This is a very confusing topic for many, and I'm quite happy with how well this article portrayed it. There's a lot of things people would agree with, or disagree with, but I think all would find it commendable on how for the most part there wasn't a rush to just blindly throw hate like ever other article. Instead, there was an analysis, and a fair judgement created, thank you for showing intellect, and making actually appreciated news media for a rare moment.
1
A well written article that, from my perspective, very accurately describes Pewdiepie. It's not the harsh, very biased articles that most of the media puts out but it also recognizes his flaws. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
2
There's a key sentence here: "Modern right-wing extremism is wrapped in so much irony that it’s hard to know what motivates any particular adherent." Unfortunately, this statement captures very well an "in-crowd" sense of anything goes: anti-political correctness as a daring form of rich ironic humor (and not, say, insecure adolescent sociopathy). I saw this cultural phenomenon metastasizing in the early 2000s in gamer and "hacker" communities, but it could be much older.
1
I talked to my fourteen year-old about PewDiePie and about the culture that his generation embraces. I expressed how it feels shallow, without merit, and bland—even when it is being cruel. My kid told me I was the one who had it wrong. He agreed that much of the content is nonsense but said a lot of things from my generation were nonsense too. He talked a lot about context and a lot about the history of memes. He said the rate of cultural change is drastically increasing, tied to the amount of information, connections, and bandwidth. He brought up the printing press, the telegraph, and steamships as examples of past cultural accelerators. He said the culture changes so fast that he feels distanced from kids two years younger. I can meet him halfway but I am steeped in my cultural era. I'd still rather watch Seinfeld than PewDiePie and that won't change anytime soon.
1
A lovely and beautiful thought: Imagine a world in which this character would spend a small fraction of his gain$ on getting an actual education, reading Great Books even perhap$. What a beautiful world it could be. He could actually make a lasting and positive contribution. He may actually even be bright enough, which quite remains to be seen. Let us prey.
Once again I ask this question (in yet another form so the censors can censor it, too): Who gives a R/A about this lame guy? Or what he thinks? Who?
Who?
He has an "army of bros," and uses misogynist (and racist) language "for the lulz." His alt-right supporters, who are all over YouTube, talk about his having been "redpilled" -- I.e. they narrate his passage to authentically right-wing views. He has invited Ben Shapiro on his show, and seemed to get along with him famously. His videos make fun of SJWs. Kevin Roose's article is misleading in stating that he has videos about the "gender wage gap" without reporting on the content of those videos: PewDiePie says that the gender wage gap doesn't exist. PewDiePie is not an "apolitical" centrist, "somewhere in between" right and left. His more recent views mock leftist positions, especially women, and align with right-wing positions.
2
Just partway into this article, I gave up in disgust. The fellow's pseudonym alone makes me retch. What has become of rationale discourse? Who are these clueless millions, and what on earth is the matter with them? As if the end of normal global climate isn't enough, we seem to be witnessing the end of people bothering to think one bit about what they are saying and doing.
2
The content PewDiePie produces is far less hateful than FOXs content. Only does Rupert Murdocs Empire Reach Billions worldwide. Now, why is it people complain about PewDiePie but are okay with Fox saying: "Nazis are very fine people"?
1
Really who cares? I took a brief look at one of his videos and was thoroughly unimpressed. This is the guy who has over a 100 million followers? Its clear to me that the vast majority of humanity has not evolved beyond the protozoa stage.
PewDiePie would never support such a thing, with all its size on youtube, it wouldn't be stupid to do something like that and if you said or did something like that, it's definitely a joke.
Wow
What I wine fest.
What could he have said after the Christchurch shooting in NZ?
What any sane person would. Express outrage and indicate that he wants nothing to do with people like that. Very easy
2
I think PieDiePie did not that with a bad inttention, he is a content creator, so, he needs to receive atention
I don't know if he's serious or not. But whatever his intentions may be, he has helped normalize hate speech, and this has had some pretty horrific real-world consequences.
9
A better question would be "Why would anyone beyond his friends and loved ones care what he believes?"
2
Wow. Sad really, that an immature self-absorbed guy who doesn't do anything of use has so many fans and makes so much money. In a just world this guy would need to go out and actually earn a living like most of the rest of us.
So glad I use You-tube mostly to find tips to do work on my house, car etc.. Can't imagine "following" an idiot like this, but then again, I'm "old" so what do I know?
5
What is the difference between him and any Musician, Actor or any other "Star" or "Idol"?
“I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary.” His jokes, he said, were “in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.”
Dear god how many times does this same tiresome excuse have to get trotted out, the cowardly retreat of bullies real and wannabe since time immemorial. It's always "just a joke." Until suddenly, it isn't.
10
He believes in giving himself a fun name.
Articles like this are not why I subscribe to the NYT.
3
Who cares?
1
Sad state when people's own lives are so hollowed out that they have to live vicariously by following a total zero 24/7. Vacuity personified, for the vacuous masses. Read a good book or watch a classic movie instead if you need an escape.
7
"In 1871, the Sunday Magazine published a line that may as well have been written today about texting. "Now we fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk over a real sheet of paper." And the Journal of Education in 1907 lamented that at a modern family gathering, silent around the fire, each individual has his head buried in his favorite magazine. The point is there's nothing new under the Sun. Not even the Sun, in fact. The Sun is believed to be a third generation star."
This quote is from a YouTube creator named "Vsauce" in a video titled "Juvenoia". I think it mostly speaks for itself. But to spell the point out in a little more detail: don't judge people for what they like until you understand it in its own context, and don't assume your taste is universal. I doubt anyone spends every free hour of their lives reading the Western canon and watching Hitchcock.
"A lot of internet culture exists in this frustrating quantum state — things are either total jokes or total nonjokes, depending on their context and your vantage point."
This is so true that it horrifies me.
3
It's pretty easy to explain. PewDiePie is the physical embodiment of everything that is sick and wrong and evil about the Internet cultures spawned by social media.
1
Au contraire it shows how dumbed down the US population is. If both Europeans and Americans watch his channel and only Americans commit violence in his name and only Americans see him as Far-right. He is not the issue the USA is. Fixing the school system is where one should start.
The day I become a Bro for a clever internet dolt is the day I need a lobotomy.
9
Amen!
So I take it for granted that you are a member of no political party, don't support any team in sports?
Felix may not want to get into politics, but when extreme right news outlets start adopting him as their hero, he has a responsibility as a large content creator to either directly speak out against that, or accept being tied to those politics
30
He does this already. He actually has a lot of videos where he speaks out against bad people who associate him with their beliefs. He also talks a lot about people (big names) who misjudges him and he tries to explain his true beliefs and values. The problem is, he only says these things in his videos. So the only people hearing this is his followers (who already knows him). The only thing "outsiders" see is the articles about him that highlights all his biggest mistakes and the few things they hear about him by word of mouth. People believe what they hear without actually knowing anything about a topic. Especially if its from big names. So he does actually speak out against these false accusations and associations, but his critics conveniently choose not to hear this. This is what you call: bias reporting; "selective revealing or suppression of information". Somehow I still allow myself to be surprised when big, well-acclaimed names can not do the simple task of doing their research - unprejudiced
2
I watched Kjellberg's channel for a while back in 2015 before all of this happened. As the article says, his channel is not political and I definitely didn't ever get the impression he actually believed anything right wing - he would just occasionally say something as a way to be edgy and shocking. Many other online video creators are the same and it's sort of understood that, in that sort of context, it doesn't reflect genuine beliefs.
Those statements are edgy, though, because they correspond to something real and horrible in the world. Unfortunately for Kjellberg, once you reach a certain level of fame you can't really keep these sort of performative provocations from spilling out into the real world. From what I've heard from him more recently (including this article), I think he's gotten a harsh education in the unintended consequences of those sorts of jokes and is trying to do better. Hopefully other online creators can learn from his experience moving forward.
18
And now, in order to be shocking and edgy enough, one has to really cross the line into poor taste. I remember hearing about a comedian named Soupy Sales who back in the 60's asked his kid fan base to go into their parents room and send him the pieces of green paper(money) they found there. I think he was banned from TV for this "joke". Just think what someone would have to do now to get banned from TV!
1
Interesting article. It's clear that the Fiverr joke crossed a line and some genuinely bad people liked his jokes for the wrong reasons.
That said, I do agree with Felix that many of his nazi jokes were taken out of context. Regarding the WSJ video compilation, one of the clips they included was explicitly mocking how mainstream media portrays him. The clip being included without acknowledging that irony does raise questions about their motives and credibility. In addition, considering nazi jokes are popular about many famous comedians like Sarah Silverman, Mel Brooks, South Park, and Sacha Baron Cohen (ex: Borat), I would argue his sense of humor is not even outside the norm.
In all honesty, the attempts to portray PewDiePie's edgy humor as "problematic" or even "dangerous" remind me of the moral panics from the 90's that attempted to establish a causal relationship between real world violence and metal/rap/video games (ex: DOOM). Given how certain news outlets expressed a similar moral panic with the new "Joker" movie and how it might "inspire" unstable white males and incels to commit horrific acts of violence, the parallels to seem apparent.
18
Kjellberg is very blond, very blue-eyed and very telegenic. His success has much to do with his particular looks: this is almost never talked about when the media writes about him. The growing conservationism in the Northern EU likes Kjellberg partly because of how pale and blond he is. Again almost never talked about in the media. Kjellberg is VERY wealthy. There is no good reason for him to continue doing what he does. Yet he continues anyway. I dont know how this will conclude for Kjellberg but he is playing with caustic political fire.
8
So now being too white is a thing. Ridiculous.
As bizarre now as Television that sparks wars. The internet was invented by the military is now superceeding Television in the generation of chaos and violence, perhaps by design. Such a man, perhaps an independent at the start is likely manipulated now. It happens to me but I know not to be manipulated. Like the "Wizard of Oz" released in 1939, even the director has a director.
I can simply add; Don't Die Pie.
3.14159265, and it is not infinite, only that we are limited.
I am a "bro". I have been subbed to pewds for like 3 years. This is a good piece except for the fact that the author didn't go deep in the "for the meme" culture. I am a part of it, and proud of it. It is a way just to have fun. About the nazi jokes, the people that actually watch the jokes, they understand that it is just a joke, that the people doing the joke has no connection with fascism, nazism, and the alt-right. I am an extremely leftist dude. I have no problem with pewds because I UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT. People talk about how pewds fanbase is toxic, but when there is 100 MILLION people, there will be some very bad people. The author talked how we could form the 17th largest country. In countries, there is crime and evil, bad people. There is also good people. If you look at the subreddit, most posts are about Minecraft or wholesome things like "pewds you are the only thing that helps me thro my day" or "felix you make me smile". The vast majority of "bros" are just a big HAPPY family. We all make mistakes, very bad ones. We love Felix because he makes us happy. We are STUPID, we are SILLY, we are dumb, WE ARE 9-YEAR-OLDS. we arent nazis (99.9percent of us). Overall, this piece was good. I liked it, could have been nicer to Felix, but it gets a BRO FIST. thanks Kevin Roose for good journalism, seeing both sides of the story, and providing context.
23
Never mind the rampant increase in anti-Semitism around the world, Felix, who makes fun of Jews all the time, means no harm.
To answer a previous point by someone else, Felix has no context to WWIi other than to laugh at Nazis. Mel Brooks has a connection, and he laughed at Nazis by making fun of Nazis, not of the Jews that the Nazis killed. So there's that.
7
Just a suggestion...
Get up, walk away from your computer, set your phone to silent mode, and go outside. Take a walk. Anywhere. For an hour. Look at the trees. Listen to the birds. Smile at people you don't know for no reason at all.
Get a life. Get a real life, not a virtual life. Connect with reality and real people. Be here now.
Just a suggestion, bro.
14
You don't consider the jokes to be hateful.
Other's think differently. Better to make jokes about yourself than others.
1
Please let me go on record as not caring in the slightest what Pew Die Pie believes. Right now, I think Winnie the Pooh is a more important figure in global culture.
8
This guy deserves all of the problems that come to him. About mid-way thru
his popular phase, I tried to watch a few of his videos. I'll tell you,
if you like vapid, meaningless, unseemly content delivered with the most
obnoxious demeanor possible, then this guy is for you. Like with the
president, I don't find his person or position disturbing so much as his mass
appeal.
9
I don't think he is obnoxious.
He just speaks English in a European accent.
It sounds obnoxious, even when it isn't.
I watch YT music videos, or look for technical advice there, but to be so immersed in the cyber world where fantasy and conspiracy and nonsense seem to be the mainstay content looks like such a waste of time.
I guess if I was 20 again it might be different, because if I was 20 and growing up in this world, I might just choose to escape to a fantasy place of juvenile silliness and intellectual emptiness.
All our problems...the gravity of our environmental and political and social situation..and 100 million people choose to focus on this post pubescent goofball.
7
PDP used to follow several fringe alt-right personalities on his personal twitter account until people found out. Last week, he was hanging out in the Twitch comment section of another far-right streamer who almost exclusively indulges in misogynist conspiracy theories. PDP isn't apolitical, he's a far right bigot who just likes money.
17
[citations needed]
6
This is especially telling because afaik he doesn't follow, or hang out with, left-leaning personalities. The writing is on the wall, it's about time the media did its job and documented this guy's connections to right-wing figures. There are simply too many incidences now for him to still play the "I'm apolitical and just interested in the lulz" card.
Same goes for Joe Rogan, who is the mouthbreather's version of Pewdiepie, and who can be seen in photos drinking and partying with far-right personalities, but somehow not with left-leaning personalities.
Source?
I scrolled through this article to see if it had any redeeming value. I wasn't able to find any reason why The New York Times should be paying attention to this person. The internet has its uses, then there's the vast cesspool of morons, jerks, attention-seekers, etc. Who are you trying to appeal to--12-year-olds?
2
I'm not sure why you don't get it. 100 million young people around the world follow this guy, that's a cultural phenomenon. His providing feul to the alt-right has is even greater concern. But I think A hit the nail right on the head.
11
Can youth culture possibly get more shallower?
4
I am a leader in Robotic Process Automation with an advanced degree from MIT. None of my colleagues at MIT, or my RPA colleagues, are white. This kid and his followers have no future, and the more hate they spew, the faster we will work to replace jobs with robots. When you are permanently umemployed and have no hope of employment, you will need to shut off Fox News and all these hate channels on YouTube. Yeah, the feeling is mutual.
> makes millions of dollars
> has no future
OK.
I hope your robots are better than your own logical thought processes.
BTW, I'm a bioengineer with the same degree as you and I'm not white either, just in case you want to play those cards as proof of, uh, something? Clearly nothing productive.
TBH, I'm almost 40 and I'm not this guy's target demo, myself. But you have to be pretty deluded to think he isn't influential or that this segment of the population on youtube isn't going to increase in size and importance. This "kid" and his followers are a part of the future, certainly more representative of it than GenXers with doctorates. I'm at least aware enough to realize that fact.
Moreover, your argument just makes no sense.
How is "hate" connected to increased automation? What, is your design team motivated by mean people on the internet?
And people will have to be less entertained when they're unemployed? Isn't it kind of the opposite? People will consume (and probably require) more entertainment the more free time they have, whether they want it or not?
I mean, I see dozens of nonsense posts a day, but the problem is that you kind of extol yourself as this great and intelligent STEM leader - and I like to pull that card myself sometimes - but then you follow it up with a post that makes no sense at all. You work in Process Automation, so I'm sure you know the phrase "junk in, junk out" and why I'm mentioning it.
8
Remember the Momo scare and hoax that was such an internet epiphenomenon? This latest loser is just another aspect of that bizarre tendency. Is it Fascism? Isn't every personality cult fascist at its core?
U.N. Secretary General, 1961, Sweden.
I know.
If you have millions of followers, then some extremists will obviously try to claim affiliation to promote their own ideas. This is a trap that most celebrities can be sucked into.
2
My niece and nephew wanted his book, This Book Loves you, at the time he was a rising Youtuber. It was funny, targeting a tween audience, so I thought. But like the top tier of those disconnected by immaturity, I think Kjellberg climbed to fast, gave a platform to those youth that are lost, and has still yet to mature fully. Even though he married CutiePie, he needs to leave YouTube and become a co-host with a professional, with a manager to filter his opinions. Otherwise, his self-humorous remarks will offend. Like most comedians, he is at the top, but so was Logan Paul. The internet, it does not forget. It does not forgive.
3