Society/Culture The whole YouTuber, Nazi jokes thing.

[Biggy_Boy]

The sponsors of his Twitter feed should dump him.

Or should the WSJ's sponsors dump them?
Or should the WSJ fire him?

 

[Chief]

Or should the WSJ's sponsors dump them?
Or should the WSJ fire him?

Did he publish that in a newspaper as part of his job?

 

[Jazny]

Did he publish that in a newspaper as part of his job?

Why does that matter? Do the WJS knowingly employ racists who use social media to make fun of minorities?

I found Ben Fritz to be way more offensive than Pewdiepie. Ben Fritz is a hypocrite who makes racist jokes, then tries to make other people seem like racists by taking them out of context.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Did he publish that in a newspaper as part of his job?

I would say for a journalist these days, public social media accounts are an extension of their professional persona. I doubt there'd be much leeway if PewdiePie were just making anti-Semitic jokes on his twitter. It's all in the public sphere.

Fritz took racial humour and tried to portray it as representative of an ideological position when it was clearly not the case. He promoted outrage toward something which clearly he has no problem with, given he enjoys making similar jokes himself, so he was only doing it to push a malicious agenda against a popular Youtuber.

If the problem with PewdiePie was that he was pushing Nazism in his videos, then regardless of whether he's doing this at his job or an another public platform like Twitter, Fritz should surely be placed under fire too, because he's doing the same things that PewdiePie was called a Nazi for. Much as an employer might fire an employee for making inflammatory remarks on Facebook or Twitter, then the WSJ, if it has any integrity, must fire this guy, because they took the position that what he has done on his twitter is wrong and against their ideological beliefs.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

The sponsors of his Twitter feed should dump him.

Because it's offensive or just because it's not very good?

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

I would say for a journalist these days, public social media accounts are an extension of their professional persona. I doubt there'd be much leeway if PewdiePie were just making anti-Semitic jokes on his twitter. It's all in the public sphere.

Fritz took racial humour and tried to portray it as representative of an ideological position when it was clearly not the case. He promoted outrage toward something which clearly he has no problem with, given he enjoys making similar jokes himself, so he was only doing it to push a malicious agenda against a popular Youtuber.

If the problem with PewdiePie was that he was pushing Nazism in his videos, then regardless of whether he's doing this at his job or an another public platform like Twitter, Fritz should surely be placed under fire too, because he's doing the same things that PewdiePie was called a Nazi for. Much as an employer might fire an employee for making inflammatory remarks on Facebook or Twitter, then the WSJ, if it has any integrity, must fire this guy, because they took the position that what he has done on his twitter is wrong and against their ideological beliefs.

I agree with this, Chief, from my understanding, journalists' Twitter accounts would be considered to be part of their job.

 

[Lethality]

It looks like the Mainstream Media are concerned about unrestricted independents taking over, and are doing everything they can to stop it. It reminds me a bit of earlier hit pieces that were done on video games, rock music, Harry Potter books, marijuana, etc. Can't have people thinking for themselves.

 

[Chief]

Why does that matter? Do the WJS knowingly employ racists who use social media to make fun of minorities?

I found Ben Fritz to be way more offensive than Pewdiepie. Ben Fritz is a hypocrite who makes racist jokes, then tries to make other people seem like racists by taking them out of context.

My child isn't subscribed to his Twitter feed.

His Twitter feed isn't sponsored by anyone.

Sorry but I can't really feel sorry for a bloke who makes millions of dollars from sponsors and then screws up royally.

He isn't making art or deep social commentary. His work is of no huge value to society. He isn't being silenced- he could easily take the money he has made so far and start his own site to distribute his videos. He can then say and do what he likes, making his own deals with advertisers.

 

[Underarm]

#StandByPewdiepie

The only people who are offended are people who don't watch his videos. He did the wrong thing with that sign on the fiverr video, it was a joke that went too far. But the whole point of it was that he was trying to show how far people will go for money, and the joke was he was blaming the offensive part on Keemstar, with the guys saying "subscribe to Keemstar" at the end. The other jokes were taken out of context. Lots of people make edgy jokes, that doesn't mean they endorse the things they joke about.

That doesn't make them less entitled to feel offended. He could have made the same gag about people doing anything for money in some other way.
Pewdiepie did the right thing by apologizing, But the Media was still right to report it, and Disney/Youtube right to drop him.
And you can't just write something off as an 'edgy' joke. That normalises it, and makes other people okay with repeating it.

But Pewdiepie will make millions from this feud.

 

[Testekill]

It's not the first time that he's gotten in s**t for making offensive jokes, he used to make rape jokes pretty often until Levi's dropped him. I don't think that Felix is a piece of s**t like some people who don't like him but I certainly think he should have been smarter instead of just attempting cheap shock humour and it's more on the ******* hugbox known as 'being a youtube personality' where any criticism of someone popular is seen as stabbing them in the back and attempting clickbait.

 

[Jazny]

My child isn't subscribed to his Twitter feed.

His Twitter feed isn't sponsored by anyone.

Sorry but I can't really feel sorry for a bloke who makes millions of dollars from sponsors and then screws up royally.

He isn't making art or deep social commentary. His work is of no huge value to society. He isn't being silenced- he could easily take the money he has made so far and start his own site to distribute his videos. He can then say and do what he likes, making his own deals with advertisers.

The sponsors are allowed to do whatever they want, but the WSJ made a deliberately deceptive video trying to portary him as an anti-semite without explaining the context of the jokes. Then the person who wrote it turned out to be a hypocrite. Ben Fritz should be fired and I have blocked the WSJ and went on a pewdiepie like spree

It is okay for comedians to make mistakes, he apologised, but journalists should be held to a higher standard than comedians.

 

[Testekill]

The click-baity title is an obvious joke but the video has merit.

Also worth noting

Kjellberg criticized a 2013 Variety story in his video, and the author wasn't having it. “But what really steams me is what PewDiePie neglected to share with the world in his video Thursday: Variety put PewDiePie on the cover in 2015 in an article that couldn’t have been more positive, hailing him as the leader of a new movement in entertainment," Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein wrote. “How come he didn’t complain then about the 2013 column when he agreed to pose for these pictures?

“For the past three years, Variety has devoted three cover stories to the influencer phenomenon precisely because it matters, and we were proud to be ahead of the curve,” he continued. “So forgive me for bristling when PewDiePie spouts, as he did today, ‘We have so much influence and such a large voice and I don’t think they understand it, and that’s why they take this approach.’”

The problem is that he’s stuck. Trying to frame criticism as a war with the media simply makes more news, which fuels his resentment at being asked to take responsibility for his content. A Twitter thread from popular writer Film Crit Hulk put it best.


THREAD RE: PEWDIEPIE - MAKING INANE "SHOCK" JOKES WILL JUST INEVITABLY PUSH YOU INTO BECOMING THAT ACTUAL HYPER-CONSERVATIVE JERK.

But rather than face yourself, other people’s sensitivity becomes the enemy. So the jokes get more extreme. So the consequences become more real too. Then you’re so embedded in your own war on sensitivity that you don’t realize you’ve joined a side. Sure, you don’t know what you stand for, it’s just all about them sweet sweet liberal tears. But soon the people who support you start making ‘sense’ because they see the same flaws in the people you hate that you do. And soon enough you become the very fascistic asshat you once could not relate to, but only made ‘jokes’ about.

Kjellberg has millions of supporters, but he’s finding himself in an uncomfortable place where having a connection to many of them is not a good look for him or his business. He’s being defended by people whose views he claims not to share, but they continue to follow him around like a swarm of gnats.

“Kjellberg had, either instinctively or intentionally, constructed a political identity as YouTube’s insider class-traitor, raging against a system that’s — trust him, but also he’s just joking, but he would know — totally rigged,” reads a recent article in The New York Times Magazine. “Now he is sketching out what a far more toxic YouTube politics of ressentiment might look like, under the threadbare cover of ironic bigotry, the recent history of which is worryingly instructive. In the meantime, the self-identified real racists are laughing along heartily, even as Kjellberg strenuously attempts to distance himself from them.”

It is likely that Kjellberg will respond to these criticisms by saying that The New York Times being jealous of his influence, but that’s a hard sell in 2017. Trump’s very publicly used that same move again and again to diminishing returns.

Kjellberg finds himself stuck in the same loop Trump fell into after Michael Flynn’s resignation: The situation is real, and the man resigned, but Trump argues that the news saying so is fake. Similarly, Kjellberg states his jokes were offensive, and he apologizes, but continues to blame the press for putting him in this current situation.

 

[Chief]

Ben Fritz should be fired and I have blocked the WSJ and went on a pewdiepie like spree

It is okay for comedians to make mistakes, he apologised, but journalists should be held to a higher standard than comedians.

Your personal choice at work. Good for you.

I have nothing against the guy, not knowing him at all. But I am glad this was drawn to my attention as I was still under the impression he did Let's Play videos.

 

[Cooldude]

When you don't have any wit or intelligence in you and your whole shtick is to scream, be loud and say shocking offensive things to attract 8 year olds, you probably deserve it when people pull you up on it. He isn't a Nazi, he's just a massive moron and the best representation of what youtube is about: cesspool of dickheads

By the sounds of it, alt righters/Neo Nazis have been warming to his jokes and even claiming he is one of them and got redpilled, when your comedy is making Neo Nazis think you're one of them, sympathy is zero

 

[Biggy_Boy]

When you don't have any wit or intelligence in you and your whole shtick is to scream, be loud and say shocking offensive things to attract 8 year olds, you probably deserve it when people pull you up on it. He isn't a Nazi, he's just a massive moron and the best representation of what youtube is about: cesspool of dickheads

By the sounds of it, alt righters/Neo Nazis have been warming to his jokes and even claiming he is one of them and got redpilled, when your comedy is making Neo Nazis think you're one of them, sympathy is zero

Is that what the articles were pulling him up on, though, his bad comedy? Or were they saying he was a racist for the bad jokes?

Are you saying that if someone makes bad comedy, then the appropriate way to portray them is a racist?

 

[Cooldude]

Is that what the articles were pulling him up on, though, his bad comedy? Or were they saying he was a racist for the bad jokes?

Are you saying that if someone makes bad comedy, then the appropriate way to portray them is a racist?

WSJ are disgusting but if you're gonna repeat that many Jews and Nazi jokes then don't cry when someone takes your shitty jokes outta context. Grow some funny bone and write better stuff

If you're gonna keep making comedy in bad taste then don't cry when someone reacts to it in the way you don't like, besides, that's precisely how he got famous: saying crazy things and get reactions, so diddums when you play with fire and got burnt

I said he isn't a racist last post already, but if your humour is making racists think you're one of them, you're doing something wrong

It's Disney we're talking about, do they want a guy who just endlessly makes Nazi jokes? He's better off going to s**t like HBO if that's the way he wants to go, but Disney wouldn't have it in their brand

 

[Testekill]

 

[Jazny]

WSJ are disgusting but if you're gonna repeat that many Jews and Nazi jokes then don't cry when someone takes your shitty jokes outta context. Grow some funny bone and write better stuff

You don't like his humour, so it is okay for the media to slander him?

 

[Cooldude]

You don't like his humour, so it is okay for the media to slander him?

Apart from the fact that it's literally not what I said

You part of the bro army?

 

[Jazny]

Apart from the fact that it's literally not what I said

You part of the bro army?

I watch his videos, I like his sense of humour most of the time. He is not even anything like the media have made out. It makes me wonder if the media are so bad at getting Pewdiepie's story right, what else do they get wrong? They are allowed to criticise his fiverr video, but the headlines and the way they took jokes from their context to make him seem anti-Jewish was so bad.

 

[Cooldude]

.

Ewww

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Why is it impossible?

People make jokes, satire and parody all the time that don't have anything to do with their actual standpoint. It's not impossible for people who are willing to look at things with some sense of reason and aren't looking for their weekly manufactured outrage target all the time.

I'm surprised South Park is still on the air with its 20 years of blatant anti-Semitism. Parker and Stone are literally Nazis.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

WSJ are disgusting but if you're gonna repeat that many Jews and Nazi jokes then don't cry when someone takes your shitty jokes outta context. Grow some funny bone and write better stuff

I think such blatant misrepresentation by a MSM outlet is much more abhorrent than a few shitty jokes. I don't think some bad humour from a guy on Youtube does as much damage as the much broader issue of the media's manipulation of the truth in order to drive a story.

If you're gonna keep making comedy in bad taste then don't cry when someone reacts to it in the way you don't like, besides, that's precisely how he got famous: saying crazy things and get reactions, so diddums when you play with fire and got burnt

There's a perfectly legitimate reason to be annoyed when someone completely represents the way something is being said. The WSJ writers aren't dumb; they can understand context. They chose to misrepresent parts of his videos on purpose to portray him a certain way. The criticism that "he should just make better jokes" really doesn't hold any weight. It's irrelevant.

I said he isn't a racist last post already, but if your humour is making racists think you're one of them, you're doing something wrong

After watching the videos in question, the idea that white supremacists thought the guy was on their side is pretty baffling to me. It seems that, on both sides of the spectrum, there are people jumping at any chance to find the extreme - the big-name Youtuber who's actually a Nazi. Doesn't really seem that's based in reality to me.

It's Disney we're talking about, do they want a guy who just endlessly makes Nazi jokes? He's better off going to s**t like HBO if that's the way he wants to go, but Disney wouldn't have it in their brand

Does he "endlessly" make them?

 

[LanceRomance]

It looks like the Mainstream Media are concerned about unrestricted independents taking over, and are doing everything they can to stop it. It reminds me a bit of earlier hit pieces that were done on video games, rock music, Harry Potter books, marijuana, etc. Can't have people thinking for themselves.

Chris Ray Gun suggested this in his latest video




Same goes with Milo. He isnt a Nazi or white supremacist but mainstream try to label him as that.

 

[Cooldude]

I think such blatant misrepresentation by a MSM outlet is much more abhorrent than a few shitty jokes. I don't think some bad humour from a guy on Youtube does as much damage as the much broader issue of the media's manipulation of the truth in order to drive a story.


There's a perfectly legitimate reason to be annoyed when someone completely represents the way something is being said. The WSJ writers aren't dumb; they can understand context. They chose to misrepresent parts of his videos on purpose to portray him a certain way. The criticism that "he should just make better jokes" really doesn't hold any weight. It's irrelevant.


After watching the videos in question, the idea that white supremacists thought the guy was on their side is pretty baffling to me. It seems that, on both sides of the spectrum, there are people jumping at any chance to find the extreme - the big-name Youtuber who's actually a Nazi. Doesn't really seem that's based in reality to me.


Does he "endlessly" make them?

Splitting quotes, someone is annoyed, bro army is even invading BF

More people watch Pewdiepie than people read WSJ, in fact WSJ is a shitty establishment and hardly anyone gives a s**t, trying to attribute responsibility proportionately either way is silly. Besides, pewdiepie's the last person in the world that should complain about other people using hyperbolic clickbait to get viewers/clicks, as far as I'm concern WSJ and pewdiepie having a mutual destruction would be the best outcome

I already said it, if you're gonna keep making tasteless shitty shock value over the top jokes then don't complain when someone overreacts in the way you don't want, pewdiepie wants reactions, yet when he gets one he doesn't like he cries victim. No sympathy whatsoever, like a kid playing with fire

Yes, because your interpretation and only yours should matter and should be relevant, anyone who sees it differently to you, even actual Neo Nazis who think pewdiepie is becoming one of them, is just "detached from reality". Maybe if there are so many people from the media to alt right Neo Nazis that are thinking his jokes are actual signs he's a Nazi, you should have a look at your own jokes and start writing better ones.

The guy ain't no stranger to controversy, he's like the Justin Bieber of youtube, as far as I'm concern good riddance