There should be a baseline of actually doing effective stuff where it helps regular before allowing philantrope. which still, ok then you can that that, if you need
@@dreddskinnation3770I think it’s every individuals responsibility to put humanity first. No not full blown communism but social programs, free healthcare and better education . Vote for me
I love that you were able to be critical of the blockout2024 movement without being cynical or dismissive of the good intentions behind it. I saw too many users being overly harsh towards the trend--calling it useless, childish, etc... The truth imo is more complicated than that. At least how I see it, it seems like a step in the right direction. We've seen how support for progressive politics is very prevalent among Gen Z. Young people recognize that the world needs to change and be better.
yup and it's like i don't want us to cause division in the movement we should do whatever possible but at the same time not hyperfocus on stuff like the block out. like its good but its not the main motive
I support it happening because it's doing a great job of increasing visibility of the pro-Palestine movement and class consciousness. But for anyone interested in how to effect substantive social change, I recommend going to Popular Resistance's website and taking their free 8-part "school" as well as reading all their historical case studies. Also, Chris Hedges' final interview on The Chris Hedges Report before The Real News Network canceled his show (for being too leftist) covers why all of the revolutionary movements of the 2010s failed. It's well worth watching.
"The reality is that the blockout trend is exactly that: a trend. It's not praxis, it's not direct action, and it's definitely not a revolution." damn fkn right.
@@JulianSteve "helps", but that isn't creating change. We already see that now, 8 months of sharing and donating has not stopped the genocide. Time for us to do more than that. It was time yesterday
@@e-tone312 That’s true too. However, it would take time as movements take time. Thats why people are donating and spreading the word. Not everyone is able to do more.
as someone who knows a lot about marie antoinette, xiran got a lot about her right. literally. i'm sick of marie being romanticised. it is true she was taken down by xenophobia and misogyny, but there's also a lot wrong with the system she endorsed throughout her whole life.
I mean, ultimately, who cares? Its like getting mad about people romanticizing Thomas More today. I agree and will clap for any one who adds the necessary nuance; I may even do it myself if I have the energy to being it to a discussion; but Marie Antoinette isn’t a living force in culture today, even in France, and the romanticization of her in mostly English-speaking media isn’t all that different from Regency era cosplay.
She's an example of how a victim can become an enabler of a harmful system. She was too naive to realize the harm that came from her ignorance for the poor.
@@loadishstone I think getting history right matters. Too many people twist it to fit their own beliefs, and it's important to know what actually happened so that people don't continue to misunderstand the past. Marie isn't alive anymore, but she represented something that's still happening to this day and her impact on society is worth discussing.
Finally, somebody, I agree with about the movement. It's like I don't think we should hyperfocus on Blockout just block and continue acting in actual change and at the same time we shouldn't dismiss the movement. yk
Exactly, I haven't seen this specific opinion yet and it's where I'm at. Blocking celebrities is a probably a good thing anyways but waiting for celebrities to speak out and counting on them isn't useful and isn't the point of the movement. It's still about Palestine.
@@Molly-iw1rc I support it happening because it's doing a great job of increasing visibility of the pro-Palestine movement and class consciousness. But for anyone interested in how to effect substantive social change, I recommend going to Popular Resistance's website and taking their free 8-part "school" as well as reading all their historical case studies. Also, Chris Hedges' final interview on The Chris Hedges Report before The Real News Network canceled his show (for being too leftist) covers why all of the revolutionary movements of the 2010s failed. It's well worth watching.
In France, we had a celebrity who used to spoke a lot about politics, and to speak about it : Adèle Haenel. She is now no longer an actress as she has quit her job to properly be an activist
Celebrity culture and people who heavily participate in keeping up with it, has always really confused me. Like, you've never met this person, you don't really know them. And no amount of content you can consume about them will give yiu same experience as knowing them personally Also i really do wonder if anyone at the met gala actually read the story the theam was based on
because they never get told the reality of it and they're sadly niave of it. but i think the opposite, celebrity culture has been forced onto humanity by manipulation of the media, just like how it's similar to what is pushed onto tiktok and insta with all these toxic standards, to keep us down for profit.
I definitely feel like the hyperfocus on celebrities is extending to this "blockout". If a bunch of famous people speak up, that's nice, but even with the whole entertainment industry against the genocide of Palestinians, they're ultimately just famous, their power level is not that high. Activism needs to be aimed at stopping funding for the Israeli state that's perpetuating this, regardless of whether Lizzo tweets about it (Lizzo is not a Senator)
Saying all that, I do think that it's probably good on its own to block celebrities and influencers on social media. Not because it'll affect the lives of Palestinians (I don't think it will), but because we should divest from celebrity culture
You’d be surprised the level of influence celebrities can have. There have been celebrities who have been at the fore front of changes of policies. Paris Hilton is currently doing that with the troubled teen industry, taylor swift had a deep fake made of her and now they’re discussing policies against AI/deep fakes, lots of celebrities urged Americans to register to vote. During Covid we had Dolly Parton fund a whole vaccine. Celebrities may not be politicians but they have something us non-celebrities don’t have - access to people in higher places and access to money. politicians and policies are usually backed by people with money. You never know what they could be funding behind the scenes. Imagine if celebrities used their influence (while they still have it) to raise awareness, to fundraise, to mobilize, to make noise and actually influence.
@@justthecoolestdudeyo9446I mean, it was Palestinians themselves, both in and out of Palestine, who called for this blockout. Bisan is a major example, but I also have watched Palestinians within fandom and cultural spaces make the same call, build their own lists. So, if there are Palestinians who think it will help to push for a movement like this-that's enough for me, personally, to believe that it will.
@@justthecoolestdudeyo9446thisss people need to stop looking at them anyways it’s quite naive but the geopolitics are what everyone should be paying attention to and history for context why things are the way they are
This social discussion goes deeper than « why don’t celebrities use their attention to do more than show off objects, riches, social connections, and luxurious experiences » it is a mental/ philosophical movement of people collectively questioning the qualifiers of a heightened position on the social hierarchy: and coming to the conclusion that the cultural and social capital of opulent and superficial signifiers are a-moral and antagonistic to the society that individuals wish to live in. It’s fascinating and great!
It’s baby steps which is good. I can only hope we don’t have to risk our lives to secure our rights but I hope gen z realizes that sooner and prepare to whatever is to come when we want to make the world a better place
As a kpop stan (sort of lol), it is EXTREMELY important to understand the line between "fan of artist" and "consumer of artist" as well as that even kpop artists are used as political tokens and are there to advertise. I understand specifically with kpop idol culture that many kpop artists are also very parasocially attached to their fans and and quite a few seem to do large donations and in person volunteering and things like that, which create this wholesome vibe for many fans. But Stray Kids was at the Met Gala too (experiencing xenophobia unsurprisingly) and these artists also fall into wanting to appeal to the west which would ultimately mean being used by corporations and being used sometimes politically. Kpop fans seem to want kpop idols and the culture and industry to be this wholesome down to earth thing (while also wanting groups to expand and sell to as many people as possible...), when it will always still be rooted in making money for a small group of people and creating more consumers, no matter how wholesome the group is or how small they started. Kpop is literally children raised in a training system trained to appeal to consumers and advertise and perform, and then being put in a (hopefully lol) well crafted, thought out group with a sellable concept and aesthetic that is then used to sell music, clothes, and all kinds of products and eventually if they get popular enough they can sell luxury. Similar but very different from Western artists loll The entertainment industry in the west is also so complicated sometimes. It's hard to know who is actually rich vs whose company gave them money to look rich. It's rare to know the intentions of someone's art and see into the lives of rich people (in reality). Because of that, involving that demographic or rather centering it in your politics (which is not what the movement intended) is difficult and practically impossible unless you are also rich which is the whole issue lol But I also HATE seeing people act like the movement is just centering celebrities and nothing else. It's still about Palestine. It's still about politicians. It's probably more about decentering celebrities than anything else, but because we center celebrities anyways it's easy to fall into that thinking. And fandoms got involved and Zionists got involved and everyone just said "movement sucked I guess" when I don't think it did and I don't think the expectation was that everyone quietly did the movement and no issues arose and every celebrity now supports Palestine lol that wasn't the expectation. Going back to kpop, it was refreshing to see people block kpop idols during this time because, like I said, people often sugarcoat the kpop industry and over romanticize idols. And even when people posted that they were blocking some idols, fans were calling them bullies and saying their faves don't deserve to be punished and stuff like that which just proves the unhealthy attached fans have to artists they like specifically in kpop and why maybe it's needed to not center them in your life. I wrote a messy essay just now.
I comment something like that in a wonyoung video then someone got offended, idols are a product for the public, very carefully made so the consumers dont feel like they are, and will never stop because well, agencies are just a response of what people like
sometimes i feel like an insane person for wanting to use social media to keep up with what my friends are doing, i have been blocking celebrities and brands for years. nice to know i am finally trendy...??? 🤣 honestly people who expect celebrities to do much politically are doomed to be disappointed - like all other humans, many celebrities are cowards, and what they care about is their career. and if activism will damage their careers, then it won't happen. we should push them, of course, but also not expect much
At this point some folks should be blocking them for their own sake bc people tend to idealize people way too much and then can’t imagine why they are not still happy lol
It's a healthy thing to do in general. I don't have friends, so I don't have any reason to use social media. I ended up deleting it for the sake of my mental health, but I def think it's okay to use if you're able to block the content you don't want to see. I think it's nice that people are finally realizing we shouldn't contribute to the amount of power that influencers and celebrities hold over us, and that they don't deserve the amount of wealth they have compared to what they do for society.
Lizzo saying that celebrities can't do much in the realm of politics is not only wrong, but a gross lie. Influence and the ability to push a message, whatever that message might be, is a power that celebrities have and it's A LOT easier for them than for the regular folk. Historically speaking, celebrities and the media people consume have been used as a propaganda tool, so lizzo making those stamens is beyond infuriating when her intent is pretty transparent: "Hey y'all, I don't wanna be involved in anything that could be considered outside of the status quou since that would hurt my bottom line, please buy my , thanks".
I totally agree with you that it shouldn't be the main focus or the only "activism" we think of. But at this point it's really all some of us can do. I live in Egypt. Last week a student in Mansoura med school was dragged out of the lecture hall and interrogated for 5+ hours. He was then arrested from his home and is currrently in jail. Why? Because he and his freinds (they were arrested as well) made an instagram account called students for palestine in arabic and talk about gaza. He is held captive under the claim of "joining terrorist groups". It's really devastating that this the state of Egypt. Considering our location we could really be the biggest help to gaza, but that's not happening because we're ruled by a fucking moron of a zionist dictator. I'm sorry I ranted, but this has been really boiling my blood. What I'm trying to say is boycotting brands and celebrities is the least we could do, the only thing if that. Here they dont just arrest and beat. I'm pretty sure if we decided to protest in the streets they would open fire on all of us just like they did in 2011. I know I sound pessimistic and negative. But if change is coming to this country it's not gonna be soon enough to help gaza. So although i agree with you totally. I'm just trying to point out that real activism might not be applicable to all of us, sadly.
Yeah I actually agree, I can't physically go out and protest, social media is the most I can do because I can't afford transport to go to these protests
I still dont see how this actions help gaza. Im trying to be realistic here, and in reality nobody cares ,specially in the West is just for likes and people see it as the new trend, sad but true. What im trying to say is that it doesnt matter how much you tweet , cancel celebrities,whatever that wont change anything, people with power just see us as mere ants and they dont really care about what we say, sure some news can cover it , there can be a lot of videos but after that they will put other news, and people wont care as they should, they will just feel sad for a moment , make a tweet and then just forget
This is sad to hear and I thank you for letting us know about this. I think this is why it's important to donate to NGOs that actually have the resources required to help those in need. That is the most that we can do, other than spread awareness to those close to us and online (if it's safe to do so).
One small but maybe important thing we could do to be more honest about the gap between the reality of complacency and the fantasy of praxis in this discourse is we could retire the word "influencer". It does kind of imply the ability to create social change where nonesuch ability exists and can lead people to thinking so-called influencers could, say, influence government policy. Everyone that we call and influencer is just and advertiser, as you basically say at the end of the video. Referring to them as advertisers may help people not to put them on a pedestal and perhaps take them a little less seriously and be wearier of how much their brands and content exist to sell us shit we don't need for the accumulation of capital.
Another thing to remember is that the more we argue within each other especially when you are working class or lower. The more actual people in power have the chances to manipulate us.
It’s not revolutionary but it’s probably a net positive to clean up our feeds lol. I think we’ve all been force fed enough celebrity content for one lifetime.
i stopped, and still doing so, idolizing people long time ago. in celebrities’ case, i’ve seen them - not ‘them’ - off-camera. in idols’ case, i’ve known their industry and saw them - again, not ‘them’ - off-camera. thanks to them being one of a major factor, now i saw all humans equally. i don’t give a shit about people’s status; when i take photos of people, all of them get the same treatment
thank you. and me too, I've stopped idolizing rich people in general for a long time now. I realized how wrong my parasocial obsession was and learned to deattach myself from the idols I used to love. they aren't the people I thought they were, they're just products sold by a company and their job is to profit off of our enjoyment of them.
One of the people who gained Poland her independence was a celebrity: pianists Ignacy Jan Paderewski, liked dearly by Woodrow Wilson. Due to his influence Wilson included re-creation of independent Poland in his 14 points. And for a bit of herstory: Paderewski was at one point heavily sponsored by a Polish actress, also a big celebrity: Helena Modrzejewska. Without her he might have never finished his musical education, so it's nice to remember her.
Outspoken people (not the type who have brain rot) will always face difficulties and I’ve softened my stance on every celebrity speaking out about everything. However, if you’re a voting and tax paying citizen, you will have to speak up one day.
the whole “i’m not informed enough to make any statements” thing is so stupid. like…….then get informed? you can’t use ignorance as an excuse when you’re choosing ignorance
I honestly never realized the “movement” was intended to initiate some sort of change in celebrities, I figured if they’ve been silent this long they’re too far gone. I thought the point was more so to show that we no longer have to reward them for doing nothing with our attention. It doesn’t cost me anything to press the block button and seeing their tone deaf posts was honestly becoming frustrating anyways 🤷🏽
I heard a RUclipsr saying celebrities are the shiny things between public and the authorities/government. I agree with that. We call those shiny things stars and worship them. I don't think we have to do that. Just like everyone else they are doing a job. I don't think there is any point in blindly worshipping someone. Thank you so much Elliot. ✨(Esp. for that point of celebrities selling dreams).
Loved this, thank you for this discussion. It's so important to remember that social movements like the blockout are symptoms of changing attitudes, not the driving forces behind them. If we put the cart before the horse on this kind of thing, we risk falling right back into compliance and stagnation.
The only celebrities who aided in protest that I can think of recently is Bad Bunny and Residente in Puerto Rico. Maybe I’m not as tuned into everything. But that is what comes to my mind.
I have been an activist in global human rights issues (predominantly focused on the Global South and Western Asia) for over 20 years now, working with vulnerable populations for roughly 15 years, and working specifically in anti-violence and anti-oppression work for almost 5 years. Social media up until this point has actually been an incredibly useful tool for advocacy and activism. Yet, I more than agree with everything you have said in regards to the flaws in the celebrity blockout trend. Especially because boycotts have long been an effective tool in politic movements to create change. The tricky part is the main exports of that particular area are diamonds, weapons, and tech. The every day person isn’t purchasing diamonds regularly but celebrities are. Weapons are obviously for governments and militarized groups, and tech is hard to avoid. However many celebrities are invested in tech. In an organized and strategic celebrity boycott we would be pressuring celebrities to change their consumerism and endorsement of diamonds sold in the area of conflict and to divest from tech as well. But all we are doing is pressuring them to “talk” about Palestine…then what? What’s the goal? And what’s the point? Not to mention even influencers that talk about are being blocked by some because they are not “talking about it enough,” and many of them being NAWA, MENA, and/or Muslim creators who are going through additional feelings of grief as 2 out of 3 of these human rights conflicts are in Muslim countries. A lot of us are trying to reconcile our Eastern roots with our Western identities and it’s deeply impacting our self concept. This rhetoric implies that we must constantly be participating in the discourse that surrounds our oppression and never embrace and express joy in the rare moments we find it. Even though our joy is equally an act of defiance to the systems that seek to oppress us. I don’t mind the cultural shift of de-centering celebrities. I’m Afrasian- Austronesian/Southeastern Asian and Black Southwestern Asian/Arab. I share ancestry with all three areas of conflict. I wake up to watching my people be g*noc*ded with no other representation in mainstream media. I’m watching my own human extinction with no acknowledgement from mainstream media I ever existed in the first place. For my mental health I decided to no longer consume Western media content. But that’s strategic decision for my consumerism and I never followed celebrity culture too closely anyway. I will say this- “back in my day” we did have websites that helped structure and organize online movements. Templates, strategic plans, branded eye catching graphics, uniformed literature, etc. We had elevator speeches, structured talking points, etc. This may seem like frivolous and aesthetics but it’s actually important to be this leveled of organized. With the death of websites, blogs, and platforms like MySpace where you could not only display an online infographic on your profile for example but link it to a human rights advocacy center’s website focused on that specific cause for more information on how to be involved. Utilizing an app like TikTok, that’s riddled with misinformation on just about everything in a lot ways, gets tricky because you are often taking it on face value. Social media promotes material that has a high likelihood of engagement- not necessarily media that is informed, researched, or credible. I think the movement lacks a sense of global awareness that reflects the problem with Western celebrity culture it thinks it’s dismantling- Western celebrities are not as powerful or even as influential as you think. T-Swifty was never the most powerful woman in the world, she had a documentary where we watched he cry because she couldn’t publicly denounce Trump. She did a “world tour” only in the global West. And no one in rural Africa or Asia for example has heard of her. “WE” the global West center our celebrities and prioritize them over global issues. That’s not necessarily the celebrities fault. The boycott was fairly irrelevant to me as I don’t follow Western celebrities anyway. The “movement”/trend still centers and over prioritizes celebrities in a global conflict, rather than centers the communities it’s supposedly advocating for. ALL of the blockout celebrities still have more followers than Breaking Points, Al Jazeer, The Young Turks, Hasan Piker, The Majority Report, and other news outlets/media groups that have been reporting on Palestine for 10 to 20+ years. A better use of time maybe pushing these resources to the algorithm, I don’t know. It’s hard but I believe social capital can be leveraged to create change…just not how we are doing it.
I really appreciate your insight. I’m a young disabled SWANA person trying to organize in a way that’s sustainable and accessible for me. I’d love to learn from you/get any reading suggestions but idk how to do that on here without revealing sensitive info ://
@@zkkitty2436 It’s hard because a lot of the organizing we were doing then was through problematic groups like Invisible Children (who were funding by the Uganda government and Christian Evangelical groups who were also funding anti-LGBTQIA+ efforts), iAbolish (who are now funded by black Zionist) so I can’t ethically refer you to them even for reference, and otherwise a lot of the resources we used then are not available. Most of what I know now I’ve learned on the job of community organizing, advocacy, etc. BUT websites like Community Toolbox, Community Centric Fundraising, Galaxy Digital, and anything geared towards Grassroots organization is going to be helpful. Anything in regards to “anti-oppression and anti-violence” work will help to build a framework. IF you have access to people with backgrounds in project management or development utilize them. And especially if you have access to people with backgrounds in communication utilize them. You mostly need consistent messaging. So if you haven’t already do the following first: 1. Write out a mission statement. What is your specific internet? Be concise, should be in plain language, and action based. E.g. To stop human genocide. 2. Then write out your vision. Again, keep it simple. E.g. That we live in a world without genocide. 3. Develop your Pathos: your appeal to emotion. Ethos: establish your credibility. Logos: your appeal to reason and ethics. People get too dependent on appeals to emotion and are dismissed as suffering from a bleeding heart OR emotionally manipulative. Others get too focused on appeals to authority and begin to center themselves instead of the vulnerable community. And then finally people will get too caught up in the principal of the matter and may accidentally distance their intended audience from the issue. You have to balance the three. Pathos, Ethos, Logos are the basis of all communication in politics, advertising, public relations, governance, etc. 4. Have a 30 second “elevator speech” on your goals. A former boss of mine told me once if I couldn’t explain what the organization did and my job in 30 seconds then I needed to tell my direct supervisor I didn’t know what my job is. It’s a hidden rule- if you can’t explain it in 30 seconds you don’t understand enough to engage in a longer conversation about it. It’s not about giving context in 30 seconds, it’s about establishing connection in the first 30 to invite a longer conversation about it. 5. Then utilize an online outreach and/or communication plan template to structure everything. Typically it will outline verbal, then written, then correspondence, and finally media/press statements. 6. Always have 2 to 3 number based statistics to share with people. People are more likely to remember a fact if there’s a number in it. 7. WORD CLOUDS/BANKS!!! Make sure everyone is using the same language. Are you a movement? Project? Resistance? Decide, I can’t emphasize enough being decisive at all times, then only refer to yourselves or methods as that. Often people will get stuck in the semantics and use certain terms interchangeably but it does muck up the messaging and make it harder for people to remember. 8. Utilize plain language. Axios has a great book called, “Smart Brevity.” And plain language is accessible, academic language is tacky. Again- you should be able to explain what you are doing as simply as possible, otherwise you’re perceived as not understanding it enough to be communicating about it. You are not trying to intellectually lord over someone, just create connection. 9. Use ACTIVE language. In my career I’ve gone into edit so many “action” plans that were written ENTIRELY in passive voice. Often in these types of causes what’s communicated is concepts not actionable goals. People lose interest when you are telling them WHY they should help but not HOW they can help. Also- if you don’t have a consistent plan/course of action people will lose interest. 10. VISUALS! Typically in communications we say if it can be explained in photo, use the photo because it can say a thousand words that verbal communication may never be able to convey. And people prefer data visualization. People get exhausted with text. For inclusivity we typically say no more that 300 words at an 8th grade level of communication, and experts are now saying take it to a 5th grade BUT, if you have information that can be communicated through visualized graphs, do so. Then for accessibility and messaging PLEASE use a uniformed color scheme. Not only is it great for branding and color theory is real (and cool, it’s cool we can communicate abstract concepts with color) it’s inclusive. Sensory sensitive people can access it easy AND people will remember your message clearer when you identify it with specific colors. That’s why advertisers use color. Because it’s actually super important to conveying ideas. Idk as for books I’m not sure. I’m reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but the Revolution Will Not Be Funded, This Is How We Get Free, are all great but more the why than the how. But hopefully this was helpful.
@@zkkitty2436 It’s hard because a lot of the organizing we were doing then were through problematic groups like Invisible Children (who were funding by the Uganda government and Christian Evangelical groups who were also funding anti-LGBTQIA+ efforts), iAbolish (who are now funded by black Zionist), and otherwise a lot of the resources we used then are not available. Most of what I know now I’ve learned on the job of community organizing, advocacy, etc. BUT websites like Community Toolbox, Community Centric Fundraising, Galaxy Digital, and anything geared towards Grassroots organization is going to be helpful. Anything in regards to “anti-oppression and anti-violence” work will help to build a framework. IF you have access to people with backgrounds in project management or development utilize them. And especially if you have access to people with backgrounds in communication utilize them. You mostly need consistent messaging. So if you haven’t already do the following first: 1. Write out a mission statement. What is your specific internet? Be concise, should be in plain language, and action based. E.g. To stop human g*noc*de. 2. Then write out your vision. Again, keep it simple. E.g. That we live in a world without g*noc*de. 3. Develop your Pathos: your appeal to emotion. Ethos: establish your credibility. Logos: your appeal to reason and ethics. People get too dependent on appeals to emotion and are dismissed as suffering from a bleeding heart OR emotionally manipulative. Others get too focused on appeals to authority and begin to center themselves instead of the vulnerable community. And then finally people will get too caught up in the principal of the matter and may accidentally distance their intended audience from the issue. You have to balance the three. Pathos, Ethos, Logos are the basis of all communication in politics, advertising, public relations, governance, etc. 4. Have a 30 second “elevator speech” on your goals. A former boss of mine told me once if I couldn’t explain what the organization did and my job in 30 seconds then I needed to tell my direct supervisor I didn’t know what my job is. It’s a hidden rule- if you can’t explain it in 30 seconds you don’t understand enough to engage in a longer conversation about it. It’s not about giving context in 30 seconds, it’s about establishing connection in the first 30 to invite a longer conversation about it. 5. Then utilize an online outreach and/or communication plan template to structure everything. Typically it will outline verbal, then written, then correspondence, and finally media/press statements. 6. Always have 2 to 3 number based statistics to share with people. People are more likely to remember a fact if there’s a number in it. 7. WORD CLOUDS/BANKS!!! Make sure everyone is using the same language. Are you a movement? Project? Resistance? Decide, I can’t emphasize enough being decisive at all times, then only refer to yourselves or methods as that. Often people will get stuck in the semantics and use certain terms interchangeably but it does muck up the messaging and make it harder for people to remember. 8. Utilize plain language. Axios has a great book called, “Smart Brevity.” And plain language is accessible, academic language is tacky. Again- you should be able to explain what you are doing as simply as possible, otherwise you’re perceived as not understanding it enough to be communicating about it. You are not trying to intellectually lord over someone, just create connection. 9. Use ACTIVE language. In my career I’ve gone into edit so many “action” plans that were written ENTIRELY in passive voice. Often in these types of causes what’s communicated is concepts not actionable goals. People lose interest when you are telling them WHY they should help but not HOW they can help. Also- if you don’t have a consistent plan/course of action people will lose interest. 10. VISUALS! Typically in communications we say if it can be explained in photo, use the photo because it can say a thousand words that verbal communication may never be able to convey. And people prefer data visualization. People get exhausted with text. For inclusivity we typically say no more that 300 words at an 8th grade level of communication, and experts are now saying take it to a 5th grade BUT, if you have information that can be communicated through visualized graphs, do so. Then for accessibility and messaging PLEASE use a uniformed color scheme. Not only is it great for branding and color theory is real (and cool, it’s cool we can communicate abstract concepts with color) it’s inclusive. Sensory sensitive people can access it easy AND people will remember your message clearer when you identify it with specific colors. That’s why advertisers use color. Because it’s actually super important to conveying ideas. Idk as for books I’m not sure. I’m reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but the Revolution Will Not Be Funded, This Is How We Get Free, are all great but more the why than the how. But hopefully this was helpful.
Hi Elliot! This was a very well crafted video and you articulated some of my own thoughts extremely well. Something i had not considered before was the distinction between encouraging the dreams, hopes, and wishes for a better future, and activism, which disrupts the political institutions that stand in the way of those nebulous ideals. Both are important in a successful movement, I think. I really appreciate that you highlighted this difference so clearly, because that's something I've been struggling with in my own way. I wonder if you have any thoughts on what 'activism' is and what it is perceived to be and what effective collective action looks like? In my own opinion, I think that social media would be a good staging ground for... dreaming, I suppose. Sharing wishes of what a better, freer future might look like. I think it can also serve as an excellent ground to stage direct action. What does effective social media activism look like? Especially in a context where our attention and participation in the online world is so heavily solicited and captured and monetized.
These are great questions and I hope we all collectively come with real solutions bc in the past they had to use pitchforks and secret meetings for coups but we have technology in our hands! If govt decide to use drones to fight wars we need to use technology to also do something for activism
Ohh i am early to an elliot video!! Love from brazil❤❤ thank you for your content, if you could please talk about the politics of climate change in capitalism!South of Brazil is going through their worst natural disaster at this exact moment😢 they need all the exposure they can get( i am not from the south!)
As someone living in an other country with an entire different view and set of expectations on celebrities, the idea that American celebrities are supposed to be extremely aware of global conflicts with an academic's understanding of world histories, and have open opinions on politics and act on them is just BIZARRE. Entertainers are entertainers. That's it. They don't promise to be anything else, and if you're supporting them for promises they haven't made, I feel like that's not on the celebrities. If you think they have too much money, give them less money; stop giving them your media attention and ticket sales (which is what happens here, when a celebrity brags about something they have that most people don't, they are met with criticism and end up taking a hit on their next sales). Those that do claim to be political gurus are trying to screw you. That's how you get Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and Trump.
If I, a normal person, can easily understand that killing men, women and children in the thousands is more than wrong and should be stopped, why shouldn't they be able to understand? Or are celebrities actually so incredibly stupid - if yes, one more reason to not listen to ANYTHING coming out of their mouths.
I'm not too pessimistic about blockout mostly because of what it represents: People who are not used to think politically at all (The dream of all centrists) are actually imho, alienated enough from society, that they're overcoming somethings rather strong parasocial bonds even if just temporarily. We can lament about how meaningless it might seem or we can feel encouraged that it means more and more people are more likely to be actually radicalized since another long standing institution of propaganda like celebrity culture it's showing cracks now. ...And then again it's probably too little too late but hey, as an exercise I'm at least trying to voice out non-doomer thoughts more often as I'm told it might motivate and inspire other more than my usual 'We dead anyway, but go break shit and do crimes' approach.
Omg yes thank u for putting my thoughts into coherent words that make sense!! I’ve seen so many tiktok’s of peoples (essentially) grieving process as they “break up” with celebrities and/or celebrity culture. And tbh it’s given my recovering doomer brain something to hold onto to. Yes, it might just be a silly trend. But, if that silly trend is the radicalization point for, idk, 1, 10, 100, 1000 people, that means something.
I appreciate your take on Blockout2024, Elliot. While it’s a starting point, I do not think it’s effective. Celebrities and influencers are going to find another alternative to get to us consumers. There are ways to “block” things, but your algorithm still caters to celebrities and influencers. You would have to do a 180 with your social media platforms😅💯
Yep. I’d also add on that it feels like it easily falls into leftist purity culture. Like there’s so many that say stuff like “well blocking celebrities is the least you could do” and shit like that. It seems like just another way for leftists to get at each others throats without actually creating any real, substantial change. Also I find it very amusing how they expect us to just drop everything and dedicate our entire lives to whatever cause is trending at the moment. They act as if any enjoyment of life outside of political Twitter discourse makes you a bourgeois pig, when in reality under a capitalist system, rest and escapism are necessary components of resistance.
This is just my personal experience, but I use social media to engage with art and organizers exclusively. I haven’t gotten a ton of influencer shit in my feed for a long time, and while algorithms will shift to push celebs if everyone starts to engage differently, I do feel like social media can be an effective tool for organizing. As a disabled person, online organizing is often the kind most accessible to me given how ableist organizing spaces can be. Anyway I agree with you that this is a starting point, but I’m slightly more hopeful about its outcome. I don’t expect it to be hugely effective in isolation but it’s part of a broader social shift that I am hopeful about.
Im so upset because youtube unsubscribed me from a bunch of channels that I watch regularly like yours. What the hell youtube? Aaanyways, a great video as always.
I think sometimes people take movements a bit too seriously. As in critiquing a movement, a trend, whatever you want to label it. Is simply asking you to stop worshiping celebrities particularly in this moment. It’s a reminder to refocus. It doesn’t have to be formulaic. There doesn’t have to be a leader. Maybe it’s just tapping on the collective consciousness to stop caring so much what influencers and celebrities say and do that however, it feels best to you. For me, it’s not looking at it as some sort of severe activism. It’s just a reminder to refocus to not put celebrities and influencers and businesses on some sort of pedestal when the world is on fire.
I saw even Focus Congo making a post about the blockout saying that Macklemore, the rapper who made Hind’s Hall should be blocked for not speaking up about Congo and I’m like??? I understand the anger I really do, but I’m just gonna say this, there are so many genocides going on right now, so many atrocities. Like really applying that logic should we block every single person, even if they are a vocal activist and supporter, for not speaking up about every single atrocity? It’s so ridiculous. I’m gonna just say this, but activism is about coming together to fight to a cause, fight for other humans, which isn’t just nit picking other people. This goes specifically for the ones that are speaking out, and that they aren’t doing “enough” according to internet standards.
@@likhwezititus that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just that why are we throwing out other activism completely just because someone hasn’t spoken up for everything. Yes, you can call out these celebrities for not speaking out about other genocides too, but why should your first resort to block and silence them completely when they’re doing other activism as well. It just doesn’t make sense.
People will not stop putting celebs on pedestal Bc the media industry runs on that concept itself Unless the material condition of people improves radically(socialism) ,the cultural milieu will not change the question on media's influence vs external material influence in real life- there are base and superstructure ,they are the two parts of society. Base refers to the mode of production, or the materials and resources that create the goods society needs. Superstructure refers to all other aspects of society, including culture, institutions, roles, rituals, religion, media, and state. the superstructure is determined by the base,however, the superstructure can also affect the base.
Great video! Celebrities & content creators should talk about their responsibilities as public figures and as those who profit off of the masses they call fans.
The main reason we pay attention in the first place is how cool and attractive and talented and interesting we think they are. Could some of them do more, sure, especially those who have actual surplus. But those who are on the come-up, or those holding on to keep whatever momentum they had, are probably just as precarious in their situation -- albeit adorned with perceived luxury. These are perhaps likelier to do performative activism as a means to raise their profile. Personally, I like movie stars and celebrity that is earned via artistic value in and of themselves; as I also like activist and protest art. Diversity is spice in entertainment, and entertainment is valuable in the human condition -- or at least to me.
How do we unpack our relationship to celebrity? What are the steps? What are some questions we can ask ourselves? How do we disentangle our own identities from the aspirations celebrity culture has inculcated into us?
Honestly, I don't really like thr idea of celebrities talking about important subjects; because whem they do is more like: "hey, look how I am so much better than you and you should do exactly as I said. There see? I helped" than actual helping. Is more preeching for the masses so they will shut up and then nobody ever talks about it again... It is vain, plastic, and does nothing for the majority of time. I think that if they are not ready to actually help people out or try to educate people they should just keep being just guys that do crazy stuff for our entertainment... Of course, they should be careful considering their following, etc. But that's the thing, celebrities are NOT role models. They are there because they are rich and or actors, politicians etc; not because they are most capable than others, or better than others or have more talented than others. Is because they are known. People have a good "idea" with these types of movement, but here is the kicker, at the end of the day they are basically just asking for a celebritiy to tell say what they think about the matter, when if the whole point was to walk away from ecelebrities, why should their opinion matter at all?? Besides... If they wanted to help in anything, they would've done so regardless of social midia backlash... This whole idea sounds cool on paper but is just really stupid in execution. Just another dumb trend that will die out with time...
Honestly, I can't tell if I just have brain rot or if the line about putting "Jenn aside" was a covert way of referencing genocide. edit: oh lol I literally just had to wait 10 seconds.
Please consider doing a video on historical examples of society evolving rapidly as it is now - and how it affected the mindset of the populace at each time - Finding correlation’s seems difficult in a large or comprehensive dosage - I believe you’d do that really well, js
Very thankful for a channel like yours that invites everyone to be more critical of the world around them. Revolution will never exist within the confines of a trend, it a continuous work through many people to change the material reality that affects us all. There’s so much work to do and we must be vigilant.
idolization should stop for the fans benefit not the celebrity's sake but because hollywood is fake, decieving and so are the idols, (hint: not the same as just posting a nicer view of your life in a curated fashion or just selfies just for likes which is fine). its bc the industry is a dark twisted place. the phrase should be that you don't know them only because of the fact that you don't know if these people are good or bad or what extreme lengths these celebs will do for a buck and fame, you don't know if these people are secretly criminals or not, i hate it when 'you don't know them' is taken out of context to bash a fan or used too lightly., personally i think stans need to look out for themselves and be careful who they give thier energy to and trust because thier idols might be dangerous. just my 2 cents
the attention economy is something very serious and because of it , I actively choose to not engage with celebrities who don;t really give a fcvk about the world.
I found it sooo offensive and off-putting that the met gala organizers would even choose a theme about a book where rich people are hiding away from the "violent" mob. Like.... they know what they're doing... edit: glad you touched on this, i found no one pointing out how ... ironic of them it was to choose that theme.
I'm generally of the opinion that celebrities, by virtue of their class, become alienated from politics and that the industry they're in encourages and rewards a lot of 'problematic' behaviours. Being a radical leftist is just kinda antithetical to the job. The shift away from celebrity culture and the constant holding of breath hoping that ur fav is 'one of the good ones' is a boon imo.
I kind of feel bad for Haley tbh. I know she is privileged but she also wants to still connect with her audience and be able to relate to them. It feels like a lose lose for her where if she says shes just like everyone else, she's accused of being fake because she actually has a lot of privilege. But if she acted privileged and embraced the image of being "elite", she would be hated for that as well. I think this controversy over the Tiktok sound is pretty silly and is being used as more distraction/noise. Idk just some thoughts 😅
This is why they hated and still hate Sinead O'Connor she's always refused to play that game of shut up and take your money. Björk, Angelina Jolie you can CHOOSE to GAF about other human lives but these celebrities and influencers en masse are so vapid and isolated to the point of being evil that they can truly not comprehend what's actually important in this life and on this planet and for this species. It's always 'I have no power and influence' when it's convenient, this Selena Gomez BS over and over again like you're just choosing to be evil ! I could never and would NEVER morally sit there with 800 MILLION DOLLARS (yes her net worth is THAT high now because of her beauty brand she's a hoarder and no she's not relatable, like the rest of these celebs) and not do everything in my power, yes even at my own exclusion or detriment, to help try to turn this shit around, what is the point of this life if not that!? for them cruises, food and clothes truly are more important. it makes me ill.
7:19 I always have to laugh out loud when some celebrity is calling itself "not elite". Well, they are not elite, they are just hypocrits. But having millions and millions of followers and earning a shitload of money because of that, automaticaly shifts you into an elite position.
I do understand your point on them not being able to do their jobs if they do politics, but that doesn't cancell out the fact that the do have the money to influence politics, Taylor swift, Beyonce, etc etc have a lot of money and a good part of money was made unethically, the least they could do is use that money to help out shape society to benefit the people in need. And it is possible bc we know about a ton of billionaires who do influence politics to screw all of us up.
The whole blockout trend is definitely not accomplishing much similar to the blackout trend for blm, but I guess it is kinda symbolic of people questioning why celebrities don't use their platform for something good more
Its silly though to say culture does not influence action, what is silly is assuming celebrity liberal culture is THE culture and not local cultures and customs of your immediate community.
Glad to see Harry styles on your blocked video screen grab along with other celebrities, Harry his direct link to his entire abd best friends Ben winston and his involvement with z^onist youth group B’nei Akiva. And Harry's best friends James Corden and Ben Winston production company Fulwell73 linked to z^onist ideology. The production company Fulwell73 ran grammys and cut Annie Lennox speech on a ceasefire in spirit of Sinead O'Connor short. Not to mention Harry styles being family friends with z^onist management and ticketmaster and live nation monopoly family the Azoffs.
Bro I was like why does he feel the need to include his friend's name in the video, especially since he probably used a fake one? Then we got to 10:11. Well played
The lady of the beginning is like Dorothea Wieck. Dorothea kissed Herta Thiele in the first filmed sapphic kiss of the history, in the movie Mädchen in Uniform (1931). Years later, after the rising of the n*zi ideology, Wieck decided to ignore her past an marry a n*zi dude friend of Goebbels.
I'm not sure. I mean - fuck Celebrity culture, but asking them to act seems meaningless. When Trump was elected, celebrities and news anchor openly was against him and I'm personally didn't saw any results of it
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Rich people really act like they cant feed starving kids, invest in students, pay medical go fund mes... they insist its not their problem.
fr they go like 'I'm a fkin philanthropist' and I'll give you the 0.01% of what I've been stealing from your surplus value
There should be a baseline of actually doing effective stuff where it helps regular before allowing philantrope. which still, ok then you can that that, if you need
the government doesn't seem to do shit
It isn't!live your own life know ones coming to save you,and know one is responsible for your life.....except you.
@@dreddskinnation3770I think it’s every individuals responsibility to put humanity first. No not full blown communism but social programs, free healthcare and better education . Vote for me
I love that you were able to be critical of the blockout2024 movement without being cynical or dismissive of the good intentions behind it. I saw too many users being overly harsh towards the trend--calling it useless, childish, etc... The truth imo is more complicated than that. At least how I see it, it seems like a step in the right direction. We've seen how support for progressive politics is very prevalent among Gen Z. Young people recognize that the world needs to change and be better.
yup and it's like i don't want us to cause division in the movement we should do whatever possible but at the same time not hyperfocus on stuff like the block out. like its good but its not the main motive
I support it happening because it's doing a great job of increasing visibility of the pro-Palestine movement and class consciousness. But for anyone interested in how to effect substantive social change, I recommend going to Popular Resistance's website and taking their free 8-part "school" as well as reading all their historical case studies. Also, Chris Hedges' final interview on The Chris Hedges Report before The Real News Network canceled his show (for being too leftist) covers why all of the revolutionary movements of the 2010s failed. It's well worth watching.
"The reality is that the blockout trend is exactly that: a trend. It's not praxis, it's not direct action, and it's definitely not a revolution."
damn fkn right.
you gotta /do/ something to make change. Get in the streets, join an action, DO something
@@e-tone312 Donating and spreading the word helps as well. Of course, carefully👏🏾!
@@JulianSteve "helps", but that isn't creating change. We already see that now, 8 months of sharing and donating has not stopped the genocide. Time for us to do more than that. It was time yesterday
@@e-tone312 That’s true too. However, it would take time as movements take time. Thats why people are donating and spreading the word. Not everyone is able to do more.
I completely agree with this. This is why I don't find the ant war posts helpful when people aren't taking action.
as someone who knows a lot about marie antoinette, xiran got a lot about her right. literally. i'm sick of marie being romanticised. it is true she was taken down by xenophobia and misogyny, but there's also a lot wrong with the system she endorsed throughout her whole life.
I mean, ultimately, who cares? Its like getting mad about people romanticizing Thomas More today. I agree and will clap for any one who adds the necessary nuance; I may even do it myself if I have the energy to being it to a discussion; but Marie Antoinette isn’t a living force in culture today, even in France, and the romanticization of her in mostly English-speaking media isn’t all that different from Regency era cosplay.
I agree, she was a bad person. She didn't take anything seriously and then tried to play victim in the end.
She's an example of how a victim can become an enabler of a harmful system. She was too naive to realize the harm that came from her ignorance for the poor.
@@loadishstone I think getting history right matters. Too many people twist it to fit their own beliefs, and it's important to know what actually happened so that people don't continue to misunderstand the past. Marie isn't alive anymore, but she represented something that's still happening to this day and her impact on society is worth discussing.
Finally, somebody, I agree with about the movement. It's like I don't think we should hyperfocus on Blockout just block and continue acting in actual change and at the same time we shouldn't dismiss the movement. yk
Exactly, I haven't seen this specific opinion yet and it's where I'm at. Blocking celebrities is a probably a good thing anyways but waiting for celebrities to speak out and counting on them isn't useful and isn't the point of the movement. It's still about Palestine.
@@Molly-iw1rc I support it happening because it's doing a great job of increasing visibility of the pro-Palestine movement and class consciousness. But for anyone interested in how to effect substantive social change, I recommend going to Popular Resistance's website and taking their free 8-part "school" as well as reading all their historical case studies. Also, Chris Hedges' final interview on The Chris Hedges Report before The Real News Network canceled his show (for being too leftist) covers why all of the revolutionary movements of the 2010s failed. It's well worth watching.
In France, we had a celebrity who used to spoke a lot about politics, and to speak about it : Adèle Haenel. She is now no longer an actress as she has quit her job to properly be an activist
They silent the unsilent
I’ve seen her before in a movie called “Les Combattants”, she was amazing.
wasnt she in nassaince des pieurves?
Oh my God I'm in love with her, idek know this about her.
Celebrity culture and people who heavily participate in keeping up with it, has always really confused me. Like, you've never met this person, you don't really know them.
And no amount of content you can consume about them will give yiu same experience as knowing them personally
Also i really do wonder if anyone at the met gala actually read the story the theam was based on
because they never get told the reality of it and they're sadly niave of it. but i think the opposite, celebrity culture has been forced onto humanity by manipulation of the media, just like how it's similar to what is pushed onto tiktok and insta with all these toxic standards, to keep us down for profit.
I definitely feel like the hyperfocus on celebrities is extending to this "blockout". If a bunch of famous people speak up, that's nice, but even with the whole entertainment industry against the genocide of Palestinians, they're ultimately just famous, their power level is not that high. Activism needs to be aimed at stopping funding for the Israeli state that's perpetuating this, regardless of whether Lizzo tweets about it (Lizzo is not a Senator)
Saying all that, I do think that it's probably good on its own to block celebrities and influencers on social media. Not because it'll affect the lives of Palestinians (I don't think it will), but because we should divest from celebrity culture
I agree with you👏🏾!
You’d be surprised the level of influence celebrities can have. There have been celebrities who have been at the fore front of changes of policies. Paris Hilton is currently doing that with the troubled teen industry, taylor swift had a deep fake made of her and now they’re discussing policies against AI/deep fakes, lots of celebrities urged Americans to register to vote. During Covid we had Dolly Parton fund a whole vaccine. Celebrities may not be politicians but they have something us non-celebrities don’t have - access to people in higher places and access to money. politicians and policies are usually backed by people with money. You never know what they could be funding behind the scenes. Imagine if celebrities used their influence (while they still have it) to raise awareness, to fundraise, to mobilize, to make noise and actually influence.
@@justthecoolestdudeyo9446I mean, it was Palestinians themselves, both in and out of Palestine, who called for this blockout. Bisan is a major example, but I also have watched Palestinians within fandom and cultural spaces make the same call, build their own lists.
So, if there are Palestinians who think it will help to push for a movement like this-that's enough for me, personally, to believe that it will.
@@justthecoolestdudeyo9446thisss people need to stop looking at them anyways it’s quite naive but the geopolitics are what everyone should be paying attention to and history for context why things are the way they are
This social discussion goes deeper than « why don’t celebrities use their attention to do more than show off objects, riches, social connections, and luxurious experiences » it is a mental/ philosophical movement of people collectively questioning the qualifiers of a heightened position on the social hierarchy: and coming to the conclusion that the cultural and social capital of opulent and superficial signifiers are a-moral and antagonistic to the society that individuals wish to live in. It’s fascinating and great!
It’s baby steps which is good. I can only hope we don’t have to risk our lives to secure our rights but I hope gen z realizes that sooner and prepare to whatever is to come when we want to make the world a better place
As a kpop stan (sort of lol), it is EXTREMELY important to understand the line between "fan of artist" and "consumer of artist" as well as that even kpop artists are used as political tokens and are there to advertise.
I understand specifically with kpop idol culture that many kpop artists are also very parasocially attached to their fans and and quite a few seem to do large donations and in person volunteering and things like that, which create this wholesome vibe for many fans. But Stray Kids was at the Met Gala too (experiencing xenophobia unsurprisingly) and these artists also fall into wanting to appeal to the west which would ultimately mean being used by corporations and being used sometimes politically.
Kpop fans seem to want kpop idols and the culture and industry to be this wholesome down to earth thing (while also wanting groups to expand and sell to as many people as possible...), when it will always still be rooted in making money for a small group of people and creating more consumers, no matter how wholesome the group is or how small they started.
Kpop is literally children raised in a training system trained to appeal to consumers and advertise and perform, and then being put in a (hopefully lol) well crafted, thought out group with a sellable concept and aesthetic that is then used to sell music, clothes, and all kinds of products and eventually if they get popular enough they can sell luxury. Similar but very different from Western artists loll
The entertainment industry in the west is also so complicated sometimes. It's hard to know who is actually rich vs whose company gave them money to look rich. It's rare to know the intentions of someone's art and see into the lives of rich people (in reality). Because of that, involving that demographic or rather centering it in your politics (which is not what the movement intended) is difficult and practically impossible unless you are also rich which is the whole issue lol
But I also HATE seeing people act like the movement is just centering celebrities and nothing else. It's still about Palestine. It's still about politicians. It's probably more about decentering celebrities than anything else, but because we center celebrities anyways it's easy to fall into that thinking. And fandoms got involved and Zionists got involved and everyone just said "movement sucked I guess" when I don't think it did and I don't think the expectation was that everyone quietly did the movement and no issues arose and every celebrity now supports Palestine lol that wasn't the expectation.
Going back to kpop, it was refreshing to see people block kpop idols during this time because, like I said, people often sugarcoat the kpop industry and over romanticize idols. And even when people posted that they were blocking some idols, fans were calling them bullies and saying their faves don't deserve to be punished and stuff like that which just proves the unhealthy attached fans have to artists they like specifically in kpop and why maybe it's needed to not center them in your life.
I wrote a messy essay just now.
I comment something like that in a wonyoung video then someone got offended, idols are a product for the public, very carefully made so the consumers dont feel like they are, and will never stop because well, agencies are just a response of what people like
This is VERY well spoken 👏👏
Korean media appeasing an uh International/American audience is def getting East Asian men laid🔥🔥🔥
I genuinely love your essay rn
Thank you
sometimes i feel like an insane person for wanting to use social media to keep up with what my friends are doing, i have been blocking celebrities and brands for years. nice to know i am finally trendy...??? 🤣
honestly people who expect celebrities to do much politically are doomed to be disappointed - like all other humans, many celebrities are cowards, and what they care about is their career. and if activism will damage their careers, then it won't happen. we should push them, of course, but also not expect much
At this point some folks should be blocking them for their own sake bc people tend to idealize people way too much and then can’t imagine why they are not still happy lol
It's a healthy thing to do in general. I don't have friends, so I don't have any reason to use social media. I ended up deleting it for the sake of my mental health, but I def think it's okay to use if you're able to block the content you don't want to see. I think it's nice that people are finally realizing we shouldn't contribute to the amount of power that influencers and celebrities hold over us, and that they don't deserve the amount of wealth they have compared to what they do for society.
@@markigirl2757 Exactly! We need to stop putting influencers and celebs on a pedestal despite the fact that they do nothing but show off their wealth
Lizzo saying that celebrities can't do much in the realm of politics is not only wrong, but a gross lie. Influence and the ability to push a message, whatever that message might be, is a power that celebrities have and it's A LOT easier for them than for the regular folk.
Historically speaking, celebrities and the media people consume have been used as a propaganda tool, so lizzo making those stamens is beyond infuriating when her intent is pretty transparent: "Hey y'all, I don't wanna be involved in anything that could be considered outside of the status quou since that would hurt my bottom line, please buy my , thanks".
Yeah, it's not like some reality TV star could become president, amiright?
Not enough is being said about how clever “even putting Jen, aside” is. Genius.
Dang i didn't even notice that 😅 it's great
I totally agree with you that it shouldn't be the main focus or the only "activism" we think of.
But at this point it's really all some of us can do. I live in Egypt. Last week a student in Mansoura med school was dragged out of the lecture hall and interrogated for 5+ hours. He was then arrested from his home and is currrently in jail. Why? Because he and his freinds (they were arrested as well) made an instagram account called students for palestine in arabic and talk about gaza. He is held captive under the claim of "joining terrorist groups".
It's really devastating that this the state of Egypt. Considering our location we could really be the biggest help to gaza, but that's not happening because we're ruled by a fucking moron of a zionist dictator.
I'm sorry I ranted, but this has been really boiling my blood. What I'm trying to say is boycotting brands and celebrities is the least we could do, the only thing if that.
Here they dont just arrest and beat. I'm pretty sure if we decided to protest in the streets they would open fire on all of us just like they did in 2011.
I know I sound pessimistic and negative. But if change is coming to this country it's not gonna be soon enough to help gaza.
So although i agree with you totally. I'm just trying to point out that real activism might not be applicable to all of us, sadly.
Yeah I actually agree, I can't physically go out and protest, social media is the most I can do because I can't afford transport to go to these protests
I still dont see how this actions help gaza. Im trying to be realistic here, and in reality nobody cares ,specially in the West is just for likes and people see it as the new trend, sad but true. What im trying to say is that it doesnt matter how much you tweet , cancel celebrities,whatever that wont change anything, people with power just see us as mere ants and they dont really care about what we say, sure some news can cover it , there can be a lot of videos but after that they will put other news, and people wont care as they should, they will just feel sad for a moment , make a tweet and then just forget
Same in my cintry algeria it isnt good idea to go out and protest or do anything as you will get jailed fot it
@@bonniekun420 yeah I think people need to remember that being able to just go to this area and have a in-person strike is a privilege
This is sad to hear and I thank you for letting us know about this. I think this is why it's important to donate to NGOs that actually have the resources required to help those in need. That is the most that we can do, other than spread awareness to those close to us and online (if it's safe to do so).
One small but maybe important thing we could do to be more honest about the gap between the reality of complacency and the fantasy of praxis in this discourse is we could retire the word "influencer". It does kind of imply the ability to create social change where nonesuch ability exists and can lead people to thinking so-called influencers could, say, influence government policy. Everyone that we call and influencer is just and advertiser, as you basically say at the end of the video. Referring to them as advertisers may help people not to put them on a pedestal and perhaps take them a little less seriously and be wearier of how much their brands and content exist to sell us shit we don't need for the accumulation of capital.
Another thing to remember is that the more we argue within each other especially when you are working class or lower. The more actual people in power have the chances to manipulate us.
This is only true if you want to harm the opposing party in the first place
hit the nail on the head with this one
It’s not revolutionary but it’s probably a net positive to clean up our feeds lol. I think we’ve all been force fed enough celebrity content for one lifetime.
"A ven diagram that's basically a circle" 🔥
Venn*
Not 🤓'ing but I believe that sharing knowledge is a good thing.
That was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
@@crunchylettuce5446 I appreciate you for sharing knowledge in a respectful way!
Celebrities are just money. And the rest is a mixture of narcissism and hypocritical exposure.
i stopped, and still doing so, idolizing people long time ago. in celebrities’ case, i’ve seen them - not ‘them’ - off-camera. in idols’ case, i’ve known their industry and saw them - again, not ‘them’ - off-camera.
thanks to them being one of a major factor, now i saw all humans equally. i don’t give a shit about people’s status; when i take photos of people, all of them get the same treatment
thank you. and me too, I've stopped idolizing rich people in general for a long time now. I realized how wrong my parasocial obsession was and learned to deattach myself from the idols I used to love. they aren't the people I thought they were, they're just products sold by a company and their job is to profit off of our enjoyment of them.
One of the people who gained Poland her independence was a celebrity: pianists Ignacy Jan Paderewski, liked dearly by Woodrow Wilson. Due to his influence Wilson included re-creation of independent Poland in his 14 points. And for a bit of herstory: Paderewski was at one point heavily sponsored by a Polish actress, also a big celebrity: Helena Modrzejewska. Without her he might have never finished his musical education, so it's nice to remember her.
that was all before WW2 btw, so it all went to sh*t anyway afterwards, but we'll 🤷 that's how the cookie crumbles
Outspoken people (not the type who have brain rot) will always face difficulties and I’ve softened my stance on every celebrity speaking out about everything. However, if you’re a voting and tax paying citizen, you will have to speak up one day.
THISS
the whole “i’m not informed enough to make any statements” thing is so stupid. like…….then get informed? you can’t use ignorance as an excuse when you’re choosing ignorance
I honestly never realized the “movement” was intended to initiate some sort of change in celebrities, I figured if they’ve been silent this long they’re too far gone. I thought the point was more so to show that we no longer have to reward them for doing nothing with our attention. It doesn’t cost me anything to press the block button and seeing their tone deaf posts was honestly becoming frustrating anyways 🤷🏽
I heard a RUclipsr saying celebrities are the shiny things between public and the authorities/government. I agree with that.
We call those shiny things stars and worship them. I don't think we have to do that. Just like everyone else they are doing a job. I don't think there is any point in blindly worshipping someone.
Thank you so much Elliot. ✨(Esp. for that point of celebrities selling dreams).
Loved this, thank you for this discussion. It's so important to remember that social movements like the blockout are symptoms of changing attitudes, not the driving forces behind them. If we put the cart before the horse on this kind of thing, we risk falling right back into compliance and stagnation.
love you finn!
Love your emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills!! It really helps with navigating these difficult and complex content :)
The only celebrities who aided in protest that I can think of recently is Bad Bunny and Residente in Puerto Rico.
Maybe I’m not as tuned into everything. But that is what comes to my mind.
I have been an activist in global human rights issues (predominantly focused on the Global South and Western Asia) for over 20 years now, working with vulnerable populations for roughly 15 years, and working specifically in anti-violence and anti-oppression work for almost 5 years. Social media up until this point has actually been an incredibly useful tool for advocacy and activism. Yet, I more than agree with everything you have said in regards to the flaws in the celebrity blockout trend. Especially because boycotts have long been an effective tool in politic movements to create change. The tricky part is the main exports of that particular area are diamonds, weapons, and tech. The every day person isn’t purchasing diamonds regularly but celebrities are. Weapons are obviously for governments and militarized groups, and tech is hard to avoid. However many celebrities are invested in tech. In an organized and strategic celebrity boycott we would be pressuring celebrities to change their consumerism and endorsement of diamonds sold in the area of conflict and to divest from tech as well. But all we are doing is pressuring them to “talk” about Palestine…then what? What’s the goal? And what’s the point? Not to mention even influencers that talk about are being blocked by some because they are not “talking about it enough,” and many of them being NAWA, MENA, and/or Muslim creators who are going through additional feelings of grief as 2 out of 3 of these human rights conflicts are in Muslim countries. A lot of us are trying to reconcile our Eastern roots with our Western identities and it’s deeply impacting our self concept. This rhetoric implies that we must constantly be participating in the discourse that surrounds our oppression and never embrace and express joy in the rare moments we find it. Even though our joy is equally an act of defiance to the systems that seek to oppress us.
I don’t mind the cultural shift of de-centering celebrities. I’m Afrasian- Austronesian/Southeastern Asian and Black Southwestern Asian/Arab. I share ancestry with all three areas of conflict. I wake up to watching my people be g*noc*ded with no other representation in mainstream media. I’m watching my own human extinction with no acknowledgement from mainstream media I ever existed in the first place. For my mental health I decided to no longer consume Western media content. But that’s strategic decision for my consumerism and I never followed celebrity culture too closely anyway. I will say this- “back in my day” we did have websites that helped structure and organize online movements. Templates, strategic plans, branded eye catching graphics, uniformed literature, etc. We had elevator speeches, structured talking points, etc. This may seem like frivolous and aesthetics but it’s actually important to be this leveled of organized. With the death of websites, blogs, and platforms like MySpace where you could not only display an online infographic on your profile for example but link it to a human rights advocacy center’s website focused on that specific cause for more information on how to be involved. Utilizing an app like TikTok, that’s riddled with misinformation on just about everything in a lot ways, gets tricky because you are often taking it on face value. Social media promotes material that has a high likelihood of engagement- not necessarily media that is informed, researched, or credible. I think the movement lacks a sense of global awareness that reflects the problem with Western celebrity culture it thinks it’s dismantling- Western celebrities are not as powerful or even as influential as you think. T-Swifty was never the most powerful woman in the world, she had a documentary where we watched he cry because she couldn’t publicly denounce Trump. She did a “world tour” only in the global West. And no one in rural Africa or Asia for example has heard of her. “WE” the global West center our celebrities and prioritize them over global issues. That’s not necessarily the celebrities fault. The boycott was fairly irrelevant to me as I don’t follow Western celebrities anyway. The “movement”/trend still centers and over prioritizes celebrities in a global conflict, rather than centers the communities it’s supposedly advocating for. ALL of the blockout celebrities still have more followers than Breaking Points, Al Jazeer, The Young Turks, Hasan Piker, The Majority Report, and other news outlets/media groups that have been reporting on Palestine for 10 to 20+ years. A better use of time maybe pushing these resources to the algorithm, I don’t know. It’s hard but I believe social capital can be leveraged to create change…just not how we are doing it.
I really appreciate your insight. I’m a young disabled SWANA person trying to organize in a way that’s sustainable and accessible for me. I’d love to learn from you/get any reading suggestions but idk how to do that on here without revealing sensitive info ://
@@zkkitty2436
It’s hard because a lot of the organizing we were doing then was through problematic groups like Invisible Children (who were funding by the Uganda government and Christian Evangelical groups who were also funding anti-LGBTQIA+ efforts), iAbolish (who are now funded by black Zionist) so I can’t ethically refer you to them even for reference, and otherwise a lot of the resources we used then are not available. Most of what I know now I’ve learned on the job of community organizing, advocacy, etc. BUT websites like Community Toolbox, Community Centric Fundraising, Galaxy Digital, and anything geared towards Grassroots organization is going to be helpful. Anything in regards to “anti-oppression and anti-violence” work will help to build a framework. IF you have access to people with backgrounds in project management or development utilize them. And especially if you have access to people with backgrounds in communication utilize them. You mostly need consistent messaging. So if you haven’t already do the following first:
1. Write out a mission statement. What is your specific internet? Be concise, should be in plain language, and action based. E.g. To stop human genocide.
2. Then write out your vision. Again, keep it simple. E.g. That we live in a world without genocide.
3. Develop your Pathos: your appeal to emotion. Ethos: establish your credibility. Logos: your appeal to reason and ethics. People get too dependent on appeals to emotion and are dismissed as suffering from a bleeding heart OR emotionally manipulative. Others get too focused on appeals to authority and begin to center themselves instead of the vulnerable community. And then finally people will get too caught up in the principal of the matter and may accidentally distance their intended audience from the issue. You have to balance the three. Pathos, Ethos, Logos are the basis of all communication in politics, advertising, public relations, governance, etc.
4. Have a 30 second “elevator speech” on your goals. A former boss of mine told me once if I couldn’t explain what the organization did and my job in 30 seconds then I needed to tell my direct supervisor I didn’t know what my job is. It’s a hidden rule- if you can’t explain it in 30 seconds you don’t understand enough to engage in a longer conversation about it. It’s not about giving context in 30 seconds, it’s about establishing connection in the first 30 to invite a longer conversation about it.
5. Then utilize an online outreach and/or communication plan template to structure everything. Typically it will outline verbal, then written, then correspondence, and finally media/press statements.
6. Always have 2 to 3 number based statistics to share with people. People are more likely to remember a fact if there’s a number in it.
7. WORD CLOUDS/BANKS!!! Make sure everyone is using the same language. Are you a movement? Project? Resistance? Decide, I can’t emphasize enough being decisive at all times, then only refer to yourselves or methods as that. Often people will get stuck in the semantics and use certain terms interchangeably but it does muck up the messaging and make it harder for people to remember.
8. Utilize plain language. Axios has a great book called, “Smart Brevity.” And plain language is accessible, academic language is tacky. Again- you should be able to explain what you are doing as simply as possible, otherwise you’re perceived as not understanding it enough to be communicating about it. You are not trying to intellectually lord over someone, just create connection.
9. Use ACTIVE language. In my career I’ve gone into edit so many “action” plans that were written ENTIRELY in passive voice. Often in these types of causes what’s communicated is concepts not actionable goals. People lose interest when you are telling them WHY they should help but not HOW they can help. Also- if you don’t have a consistent plan/course of action people will lose interest.
10. VISUALS! Typically in communications we say if it can be explained in photo, use the photo because it can say a thousand words that verbal communication may never be able to convey. And people prefer data visualization. People get exhausted with text. For inclusivity we typically say no more that 300 words at an 8th grade level of communication, and experts are now saying take it to a 5th grade BUT, if you have information that can be communicated through visualized graphs, do so. Then for accessibility and messaging PLEASE use a uniformed color scheme. Not only is it great for branding and color theory is real (and cool, it’s cool we can communicate abstract concepts with color) it’s inclusive. Sensory sensitive people can access it easy AND people will remember your message clearer when you identify it with specific colors. That’s why advertisers use color. Because it’s actually super important to conveying ideas.
Idk as for books I’m not sure. I’m reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but the Revolution Will Not Be Funded, This Is How We Get Free, are all great but more the why than the how. But hopefully this was helpful.
@@zkkitty2436
It’s hard because a lot of the organizing we were doing then were through problematic groups like Invisible Children (who were funding by the Uganda government and Christian Evangelical groups who were also funding anti-LGBTQIA+ efforts), iAbolish (who are now funded by black Zionist), and otherwise a lot of the resources we used then are not available. Most of what I know now I’ve learned on the job of community organizing, advocacy, etc. BUT websites like Community Toolbox, Community Centric Fundraising, Galaxy Digital, and anything geared towards Grassroots organization is going to be helpful. Anything in regards to “anti-oppression and anti-violence” work will help to build a framework. IF you have access to people with backgrounds in project management or development utilize them. And especially if you have access to people with backgrounds in communication utilize them. You mostly need consistent messaging. So if you haven’t already do the following first:
1. Write out a mission statement. What is your specific internet? Be concise, should be in plain language, and action based. E.g. To stop human g*noc*de.
2. Then write out your vision. Again, keep it simple. E.g. That we live in a world without g*noc*de.
3. Develop your Pathos: your appeal to emotion. Ethos: establish your credibility. Logos: your appeal to reason and ethics. People get too dependent on appeals to emotion and are dismissed as suffering from a bleeding heart OR emotionally manipulative. Others get too focused on appeals to authority and begin to center themselves instead of the vulnerable community. And then finally people will get too caught up in the principal of the matter and may accidentally distance their intended audience from the issue. You have to balance the three. Pathos, Ethos, Logos are the basis of all communication in politics, advertising, public relations, governance, etc.
4. Have a 30 second “elevator speech” on your goals. A former boss of mine told me once if I couldn’t explain what the organization did and my job in 30 seconds then I needed to tell my direct supervisor I didn’t know what my job is. It’s a hidden rule- if you can’t explain it in 30 seconds you don’t understand enough to engage in a longer conversation about it. It’s not about giving context in 30 seconds, it’s about establishing connection in the first 30 to invite a longer conversation about it.
5. Then utilize an online outreach and/or communication plan template to structure everything. Typically it will outline verbal, then written, then correspondence, and finally media/press statements.
6. Always have 2 to 3 number based statistics to share with people. People are more likely to remember a fact if there’s a number in it.
7. WORD CLOUDS/BANKS!!! Make sure everyone is using the same language. Are you a movement? Project? Resistance? Decide, I can’t emphasize enough being decisive at all times, then only refer to yourselves or methods as that. Often people will get stuck in the semantics and use certain terms interchangeably but it does muck up the messaging and make it harder for people to remember.
8. Utilize plain language. Axios has a great book called, “Smart Brevity.” And plain language is accessible, academic language is tacky. Again- you should be able to explain what you are doing as simply as possible, otherwise you’re perceived as not understanding it enough to be communicating about it. You are not trying to intellectually lord over someone, just create connection.
9. Use ACTIVE language. In my career I’ve gone into edit so many “action” plans that were written ENTIRELY in passive voice. Often in these types of causes what’s communicated is concepts not actionable goals. People lose interest when you are telling them WHY they should help but not HOW they can help. Also- if you don’t have a consistent plan/course of action people will lose interest.
10. VISUALS! Typically in communications we say if it can be explained in photo, use the photo because it can say a thousand words that verbal communication may never be able to convey. And people prefer data visualization. People get exhausted with text. For inclusivity we typically say no more that 300 words at an 8th grade level of communication, and experts are now saying take it to a 5th grade BUT, if you have information that can be communicated through visualized graphs, do so. Then for accessibility and messaging PLEASE use a uniformed color scheme. Not only is it great for branding and color theory is real (and cool, it’s cool we can communicate abstract concepts with color) it’s inclusive. Sensory sensitive people can access it easy AND people will remember your message clearer when you identify it with specific colors. That’s why advertisers use color. Because it’s actually super important to conveying ideas.
Idk as for books I’m not sure. I’m reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, but the Revolution Will Not Be Funded, This Is How We Get Free, are all great but more the why than the how. But hopefully this was helpful.
Welcome to autism; wherein this is a great video because it lays out the reasons I've been very confused over how/why people follow celebrities.
Same it’s mind boggling and most people can’t explain why either instead they make u feel bad questioning it bc they can’t afford to look within lol
omg yes!
Yes ! As neurodivergents we do not care about hierachy
Your look in the thumbnail is a 10/10, I stopped in my tracks and clicked on the video just for you 😂💖
Hi Elliot! This was a very well crafted video and you articulated some of my own thoughts extremely well. Something i had not considered before was the distinction between encouraging the dreams, hopes, and wishes for a better future, and activism, which disrupts the political institutions that stand in the way of those nebulous ideals. Both are important in a successful movement, I think. I really appreciate that you highlighted this difference so clearly, because that's something I've been struggling with in my own way. I wonder if you have any thoughts on what 'activism' is and what it is perceived to be and what effective collective action looks like? In my own opinion, I think that social media would be a good staging ground for... dreaming, I suppose. Sharing wishes of what a better, freer future might look like. I think it can also serve as an excellent ground to stage direct action. What does effective social media activism look like? Especially in a context where our attention and participation in the online world is so heavily solicited and captured and monetized.
These are great questions and I hope we all collectively come with real solutions bc in the past they had to use pitchforks and secret meetings for coups but we have technology in our hands! If govt decide to use drones to fight wars we need to use technology to also do something for activism
Ohh i am early to an elliot video!! Love from brazil❤❤ thank you for your content, if you could please talk about the politics of climate change in capitalism!South of Brazil is going through their worst natural disaster at this exact moment😢 they need all the exposure they can get( i am not from the south!)
What's happening there?
As someone living in an other country with an entire different view and set of expectations on celebrities, the idea that American celebrities are supposed to be extremely aware of global conflicts with an academic's understanding of world histories, and have open opinions on politics and act on them is just BIZARRE. Entertainers are entertainers. That's it. They don't promise to be anything else, and if you're supporting them for promises they haven't made, I feel like that's not on the celebrities. If you think they have too much money, give them less money; stop giving them your media attention and ticket sales (which is what happens here, when a celebrity brags about something they have that most people don't, they are met with criticism and end up taking a hit on their next sales). Those that do claim to be political gurus are trying to screw you. That's how you get Reagan, Schwarzenegger, and Trump.
oh come on, not all political celebrities are like reagan, schwarznegger or trump
If I, a normal person, can easily understand that killing men, women and children in the thousands is more than wrong and should be stopped, why shouldn't they be able to understand? Or are celebrities actually so incredibly stupid - if yes, one more reason to not listen to ANYTHING coming out of their mouths.
@@jeanivanjohnson loool funny
@@x97s what's so funny to you?
I'm not too pessimistic about blockout mostly because of what it represents: People who are not used to think politically at all (The dream of all centrists) are actually imho, alienated enough from society, that they're overcoming somethings rather strong parasocial bonds even if just temporarily.
We can lament about how meaningless it might seem or we can feel encouraged that it means more and more people are more likely to be actually radicalized since another long standing institution of propaganda like celebrity culture it's showing cracks now.
...And then again it's probably too little too late but hey, as an exercise I'm at least trying to voice out non-doomer thoughts more often as I'm told it might motivate and inspire other more than my usual 'We dead anyway, but go break shit and do crimes' approach.
Omg yes thank u for putting my thoughts into coherent words that make sense!! I’ve seen so many tiktok’s of peoples (essentially) grieving process as they “break up” with celebrities and/or celebrity culture. And tbh it’s given my recovering doomer brain something to hold onto to. Yes, it might just be a silly trend. But, if that silly trend is the radicalization point for, idk, 1, 10, 100, 1000 people, that means something.
I appreciate your take on Blockout2024, Elliot. While it’s a starting point, I do not think it’s effective. Celebrities and influencers are going to find another alternative to get to us consumers. There are ways to “block” things, but your algorithm still caters to celebrities and influencers. You would have to do a 180 with your social media platforms😅💯
Yep. I’d also add on that it feels like it easily falls into leftist purity culture. Like there’s so many that say stuff like “well blocking celebrities is the least you could do” and shit like that. It seems like just another way for leftists to get at each others throats without actually creating any real, substantial change.
Also I find it very amusing how they expect us to just drop everything and dedicate our entire lives to whatever cause is trending at the moment. They act as if any enjoyment of life outside of political Twitter discourse makes you a bourgeois pig, when in reality under a capitalist system, rest and escapism are necessary components of resistance.
This is just my personal experience, but I use social media to engage with art and organizers exclusively. I haven’t gotten a ton of influencer shit in my feed for a long time, and while algorithms will shift to push celebs if everyone starts to engage differently, I do feel like social media can be an effective tool for organizing. As a disabled person, online organizing is often the kind most accessible to me given how ableist organizing spaces can be.
Anyway I agree with you that this is a starting point, but I’m slightly more hopeful about its outcome. I don’t expect it to be hugely effective in isolation but it’s part of a broader social shift that I am hopeful about.
Awesome video! I find the way you connect topical events with larger societal issues to be consistently insightful. Keep up the good work!
One of the realest RUclipsrs
I appreciate the thoughtfulness and research put in to each of these video essays
Im so upset because youtube unsubscribed me from a bunch of channels that I watch regularly like yours. What the hell youtube?
Aaanyways, a great video as always.
Thought I was the only one! They're genuinely suppressing his channel.
We're all in a prison's dilemma and some of us are smart enough to not use Instagram and Twitter.
I think sometimes people take movements a bit too seriously. As in critiquing a movement, a trend, whatever you want to label it. Is simply asking you to stop worshiping celebrities particularly in this moment. It’s a reminder to refocus. It doesn’t have to be formulaic. There doesn’t have to be a leader. Maybe it’s just tapping on the collective consciousness to stop caring so much what influencers and celebrities say and do that however, it feels best to you. For me, it’s not looking at it as some sort of severe activism. It’s just a reminder to refocus to not put celebrities and influencers and businesses on some sort of pedestal when the world is on fire.
I been thinkin bout ts all month , i love that ur videos are in sync with my subconscious 😂
I saw even Focus Congo making a post about the blockout saying that Macklemore, the rapper who made Hind’s Hall should be blocked for not speaking up about Congo and I’m like??? I understand the anger I really do, but I’m just gonna say this, there are so many genocides going on right now, so many atrocities. Like really applying that logic should we block every single person, even if they are a vocal activist and supporter, for not speaking up about every single atrocity? It’s so ridiculous.
I’m gonna just say this, but activism is about coming together to fight to a cause, fight for other humans, which isn’t just nit picking other people. This goes specifically for the ones that are speaking out, and that they aren’t doing “enough” according to internet standards.
okay but why is it ridiculous to block celebrities when it comes to Congo are other atrocities not as important as Palestine?
@@likhwezititus that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just that why are we throwing out other activism completely just because someone hasn’t spoken up for everything. Yes, you can call out these celebrities for not speaking out about other genocides too, but why should your first resort to block and silence them completely when they’re doing other activism as well. It just doesn’t make sense.
your voice and the way you structure your sentences make me SUPER anxious 0_o
People will not stop putting celebs on pedestal
Bc the media industry runs on that concept itself
Unless the material condition of people improves radically(socialism) ,the cultural milieu will not change
the question on media's influence vs external material influence in real life-
there are base and superstructure ,they are the two parts of society. Base refers to the mode of production, or the materials and resources that create the goods society needs.
Superstructure refers to all other aspects of society, including culture, institutions, roles, rituals, religion, media, and state.
the superstructure is determined by the base,however, the superstructure can also affect the base.
Great video! Celebrities & content creators should talk about their responsibilities as public figures and as those who profit off of the masses they call fans.
The main reason we pay attention in the first place is how cool and attractive and talented and interesting we think they are. Could some of them do more, sure, especially those who have actual surplus. But those who are on the come-up, or those holding on to keep whatever momentum they had, are probably just as precarious in their situation -- albeit adorned with perceived luxury. These are perhaps likelier to do performative activism as a means to raise their profile. Personally, I like movie stars and celebrity that is earned via artistic value in and of themselves; as I also like activist and protest art. Diversity is spice in entertainment, and entertainment is valuable in the human condition -- or at least to me.
happy i found this channel!
educate, agitate, organise 🏴💜
How do we unpack our relationship to celebrity? What are the steps? What are some questions we can ask ourselves? How do we disentangle our own identities from the aspirations celebrity culture has inculcated into us?
Thank GOODNESS a new Elliot Sang video to get me through this computer science & fabrication homework
Honestly, I don't really like thr idea of celebrities talking about important subjects; because whem they do is more like: "hey, look how I am so much better than you and you should do exactly as I said. There see? I helped" than actual helping. Is more preeching for the masses so they will shut up and then nobody ever talks about it again... It is vain, plastic, and does nothing for the majority of time. I think that if they are not ready to actually help people out or try to educate people they should just keep being just guys that do crazy stuff for our entertainment... Of course, they should be careful considering their following, etc. But that's the thing, celebrities are NOT role models. They are there because they are rich and or actors, politicians etc; not because they are most capable than others, or better than others or have more talented than others. Is because they are known. People have a good "idea" with these types of movement, but here is the kicker, at the end of the day they are basically just asking for a celebritiy to tell say what they think about the matter, when if the whole point was to walk away from ecelebrities, why should their opinion matter at all?? Besides... If they wanted to help in anything, they would've done so regardless of social midia backlash... This whole idea sounds cool on paper but is just really stupid in execution. Just another dumb trend that will die out with time...
I hope people continue to get tired of the government and just settling for scraps.
Honestly, I can't tell if I just have brain rot or if the line about putting "Jenn aside" was a covert way of referencing genocide.
edit: oh lol I literally just had to wait 10 seconds.
Please consider doing a video on historical examples of society evolving rapidly as it is now - and how it affected the mindset of the populace at each time - Finding correlation’s seems difficult in a large or comprehensive dosage - I believe you’d do that really well, js
Very thankful for a channel like yours that invites everyone to be more critical of the world around them. Revolution will never exist within the confines of a trend, it a continuous work through many people to change the material reality that affects us all. There’s so much work to do and we must be vigilant.
Some ppl on reddit were arguing with me saying they didn't pay for their tickets and the met gala is a fundraiser. Like, okay?
Celebs should brush up on the French Revolutions
Nearly all celebrities have had their soul sold, pretty much. Or their life corrupted in some way
You're our modern-day philosopher✨️
idolization should stop for the fans benefit not the celebrity's sake but because hollywood is fake, decieving and so are the idols, (hint: not the same as just posting a nicer view of your life in a curated fashion or just selfies just for likes which is fine). its bc the industry is a dark twisted place. the phrase should be that you don't know them only because of the fact that you don't know if these people are good or bad or what extreme lengths these celebs will do for a buck and fame, you don't know if these people are secretly criminals or not, i hate it when 'you don't know them' is taken out of context to bash a fan or used too lightly., personally i think stans need to look out for themselves and be careful who they give thier energy to and trust because thier idols might be dangerous. just my 2 cents
"I guess I'm regular" 💅
the attention economy is something very serious and because of it , I actively choose to not engage with celebrities who don;t really give a fcvk about the world.
I've had two instances now where the lead singers of bands I liked have called me the n word and blocked me 💀💀
I found it sooo offensive and off-putting that the met gala organizers would even choose a theme about a book where rich people are hiding away from the "violent" mob. Like.... they know what they're doing...
edit: glad you touched on this, i found no one pointing out how ... ironic of them it was to choose that theme.
I'm generally of the opinion that celebrities, by virtue of their class, become alienated from politics and that the industry they're in encourages and rewards a lot of 'problematic' behaviours. Being a radical leftist is just kinda antithetical to the job.
The shift away from celebrity culture and the constant holding of breath hoping that ur fav is 'one of the good ones' is a boon imo.
Never heard of blockout 2024 but it sure sounds based and absolutely necessary
I kind of feel bad for Haley tbh. I know she is privileged but she also wants to still connect with her audience and be able to relate to them. It feels like a lose lose for her where if she says shes just like everyone else, she's accused of being fake because she actually has a lot of privilege. But if she acted privileged and embraced the image of being "elite", she would be hated for that as well.
I think this controversy over the Tiktok sound is pretty silly and is being used as more distraction/noise. Idk just some thoughts 😅
This is why they hated and still hate Sinead O'Connor she's always refused to play that game of shut up and take your money. Björk, Angelina Jolie you can CHOOSE to GAF about other human lives but these celebrities and influencers en masse are so vapid and isolated to the point of being evil that they can truly not comprehend what's actually important in this life and on this planet and for this species. It's always 'I have no power and influence' when it's convenient, this Selena Gomez BS over and over again like you're just choosing to be evil ! I could never and would NEVER morally sit there with 800 MILLION DOLLARS (yes her net worth is THAT high now because of her beauty brand she's a hoarder and no she's not relatable, like the rest of these celebs) and not do everything in my power, yes even at my own exclusion or detriment, to help try to turn this shit around, what is the point of this life if not that!? for them cruises, food and clothes truly are more important. it makes me ill.
and to think this could all be solved with a vanguard party
I agree mostly....but there are some views that seem a little restrictive here. Especially when I try to imagine Disabled people in the equation.
Thank you, sir!
7:19 I always have to laugh out loud when some celebrity is calling itself "not elite". Well, they are not elite, they are just hypocrits. But having millions and millions of followers and earning a shitload of money because of that, automaticaly shifts you into an elite position.
I do understand your point on them not being able to do their jobs if they do politics, but that doesn't cancell out the fact that the do have the money to influence politics, Taylor swift, Beyonce, etc etc have a lot of money and a good part of money was made unethically, the least they could do is use that money to help out shape society to benefit the people in need. And it is possible bc we know about a ton of billionaires who do influence politics to screw all of us up.
"let them eat cake''
How bout we eat the rich? I promise we eat one the rest will fall in line 😅 if they smart
You always offer some really thought provoking insight into these kind of topics! It is greatly appreciated, free Pal3stine! 🇵🇸
The whole blockout trend is definitely not accomplishing much similar to the blackout trend for blm, but I guess it is kinda symbolic of people questioning why celebrities don't use their platform for something good more
Its silly though to say culture does not influence action, what is silly is assuming celebrity liberal culture is THE culture and not local cultures and customs of your immediate community.
Ok so if not movie stars then who…? Influencers?? Cha right
"Thou shalt not have any other gods before me, for I am a jealous God."
Amazing video as always, your work is so appreciated❤❤❤❤
Celebrities are just s human as we are and can be the victims in their own circle.
Is it a MOVEMENT if you can do it from your couch?
no
Glad to see Harry styles on your blocked video screen grab along with other celebrities, Harry his direct link to his entire abd best friends Ben winston and his involvement with z^onist youth group B’nei Akiva.
And Harry's best friends James Corden and Ben Winston production company Fulwell73 linked to z^onist ideology. The production company Fulwell73 ran grammys and cut Annie Lennox speech on a ceasefire in spirit of Sinead O'Connor short.
Not to mention Harry styles being family friends with z^onist management and ticketmaster and live nation monopoly family the Azoffs.
Bro I was like why does he feel the need to include his friend's name in the video, especially since he probably used a fake one? Then we got to 10:11. Well played
This is what I've always thought. Stop giving these people your attention.
Rewatched Caligari twice this month including yesterday
The mystique died already. All of their shady $hits are revealed online.
celebrities should have already been blocked from the beginning
your hair looks great
I really like your videos! Keep it up ❤
Psalm 146:3. Psalm 118:8. Psalm 31:14. Humans are fickle, imperfect and will die one day. Idols are humans❤
Not to detract, but I like the fit
Great vid!
The lady of the beginning is like Dorothea Wieck. Dorothea kissed Herta Thiele in the first filmed sapphic kiss of the history, in the movie Mädchen in Uniform (1931). Years later, after the rising of the n*zi ideology, Wieck decided to ignore her past an marry a n*zi dude friend of Goebbels.
Putting Jen, aside... heh.
🧐
Utterly insane watching The Spectacle turn on itself
I'm not sure. I mean - fuck Celebrity culture, but asking them to act seems meaningless. When Trump was elected, celebrities and news anchor openly was against him and I'm personally didn't saw any results of it
You are such a smart young man ❤
A really great video