>> the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors.
Sad but true.
Sad but true.
I'm not going to claim you should do what I did. But it worked for me. And having unsubscribed, the d(dollars)/dt has decreased.
The claim reported was that he is an anti-semite -- based on the posting of that picture, which he did in jest, to show how easy it is to exploit a service like Fiverr to make people do horrible things. It was openly intended to be an example of a horrible thing.
If the original video wasn't enough, he explains the whole situation (with even worse media examples) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk1DogcPmU
So, yeah, this is the worse kind of fake news reporting, and people mostly buy it because they dislike pewdipie (or however it's written) or envy his success. And some for the cheap click-bait value of "unmasking" a popular youtuber as anti-semite, e.g.: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/youtub... (while they just unmask themselves as click-hungry hypocrites).
"Since August, PewDiePie has posted nine videos that include anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery, according to a review of his channel by The Wall Street Journal."
To say that the videos contained anti-semitic jokes and Nazi imagery is 100% accurate commentary.
Sure, you can joke about anything, but that comes with attendant risks. Make jokes about the Holocaust if you want to, but unless those jokes are pretty damn amazing, don't expect to be very popular afterwards.
Which it is, thankfully. I'd argue that misrepresenting the situation and painting an image of said moron as an 'anti-semite' and a racist is actually far worse than making a joke about the holocaust.
> Sure, you can joke about anything, but that comes with attendant risks. Make jokes about the Holocaust if you want to, but unless those jokes are pretty damn amazing, don't expect to be very popular afterwards.
Based on his apology video I get the impression that he's aware of that, and perhaps even understanding of Disney's decision to ditch him. What he takes issue with is how the media handled the situation, and I strongly agree with him.
The answer is in the question, don't you think?
I'm not sure I really buy his explanation for this anyway. Sure, the various bits of Nazi propaganda that he puts in his videos are framed as being part of jokes, but why choose to put Nazi propaganda in your videos on several different occasions? He at least seems to have some kind of unhealthy obsession with it.
As an 'adult', I've become less offensive/edgy in part because I just don't care anymore, and in part because I think these kinds of jokes are not worth the potential emotional distress they can cause, nor the fact that they might normalize 'real' racism.
Even so, among my inner circle WW2-themed jokes are still popular, including overt endorsement of the Nazis and gas chamber jokes. As far as I can tell none of us are anti-semites or fascists.
In my experience Sweden is very similar to Holland in our attitudes to WW2 and our sense of humor about it. And if you consider that PewDiePie's audience is significantly younger than he is, it doesn't strike me as suspicious that he'd make repeated edgy pro-nazi jokes, just like pretty much all young men and man-children that I know.
If that kind of disgusting behavior has been normalized then it really does need to be called out. Dutch and Swedish culture aren't beyond criticism.
>Other popular edgy topics include loud homophobia, and ironically anal fixation. It was mostly the guys who did this, but it was rampant nonetheless (and IMO not indicative of deep-seated isms).
As a gay person I can tell you that it's not very comforting to know that loudly homophobic people don't consider themselves to be homophobes. You might want to consider the effects of your actions on other people from time to time.
> including overt endorsement of the Nazis and gas chamber jokes. As far as I can tell none of us are anti-semites or fascists.
So your Jewish friends are all laughing along with you at the gas chamber jokes?
edit: I was foolish enough to take the word of you and other posters regarding the wording of the initial WSJ article. In fact, the article does not say that PewDiePie is anti-semitic, and it mentions that he was "joking". So I really have no idea what you guys are complaining about.
> Growing up, as far back as primary school, we would do the Hitler salute, quote the man, or make jokes about jews or gas chambers.
>> If that kind of disgusting behavior has been normalized then it really does need to be called out. Dutch and Swedish culture aren't beyond criticism.
I don't disagree with that at all. I find that the Dutch in particular often seem to value breaking taboos and as a result can be needlessly insulting or hurtful. I'm not a fan.
> Other popular edgy topics include loud homophobia, and ironically anal fixation. It was mostly the guys who did this, but it was rampant nonetheless (and IMO not indicative of deep-seated isms).
>> As a gay person I can tell you that it's not very comforting to know that loudly homophobic people don't consider themselves to be homophobes. You might want to consider the effects of your actions on other people from time to time.
Did you read the part where I changed my ways as I realized the effects such jokes could have? I can't help but feel that you've simply decided that you disagree with me and are now not even bothering to actually read my comments. Or otherwise maybe I've not expressed myself well, in which case I (honestly) apologize.
> including overt endorsement of the Nazis and gas chamber jokes. As far as I can tell none of us are anti-semites or fascists.
>> So your Jewish friends are all laughing along with you at the gas chamber jokes?
Yes, and quite often they're the ones who started it. Furthermore, my (fellow) gay friends make more and harsher 'gay jokes' than my straight friends. But all in the right context.
And again, I'm describing the state of things, not promoting this kind of behavior.
>> edit: I was foolish enough to take the word of you and other posters regarding the wording of the initial WSJ article. In fact, the article does not say that PewDiePie is anti-semitic, and it mentions that he was "joking". So I really have no idea what you guys are complaining about.
I can't speak for other posters, but I was 'complaining' about this:
>> I'm not sure I really buy his explanation for this anyway. Sure, the various bits of Nazi propaganda that he puts in his videos are framed as being part of jokes, but why choose to put Nazi propaganda in your videos on several different occasions? He at least seems to have some kind of unhealthy obsession with it.
You argue that his behavior is not 'normal' (as in, the norm), and then proceed to question the truth of his statement, basically insinuating that he's actually a racist.
I merely wanted to point out that, 1) in my experience as a middle class white guy from Holland, this behavior is rampant and in fact quite 'normal' (as in 'the norm'), and 2) he panders to exactly the age group who is insensitive for its own sake (and dumb enough not to consider any consequences) and responds positively to these immature jokes.
I guess I was just bothered by the fact that people are judging his person instead of his behavior, when in context there's no need to jump to such conclusions, and when in a broader context such polarization doesn't seem the least bit productive to me.
(So just to be clear: my preferred world is one where not a single person is hurt in any way by another person's 'joke', and I'm doing my best to at least make that a reality in my own life.)
No, you started complaining that the WSJ accused PewDiePie of being anti-semitic before I made that comment.
>Yes, and quite often they're the ones who started it. Furthermore, my (fellow) gay friends make more and harsher 'gay jokes' than my straight friends. But all in the right context.
There isn't really a right context for straight people to make homophobic jokes.
It sounds like things are pretty fucked up in Holland, if your account is to believed. Thankfully they aren't quite as fucked up in the part of the world that WSJ journalists are familiar with, which maybe explains the disconnect between your reaction and theirs. I'm British (but have spent ~5 years living in the US), and can say that it's not normal for middle class white guys to make Holocaust jokes or homophobic jokes here either.
>So just to be clear: my preferred world is one where not a single person is hurt in any way by another person's 'joke', and I'm doing my best to at least make that a reality in my own life
So have you stopped making homophobic and anti-semitic jokes and stopped defending other people who do? Your comment is a bit ambiguous on this point.
So, to be clear: I absolutely agree that these issues are worth arguing over, and that we shouldn't ignore them, and it was good that you challenged me on that.
Besides, I judge these things on how successful they make me. If somehow false pewdiepie persecution affected me, maybe you could make me care.
No, you believe you are a richer man, because of the WSJ and the FT...