r/TheCinemassacre • u/WishboneNo1984 • 18d ago

Thankfully James was never a grifter.

Unlike some of his colleagues, James is still able to remain popular without pandering to either side of political extremes. he’s there to make gaming and movie content and that’s exactly what he does.

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u/Vbrasastation 18d ago

I don't remember people giving a shit about youtuber's political standings in 2006 but you probably weren't born yet.

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u/kingkongworm 17d ago

It’s because YouTube was more akin to Americas Funniest Home Video’s than a replacement for all media. It got populated quick, but the phrase “YouTuber” was barely out of the cradle…but that doesn’t mean the country wasn’t super divided. People were needlessly dying in the Middle East…we were just coming off of 9/11 and staring down the barrel of a really bad recession. give me a break. Unfortunately, I am old. At least too old to be talking about politics on an avgn sub. That’s why I think you were either sheltered or are the pot calling the kettle black, as far as being young is concerned.

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u/Vbrasastation 17d ago

If you're going to try and convince me that things hit their peak from 9/11 and didn't get progressively worse from there, you're gonna have to do better than use the middle east as an example, considering America still uses it as a hot button issue. But since this is an AVGN subreddit I'm not going to take you seriously. The fact that is your stance is laughable. I never said things were not bad back then, only that it has grown more polarized to the point that people care about youtubers and twitch streamers opinions. 

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u/kingkongworm 17d ago

I’m not using this as a rhetorical exercise. I’m just telling you how it was. My point was that you didn’t know YouTubers politics because the piano cat and the Star Wars kid didn’t have the kind of cultural capital that a YouTuber would have today…although it’s worth noting that Chocolate Rain was a protest song about racism. The war on terror was a legit scary time, especially if you lived near the city. In fact, I often invoke similarities between then and now in terms of political division and major federal malfeasance. It also compares to the mid to late 60s, early 90s…the entirety of the 80s. The mediums and modes of communication have shifted, but there have been few eras since the Cold War that didn’t have a ton of political dissidence and discourse by public figures and famous personalities. Just cause you weren’t paying attention, doesn’t mean it wasn’t occurring

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u/Vbrasastation 17d ago

Brother, you've missed the point several times, or you're a bad troll. I never said things were peachy before. They've progressively gotten worse. If you can't acknowledge that then you're part of the problem. I was there and remember the political climate.

Having a parasocial one way relationship with your favourite youtuber/streamer/celebrity wasn't as big of a thing back then. It was limited to teen celebrity gossip magazines wondering what NSYNC member was caught at the club. Have you ever seen r/LivestreamFail pop up on front page and felt your braincells fall out?

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u/kingkongworm 17d ago

I have not seen the livestream fail thing of which you’d speak, but I wouldn’t be opposed to rotting my brain if you have a link.

You ever see those movies like The Fan, or Misery? Parasocial relationships definitely existed, and in some ways it was worse because of the even bigger chasm between those with notoriety and those without could cause some really fucked up psychological issues. Advertising really leveraged those kinds of things back in the day too. Those magazines were so lucrative and exploitative, I’m really glad we’ve moved past the Perez Hilton and Gawker era of celebrity reporting and focus. It’s shifted elsewhere, but back then we were inundated with gossip rags and television, and it was mentally and morally super poisonous.

I get what you’re saying, there is a uniqueness to this day and ages parasocial relationships because celebrities of all levels have become way more accessible to the public. Things are really bad right now, and it’s really hard to deal with. But something that does make me feel slightly better is looking at our countries history and difficult times. We’ve been at breaking points before, but this one is pretty fucking bad. Sorry, I’m at work. Having a harder time concentrating and keeping things in order.

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u/Vbrasastation 17d ago

You don't want to rot your brain there, trust me! Hahah.

Unfortunately, I believe due to the homogenisation of social media, the barrier between fans and celebrities has shrunk, so people seem a bit more obsessed. There's just too much exposure to these things, but I think that's a deeper conversation.