of the day we shouldn't force other people into advocacy. We can only control ourselves and what we advocate for. However the way to differentiate between someone staying silent and someone actively supporting something you disagree with is by their actions and words. Like if we take the war in Palestine for example if they're funding weapons for the side you don't agree with (or funding any weapons if you disagree with war in general), saying things in support of the side you don't agree with, or discounting things you're pretty sure are fact etc. Those would all be examples of actively supporting something that goes against your values. And in that case that's when I would suggest unfollowing them, messaging them about what brought them to those beliefs, or in extreme circumstances boycotting (although personally I think boycotting people is both harmful and unhelpful; more useful for companies, programs, systems, laws, etc. Because boycotting people vs bullying is a fine line and anyone could end up on the other side of "we don't agree with you so you can't exist." Which I think is really dangerous) But if we do decide to engage with a creator we disagree with I think it's important we seek to understand vs shame. Not only is it dangerous to create a culture of shame/bullying, but when you think about times you've been receptive to new ideas, especially if they went against your previous belief, was it when you were being shamed or when someone came to you with sincerity and a desire to see where you were coming from?
It was a delight getting to interview for this, the final essay turned out really fantastic. Thank you so much for the opportunity!!!
very good points from you! I became a fan from this video!
@@skyemccready Thank you very very much, I'm so glad to hear it!
As someone who grew up in the heyday of "Our God is an Awesome God" being sung at Sunday school, camp, and every other church kids' occasion, complete with pseudo-ASL hand motions, I agree. It is totally a banger. My now-atheist self still wants to sing along with it.
So glad I'm not alone in getting this song stuck in my head once a year
Oof yeah.
I'm a non-Christian who joined some friends at church every once in a while when I was a kid, and I STILL remember Our God is an Awesome God! What an earworm.
As an agnostic, my favorite version of it is the parody Girlfriend Reviews did of it for Todd Howard during their E3 2021 or 2022 video, it’s always a delight when that version gets stuck in my brain 😂
Christian songs? Kind of a banger
currently in the middle of the ethics section (the video has been excellent thus far) and I just had to add this when you are talking about who is qualified to break ethical lines.
I'm from Western Australia and we were once a penal colony (i have an ancestor who was a one of the first off the boat) and kept the old convict built fremantle prison from back then in operation through the World Wars, and is kept today as a heritage site. When I went there with my Catholic School on an excursion in Year 3 we went to the chapel and were explicetly told they changed the Very on display 'Thou shalt not kill' to 'Thou shalt not murder' during the World Wars to distinguish murderers in prison from soldiers fighting for their country, and it's always stuck with me as such an interesting way to differentiate people killing people. Not sure if that's necciarily that relevent to the topic at hand but I find it really intersting
wow that’s really interesting
Oh hey, a Perth compatriot. From what I understand, it's even more interesting than that. The list in the Anglican Chapel was painted as 'thou shalt not do murder' right from the start. The Gaol and the British colonies practiced capital punishment, so they didn't paint 'thou shalt not kill'. I bet some bureaucrat thought they were so clever to think of that little work around. But it's not a completely unknown translation. I've definitely heard people use those words to excuse killings by the state (such as executions) and killing in wars, like you said
@oliSUNvia has an interesting video about that idea: how some people become something called 'homo sacer', and can be killed but not 'murdered' ruclips.net/video/DAAweBo_AWU/видео.htmlsi=H30eiTSlXnqSIq9g
13:13 I have, in fact, seen the succession video FOUR times. I got you mate.
Same here! Well, I watched it 4 times before watching the show, and then immediately watched it again, and will probably watch it again after this one, lol it’s just so good!
As a disabled person with a very small-footprint life, whose paranoia kept them off social media for long enough to see most of them wither away, I feel kind of polarized by the way Causes and Charities always push for more-more-more from their audience... I have no extra money to give, I have no physical ability to do volunteer work, I have no big online audience - I struggle to get out of the house for a walk every single day!
It makes me feel like I may as well turn away from paying attention to The Cause (whatever it is), since it only makes me feel worse because I keep hearing about how I can't "meaningfully" support it. I've got to save my spoons for my own health, after all. I'm the one who needs the volunteer work DONE FOR ME, but it's on ME to request grants and do paperwork and everything?? I can't volunteer for someone else in addition to that...
What makes me feel better is by reminding myself of the opposite of the Uncle Ben quote; "with little power comes little responsibility." With little power, I can do nothing BUT live a small-footprint life - I don't HAVE TO measure my performance by the standards of someone with much more power and ability. That helps me feel better, even if it causes no positive external change.
I think that it's bc we live with an altruistic mindset yet with an egocentric lifestyle and society ;
We are taught to help your neighbor but not if they're struggling in any way as they become a burden to you , building capital and being productive is such an integral part of capitalism that straying from the path will set you back just for not focusing on yourself .
But sometimes you can't afford to give pennies to the homeless guy and that's okay you don't have to break the bank or your body to bring change or uplift your community , but sharing a post or sending an email can help push people who have the drive to bring change .
@@Girlboss5002 I like that explanation, that our brains are altruistic - social animals that primates are and all that - but we've built a social world that tells us we should be selfish, so that's where the tension comes from - we WANT to do good, instinctively, but there are so many barriers up, we second-guess ourselves. That rings true for me, at least.
I really feel this. It's hard to be disabled, or poor, or disadvantaged in other ways, and feel like you aren't doing enough. Sometimes the only way anyone can contribute is by not adding to the awful in the world, and that includes staying alive, doing the paperwork, and being gentle with yourself. Your burn out or destruction helps no one. And you do have an impact on the world. You've definitely improved my day. I'm also disabled and struggling with this stuff, so what you wrote made me feel really seen and validated.
It sucks not to be able to march at a rally, or donate $$$, or write regularly to my representatives. Sometimes I have to repeat to myself, 'From each according to their ability, (to each according to their needs)', over and over. Or I think on the slogan, 'everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to do the dishes'. I love your Uncle Ben slogan, too
@@bdm483 Aww, thank you so much for saying so! It improved my day to hear from you, too! There's something really unique to being disabled (in America specifically, but probably other places too), where a huge part of just existing is paperwork and appointments and feeling guilty for being exhausted - so hearing from someone who's legit going thru it too, is really supportive. Thank you
if you cant help as much as you’ve already, i dont think those charities are asking of you to go beyond what you actually can give. organizations and charities are pressuring people to donate, to spread the word because the people they raise that money are not getting enough. your frustrations are valid, but i think we should think of this as a common goal, if you cant donate - completely okay, but maybe someone who can will. (again not trying to say ur feelings or ur situation arent valid, just trying to give my perspective)
2:25:55 i would argue that a 4th thing at play is online culture. Theres a game like thing that we all do where we check the comments of a video before watching it. Some do it to see if the video is worth watching, others do it to find out what the general consensus is so they can watch the video through that lens. That definitely shapes the way we interact with each other
Literally me right now!
...I feel called out
2:36:38 Oh ohh this was me!! & I saw people commenting on Kant and Lolita 👀 I was so confused 😂 I should have known better! Biz gonna Biz 👏👏👏
Oh, this is lunch, dinner AND a snack!
okay, I'm at part 6 and I finally have something interesting to share:
you talk about this idea we generally take interest in the person who created a piece of art that calls to us as an individual.
I think this is true, however I've noticed that i tend to avoid learning more about the artist who's work is the most important to me.
I don't know if the fear of being let down, or if it's that I don't want to taint the art by knowing too much about the person behind it.
it doesn't feel like that's the case rationally in my mind; it's just a weird passive avoidance that happens.
for example, I love Sufjan Stevens. I have been so moved by much of his work since I was a teenager.
The small details that I know about his life, little revelations that have been made public or that have been shared in Miss Lola's videos, are the only scraps of him i gave beyond what i interpret through his work.
I don't seek them out and my instinct when they come up is to turn away.
I don't think this is a totally unique experience, I think it might have something to do with my avoidant personality.
anyway, just sharing, I thought it was an interesting contradiction to that. not an antagonistic contradiction: an interesting.
counterpoint, i hope.
I do this too!
That piece of advice “Don’t meet your heros” comes to mind lol
The photojournalism section is so interesting. I was just recently thinking about this because I came across the Soft White Underbelly channel here, where a photographer/documentarian Mark Laita interviews and shoots people on Skid Row in LA and recently got a lot of pushback for interviewing a minor-aged "sex worker", clearly mentally unwell people, an inbred family living in extreme poverty in Apalachia, or otherwise people who are clearly not in a right state of mind, and his claim is that he's simply documenting and showing the reality of life for these people. It's a difficult ethical conversation and it's so bizarre to see him just wash his hands off anything and just say "hey I just take pictures".
It reminded me of the train problem. A photo journalist hears there is a runaway train, heading to the local station, and sets off to get a picture. He arrives early, and seeks out the best position to take his photograph, which is the signal box, up above. Once in the signal box, he realises the situation, train destined to kill 5 people, but all he has to do is switch the track to save the 5, but it will result in one death.
Since the PJ is only there to record events in the interests of the public, is he morally obligated to even consider the ethical decision presented?
As a German ex law student, the whole part about consequentialism and the questions of how responsible an artist is for the consequences of their work etc. esp. with the drunk driver comparison was very funny to listen to because on the one hand I understand the philosophical question being asked, on the other hand German criminal law provides a very elegant way of solving those questions which I had to learn in my first semester so I kind of sat there like This is easy actually
Rip consequentialists, you would have loved/hated the modification of the conditio-sine-qua-non equivalence theory through objective attribution and adequacy theory
ok that Taylor Swift but around the 39:10 mark threw me off. like, what do these fans even mean? regardless of the "quality" of Swift's music, her entire career IS a highly commercialized, highly marketed mass product from day one. This argument coming out now is baffling to me.
Most works of popular art released in our capitalist society are highly commercialized, highly marketed mass products! It's entirely possible to find commercial art meaningful, beautiful, etc. I promise it doesn't automatically make you (general) a pro-capitalist bootlicker lmao.
@@ElectroSocketBlues except Swift's entire career is a manufactured product with well-crafted idea of 'sincerity' from its very conception. sure, you can find meaning in her works, but to expect her to be anything but a product is ridiculous, and shows the total success of her crafting that image and the sheer naivety of her fans.
what you buy into is Swift the brand, not Swift the person, and the person won't do anything beyond what is within the confines of her brand, because that's just her business model.
BIZ! I was just talking to my friend about this issue, I don't know if I'm going to be able to process a 3-hour video right now but I'm really interested to hear your perspective on it.
not that anybody asked: I don't think we should bully people off the internet. specifically, not bully tiny little micro-influencers, nor non influencers. They aren't politicians, bully them.
jk but not jk.
that said-- free Palestine.
I AM an Art Historian, have a degree and everything, and am honestly impressed. Aside from a few slight, and understandable, mispronunciations of words you probably have never tried to say out loud before, you did really well communicating some complex ideas in a clear and correct way.
God I love you so much. You were the only thing keeping me going in the ER waiting room while I thought I was dying of a perforated gut lmao. Your channel is the best thing thats happened to me since CJ the X. Id love an unhinged podcast with you two and Contrapoints or Caelan Conrad.
And damn straight I watched your Succession video-it was incredible! As is this one.
What a great topic to dive into!
Your video essays are some of the most detailed, clearly well researched, impactful, and relatable on this platform. I haven't seen all of your videos but every time I walk away feeling like I'd just learned something valuable, which doesn't happen for me very often anymore. Thank you so much, genuinely.
waiting for your cat to appear and somehow make herself (?) comfortable in every chapter of the video
I ended up watching this while working on art, with my cat in my lap, and have determined this is the intended viewing experience.
every time someone who has (afaik) never mentioned kpop before/isn't a fan mentions kpop in a video essay it changes the trajectory of my life forever bc my GOD you have no idea 😭😭 both biz and cj the x mentioning bts' military enlistment lives in my head rent free
SAME
Wow the first hour of this gave me more info on art philosophy than art school did. Professors would literally just show us a piece and be like “who thinks this is art? 😏” and let us argue in circles for four years.
Just started and I gotta say, I applaud the use of Philosopher Math. 😂
logic is foundational to both philosophy and math, so the two fields are basically married!
@@madweenerdog8403 I mean, yes...but also I was making an oblique reference to Girl Math. 🤣
I will be rotating this video in my head for days. I feel like I already need to rewatch it.
You can't know that your work will be misrepresented, or misunderstood, but you can assume. I'm convinced this is why Socrates was opposed to recording his teachings.
Sometimes it is the misunderstanding that is well-represented.
15 min in but felt pulled to scream into the void that your EP comes out on my birthday. I had mono for my birthday last year so hopefully the EP overshadows that memory this year.
Your Succession video is what finally made me watch that show.
Although, you mentioning that video meant that from the 13:13 mark until...a month from now, I'll have "Biz gets to talk about Lord Byron" stuck in my head again.
So glad I’m not the only one
What an amazing video omg! Not to rag on other video essayists too much since video essays are my favorite genre of RUclips videos, but I feel like a lot of video essayists say the same 5 things and I don’t learn very many new things. Genuinely I learned so much in this video and I don’t think you wasted my time at all!
i absolutely love the contrast when talking about St George and the Dragon, with this lavish poetic description followed by "the lance, which is the pointy stick thing"
You and CJ the X are my two favorite wine loving video essayists
still watching but just wanted to thank you for setting up this fundraiser. wishing you a really good spring. (also, every video you make, i learn so much from. thank you for all of your work and creativity, and sharing it with us!)
Idk bruh, I think Ayn Rand is in fact responsible for everything bad thats ever happened since the beginning of time lmao
Is she the gatekeeper or the key master?
Impression Management is a really helpful framework, thank you for introducing it to me! In a totally mundane example - my roommates put dishes in the sink, and don't rinse them or hand-wash them or put them in the dishwasher. They do step 1, but not 2 or 3, and only after step 3 is change REALLY ACCOMPLISHED, so... It's not that Step 1 is USELESS, not at all, one can't DO step 2 or 3 without doing step 1 first!
It's just NOT ENOUGH. Necessary, but not sufficient.
There are video essays I just watch and think are nice, and then there are the video essays that really make me think for days after and feel like they have a fundamental impact on how I understand the world. The latter category is much rarer and is mostly made up of Contrapoints videos, but now also yours
2:11:49 on that note of Taylor swift there’s a good essay on how she deliberately cultivated a parasocial relationship with her audience that I don’t think is a stretch to call teetering on the edge of being a cult.
Watching this after your V.C Andrews video, and the ' no one likes an incest plotline ' hits abit different now dont it 😂❤
funny how emotions work... when you were talking about how when taking a picture of the Mona Lisa and posting it online, it further distances the art from the viewer, I sort of scoffed. But when you mentioned Guernica in part IV, I understood it completely. Because I have seen that painting in person and I agree that, there's no other way to see it. It was a school field trip and they told us the whole story of the Civil War (and that was the first and last time we were taught about Spain's dictatorship years without censorship in my whole catholic Spanish school journey, so make of that what you will)
I guess me being a short innocent child back then had something to do with how massive, ominous and "scary" the painting looked, and as the museum tour guide told us of the atrocities that happened, both in Guernica and all around Spain, I just kept looking at the different wailing faces, the fires, the bull (symbol of Spain) looking directly at the viewer, almost as if it were an apparition and not actually there (compared to the horse's expression, that's what I interpret the bull as)
That painting changed so many people's moral compass both when it was first revealed, and today, it brought awareness. That's exactly why the UN "had to" cover it (as opposed to being decent people), and now we have that story as well to document the atrocities of the "current bourgeoise" per say, all of that together to me, is art, not more or less important than art for the sake of art of course, but still art. It was with Goya that I learnt about the practice of artists being commissioned back in the day, by church and state, hiding little "fuck you"s in their work, and as an artist myself that's so rad.
I discovered you through the Snapewives video and I love the way you present your content! It's a really chill atmosphere and I always learn something new, keep up the good work :)
I love the art of the 38 hour review of whole tv series. Its scholarly art historical media needed to capture the effects of the media of the culture in ways writing about visual and oral media hasn't before and is amazing to be able to be here and experience.
Your video left me with a lot to think about, a lot of the times I find myself listening/watching video essays that leave me feeling like I just had someone think for myself, but you didn't get to that, you challenged the viewer to ask themselves about their actions and beliefs. It is an amazing video. Thank you for linking all the sources too.
Okay I've been thinking about the idea of "art for art's sake" some more and I guess I'm gonna write a whole thing about it, my apologies.
I think that knowing art has historically been Purposeful™ rather than just an instrument of self-expression makes me dislike the idea that art SHOULD have a purpose. It seems obvious to me that, prior to the last couple of centuries, all art that didn't have a Purpose™ was discouraged, ignored, and destroyed in favour of whatever the people in power actually cared about. Who knows how much amazing art we have lost because the Pope was more interested in another sexy version of St Sebastian? We only know of artists like Vincent Van Gogh because we finally started rebelling against the idea of Art with a Purpose™.
"Art for Art's Sake" is powerful because the only other choices available, for a long time, were "Art for the Sake of the Local Baron and/or Bishop", and "Art for the Sake of Educating People to the Greater Good." When every play is about teaching women that they should be the Angel of the House and men should be good and responsible pater familias and it really does suck to be poor, have you tried pulling yourself up by your bootstraps? It's actually revolutionary to say, "rip to you but I actually want to focus on making my play about two useless dandies whose name isn't Earnest (or is it?) good."
So when I hear that the CIA funded Abstract Expressionism (which is a controversial take, but whatever), I don't think of that as a Take That, I think of that as horrifying. There's these artists saying, "can you see me?" And then there's the state ignoring that and coopting it as a weapon. Who cares about these artists, who cares about their vision, what matters is the Purpose™.
And yes, of course, all those artists *were* saying something political. Swinburne explicitly wrote about Irish independence in his poems! Oscar Wilde was a vocal socialist! Of course they were political! But people weren't angry with them because they weren't political, they were angry with them because they weren't political *in the right way*. The problem with the Decadent movement was that they weren't writing stories about the angel of the house and good pater familias and how poor people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
I think that people get confused because when they hear an artist say some variation of the "I make art for art's sake" message, they assume that the artist doesn't care about whatever politics they care about (because, of course, the only politics that exists are our own; we're all the local barons demanding that the artist create a fresco of our family). What the artist is actually saying, however, is that they love the art rather than it's moral. It's the subtle difference between writing a gay story because you want to write a gay story vs writing a gay story because you think it's your duty to create more representation.
This top down camera is giving Saint Maude realness
The fact this video was recommended to me after looking at the ‘blockout’ hashtag on Twitter last night…
I’ve been seeing a few comments about that (and also operation olive branch) which are both such interesting movements and definitely a step in the right direction. Taking the focus away from “why won’t this celebrity speak on this” to “just block them” feels like a more effective way to clear the channels for direct tangible support options like olive branch which (as far as I can tell) seems to be very values-aligning where people are literally saying “here is how to help quickly and simply” instead of making it about themselves, i just hope that when these celebrities do backtrack (as they all will when their numbers go down) they don’t do more harm than good.
pardon the very long response lol - I hope you liked the video!
if you're ever struggling with 'X is hard to define,' remember:
*1)* words are made up and there is no ultimate arbiter, they are invented by humans to describe human concepts (miss merriam webster is not the final authority)
*2)* definitions don't prescribe meaning, they describe the context surrounding use cases of a word (miss merriam webster herself didn't invent the word 'selfie' but it's in her dictionary still)
*3)* many words have multiple definitions, and they are all susceptible to change (so using an """"""""""incomplete"""""""""" definition is still valid and not necessarily ambiguous)
At the end of the video, and it's excellent. This video has weirdly given me more thoughts about one of my favourite off broadway musicals, Octet by Dave Malloy (the show is about Eight people doing internet addicts anonymous and discusses a lot of the various ways the internet, social media, and video games are effecting us, it's pre-pandemic so a smidge dated but it's facinating in that time capsule way, and I think the emotional weight of the songs are hold up. Also it's an entierly A Capella).
Anyway, there's a line in the song Fugue State "when we say 'in real life' this is a lie to protect us, this is all real, this is all real life". and I kept thinking of that in the way you discuss the line between the Truth and the Construct that is social media and how they aren't nessisarily at odds with each other.
The 3 hour lecture is perfection its like a college lecture but the professor is entertaining
Hell yea, another essay to add to The Canonized Works™️
Cannot handle that this dropped while I'm at a convention v_v I am so excited to watch tomorrow morning ;v;
The way I came across this video was impeccable timing, having recently been involved with such "drama" that comes with fandoms. This really summed up all my thoughts on it, based on my own experiences and my thoughts of how other people involved handled the situation. Just makes me scared for slipping up even once lest it get taken out of context.
I found you through the algorithm recommending the manic pixie dream girl video. And I loved it so much I decided why not and hopped right into this 3 hour video essay and I’m glad I did! It didn’t feel like it was that long, everything you had to say was very interesting and I agree that these answers are not easy to just figure out. It’s not as black and white as math. But it’s helpful for me as a disabled person with very little reach to hear what you have to say about internet activism. I’ve felt such a burden to do the right thing all the time I feel like I’m constantly thinking through the ethics of everything I’m doing and it’s exhausting. So thank you for helping lighten that burden a bit. Also it’s great to see another queer ADHDer out there! I love the way you format your videos, it works very well for my own ADHD brain.
"... and cavities." too real 😩
thank you for another incredible video that has probably permanently altered my brain and worldview. i say this in every comment, i can't express how much i've learned and changed because of your essays. i'm learning more from you than from college. i'm a better writer and a better reader and hopefully a better person. i was inspired by your succession video (which i'm obsessed with) to learn more about faust and i'm even taking a class next semester on the history of faust in fiction, i'm so excited. sorry for always leaving such long comments, unfortunately this is how i am irl too lol. i hope this video absolutely blows up, you so deserve for your art to be seen and appreciated by more people, and more people deserve to feel and be changed by your art.
love this. I often wonder what my place is in the grand social scheme of things, and your videos are like a manifestation of my inner monologue. in a weird way, the "unreality" of watching a video like this helps bring me back down to reality. thank u for what u do biz 💚🙌
You are not the centre of the universe, the universe is the centre of you. You are the known extremities of the universe.
By far my favorite long video essay bc not only did you mention the green brother and are a nerd fighter but you also praised dodie. Also it was beautifully nuanced and informative 💛thank you!
I feel like you are VASTLY over weighing the CIA's ability to influence culture. Especially in a pre internet pre bot time period. Like people actually do like abstract art. "Abstract art" as a thing we do predates representational art. We splattered pigment on caves sometimes just because it looked cool. Society isn't made from one institution dictating what is cool. Culture is a collective understanding that has more organic threads than it does artificial.
i’ve never been so excited to sit through a 3 hour video
To remain ignorant is a choice if you have enough resources
Loved this video, was very interesting to watch after recently watching Dr. Fatima’s video ‘Astronomy has a colonialism problem’, which also talks a lot about Palestine, being online, empathy and action. Really appreciated the nuances of your thinking around these topics
Not donating here on RUclips but I went straight to the website and will be donating monthly. Thank you for being you
The intellectual gentrification of squid games makes me feel things that Netflix probably doesn't intend for me to feel 😅
I think there's a growing apetite for Art that reflects the public's values and hunger for change. Music and Art was once the playground of the rebel and the non-conformist. There's a niche not being catered for (enough) by mainstream media and demanding more is a natural reaction.
Great essay btw ❤
"ce n'est pas un arbre"
*captain america I get this reference meme*
Personally I don’t think “long form content” is growing online out of fear of being misunderstood or ostracized, but rather out of passion and respect for topics that deserve the time and effort, and can’t be done justice in 100 characters or 30 seconds. My time never feels wasted when I watch your videos (in fact this is my second viewing of this video, and I’ve been rewatching your others as well) because your dedication to your craft is palpable, and I catch things I didn’t the first time. Sometimes the quantity reflects the quality. It ties in with what you said about people wanting to take actions that align with their values, and you taking the time and energy making this video is that action, and me taking the time and energy to watch (and now reply to) it is also that action.
So you may feel that this interaction being “parasocial” is fake, but that’s taking credit away from both parties. You reaching out and others listening is a bridge being built. We don’t need to know each other personally to empathize with one another, nor maintain a “real” relationship with someone to acknowledge their existence has influenced us at any point in time in any way, however big or small. Is this an instance of building something real out of something made up? A clock is a real thing people follow, structuring their entire lives around it, constructed from the lie of time.
Anyway I really appreciate you talking about IT, and other things too :)
I love how thoughtful your content is and I appreciate how sincere you are in your efforts to be as informed or compassionate regardless of the topic you’re attempting to tackle.
That being said, I do have a few critiques, but they’re mostly me being nit picky lol
1. The word ‘censorship’ should be reserved for describing governmental/state interference because if we keep calling a given social media platforms moderation policy ‘censorship’ and nothing of consequence comes from it, we’ve inadvertently normalized being censored.
2. I completely agree with your position on ‘Token Activism’ however, I disagree with the concept of ‘taking up space’. There is no situation where I’d ever tell someone else to ‘pipe down’ or ‘know your place’ and I find these sentiments generally harmful, regardless if they’re only directed at cis, white, straight males or otherwise.
3. Free Palestine. Oct 7th was not an act of armed aggression, it was terrorism and in the same way that the acts of Hamas shouldn’t condemn all Palestinians to a genocide, the Israeli governments actions do not justify the violence inflicted on civilians.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this video and I hope you have Bugsy Malone a watch lol
2:44:30 on the note you’re saying about Taylor swift, her case is complicated. For about three years nazis loudly claimed her as an Aryan goddess and nazi icon on the internet to where NPR and others discussed and reported on it, and then claims she had no idea the entire time around when she went into her “I’m politically brave now” transition. She has endorsed democrats multiple times now has tried suing at least two smaller creators now, the private jet guy who revealed her excessive jet usage and a small blogger who called out her silence about white supremacist’s love of her (which reminder, she said later she didn’t know about) and almost got into a legal tussle with the goddamn ACLU. They talk about causes they want to and they can’t really claim “I’m just a celebrity” especially not taylor
Don't forget how she dated a racist who literally got off on watching torture p*rn of black women and did other bigoted things and literally did the nazi salute at a concert last year despite preaching how much she "cared" about marginalized people and their rights,and how she only brings up these issues when she can benefit from it also i'm pretty sure she called anyone who held her accountable for dating a racist "snakes & vipers" on one of her new songs so do with that as you will
she posted her cat on /b/ to be named, I wouldn't be surprised if her stances are purely career-first choices.
As an art history major, this is so fun ❤
Ahhhh! A great way to end spring break!!!! :)))))) gimme info, rants, philosophy, ponderings, and more I’m hungryyyyy 😋
As someone who didn’t know about the Elyse Meyers stuff until watching this video I am utterly baffled that this group of people successfully organized not to email/call their leaders, raise money, volunteer their time etc., but to cyberbully someone to make a statement
They’ve almost definitely done all of that though. It’s almost like all our politicians aren’t listening to us, aid is being blocked and aid workers are being made examples of. I wish Elyse the best, but silence on genocide is complicity no matter how you look at it.
@zkkitty2436 bullying creators over issues they have no control over is not how you get people to listen or join your cause. This whole silence = supporting genocide is not a pandora's box you want to open. Get a grip and boycott corporations, celebrities and politicians that do have the influence to change things. Money talks. But that requires putting your money where your mouth is so bullying creators is the second best thing for lazy people who just want to feel like they're making a difference. I'm curious to see what issues you are silent on that can be used to ruin your livelihood.
I wish I could 'like' this several times over. Immense respect to you for all the research, time, and emotion. You've made a beautiful thing about beautiful things that will inspire beautiful things 💝. I hope you're proud of yourself 😊
I do have a degree in fine art and drawing. Your overview on art and religion is spot on. " you are doing great sweety"
Continue to absolutely love your output
Beautiful and smart woman ❤
This is exactly the video essay I needed. All of the stuff you talked about has been on my mind lately in a big way. The issue of celebrities getting harassed over not speaking has been frustrating me, and sometimes it has felt like I’m the only person who feels like the cyber bullying is a little much. I’m also a HUGE advocate for the idea that works of fiction should not be equated with real world morality and should be allowed to deal with dark/controversial subject matter, so it was deeply refreshing to hear your deep dive into those topics as well. All in all another biz banger!!
"people would still be naming their kids Lolita"
People _are_ still naming their children Lolita. It's still a moderately popular name in Spanish-speaking communities, where it originated.
As for the Harry Potter video game; even aside from the association with JK Rowling, the game itself is rife with antisemitic and pro-cop propaganda. The lead developer is tied to the "alt.right" fascist movement (although he has since purged much of his more egregious work from the 'Net, after this came to light and resulted in his firing from his position, in an attempt to downplay his fascism and paint himself as a victim of "cancel culture").
1:48 Sorry to be a spoilsport but: Uncle Ben originally never said WGPCGR. That was an invention for the first S-M movie.
In Amazing Fantasy No.15 the original version of the phrase appears in a narrative caption in the comic's last panel and reads "And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with Great Power there must also come -- Great Responsibility!"
If anything it's the Stan Lee Principle.
Came for the social commentary stayed for the art history lesson
WE CLEANING THE DISHES TO THIS ONE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
@biz, you are amazing, and I love your deep and thoughtful commentary. I do need to push back on one statement you made at around the 3 hr mark. The attack by Hamas was not an "act of armed resistance." It was a terrorism. They brutally murdered innocent people - many of whom were some of the most committed to peace and a 2-state solution among the Israeli population.Two things are true: IDF is committing genocide against the Palestinians AND Hamas (specifically the military wing of the group) committed a brutal terrorist act against innocent Israeli civilians. I highly recommend watching Pod Save the World's breakdown on the situation. It's extremely sad, extremely complicated, and involves generations of genocidal maniacs pushing this conflict from both directions. Hamas are the underdogs in this fight, but that doesn't make them the good guys. Calling what they did "armed resistance" is giving cover to their horrific, genocidal behavior in the same way that Bibi Netanyahu and his goons call their warmongering anything other than genocide.
DFTBA
The kitty admiring its reflection at 43:50 🥲
Found this video almost a month after it was released and just devoured it. Absolutely incredible thoughtful and well argued
I think anything that moves you is art, and your videos are definitely art. Ike, I'm walking around right now.
Honestly that person at the end of the video was right.
That midnight mass video essay was a spiritual experience especially when I heard “Burn Down the Farm” like that shit slapped.
And this video essay is also really eye opening.
I fell off several times (mostly because I don’t sleep like a normal person) but even when I did I could still like hear it.
Like mf followed me into my dreams and idk if I was like just out of it or if that’s deadass what happened but it was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything
55:45 Guy Debord wrote Society of the Spectacle in the 60s, before Mark Fisher was born. It’s fine though because the book Fisher DID write (Capitalist Realism) is basically Society of the Spectacle for Dummies
incredibly interesting and insightful!!! I don't think you wasted my time. You gave me a lot of new perspectives and also made me feel less crazy about the tiktok pressure and bullying.
Watched this whole thing on 2x speed let’s GOOOO. This was such a refreshing perspective, thank you for putting into words what I wasn’t sure how to. You have a new subscriber!!!
ok, you've changed my point of view. Wait, let's back up a little: you gave me new point of view. Thanks for this
Thank you so much, Biz, for being one of the few creators to speak out about the ongoing Palestinian genocide. I understand the (potentially) career-ending ramifications in which this activism could result, and just know that you're on the right side of history
The video is phenomenal and will have me thinking about it for days. I do think abstract impressionists had a lot more to offer, though. Ethan is online’s video “You’re Wrong About Modern Art” was quite persuasive to me and helped me understand Pollock and Rothko in a new way.
Did I fall asleep last night watching this? Yes. Did I finish it this morning over a breakfast-turned brunch? Also yes.
I don't think my brain has processed enough yet to have a coherent opinion, but I'll just say that you very much Did Not waste my time.
Oh look, the best Easter present I could hope for!
Loved this video. Some stuff I’ve been thinking about lately but presented with context I didn’t already have!
i'm sorry i keep commenting the same thing with different words but youuuuu arrrre soooooooooo gooooooood at making these videos Oh. My. God. you are passionate and educated and a divine storyteller and on top of it all, tragically underrated. ilyyyyyy
Really appreciate the conclusion of this video. Let's keep perspective and work collectively to transform the injustice at the heart of our society. Get involved! Get organized! ✊
Biz and CJ the X are pioneers of the chaos academia movement.
Biz I have been a long time watcher of yours and not nearly as good of a commenter as I should be and this has been on my faves of 2024 playlist since I first watched it but I'm back to grab the link to send to someone and I just need to tell you what an opus this is. This video is truly fucking fantastic. I've watched it twice and I'm going to watch it again very soon.
2:28:14 - This is it, this is the answer - Why aren't they talking about it? It doesn't affect them, probably. There ya go, that's the answer. Not a very satisfying answer, but probably the most accurate in the most circumstances.
absolutely agree. It's easier to ignore it than to care about it when you don't have any skin directly in the game. Now in reality this g3n0c1de affects everyone, the weapons, the diplomatic cover, the precedent of it all, the environmental and human disaster of it all. This affects everyone, some are just lucky enough to not be k1lled by it yet.