If you enjoy this topic, I had the pleasure of writing something similar for the independent magazine, Antifragile. Their fourth zine issue came out May 12th and is full of brilliant work by other artists, writers, and creatives. You can find my article, The Panopti-Con Artist, within this issue! www.antifragilezine.com/shop/p/antifragile-issue-four-anachronism p.s., sorry about the audio in this one :( and no, i'm not actually playing the piano. who do u think i am? the talented and beautiful ContraPoints?
Hey @ 13:35 you said you are fighting for your life... Dunno if you meant that literally or figuratively, but either way I hope you get the rest & care you deserve. Rooting for you.
I used to be a middle school teacher, and this hits me in a weird way. Not that I was a famous celebrity or something, but I learned very early in my career that parents will start intruding into your personal life and using that as leverage against you, to a point where your career depends on having a reputable public image (i.e. not drinking in public places, not being gay in public [I got fired once for being gay in public... this was back in 2015 somewhere in a very Catholic place], not having public social media accounts, etc). Long story short, it got old real fast, and thus I avandoned what I thought was my calling. Oh, and we're underpaid ... so underpaid. 😢
I want to be a high school teacher because I know as a kid who struggled really hard that what helped me from breaking was the friends, teachers, and counselors that I had in high school. But I just can't with parents. They're so belligerent and entitled and I don't want to deal with the stress of it to the point that I'm just going to teach higher education. It sucks. I want to help kids but parents are too insufferable.
This is exactly why I'm leaving teaching. I love it but as someone who dresses alternative, I don't want to stop doing what I like because parents don't like it.
the most annoying thing about the state we're in, is that all of us are so used to being an image, we monitor things like our own journals. And I'm not even talking about people that have a following online or celebrities, it has come to a point where all of us are performing a version of ourselves for a hypothetical viewer.
Never felt so called out by a random comment on the internet since I really go through phases where I refuse to write my own thoughts down ... partly because I don't want to be certain things to be seen by anyone - even myself. Gotta think real hard about this
This rings so true for me. My mom used to journal a lot and I find myself thinking about whether I would read them when she passes. She probably wouldn't mind, having shared pages with me in the past, but when I think about future generations reading my journal it makes me not want to journal at all. I rarely ever think to write when things are going well, the journals I have feel like a record of my lowest moments.
very true. i get weird about writing down my true uncensored thoughts because i have a fear of someone finding it and it altering their perception of me. which isn’t completely unfounded as I live with other people and my survival kind of depends on my projected image. unfortunately it’s just something most of us have to do to wade through society unbothered. i’m completely honest to myself and about my projected fakeness, i don’t delude myself about any of it. i find that as long as i’m at least true to myself i’m okay with doing what i gotta do
A few weeks ago, I remember seeing a post about how Jenna Ortega said she had a hard time filming Wednesday because she was chronically overworked and getting like no sleep. And SO many people's responses were "boo hoo, miss millions of dollars slept a little less for a few days, how tragic"..... and it kinda just feels like capitalism won in a way. Like, people have officially let themselves become so very bitter over money that we forget that we're all just HUMANS. And I get it of course, the wealth inequality in the world is STAGGERING and seeing someone who is wealthy share their struggles can definitely feel cheap. But the problem isn't that they're wealthy and have the audacity to complain about their job publicly, but the systems that keep that gap wide open. It's just kinda disheartening to see how awfully people treat others and celebrities online for, oftentimes, NO reason. Edit for grammar
i agree and it's also very hipocritical of people to do that, a lor of people complain constantly about their jobs, but no one is telling them that they should quit complaining because they are poeplw dying from hunger in underdevelop countries
@@andresboehmwald9171yeah but they are making 12.50 an hour, no average person would utter any complaints for the chance to make that money, so of course we don’t give a fuck, they are out of touch, they should talk about it to their family and therapists, not their fans
It's the paradox of wanting to connect with celebrities (or people in general), but getting mad when they share something that creates a crack in their perfect image I imagine this is, like shanspeare said, cause many of us have, at some point, in some way, fantasized about being famous. And being famous not being 100% perfect or a breeze, makes us feel stupid for getting drawn in by those fantasies. And we then deflect our frustrations onto the people that live those fantasies, good and bad aspects included. And because these people are purposefully kept unrelatable in some sense, we don't very often stop to wonder about the fairness of it. And even when we do, we often once again deflect the negative emotions to a different person Honestly, I think a big part of it is our lack of knowledge and experience processing and regulating our emotions in healthy ways
@Anabel there’s always going to be someone with a worse living situation than you, do you believe you should never be able to rant or express your feelings when you’re tired because someone else might be even less happy? Because by that logic, I hope YOU never ever talk about hardships you face, because umm hello what about all those people in even worse living conditions?
On the lack of human to human relationships in favor of object to object relationships, I cannot help but think of the way we treat houseless people and addicts as the most disgusting objects imaginable rather than people living with the least amount of material resources and human support.
I feel like it represents how we've chosen to treat ourselves. As Shanspeare said, we've grown as a society from being completely connected to each other as humans to now treating others and ourselves as brands. And brands are not supposed to feel or even react...
I remember listening to an npr interview with the man whom was in charge of booking for the tonight show, when asked what working with celebrities was like. He said 'we treat these people like animals in the zoo but we pay them enough for it, don't we?' It really stuck with me
The way comments can be on social media is so dystopian to me sometimes. It's like people are thrilled to be able to dehumanize others in a sick race of panopticon perfection, and the branding we feel we need to do to avoid the mob is dehumanizing in itself, but it's like we HAVE to do it
i had to delete tik tok for this very reason. i no longer read ig comments and im working on it with facebook. people are so happy to be able to anonymously be rude, it’s sad and it will be the end of us.
I was honestly thinking how incredibly invasive being a celeb or having an online presence must be. From people feeling entitled to every decision or feeling you have to even just nitpicking your every move. I appreciate all your videos/hard work/takes and hope your personal time offline is doing well! ♥️
fr! i get irritated when my own family or the occasional random person "feedback" i didn't ask for ...i can't imagine everything i do being up for critique all the time.
as someone who is into kpop i have seen so many extremely concerning things, one of them being when people decide to "relationship" or sexuality analyses of specific kpop idols. It thoroughly upsets me that anyone feels entitled to speculating about something as personal as that - I'm not even saying "assume they're straight", just dont touch their sexuality when it comes to topics of discussion!! why are you making an essay on a strangers assumed attraction preferences??
Girl you have something - educated, critical, witty, analytical, humour, it all. I only watch a handful of these type of channels and you deliver it all in the way I like it delivered x you got something magical, captivating and yet down to earth. Love your channel - thank you im for all your effort
LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS! one of my first video essays like 8 years ago was about the nature of celebrity in relation to the tragic hero of ancient texts - that they both fullfil a similar role for an audience - but that audiences are ironically more likely to analyse and respect the humanity of the fictional character than perceive real celebrities with complexity - and honestly it might have just gotten worse since then,
I experienced the self commodifying issue a lot working as an artist. My wording I tell people is "it feels like my art doesn't belong to me anymore, it belongs to the public." Even "personal pieces" done "just for me" were littered by the standards of "will my followers like this?" and ultimately I've stepped back from art to reclaim it so I can have that part of myself belong to me again.
I feel this well not as a professional artist really but I started posting on social media and I felt like really obsessed with fitting into the standards of social media which sort of defeated the whole purpose I guess? I purely keep art to myself now and I feel much better, I'd rather be a spectator to the art community! I hope you have fun in reclaiming your art again :)
@@straberryshinigami15g97 If I was to give it a go again, and this idea may be considering as you do art as a business, is having a specific medium or style you dedicate to business, so you still have art that you don't associate with work.
You put how I feel into words perfectly. I haven't touched music in over a year and it is because it's not for me anymore. I create because I feel as though I have to, the algorithms reward certain schedules and punish others. I get dms from fans periodically asking me to post and it feels strange
" Being famous as a child in poverty felt like a magic fix , or at least a fantasy to get you through a night of hunger . " I think this might've been one of the hardest hitting lines i've ever heard you utter . I feel that on such a spiritual level . I can almost imagine vividly every moment in my childhood where this rings true .
i listened to this one while cleaning the house ^^ a celebrity that i started to really like before the last of us came out was pedro pascal, but once it did and he BOOMED in fame he was so oversexualized- every interview would be calling him ‘daddy,’ and that’s fun and stuff but… there’s a limit. it’s gotten terribly uncomfortable. and this applies to so many other celebrities but he was the one i thought of most. just another way celebrities are objectified and not human (: great video as always!!
Very that! I went to a concert yesterday-Mother’s Day-and people used that excuse to yell “Mommy!!” at the (young! Mid-20s!) performer who had to repeatedly tell people to shush so she could talk. Obviously it can be cute and fun as a meme, but it very quickly gets gross when it’s taken too far or done in real life
one of my favorite activities is playing video essays or analysis in the background while i'm doing chores, but i've noticed that i can't even do that with your videos because the visuals are such an integral part of the whole experience- i end up scrambling back to my laptop to go 15 seconds back every five mins to see what the newest costume/background change was. you are among those few high-production, high-quality video-essayist gods who make me want to keep using this godforsaken platform. hope you are doing well!
This. I put this on so I could have something to listen to while crocheting and I had to put my project down within the first few minutes bc that intro was so captivating
This made me think about Chester bennington from Linkin Park, some of their songs had really sad lyrics about how miserable they were.. and then he actually took his life in 2017. It’s awful how much he suffered silently
FWIW he didn't suffer silently. He had dealt with suicidal ideation for most of his life. He had treatments. His friends and family were aware. Depression always involves an element of silent suffering, but he did have access to all the treatment and family supports feasible. Sometimes that's just not enough.
I was apart of the ARMY for a while. I loved looking for the scarce photos and interviews of the boys. But amid a dating scandal, I was horrified at how some of Army was. Especially as a part as the problem. It’s terrifying how invasive fans can be. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that. ALSO LOVE YOUR CONTENT!!
As a current ARMY, I get it, im not even on any bad side of the fandom and people are wild. As one recent twitter quote put it "as long as I get bangers, i don't care who they're banging" 😅
The best lesson I’ve ever taught myself/learned can be summed up as “I’m allowed to be ugly.” The idea has given me permission to transition, to dress comfortably, to stim/be visibly autistic, to just exist as myself. I had a breakdown that this past year that lead to me detransitioning for nine months and trying to dress hyper feminine because I thought then people would actually love me. I got lots of compliments, but it was all a character. I saw myself as a doll, a corpse in a skirt and lip gloss being thrust around like a marionette to entertain everyone around me. I believed I was just flesh and bone. If I wore a baggy t shirt rather than a dress, my parents still looked at me with disgust even with a full face of makeup on. Any less than full commitment was a failure. I learned to embrace their disgust. Humans are just animals, of course we can be disgusting. But just like any other animal, we’re unique, loving, funny, emotional, and sensitive. I might be ugly to some people, but I’m alive now.
Wahh.. that's rlly amazing and brave of you. Thanks for sharing. And you're right- we're animals at the end of the day with all of our disgusting, uncanny and beautiful sides~~
I think cameras have always induced dehumanization. When a screen is put in front of you, it feels as if there is no choice but to satisfy those who will come to see the footage of you. To us, a camera represents thousands of eyes, of which our eyes are the most important. We hyper-analyze every little detail, brutally criticize our words; why? the camera metamorphoses human experience into human performance, something which can be consumed. Celebrities exist in a hellscape of constant performance management, leaving them devoid of so many aspects of the human experience they are entitled to and we have stripped them of.
I love watching your vid’s while I work on my art and words cannot express how HYPE I was when I turned my computer on and was graced with an hour long vid. Thank youuuu for existing and being so freaking smart and insightful ❤
There is a bit of a difference between a celebrity that became a celebrity because they were simply doing the thing that they had a passion for, and someone who became a celebrity because they wanted to be a celebrity and created a persona that ticked off all the boxes that our society wants a celebrity to have. Yet they all get lumped into the same stew when everyone is told now that success in the arts is practically impossible if you don't play the social media game -- and that is a very thin tightrope to walk successfully.
That’s true. I would add though that celebrities tend to *not* be picked at random. Going Greg Jenner’s definition of “celebrity” that distinguishes it from mere fame, renown, or infamy, celebrities actively want and try to maintain the parasocial relationship they have with the public. Also the whole nepotism baby discourse proves a huge amount of celebrities are merely the children or relatives of already rich, wealthy, powerful folks. So I’d say most celebrities are likely people who sought it out and then maybe have reservation or mixed feelings about it later. One saving grace for them though is that there are cases when you can dramatically scale back your public life. Look at Rick Moranis or, for different reasons, e-celeb, Jenna Marbles. Despite this video, which I feel overly portrays celebs as victims of capitalism, the reason I think most try to stay in the public eye is because…it makes them more money. After all, they have hair, makeup, clothing lines, albums, movies, sporting events, and shows to sell.
I don't even have a yt channel or tiktok, but I still find myself "branding" myself in the fandom spaces I exist in. I worry if people see me liking unpopular stuff (especially with this new purity culture), my work will get ignored or attacked. So I self censor while also mentally separating myself from my online persona, even if it's not all that different from me offline. Great video Shan!
makes a lot of sense. Makes me think about how people have been led to migrate from being citizens to being consumers... some people can only mobilize when it's about what they consume, but struggle when it's to fight for their rights
Really wish this video came out before my Frankenstein paper final be abuse oh my God??? So much depth in this argument. Especially when you consider that the creature destroyed Victor's life. This self commodicated version we force ourselves into ruins our perceptions of ourself and creates a poor mental health. Which in turn destroys the relationships in our lives. Also I love all the shots, the concept behind the outfits and scenes. It's actual divine television 😭
Great video! It reminds me also of Simone de Beauvoir's concept of women's self-alienation, when patriarchal society captivates women (especially 'pretty' ones) in the cage of narcissism impoverishing their inner true selves.
fascinating. as someone whose main social media presence is making youtube comments, I have mostly kept from this mindset of self promotion by consequence of not making too large a distinction between in person and digital spaces filled with people. I am very shy and expressing myself in a space with a lot of people is difficult, a lot of social media feels like being in a large crowded space and i feel way to anxious to make myself known. Over the years I have gotten comfortable with comments on youtube and have made forays into replies on twitter. However, actually posting something myself is rare. Like I think the last thing i posted was a picture of a cake I baked referencing a cake in a game I had recently played, this was probably last year, or whenever exactly Butterfly Soup 2 came out.
reminds me of the movie pearl and how she says "please god make me the biggest star that ever lived so i can go far far away from this place" referring to her living condition
Yess i feel like a lot of ppls problems derive from wanting security & community, its can be expressed in so many different ways but those r always wut it boils down to
i don't really know how to say what i'm thinking, but this video just... hit me in just the right spot. i always knew there was something off about our society's treatment of celebrities, but i could never quite put my finger on what it was--i always knew it went deeper than paparazzi, but i couldn't see the commodification so clearly until now. worse yet, as you pointed out, now EVERYONE is putting up with a TON of self-imposed "paparazzi" on social media, but unlike celebrities this, for most, does not result in any reward whatsoever. not to mention the fact that just about everyone is guilty of spending hours consuming other people's lives and letting their own melt away. it literally makes me sick when i start thinking about how human experience has become a faded wall with strips of mismatched wallpaper haphazardly glued over it, and before you can even complain the wallpaper company tells you that you shouldn't repaint the wall, you should just buy more wallpaper.
This is an excellent analysis. Im going to be chairing a polemic discussion soon titled "everything i know about the kardashians i learned against my will: a polemic on the intrusive nature of celebrity culture" and I wish i could set this essay as mandatory viewing for those taking part. Alas they are all retirees and im not sure they all know what youtube is...
Ariana's song Fake Smile fits all this into 4 minutes, especially the parts where she repeats how grateful she is for her work, but still says how being so visible sucks. It's possible to ethically stan. I listen to Ariana Grande on repeat sometimes, but I'm never gonna get in her comments saying weird stuff or unsolicited opinions. Hell I don't even comment to say I'm a fan.
I work as a dancer and ive gone on tour before . I understand why so many people don't survive fame and tours ✋💀👀 its REALLY mentally taxing to be on tour all your life. But that is the way, that people actually monetize the music and dancing so you have to do it. I think Post Malone, is the person who worries me most. I think a lot of his drug issues would improve if he could just stay home and have a more normal lifestyle 🏡 🤔 Touring is so hard on your body, mind, and relationship as a band/cast. You get to a point, where your physically exhausted from performing for 6 -7 days a week and no sleep, so you just do what you can to get through it. Even if youre a pretty stable person, touring makes people crack 💀✋
@@cxri9454 i did stop touring, I tour once or twice a year and teach more now because I couldn't do it 24/7 🤷♂️😪 It does get old, sleeping 4 to a room, washing my tights in the bathtub and eating on the road. I can only imagine that stress + being the headliner
You can definitely ethically stan. Musicians, artists, TH-camrs like Shan, actors; they are still laborers, whether they make millions or not. They have to perform or produce. They aren't like a CEO who just sits in an office and makes most of their money off of other's labor, they make most of their money off of their own labor (and I said most because some musicians, for example, have makeup artists, stylists, etc that help them. But it's their labor in creating music that still makes them a laborer) Another comment elsewhere said that it feels like capitalism has won because of how we just don't see others as human. I'm so sad to say I feel the same and a little hopeless that it'll ever change. 😞
When you think about, for most of human evolution it was normal to be known by most of your community, and a reasonable goal to want most of them to like you. Maybe part of the hunger for fame (and consumption of celebrities) is in an attempt to reach the same level of connection in our modern online world as our ancestors might have experienced living in a small closed community.
@@empyrea_2546Capitalism is at least one big reason some people today don't just want to be known by their community, but as many people as they can turn into fans as possible. Celebrities are capitalists who turn mere fame into an ongoing parasocial relationship with the public for profit.
Most people would be satisfied with some friends, a family of sorts, and a greater community of peers who appreciate them for who they are and what they contribute to the their lives. That's was enough for most folks for most of history. This need to want world wide celebrity, adoring following, and fandom is a relatively newer invention and, I'd argue, partly a capitalist desire. But a big reason we supposedly “need” these Great People™️ rise above the rest, is precisely because folks with a lot of power, wealth, and status made society *wildly* unequal and messed it up.
@@issiadiii2167 Appreciating what someone did or said is more than fine. "Stanning" I specifically think is fundamentally wrong, as in getting gaga-eyed about someone to the point of defending them to no end, being worshipful of them, shutting down or minimize criticism of them, because of your idolizing, etc. Not saying it would be an easy change to get people to reduce doing this. But that's definitely the ethic a better society should be striving for. But I don't think you can ethically be a celebrity or want someone to be a celebrity. I've read same the book, "Dead Famous" that this video maker read, it's in the very definition of celebrity that they're capitalist and I'm anti-capitalist. I don't want there to be some elite social class of folks. I do think, people having different levels of reknown, recognition, or even a level of non-celebrity-like fame/infamy will exist though.
Right? Like it’s probably a basic need we all want some recognition for what we’ve contribute to the people around us in life. But it’s a whole other thing to *worship* someone who did a thing you liked. And don’t get me wrong, celebs usually want the worship and some level of near obsession with their work. Like they obviously make money the more of it you buy. But I like to say celebrity is just fame + mass media parasociality + capitalism.
This is by far my favorite channel on TH-cam. The cinematic quality? The compassionate look at various perspectives? The attention-to-detail? The addition of humor? Everything about this makes my video essay heart ecstatic. Thank you for the obvious effort and care you put into every video!!
I’m surprised you didn’t mention how Debord himself talked about celebrities in SOTS. He made a fascinating point that I think would have gone amazingly with this video: celebrities are held up by society as the “ideal” of “regular” Humans that all the everyday proles should look up to. It’s selling people a potential image of themselves if only they play by the Capitalist system’s rules. It’s telling us “If you work hard and be a good worker drone, you too can be famous! Look at [insert formerly poor celebrity here]! If they can get out of poverty into a life of wealth and fame, surely you can too! It’s all a grift by the bourgeoisie to delude us into thinking the system is good and if only we work hard we can become celebrities too.
Yeah, all celebrities on some level are: 1) Capitalists, at a pretty high level, whose product is ultimately themselves not just whatever project or product they are selling to the public. They're people as brands. And often invested in real estate, ownership on companies, or they're literally CEOs, not simply workers. 2) Their origin stories are seeped in capitalist bootstrap mythology about “success”, even in the cases when they’re nepo babies. And they perpetuate that mythology to regular folks, but being a celebrity ain't gonna save us.
Maybe off topic, but I just wanted to say I love the effect your videos have on my brain. Your expressions, your voice, your style are all so inspiring and I can't help but feel like painting when I watch/listen to you.
Stuff like this has been on my mind a lot lately. I don't think it started with the internet but it does seem to have amplified a problem I see a lot. When talking about things like old TH-cam or how celebrities used to be, a lot of people say they miss when creators were "human" or "authentic." As if we're owed seeing someone's true self when they are forced into the role of a performer. As if we're owed knowledge of their life.
Actually, the thing with the old internet is that people posted whatever they wanted without the idea of garnering an audience or making profit (which is not wrong anyway, but it is not the same). Now if you wanna talk about a certain topic it seems like it needs to be trendy or relevant enough, not just for fun, because content is more like a product that must be consumable. For example, a couple of days ago some of my friends commented that they wanted to start a TikTok acocunt to do interviews. Nonetheless, one of them asserted that they needed a logo, a brand, good editing and... God, you're just getting started in this for fun, it doesn't matter if you cannot compete with other accounts right now ._.
To be honest this might be in more relation to how social media has become a commodity for corporations and individuals. When the web was first created it was a lot less centralised with not just social media giants such as instagram tiktok twitter dominating the web. It was much easier for just the most random people to upload some shitty quality content for any reason - though nowadays there's a few big creators and some smaller ones but yeah not like the old web. Capitalism and corporations have effectively made internet users commodities as well through getting information from users through third parties and all that as well, privacy isn't a thing anymore for either the user or the creator. Something to think on.
@@ShinySobbleYou’re right. Acting like culture just explains this is naive and punching down. We have an entire economic system and giant corporations who need us to create content for them to thrive. Going “kids these days are mean for wanting ‘authentic’ expression” is a really limited way to think about it. Google/their algorithm *want* content to be created the way they want. They incentivize it.
@mariaclaudiamendoza9150 @ShinySobble @claquilino I forget that I just shouldn't comment on youtube videos because people will respond and miss the entire point. It's not punching down to critique and take issue with a culture of millions of people from all over the world. I'm one f*cking person, shouting into a void. Corporations aren't blameless when it comes to the way internet content creators are treated but neither is the masses. After all, corporate higher-ups wouldn't feel the need to capitalize on TH-cam and other platforms if there wasn't a consumer base for it. The original post was a response to 1:02:33. I feel like people use the term "authentic" a lot when describing celebrities and influencers that they like and don't like, when in all reality, what they mean is that their content is inoffensive and is catered to their taste. Don't act like there aren't still people with 5 subscribers posting whatever they want. Part of the problem is that when people like that get big, audiences expect those people to work for them, essentially. After all, they're the ones signaling to the big companies that your content is worth their time. It's entitled and there isn't one sole bad guy in this scenario.
I read your comment as punching down because, on its face, it simply blamed that messed up dynamic between people on a pedastal and their followers as being the fault of the followers. I can't know what your thoughts were beyond that. I pushback on it because that sentiment is the view a lot of folks have, where they don't even *notice* the part where often the folks on the pedastal actively *want* to build a mass following, fandom, or stan type parasocial relationship with their audience and they have a profit/social motives to do so. It's just taken as a given that that's a relationship people should want, it's good, and there's nothing wrong with pursuing it, where they poorly anticipated the drawbacks to themselves and others. But not only does the fault for the messed-uppedness go both ways and involved greater societal forces, it's inherent to it. And the dynamics get worse as you go up the scale from starting to be known to public figure to famous to outright celebrity. And it's exactly why I don't want any of that and think it's bad. Frankly, a lot folks on pedestals seem to want all the inherent benefits of the relationship with none of the inherent drawbacks and take zero responsibility for the fact that they pursued the very situation they're in and they just punch down at their following.
I'm about halfway through the video but I just want to say that like I would really recommend the 70s scifi short story, the Girl Who Was Plugged In by Alice Bradley Sheldon, published under her most well-known pseudonym, James Tiptree Jr. It is an excellent look on the nature of manufactured celebrity and identity. Like all of the content warnings on that but I would highly recommend.
somehow - a video about the terrifyingly dystopian and unbelievably sad fate of the world as we currently live it- was incredibly enjoyable. I felt all the types of emotions a person could feel, but it flowed so nicely in a way that made me calmly assess my own opinions on the topics. That being said I’ll have to come back to this video. It’s so deep, convoluted, complex, and artistically wonderful. I don’t know, it’s incredible. It needs to be watched again so I can put it all into words a little more clearly. All that being said,,, Thank you for sharing this and being so inspiring. Thank you❤️
watching this a couple days after Chapelle Roan spoke up about the way her fans are intrusive and don't see her as a person + harass her and stalk her family feels so oddly fitting...
it is incredible to me how your sense of production, costuming, set design, and music seems to upgrade every single time you post a new essay??? youtube is really for the jack of all trades god damn shan. you go!!!!
So maybe I’m tripping but this made me think that celebrities are viewed similarly to parents. Like our parents are human but because they had so much agency over our lives we expect nothing less then the best and tend to focus in on what was done wrong instead or right. With celebrities/CEOs ex with lots of money, we know that these people still have a lot of power over our lives even if we don’t know them as people. Like how big companies make all this wast and it effects everyone or how celebrities or brands have the power to change how we view the world in bigger ways then ether everyday joe. We see them as the leaders and therefor need to be the best of us.
This is really interesting! It reminds me of when some people on social media refer to certain celebrities as ‘Mum and Dad’ after they do something we’d perceive to be exceptional/aspirational.
Your video essays make me feel less alone as a critical thinker/ observer of the world. Thank you for sharing your perspectives, always so interesting and crazy good editing. A+ infotainment!
I think abt this a lot! And the effect it has on dating. Ppl will reject themselves automatically just based off a person’s image, and it makes me sad cz I’m never judging them as hard as they do themselves.. ppls anxiety often get the best of them and they miss out on opportunities big and small (career wise too)
Oh dear, this video hit a lot of sensitive spots for me, especially at the end when you were talking about genuineness. As someone who got popular on tiktok/twitch when I was literally only 17 (and a bit mentally hindered from the pandemic and incredibly neurodivergent) I had no idea what was appropriate and inappropriate to share and act socially, and it made me a pretty good target for the kind of bullying you described in the video because I didn't understand that presentation. I think it gets into interesting territory with content creators, as not all of us make enough money to go on prolonged breaks for our mental health regarding this visibility,. It creates a weird trap, where yes of course you are grateful for your ability to create art and make enough to feed yourself, but you are also pushing yourself to keep going and as a result are gaining more visibility you need that break from. I once tried to talk to my friend about this, and I came to this strange realization that especially nowadays, I don't feel like I can do anything without being perceived, like every word from my mouth must be thought over ten times over because in the past when I let any vulnerabilities slip it was used against me. It is a response to both the general and specific experiences I've had. Whatever I create is a product, but so am I, the maker. Anyways Shan, I absolutely adore your videos and your writing, and will be recommending this one to plenty of my friends. Wishing you the best!
It might be something to do with my autism, I can't bring myself to socially mask or be fake to people in public. Just everything about it feels icky and one of the few things I live for is seeing the bizarre social interactions I see and get at school everyday. Everyday there's a possibility of me dying, so why live my last in a facade?
@@carolinaa.4407 Npc is a term originating from video games that stands for "non playable character", and in internet slang it means someone with no personality
@@nyancat.123 Also relevant is that the term NPC for a real person is heavily used by 4chan types and the Alt Right, it carries unpleasant connotations. Willingness to dismiss another person as an unthinking thing instead of a human being is a very dangerous slippery slope.
I always thought of celebrities as characters and everything they do is an episode or performance. At first I started feeling bad for ignoring their humanity but this video made me realize that their public persona is not real; it’s just a carefully orchestrated facade.
I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t know these people intimately and what I see of them is either a very curated image made up by them, their team or the media. That being said, there is still a person underneath all of that fuss. Do I know that person? No. But I can at least give them the dignity of humanity. Then again, I’m also not the type to even have a Twitter or Instagram, let alone harass a celebrity about every little thing that they do.
@@user-lp2he1md6i well I don’t feel bad because one, their persona is not the real person, it’s a caricature. And two, I don’t know them from a can of paint or interact with them, i just observe what’s happening and it looks like a big show.
One thing that may help is just to realize that they are just doing their work, seeing them as working people, and then you consome their work and you go with your. Is like when you go to the market buy something and then the go to the cashier paid for what you bought, and that it's, you probably won't ask her how her life is going because you don't know and she just doing her work. It's kinda the same with celebritiesm
We should all know this, but now many celebrities market themselves as being "authentic and real", and the public eats this up because that's what everybody is saying they want. So what is performance and what is real has become blurred big time. Many of these celebrities are only as big as they are because people think that is who they are.
mam, you're on your way to become my favourite commentary channel. every sentence is worth listening, i always rewind when i miss a part and have never regretted it! it's either super interesting or hilarious
okay just finished this vid, it’s kinda funny that u got a weird comment about production quality, bc in this video alone it’s so good !! (the scene changes, ur diff outfits all slay!) but i agree w everything u said, i feel like we have such a weird parasocial and toxic relationship to social media and cellphones as well. i feel like it’s kind of ironic to complain about it on the internet, but idk lol. “go touch grass” is a meme now, but i feel like the internet would genuinely be a better place if everyone logged off for at least 5 minutes a day n spent time in nature. humans aren’t meant to stare at a screen all day! lol but that’s my soapbox thing 😜 idk if u have any videos already on the positive impacts of nature on people, but that would be a cool topic that i would love to hear ur thoughts on! i also love how in-depth u go w all ur vids & having ur works cited at the end and everything (i just discovered u so i’ve only seen like 3 lol but i’ve been super impressed by all of them!) i love when youtubers do that, it satisfies my inner nerd lol. i hope ur having a gr8 day !! :)
I don't know why, I always have the impression that celebrities are so in their own level they can " Take care " of everything ,to me they are aware of everything including their state of mind , their fame , their psych, their mental health as if they had a protecting wall against everything, I know this is obviously wrong... Anyway, amazing video , keep hard work and continuity, you are doing an amazing job. You are always a source of motivation for me. So Thank you.
It's really painful... I have been friends online with people who I called 'friends' and now I broke up with them because they never knew my true self. Everyone who knew my from my social media account just saw me as this perfect happy pretty woman and more with time I started to have the pressure of keeping this image, that if I fail to keep it I will 'fail' and 'lose' my brain was busy all the time of trying ways to be liked and admired and I really really regret my past and obsession with popularity... but it is ok I learned my lesson
So what I experienced was on a much smaller scale and not an entire equivalent but it's definitely reframed to me how artists and celebrities online probably feel. (long post incoming) I was a semi-popular artist in my niche (I won't go into too much detail other than that) and it ended up harming how I saw my work. To the point I was incredibly burnt out and was terrified to pick up a pencil. People prop you up on a pedestal and look up to your work and it feels GREAT at first. Esp if you're someone like me who grew up starving for any sort of external validation. But over time that starts to change. People get mad at you for trying new things, people sent you hate messages because you don't do exactly what they want, people expect you to have the exact same opinions as them otherwise you're a monster. It's just a lot. And the whole time you're pressuring yourself to keep posting art and making content, seeing yourself as less and less of a human until you're staring at a canvas on your computer for three hours, holding back tears. You're not an artist anymore, you're a "content creator" and you find yourself treating your art as a product for people to buy into. Just thinking about the commodification of my work feels akin to how capitalism sort of distances us from not only the humanity of others, but ourselves. I started to merely see myself and my work as a product, not as an extension of my humanity. And I can't imagine dealing with that blown up by 1,000,000% as a mainstream celebrity.
haven’t even gotten past the first few mins yet, but omg Shan. you put so much into these vids and kill it every time. like it’s hard to believe you do this all by yourself. keep up the amazing work babes!
Another excellent video! This one really got me reflecting a lot, specially as a content creator who may or may not put too much expectations on myself. I hope to continue seeing your online growth, and your eccentric art. Xoxo
This video is a materpiece! I loved your comparison to Frankenstein! I have always thought how people are treating celebrities like objects but the idea of us also turning into objects because of social media? Wow, that is mind-blowing! Thank you for this brilliant video! Lots of love from Brazil!
The sections about self-commodification and the spectacle really resonate with me. Last year I became concerned that I wasn't really living my life but rather living vicariously through others. I spend a lot of time watching vlogs on TH-cam or looking at Pinterest boards versus actually engaging in activities that I enjoy and are good for me. My goal last year and this year is to be present and actually live. All in all I enjoyed this video essay.
I'll be honest, for years I've never been comfortable with the thought of meeting a celebrity. To me it feels invasive just noticing them out because I wouldn't want to call attention to them especially if they don't want to be noticed. Also I'm just awkward in general so I'd want them to not look at me 😅 If you pretend I don't exist I'll pretend you don't exist and we can both be on our separate ways
Also joking aside as someone whose also thought what it'd be like to have that kind of lifestyle I wouldn't want it. I love hiding away but I also love being able to go places and be ignored when I'm not in the mood to socialize. Now the reasons I'm ignored are ridiculous but I lean into it. Fine be a horrible person while I continue to take up space that you can't take from me. I'm also someone whose been described as naive because I like to see the good in others and I'd probably be giving into scams left and right but some I wouldn't mind. Like I wouldn't pursue legal action but I'd definitely voice that I didn't find it ok. I'd never be a millionaire because I'd be constantly giving money away. Money is the cause of so many evils and stressors whether you have it or not and people are suffering. My people are suffering and I can't just sit back and watch.
Very well thought out analysis of the intersections between Spectacle, Fame, Celebrity, Parasocial, Social Media, and... wow, you covered a lot of ground! The way people are transforming themselves into Products is being reinforced I think by a growing sense of nihilism and trying desperately to find ways to feel valued. But up to a point, showing the world our Persona, our Mask, is a way to hide our real selves so that we can't be rejected. So perhaps Social Media is the evolution of Manufacturing Personas. I appreciate your hard work and your art.
Whether this makes you a celebrity or not, I don't know! But you have become one of my personal favorite channel owners in TH-cam. Your humour, your nuance and the whole persona of your videos have captivated this Brazilian fan, in a way that would almost make something beautiful out of the whole spectacle thing, if I weren't also half cynical and half frightened by the ways social media and the internet as a whole are injecting aggression and dehumanization into our interactions and culture. Guess the existence of people trying to change this is something beautiful in the midst of a dreadful thing? Dunno... But thanks for your videos!
This got me fucked up lol. I'm going to have to watch it again (and maybe a third time) to truly digest this cause the more I think on it, the more I realize how accurate this is and it makes me wanna cry lol.
I'm not even 2 Minutes in and already so impressed by the intro: Your attention to detail is amazing and the writing/editing is so stylish and fitting.
Just wanted to say that I loved the nepotism baby joke. On an unrelated note, I have always been fascinated by the correlation between brilliance and self-doubt... not to mention confidence and idiocy.
I have a TH-cam video playlist called "TED talks". A couple are literal TED talks, but the rest? Videos like this one. Grateful for the time you put into offering us some much-needed perspective.
Thanks for your hard work dissecting this. It's something I've thought about before but definitely didn't get as deep into it as you did here. But this, this is a great thought provoking piece that I don't think anyone else could have done it the justice that you did. Hope you're having a great day, shan.
oof that part 4... sht is really dystopian, if i get anxious everytime i have to step out of my house because of the mere thought of running into some random person with a camera or a friggin ex classmate i can't imagine that being the regular Thursday for a celebrity, that's why i can't help but empathize with them in that level of privacy breaching; also you unlocked a stewpid memory when you first mentioned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein hshshs, i had yo read the book for a group exposition on high-school and i rmbr we were so burned out that my one remaining braincell made me say "you know, the monster is actually a scorpio so as a fellow scorpio i understand it" two of them ignored me (as they should) and my bff just looked at me and just 👍 LMAOO as always amazing video ❤as a fellow artist i appreciate this video (and your content in general) take care!
I really needed this video personally. I haven't been engaging in my hobby, because I haven't had time to don the persona I've created for filming my hobby. I need to take a step back, and put my full self on camera instead of flanderizing myself for (potential) extra views.
I don't have any disliked Shanspeare videos, and usually have a handful of works I recommend right away, but usually shuffle favorites around. This is my favorite. I don't know how this will change in the future, but this video is my favorite right now. This is fine work, Shan.
First of all, amazing work as always. Although the commentary was the main focus of the video, I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humour. The barbie-esque imagery at the beginning and the final sort of...stripping back down to yourself before discussing the final chapter was well timed and provided very impactful imagery to me. I'm also very impressed at the nuance you provided while discussing this topic. I will say, though. Watching this after another video discussing mundane images and their importance in fashion has left me with a lot more to think about😂 Especially after the self commodification segment.
Shan, you always say such big, beautiful things about the human condition. And you do it with such kindness and poetry. Make being truly logical an 1800's poetry contest again
I'm only at the intro and want to say wow... that's beautiful and it also scared the shit out of me. I already know the rest of the video is going to be amazing. 💖
![ตีสิบเดย์ [FULL] | เปิดใจ "อาจารย์ เบียร์ ฅนตื่นธรรม" นักสนทนาธรรมสายดุดัน!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vqaBI_mnoDk/mqdefault.jpg)
If you enjoy this topic, I had the pleasure of writing something similar for the independent magazine, Antifragile. Their fourth zine issue came out May 12th and is full of brilliant work by other artists, writers, and creatives. You can find my article, The Panopti-Con Artist, within this issue! www.antifragilezine.com/shop/p/antifragile-issue-four-anachronism
p.s., sorry about the audio in this one :( and no, i'm not actually playing the piano. who do u think i am? the talented and beautiful ContraPoints?
Great job ❤😂
no bc contrapoints grew up as an islamophoic shitposter and u would never ❤️
antifragile…. like…. like…….
💖
Hey @ 13:35 you said you are fighting for your life... Dunno if you meant that literally or figuratively, but either way I hope you get the rest & care you deserve. Rooting for you.
I used to be a middle school teacher, and this hits me in a weird way. Not that I was a famous celebrity or something, but I learned very early in my career that parents will start intruding into your personal life and using that as leverage against you, to a point where your career depends on having a reputable public image (i.e. not drinking in public places, not being gay in public [I got fired once for being gay in public... this was back in 2015 somewhere in a very Catholic place], not having public social media accounts, etc). Long story short, it got old real fast, and thus I avandoned what I thought was my calling.
Oh, and we're underpaid ... so underpaid. 😢
Ah I completely understand your point, and that's so unfortunate
Yes underpaid, severely
I unfortunately see my future in this comment
I want to be a high school teacher because I know as a kid who struggled really hard that what helped me from breaking was the friends, teachers, and counselors that I had in high school.
But I just can't with parents. They're so belligerent and entitled and I don't want to deal with the stress of it to the point that I'm just going to teach higher education. It sucks. I want to help kids but parents are too insufferable.
This is exactly why I'm leaving teaching. I love it but as someone who dresses alternative, I don't want to stop doing what I like because parents don't like it.
It's pretty similar in medicine as well.
the most annoying thing about the state we're in, is that all of us are so used to being an image, we monitor things like our own journals. And I'm not even talking about people that have a following online or celebrities, it has come to a point where all of us are performing a version of ourselves for a hypothetical viewer.
Never felt so called out by a random comment on the internet since I really go through phases where I refuse to write my own thoughts down ... partly because I don't want to be certain things to be seen by anyone - even myself. Gotta think real hard about this
This rings so true for me. My mom used to journal a lot and I find myself thinking about whether I would read them when she passes. She probably wouldn't mind, having shared pages with me in the past, but when I think about future generations reading my journal it makes me not want to journal at all. I rarely ever think to write when things are going well, the journals I have feel like a record of my lowest moments.
I know for a fact that I have done this with every journal I have owned. It's weird to be aware of it and still unable to stop doing it.
very true. i get weird about writing down my true uncensored thoughts because i have a fear of someone finding it and it altering their perception of me. which isn’t completely unfounded as I live with other people and my survival kind of depends on my projected image. unfortunately it’s just something most of us have to do to wade through society unbothered. i’m completely honest to myself and about my projected fakeness, i don’t delude myself about any of it. i find that as long as i’m at least true to myself i’m okay with doing what i gotta do
IVE NEVER HAD THE WORDS FOR THIS I DO IT CONSTANTLY thank you 🙏🏻
A few weeks ago, I remember seeing a post about how Jenna Ortega said she had a hard time filming Wednesday because she was chronically overworked and getting like no sleep. And SO many people's responses were "boo hoo, miss millions of dollars slept a little less for a few days, how tragic"..... and it kinda just feels like capitalism won in a way. Like, people have officially let themselves become so very bitter over money that we forget that we're all just HUMANS. And I get it of course, the wealth inequality in the world is STAGGERING and seeing someone who is wealthy share their struggles can definitely feel cheap. But the problem isn't that they're wealthy and have the audacity to complain about their job publicly, but the systems that keep that gap wide open. It's just kinda disheartening to see how awfully people treat others and celebrities online for, oftentimes, NO reason.
Edit for grammar
i agree and it's also very hipocritical of people to do that, a lor of people complain constantly about their jobs, but no one is telling them that they should quit complaining because they are poeplw dying from hunger in underdevelop countries
@@andresboehmwald9171yeah but they are making 12.50 an hour, no average person would utter any complaints for the chance to make that money, so of course we don’t give a fuck, they are out of touch, they should talk about it to their family and therapists, not their fans
@@anabel6368 proving their point
It's the paradox of wanting to connect with celebrities (or people in general), but getting mad when they share something that creates a crack in their perfect image
I imagine this is, like shanspeare said, cause many of us have, at some point, in some way, fantasized about being famous. And being famous not being 100% perfect or a breeze, makes us feel stupid for getting drawn in by those fantasies. And we then deflect our frustrations onto the people that live those fantasies, good and bad aspects included. And because these people are purposefully kept unrelatable in some sense, we don't very often stop to wonder about the fairness of it. And even when we do, we often once again deflect the negative emotions to a different person
Honestly, I think a big part of it is our lack of knowledge and experience processing and regulating our emotions in healthy ways
@Anabel there’s always going to be someone with a worse living situation than you, do you believe you should never be able to rant or express your feelings when you’re tired because someone else might be even less happy?
Because by that logic, I hope YOU never ever talk about hardships you face, because umm hello what about all those people in even worse living conditions?
On the lack of human to human relationships in favor of object to object relationships, I cannot help but think of the way we treat houseless people and addicts as the most disgusting objects imaginable rather than people living with the least amount of material resources and human support.
So much this
! and i’ve been guilty of this too. i hate myself and this world sometimes
I feel like it represents how we've chosen to treat ourselves. As Shanspeare said, we've grown as a society from being completely connected to each other as humans to now treating others and ourselves as brands. And brands are not supposed to feel or even react...
An hour long Shanspeare video? I've been blessed
RIGHT!!!
Truly
Amen to that! 👏
so real
I wonder if she can work out for a whole hour 😂😂😂
I remember listening to an npr interview with the man whom was in charge of booking for the tonight show, when asked what working with celebrities was like. He said 'we treat these people like animals in the zoo but we pay them enough for it, don't we?' It really stuck with me
do you know where i can listen to that interview and what the name of that person was?
@@hanvshka I also wanna know!
Rez
@loveutilltheendoftimes9132 its means we treat these people like animals in a zoo, but we pay them enough to justify it.
really makes you think about how animals are treated at zoos, doesn't it?
The way comments can be on social media is so dystopian to me sometimes. It's like people are thrilled to be able to dehumanize others in a sick race of panopticon perfection, and the branding we feel we need to do to avoid the mob is dehumanizing in itself, but it's like we HAVE to do it
i had to delete tik tok for this very reason. i no longer read ig comments and im working on it with facebook. people are so happy to be able to anonymously be rude, it’s sad and it will be the end of us.
I was honestly thinking how incredibly invasive being a celeb or having an online presence must be. From people feeling entitled to every decision or feeling you have to even just nitpicking your every move. I appreciate all your videos/hard work/takes and hope your personal time offline is doing well! ♥️
thank you lots ❤ hope you’re doing well!
fr! i get irritated when my own family or the occasional random person "feedback" i didn't ask for ...i can't imagine everything i do being up for critique all the time.
uugghh Ikr? I feel bad for these people having to face so much everyday, shan included, I hope she's alright
as someone who is into kpop i have seen so many extremely concerning things, one of them being when people decide to "relationship" or sexuality analyses of specific kpop idols. It thoroughly upsets me that anyone feels entitled to speculating about something as personal as that - I'm not even saying "assume they're straight", just dont touch their sexuality when it comes to topics of discussion!! why are you making an essay on a strangers assumed attraction preferences??
Girl you have something - educated, critical, witty, analytical, humour, it all. I only watch a handful of these type of channels and you deliver it all in the way I like it delivered x you got something magical, captivating and yet down to earth. Love your channel - thank you im for all your effort
They're like the Gen Z version of Contra Points!
LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS! one of my first video essays like 8 years ago was about the nature of celebrity in relation to the tragic hero of ancient texts - that they both fullfil a similar role for an audience - but that audiences are ironically more likely to analyse and respect the humanity of the fictional character than perceive real celebrities with complexity - and honestly it might have just gotten worse since then,
You’ve been doing videos essays for 8 years? That’s commendable
I experienced the self commodifying issue a lot working as an artist. My wording I tell people is "it feels like my art doesn't belong to me anymore, it belongs to the public." Even "personal pieces" done "just for me" were littered by the standards of "will my followers like this?" and ultimately I've stepped back from art to reclaim it so I can have that part of myself belong to me again.
I feel this well not as a professional artist really but I started posting on social media and I felt like really obsessed with fitting into the standards of social media which sort of defeated the whole purpose I guess? I purely keep art to myself now and I feel much better, I'd rather be a spectator to the art community! I hope you have fun in reclaiming your art again :)
I'm worried about this as I move towards an art business.
@@straberryshinigami15g97 If I was to give it a go again, and this idea may be considering as you do art as a business, is having a specific medium or style you dedicate to business, so you still have art that you don't associate with work.
You put how I feel into words perfectly. I haven't touched music in over a year and it is because it's not for me anymore. I create because I feel as though I have to, the algorithms reward certain schedules and punish others. I get dms from fans periodically asking me to post and it feels strange
" Being famous as a child in poverty felt like a magic fix , or at least a fantasy to get you through a night of hunger . " I think this might've been one of the hardest hitting lines i've ever heard you utter . I feel that on such a spiritual level . I can almost imagine vividly every moment in my childhood where this rings true .
i listened to this one while cleaning the house ^^ a celebrity that i started to really like before the last of us came out was pedro pascal, but once it did and he BOOMED in fame he was so oversexualized- every interview would be calling him ‘daddy,’ and that’s fun and stuff but… there’s a limit. it’s gotten terribly uncomfortable. and this applies to so many other celebrities but he was the one i thought of most. just another way celebrities are objectified and not human (: great video as always!!
Very that! I went to a concert yesterday-Mother’s Day-and people used that excuse to yell “Mommy!!” at the (young! Mid-20s!) performer who had to repeatedly tell people to shush so she could talk. Obviously it can be cute and fun as a meme, but it very quickly gets gross when it’s taken too far or done in real life
one of my favorite activities is playing video essays or analysis in the background while i'm doing chores, but i've noticed that i can't even do that with your videos because the visuals are such an integral part of the whole experience- i end up scrambling back to my laptop to go 15 seconds back every five mins to see what the newest costume/background change was. you are among those few high-production, high-quality video-essayist gods who make me want to keep using this godforsaken platform. hope you are doing well!
This. I put this on so I could have something to listen to while crocheting and I had to put my project down within the first few minutes bc that intro was so captivating
This made me think about Chester bennington from Linkin Park, some of their songs had really sad lyrics about how miserable they were.. and then he actually took his life in 2017. It’s awful how much he suffered silently
FWIW he didn't suffer silently. He had dealt with suicidal ideation for most of his life. He had treatments. His friends and family were aware. Depression always involves an element of silent suffering, but he did have access to all the treatment and family supports feasible. Sometimes that's just not enough.
I was apart of the ARMY for a while. I loved looking for the scarce photos and interviews of the boys. But amid a dating scandal, I was horrified at how some of Army was. Especially as a part as the problem. It’s terrifying how invasive fans can be. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that.
ALSO LOVE YOUR CONTENT!!
As a current ARMY, I get it, im not even on any bad side of the fandom and people are wild. As one recent twitter quote put it "as long as I get bangers, i don't care who they're banging" 😅
@@brigc7755 sameee
I thought you meant the military army I was confused for a while 💀💀
@@brigc7755 lmao that's perfect
@@yoonbred good golly
The best lesson I’ve ever taught myself/learned can be summed up as “I’m allowed to be ugly.” The idea has given me permission to transition, to dress comfortably, to stim/be visibly autistic, to just exist as myself. I had a breakdown that this past year that lead to me detransitioning for nine months and trying to dress hyper feminine because I thought then people would actually love me. I got lots of compliments, but it was all a character. I saw myself as a doll, a corpse in a skirt and lip gloss being thrust around like a marionette to entertain everyone around me. I believed I was just flesh and bone. If I wore a baggy t shirt rather than a dress, my parents still looked at me with disgust even with a full face of makeup on. Any less than full commitment was a failure.
I learned to embrace their disgust. Humans are just animals, of course we can be disgusting. But just like any other animal, we’re unique, loving, funny, emotional, and sensitive. I might be ugly to some people, but I’m alive now.
This:) ❤
This is my life. Disconnected, isolated and alone. Losing faith that I have the capacity to love and connect.
This is a great comment! Cheers to your continued happiness.
"But just like any other animal, we’re unique, loving, funny, emotional, and sensitive. "
That's why im vegan :)
Until all cages are empty.
Wahh.. that's rlly amazing and brave of you. Thanks for sharing. And you're right- we're animals at the end of the day with all of our disgusting, uncanny and beautiful sides~~
Demystifying celebrities by Shanspeare. I'm ready for it.
I think cameras have always induced dehumanization. When a screen is put in front of you, it feels as if there is no choice but to satisfy those who will come to see the footage of you. To us, a camera represents thousands of eyes, of which our eyes are the most important. We hyper-analyze every little detail, brutally criticize our words; why? the camera metamorphoses human experience into human performance, something which can be consumed. Celebrities exist in a hellscape of constant performance management, leaving them devoid of so many aspects of the human experience they are entitled to and we have stripped them of.
I love watching your vid’s while I work on my art and words cannot express how HYPE I was when I turned my computer on and was graced with an hour long vid. Thank youuuu for existing and being so freaking smart and insightful ❤
🥹🥹❤️
There is a bit of a difference between a celebrity that became a celebrity because they were simply doing the thing that they had a passion for, and someone who became a celebrity because they wanted to be a celebrity and created a persona that ticked off all the boxes that our society wants a celebrity to have.
Yet they all get lumped into the same stew when everyone is told now that success in the arts is practically impossible if you don't play the social media game -- and that is a very thin tightrope to walk successfully.
That’s true. I would add though that celebrities tend to *not* be picked at random. Going Greg Jenner’s definition of “celebrity” that distinguishes it from mere fame, renown, or infamy, celebrities actively want and try to maintain the parasocial relationship they have with the public.
Also the whole nepotism baby discourse proves a huge amount of celebrities are merely the children or relatives of already rich, wealthy, powerful folks. So I’d say most celebrities are likely people who sought it out and then maybe have reservation or mixed feelings about it later.
One saving grace for them though is that there are cases when you can dramatically scale back your public life. Look at Rick Moranis or, for different reasons, e-celeb, Jenna Marbles.
Despite this video, which I feel overly portrays celebs as victims of capitalism, the reason I think most try to stay in the public eye is because…it makes them more money.
After all, they have hair, makeup, clothing lines, albums, movies, sporting events, and shows to sell.
I don't even have a yt channel or tiktok, but I still find myself "branding" myself in the fandom spaces I exist in. I worry if people see me liking unpopular stuff (especially with this new purity culture), my work will get ignored or attacked. So I self censor while also mentally separating myself from my online persona, even if it's not all that different from me offline. Great video Shan!
makes a lot of sense. Makes me think about how people have been led to migrate from being citizens to being consumers... some people can only mobilize when it's about what they consume, but struggle when it's to fight for their rights
this is a powerful and truthful thought!
Really wish this video came out before my Frankenstein paper final be abuse oh my God??? So much depth in this argument. Especially when you consider that the creature destroyed Victor's life. This self commodicated version we force ourselves into ruins our perceptions of ourself and creates a poor mental health. Which in turn destroys the relationships in our lives. Also I love all the shots, the concept behind the outfits and scenes. It's actual divine television 😭
just stopped getting ready for a concert to watch this bc shanespeare always comes first!!
omg have fun at ur concert bestie
God, the first 0:35 and I’m like “YES!!!!” I love the effort you give your videos. It’s really beautiful and inspiring!!
Great video! It reminds me also of Simone de Beauvoir's concept of women's self-alienation, when patriarchal society captivates women (especially 'pretty' ones) in the cage of narcissism impoverishing their inner true selves.
fascinating. as someone whose main social media presence is making youtube comments, I have mostly kept from this mindset of self promotion by consequence of not making too large a distinction between in person and digital spaces filled with people. I am very shy and expressing myself in a space with a lot of people is difficult, a lot of social media feels like being in a large crowded space and i feel way to anxious to make myself known. Over the years I have gotten comfortable with comments on youtube and have made forays into replies on twitter. However, actually posting something myself is rare. Like I think the last thing i posted was a picture of a cake I baked referencing a cake in a game I had recently played, this was probably last year, or whenever exactly Butterfly Soup 2 came out.
It seems people are running from poverty and loneliness and this is the “solution” or golden ticket, even though it comes with endless consequences.
🎯🎯🎯
reminds me of the movie pearl and how she says "please god make me the biggest star that ever lived so i can go far far away from this place" referring to her living condition
Yess i feel like a lot of ppls problems derive from wanting security & community, its can be expressed in so many different ways but those r always wut it boils down to
Holy frick that title, it stopped me right in my tracks.
i don't really know how to say what i'm thinking, but this video just... hit me in just the right spot. i always knew there was something off about our society's treatment of celebrities, but i could never quite put my finger on what it was--i always knew it went deeper than paparazzi, but i couldn't see the commodification so clearly until now. worse yet, as you pointed out, now EVERYONE is putting up with a TON of self-imposed "paparazzi" on social media, but unlike celebrities this, for most, does not result in any reward whatsoever. not to mention the fact that just about everyone is guilty of spending hours consuming other people's lives and letting their own melt away. it literally makes me sick when i start thinking about how human experience has become a faded wall with strips of mismatched wallpaper haphazardly glued over it, and before you can even complain the wallpaper company tells you that you shouldn't repaint the wall, you should just buy more wallpaper.
So true!!
This is an excellent analysis. Im going to be chairing a polemic discussion soon titled "everything i know about the kardashians i learned against my will: a polemic on the intrusive nature of celebrity culture" and I wish i could set this essay as mandatory viewing for those taking part. Alas they are all retirees and im not sure they all know what youtube is...
Ariana's song Fake Smile fits all this into 4 minutes, especially the parts where she repeats how grateful she is for her work, but still says how being so visible sucks.
It's possible to ethically stan. I listen to Ariana Grande on repeat sometimes, but I'm never gonna get in her comments saying weird stuff or unsolicited opinions. Hell I don't even comment to say I'm a fan.
I work as a dancer and ive gone on tour before . I understand why so many people don't survive fame and tours
✋💀👀 its REALLY mentally taxing to be on tour all your life. But that is the way, that people actually monetize the music and dancing so you have to do it.
I think Post Malone, is the person who worries me most. I think a lot of his drug issues would improve if he could just stay home and have a more normal lifestyle 🏡 🤔
Touring is so hard on your body, mind, and relationship as a band/cast. You get to a point, where your physically exhausted from performing for 6 -7 days a week and no sleep, so you just do what you can to get through it. Even if youre a pretty stable person, touring makes people crack 💀✋
@@kamilareeder1493then why don't they stop touring
because you have to, you don't get paid much for streaming. You get paid to appear.
@@cxri9454 i did stop touring, I tour once or twice a year and teach more now because I couldn't do it 24/7 🤷♂️😪
It does get old, sleeping 4 to a room, washing my tights in the bathtub and eating on the road. I can only imagine that stress + being the headliner
You can definitely ethically stan. Musicians, artists, TH-camrs like Shan, actors; they are still laborers, whether they make millions or not. They have to perform or produce. They aren't like a CEO who just sits in an office and makes most of their money off of other's labor, they make most of their money off of their own labor (and I said most because some musicians, for example, have makeup artists, stylists, etc that help them. But it's their labor in creating music that still makes them a laborer)
Another comment elsewhere said that it feels like capitalism has won because of how we just don't see others as human. I'm so sad to say I feel the same and a little hopeless that it'll ever change. 😞
The Frankenstein analogy totally blew me away. It was such a good analogy! Ahahah
i can’t wait to watch this when im in the right mental state
When you think about, for most of human evolution it was normal to be known by most of your community, and a reasonable goal to want most of them to like you. Maybe part of the hunger for fame (and consumption of celebrities) is in an attempt to reach the same level of connection in our modern online world as our ancestors might have experienced living in a small closed community.
This is a very interesting perspective....now, lemme wait for someone more familiar to add to this. In the meantime, I'm going to ruminate on this.
@@empyrea_2546Capitalism is at least one big reason some people today don't just want to be known by their community, but as many people as they can turn into fans as possible.
Celebrities are capitalists who turn mere fame into an ongoing parasocial relationship with the public for profit.
Most people would be satisfied with some friends, a family of sorts, and a greater community of peers who appreciate them for who they are and what they contribute to the their lives. That's was enough for most folks for most of history.
This need to want world wide celebrity, adoring following, and fandom is a relatively newer invention and, I'd argue, partly a capitalist desire.
But a big reason we supposedly “need” these Great People™️ rise above the rest, is precisely because folks with a lot of power, wealth, and status made society *wildly* unequal and messed it up.
@@cjaquilinodo you believe that it is possible to ethically like a celebrity and their work without stanning them
@@issiadiii2167 Appreciating what someone did or said is more than fine. "Stanning" I specifically think is fundamentally wrong, as in getting gaga-eyed about someone to the point of defending them to no end, being worshipful of them, shutting down or minimize criticism of them, because of your idolizing, etc.
Not saying it would be an easy change to get people to reduce doing this. But that's definitely the ethic a better society should be striving for.
But I don't think you can ethically be a celebrity or want someone to be a celebrity. I've read same the book, "Dead Famous" that this video maker read, it's in the very definition of celebrity that they're capitalist and I'm anti-capitalist. I don't want there to be some elite social class of folks.
I do think, people having different levels of reknown, recognition, or even a level of non-celebrity-like fame/infamy will exist though.
You know the video essay was good when you end it mourning the human condition as it once was. Smashed it as always Shan.
i’ve never understood the fascination with celebrities. but it’s wild what lengths people will go to to feel connected to those with fame
Right? Like it’s probably a basic need we all want some recognition for what we’ve contribute to the people around us in life. But it’s a whole other thing to *worship* someone who did a thing you liked.
And don’t get me wrong, celebs usually want the worship and some level of near obsession with their work. Like they obviously make money the more of it you buy.
But I like to say celebrity is just fame + mass media parasociality + capitalism.
This is by far my favorite channel on TH-cam. The cinematic quality? The compassionate look at various perspectives? The attention-to-detail? The addition of humor? Everything about this makes my video essay heart ecstatic. Thank you for the obvious effort and care you put into every video!!
your editing is always top tier 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
The effort you put into your videos are amazing, not just the scripts, but the visuals too
I’m surprised you didn’t mention how Debord himself talked about celebrities in SOTS. He made a fascinating point that I think would have gone amazingly with this video: celebrities are held up by society as the “ideal” of “regular” Humans that all the everyday proles should look up to. It’s selling people a potential image of themselves if only they play by the Capitalist system’s rules. It’s telling us “If you work hard and be a good worker drone, you too can be famous! Look at [insert formerly poor celebrity here]! If they can get out of poverty into a life of wealth and fame, surely you can too!
It’s all a grift by the bourgeoisie to delude us into thinking the system is good and if only we work hard we can become celebrities too.
Yeah, all celebrities on some level are:
1) Capitalists, at a pretty high level, whose product is ultimately themselves not just whatever project or product they are selling to the public. They're people as brands. And often invested in real estate, ownership on companies, or they're literally CEOs, not simply workers.
2) Their origin stories are seeped in capitalist bootstrap mythology about “success”, even in the cases when they’re nepo babies. And they perpetuate that mythology to regular folks, but being a celebrity ain't gonna save us.
Agreed 👍
Can't wait to bing watch this lmao, an hour of shansphere is heaven I believe
Maybe off topic, but I just wanted to say I love the effect your videos have on my brain. Your expressions, your voice, your style are all so inspiring and I can't help but feel like painting when I watch/listen to you.
Stuff like this has been on my mind a lot lately. I don't think it started with the internet but it does seem to have amplified a problem I see a lot. When talking about things like old TH-cam or how celebrities used to be, a lot of people say they miss when creators were "human" or "authentic." As if we're owed seeing someone's true self when they are forced into the role of a performer. As if we're owed knowledge of their life.
Actually, the thing with the old internet is that people posted whatever they wanted without the idea of garnering an audience or making profit (which is not wrong anyway, but it is not the same). Now if you wanna talk about a certain topic it seems like it needs to be trendy or relevant enough, not just for fun, because content is more like a product that must be consumable.
For example, a couple of days ago some of my friends commented that they wanted to start a TikTok acocunt to do interviews. Nonetheless, one of them asserted that they needed a logo, a brand, good editing and... God, you're just getting started in this for fun, it doesn't matter if you cannot compete with other accounts right now ._.
To be honest this might be in more relation to how social media has become a commodity for corporations and individuals. When the web was first created it was a lot less centralised with not just social media giants such as instagram tiktok twitter dominating the web. It was much easier for just the most random people to upload some shitty quality content for any reason - though nowadays there's a few big creators and some smaller ones but yeah not like the old web. Capitalism and corporations have effectively made internet users commodities as well through getting information from users through third parties and all that as well, privacy isn't a thing anymore for either the user or the creator. Something to think on.
@@ShinySobbleYou’re right. Acting like culture just explains this is naive and punching down. We have an entire economic system and giant corporations who need us to create content for them to thrive.
Going “kids these days are mean for wanting ‘authentic’ expression” is a really limited way to think about it. Google/their algorithm *want* content to be created the way they want. They incentivize it.
@mariaclaudiamendoza9150 @ShinySobble @claquilino
I forget that I just shouldn't comment on youtube videos because people will respond and miss the entire point. It's not punching down to critique and take issue with a culture of millions of people from all over the world. I'm one f*cking person, shouting into a void. Corporations aren't blameless when it comes to the way internet content creators are treated but neither is the masses. After all, corporate higher-ups wouldn't feel the need to capitalize on TH-cam and other platforms if there wasn't a consumer base for it.
The original post was a response to 1:02:33. I feel like people use the term "authentic" a lot when describing celebrities and influencers that they like and don't like, when in all reality, what they mean is that their content is inoffensive and is catered to their taste. Don't act like there aren't still people with 5 subscribers posting whatever they want. Part of the problem is that when people like that get big, audiences expect those people to work for them, essentially. After all, they're the ones signaling to the big companies that your content is worth their time. It's entitled and there isn't one sole bad guy in this scenario.
I read your comment as punching down because, on its face, it simply blamed that messed up dynamic between people on a pedastal and their followers as being the fault of the followers. I can't know what your thoughts were beyond that.
I pushback on it because that sentiment is the view a lot of folks have, where they don't even *notice* the part where often the folks on the pedastal actively *want* to build a mass following, fandom, or stan type parasocial relationship with their audience and they have a profit/social motives to do so.
It's just taken as a given that that's a relationship people should want, it's good, and there's nothing wrong with pursuing it, where they poorly anticipated the drawbacks to themselves and others.
But not only does the fault for the messed-uppedness go both ways and involved greater societal forces, it's inherent to it. And the dynamics get worse as you go up the scale from starting to be known to public figure to famous to outright celebrity.
And it's exactly why I don't want any of that and think it's bad. Frankly, a lot folks on pedestals seem to want all the inherent benefits of the relationship with none of the inherent drawbacks and take zero responsibility for the fact that they pursued the very situation they're in and they just punch down at their following.
I'm about halfway through the video but I just want to say that like I would really recommend the 70s scifi short story, the Girl Who Was Plugged In by Alice Bradley Sheldon, published under her most well-known pseudonym, James Tiptree Jr. It is an excellent look on the nature of manufactured celebrity and identity.
Like all of the content warnings on that but I would highly recommend.
Love the meta energy that it was written under a pseudonym. Thanks for the rec!
somehow - a video about the terrifyingly dystopian and unbelievably sad fate of the world as we currently live it- was incredibly enjoyable. I felt all the types of emotions a person could feel, but it flowed so nicely in a way that made me calmly assess my own opinions on the topics. That being said I’ll have to come back to this video. It’s so deep, convoluted, complex, and artistically wonderful. I don’t know, it’s incredible. It needs to be watched again so I can put it all into words a little more clearly. All that being said,,, Thank you for sharing this and being so inspiring. Thank you❤️
watching this a couple days after Chapelle Roan spoke up about the way her fans are intrusive and don't see her as a person + harass her and stalk her family feels so oddly fitting...
it is incredible to me how your sense of production, costuming, set design, and music seems to upgrade every single time you post a new essay??? youtube is really for the jack of all trades god damn shan. you go!!!!
So maybe I’m tripping but this made me think that celebrities are viewed similarly to parents. Like our parents are human but because they had so much agency over our lives we expect nothing less then the best and tend to focus in on what was done wrong instead or right. With celebrities/CEOs ex with lots of money, we know that these people still have a lot of power over our lives even if we don’t know them as people. Like how big companies make all this wast and it effects everyone or how celebrities or brands have the power to change how we view the world in bigger ways then ether everyday joe. We see them as the leaders and therefor need to be the best of us.
This is really interesting! It reminds me of when some people on social media refer to certain celebrities as ‘Mum and Dad’ after they do something we’d perceive to be exceptional/aspirational.
Your video essays make me feel less alone as a critical thinker/ observer of the world. Thank you for sharing your perspectives, always so interesting and crazy good editing. A+ infotainment!
i love this woman. her and contrapoints are the rare niche of youtube that nearly no one else can match.
this title is already giving me a mini existential crisis, can't wait for the rest of the video!
I think abt this a lot! And the effect it has on dating. Ppl will reject themselves automatically just based off a person’s image, and it makes me sad cz I’m never judging them as hard as they do themselves.. ppls anxiety often get the best of them and they miss out on opportunities big and small (career wise too)
Oh dear, this video hit a lot of sensitive spots for me, especially at the end when you were talking about genuineness. As someone who got popular on tiktok/twitch when I was literally only 17 (and a bit mentally hindered from the pandemic and incredibly neurodivergent) I had no idea what was appropriate and inappropriate to share and act socially, and it made me a pretty good target for the kind of bullying you described in the video because I didn't understand that presentation.
I think it gets into interesting territory with content creators, as not all of us make enough money to go on prolonged breaks for our mental health regarding this visibility,. It creates a weird trap, where yes of course you are grateful for your ability to create art and make enough to feed yourself, but you are also pushing yourself to keep going and as a result are gaining more visibility you need that break from. I once tried to talk to my friend about this, and I came to this strange realization that especially nowadays, I don't feel like I can do anything without being perceived, like every word from my mouth must be thought over ten times over because in the past when I let any vulnerabilities slip it was used against me. It is a response to both the general and specific experiences I've had. Whatever I create is a product, but so am I, the maker.
Anyways Shan, I absolutely adore your videos and your writing, and will be recommending this one to plenty of my friends. Wishing you the best!
It might be something to do with my autism, I can't bring myself to socially mask or be fake to people in public. Just everything about it feels icky and one of the few things I live for is seeing the bizarre social interactions I see and get at school everyday. Everyday there's a possibility of me dying, so why live my last in a facade?
Same here. People hate me for it but oh well at least I'm not a dull NPC for the rest of my life.
same
@@carolinaa.4407 Npc is a term originating from video games that stands for "non playable character", and in internet slang it means someone with no personality
@@nyancat.123 Also relevant is that the term NPC for a real person is heavily used by 4chan types and the Alt Right, it carries unpleasant connotations. Willingness to dismiss another person as an unthinking thing instead of a human being is a very dangerous slippery slope.
@@alexjeffrey4093 did you watch the full video??
I always thought of celebrities as characters and everything they do is an episode or performance. At first I started feeling bad for ignoring their humanity but this video made me realize that their public persona is not real; it’s just a carefully orchestrated facade.
That don’t mean you shouldn’t feel bad for not treating them like human being
I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t know these people intimately and what I see of them is either a very curated image made up by them, their team or the media.
That being said, there is still a person underneath all of that fuss. Do I know that person? No. But I can at least give them the dignity of humanity.
Then again, I’m also not the type to even have a Twitter or Instagram, let alone harass a celebrity about every little thing that they do.
@@user-lp2he1md6i well I don’t feel bad because one, their persona is not the real person, it’s a caricature. And two, I don’t know them from a can of paint or interact with them, i just observe what’s happening and it looks like a big show.
One thing that may help is just to realize that they are just doing their work, seeing them as working people, and then you consome their work and you go with your. Is like when you go to the market buy something and then the go to the cashier paid for what you bought, and that it's, you probably won't ask her how her life is going because you don't know and she just doing her work. It's kinda the same with celebritiesm
We should all know this, but now many celebrities market themselves as being "authentic and real", and the public eats this up because that's what everybody is saying they want. So what is performance and what is real has become blurred big time. Many of these celebrities are only as big as they are because people think that is who they are.
You cant blame us for being so spoiled when this is what you give us every time! Great video Ms. Shanspeare
mam, you're on your way to become my favourite commentary channel. every sentence is worth listening, i always rewind when i miss a part and have never regretted it! it's either super interesting or hilarious
Sacrificing my special points to the dread algorithm! So many great ideas in this video; I will definitely be returning to draw again from the well.
that intro was like the start of a horror movie omg! like 5 min in n the production quality is so good i love it!!
okay just finished this vid, it’s kinda funny that u got a weird comment about production quality, bc in this video alone it’s so good !! (the scene changes, ur diff outfits all slay!) but i agree w everything u said, i feel like we have such a weird parasocial and toxic relationship to social media and cellphones as well. i feel like it’s kind of ironic to complain about it on the internet, but idk lol. “go touch grass” is a meme now, but i feel like the internet would genuinely be a better place if everyone logged off for at least 5 minutes a day n spent time in nature. humans aren’t meant to stare at a screen all day! lol but that’s my soapbox thing 😜 idk if u have any videos already on the positive impacts of nature on people, but that would be a cool topic that i would love to hear ur thoughts on! i also love how in-depth u go w all ur vids & having ur works cited at the end and everything (i just discovered u so i’ve only seen like 3 lol but i’ve been super impressed by all of them!) i love when youtubers do that, it satisfies my inner nerd lol. i hope ur having a gr8 day !! :)
I don't know why, I always have the impression that celebrities are so in their own level they can " Take care " of everything ,to me they are aware of everything including their state of mind , their fame , their psych, their mental health as if they had a protecting wall against everything, I know this is obviously wrong... Anyway, amazing video , keep hard work and continuity, you are doing an amazing job.
You are always a source of motivation for me.
So Thank you.
Funny how I’ve been thinking about the commodification of the self and you dropped this. The timing couldn’t been better.
Definitely deserves more attention for how well spoken, educated, and funny you are! Kept me enthralled the whole time
It's really painful... I have been friends online with people who I called 'friends' and now I broke up with them because they never knew my true self. Everyone who knew my from my social media account just saw me as this perfect happy pretty woman and more with time I started to have the pressure of keeping this image, that if I fail to keep it I will 'fail' and 'lose' my brain was busy all the time of trying ways to be liked and admired and I really really regret my past and obsession with popularity... but it is ok I learned my lesson
So what I experienced was on a much smaller scale and not an entire equivalent but it's definitely reframed to me how artists and celebrities online probably feel. (long post incoming)
I was a semi-popular artist in my niche (I won't go into too much detail other than that) and it ended up harming how I saw my work. To the point I was incredibly burnt out and was terrified to pick up a pencil.
People prop you up on a pedestal and look up to your work and it feels GREAT at first. Esp if you're someone like me who grew up starving for any sort of external validation. But over time that starts to change. People get mad at you for trying new things, people sent you hate messages because you don't do exactly what they want, people expect you to have the exact same opinions as them otherwise you're a monster. It's just a lot. And the whole time you're pressuring yourself to keep posting art and making content, seeing yourself as less and less of a human until you're staring at a canvas on your computer for three hours, holding back tears. You're not an artist anymore, you're a "content creator" and you find yourself treating your art as a product for people to buy into.
Just thinking about the commodification of my work feels akin to how capitalism sort of distances us from not only the humanity of others, but ourselves. I started to merely see myself and my work as a product, not as an extension of my humanity. And I can't imagine dealing with that blown up by 1,000,000% as a mainstream celebrity.
I love Plain Bad Heroines it was such a good book.🐝
Sooooo good!! One of my favorites I read last year!
haven’t even gotten past the first few mins yet, but omg Shan. you put so much into these vids and kill it every time. like it’s hard to believe you do this all by yourself. keep up the amazing work babes!
I now want to see a walkthrough your home 😍 it looks so unique
Another excellent video! This one really got me reflecting a lot, specially as a content creator who may or may not put too much expectations on myself.
I hope to continue seeing your online growth, and your eccentric art. Xoxo
very interesting topic and video, i'm glad people actually care about analysing this stuff rather than just mindlessly consume media
15:52 was such a cool moment. this video is kinda full of them too, which suits the whole idea so well.
authenticity, so acutely rare
This video is a materpiece! I loved your comparison to Frankenstein! I have always thought how people are treating celebrities like objects but the idea of us also turning into objects because of social media? Wow, that is mind-blowing! Thank you for this brilliant video! Lots of love from Brazil!
Now this is what I call informative entertainment
The sections about self-commodification and the spectacle really resonate with me. Last year I became concerned that I wasn't really living my life but rather living vicariously through others. I spend a lot of time watching vlogs on TH-cam or looking at Pinterest boards versus actually engaging in activities that I enjoy and are good for me. My goal last year and this year is to be present and actually live. All in all I enjoyed this video essay.
I'll be honest, for years I've never been comfortable with the thought of meeting a celebrity. To me it feels invasive just noticing them out because I wouldn't want to call attention to them especially if they don't want to be noticed. Also I'm just awkward in general so I'd want them to not look at me 😅 If you pretend I don't exist I'll pretend you don't exist and we can both be on our separate ways
Also joking aside as someone whose also thought what it'd be like to have that kind of lifestyle I wouldn't want it. I love hiding away but I also love being able to go places and be ignored when I'm not in the mood to socialize. Now the reasons I'm ignored are ridiculous but I lean into it. Fine be a horrible person while I continue to take up space that you can't take from me. I'm also someone whose been described as naive because I like to see the good in others and I'd probably be giving into scams left and right but some I wouldn't mind. Like I wouldn't pursue legal action but I'd definitely voice that I didn't find it ok. I'd never be a millionaire because I'd be constantly giving money away. Money is the cause of so many evils and stressors whether you have it or not and people are suffering. My people are suffering and I can't just sit back and watch.
Deep and difficult topic to dive into. Thanks for giving shape to a conversation on it.
Shall I compare thy comment to a summer's day? It is more lovely and more temperate.
@@YumLemmingKebabs Lmaooo nooo
Very well thought out analysis of the intersections between Spectacle, Fame, Celebrity, Parasocial, Social Media, and... wow, you covered a lot of ground! The way people are transforming themselves into Products is being reinforced I think by a growing sense of nihilism and trying desperately to find ways to feel valued. But up to a point, showing the world our Persona, our Mask, is a way to hide our real selves so that we can't be rejected. So perhaps Social Media is the evolution of Manufacturing Personas. I appreciate your hard work and your art.
SHANSPEARE GOODNESS TO BLESS THIS SATURDAY EVENING 🙌🏾
Whether this makes you a celebrity or not, I don't know! But you have become one of my personal favorite channel owners in TH-cam. Your humour, your nuance and the whole persona of your videos have captivated this Brazilian fan, in a way that would almost make something beautiful out of the whole spectacle thing, if I weren't also half cynical and half frightened by the ways social media and the internet as a whole are injecting aggression and dehumanization into our interactions and culture.
Guess the existence of people trying to change this is something beautiful in the midst of a dreadful thing?
Dunno... But thanks for your videos!
This got me fucked up lol. I'm going to have to watch it again (and maybe a third time) to truly digest this cause the more I think on it, the more I realize how accurate this is and it makes me wanna cry lol.
I'm not even 2 Minutes in and already so impressed by the intro: Your attention to detail is amazing and the writing/editing is so stylish and fitting.
Just wanted to say that I loved the nepotism baby joke. On an unrelated note, I have always been fascinated by the correlation between brilliance and self-doubt... not to mention confidence and idiocy.
I've read the main texts you discuss throughout--but they didn't hit me as directly as your piece did. This was terrific.
Didn't expect a shanspeare video esp for me to be slightly early but glad to see it
I have a TH-cam video playlist called "TED talks". A couple are literal TED talks, but the rest? Videos like this one. Grateful for the time you put into offering us some much-needed perspective.
Thanks for your hard work dissecting this. It's something I've thought about before but definitely didn't get as deep into it as you did here. But this, this is a great thought provoking piece that I don't think anyone else could have done it the justice that you did. Hope you're having a great day, shan.
oof that part 4... sht is really dystopian, if i get anxious everytime i have to step out of my house because of the mere thought of running into some random person with a camera or a friggin ex classmate i can't imagine that being the regular Thursday for a celebrity, that's why i can't help but empathize with them in that level of privacy breaching; also you unlocked a stewpid memory when you first mentioned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein hshshs, i had yo read the book for a group exposition on high-school and i rmbr we were so burned out that my one remaining braincell made me say "you know, the monster is actually a scorpio so as a fellow scorpio i understand it" two of them ignored me (as they should) and my bff just looked at me and just 👍 LMAOO
as always amazing video ❤as a fellow artist i appreciate this video (and your content in general) take care!
Love this video. I'm only 49 minutes in but damn, does it make me feel all the feels while questioning everything I do.
I really needed this video personally. I haven't been engaging in my hobby, because I haven't had time to don the persona I've created for filming my hobby. I need to take a step back, and put my full self on camera instead of flanderizing myself for (potential) extra views.
I don't have any disliked Shanspeare videos, and usually have a handful of works I recommend right away, but usually shuffle favorites around.
This is my favorite. I don't know how this will change in the future, but this video is my favorite right now. This is fine work, Shan.
First of all, amazing work as always. Although the commentary was the main focus of the video, I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humour.
The barbie-esque imagery at the beginning and the final sort of...stripping back down to yourself before discussing the final chapter was well timed and provided very impactful imagery to me.
I'm also very impressed at the nuance you provided while discussing this topic.
I will say, though. Watching this after another video discussing mundane images and their importance in fashion has left me with a lot more to think about😂
Especially after the self commodification segment.
She really dug deep and became vulnerable for this video. Damn ಥ‿ಥ
YES YES YES! I've been waiting for someone to talk about this!!!! Slay!
Shan, you always say such big, beautiful things about the human condition. And you do it with such kindness and poetry. Make being truly logical an 1800's poetry contest again
I'm only at the intro and want to say wow... that's beautiful and it also scared the shit out of me. I already know the rest of the video is going to be amazing. 💖
Such excellent, impactful and creative commentary. Your videos are genuinely special :)
girl i’m only halfway in and this is amazing you’re a star
Wow, this really is something. Thank u, I need to go and lay down for 5-7 business days now.