I’m going to try watching the documentary this is from, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, streaming on Hulu.
From which point of view is this video evidence of what kind of world we live in? Often with video content posted here I can’t tell whether you’re sharing it because the video expresses a view of the world that you agree with or disagree with. Or if you just think that this is a good example of how the world thinks about an issue.
Great. I wanted to bring up issues that provide opportunities for critical thinking and analysis, not issues where people immediately think they know the answer nor issues they’re already highly familiar with.
Each one is meant to potentially lead to some kind of interesting result if considered enough.
Each one is an opportunity for you to think about it, share your thoughts, and potentially discuss with others who might have different opinions.
One comment I have is that Jason makes a claim about what Bo and Mr. Beast were “trying to say” which I think is false. I transcribed what Jason said:
…what I am saying and what Bo was trying to say and what Mr. Beast was trying to say is that this system does not have a good enough safety net to support very many people creating full time.
I don’t think this is what Bo and what Mr. Beast were trying to say. I think this is what Jason thinks.
In the article that Jason showed in the video, Mr. Beast (Donaldson) was quoted as saying:
“It’s painful to see people quit their job/drop out of school to make content full time before they’re ready,” Donaldson wrote on X. “For every person like me that makes it, thousands don’t. Keep that in mind and be smart plz.”
Which I think says lots of people fail at trying to make content full time, that they shouldn’t make drastic changes to their life like quitting job/school before they are ready, and to keep in mind that success is rare and be smart about it. Nothing about a system or safety net.
Bo Burnham says something more similar in the Conan O’Brien interview:
Conan:
[Transcribed by me from audio]
You must have a lot of young people that say: How do I get into the business? How do I accomplish what you’ve accomplished? What’s you’re advice for young people?
Bo:
[Transcribed by me from audio]
I’d say well, you gotta just take a deep breath and give up. The system is rigged against you. Your hard work and talent will not pay off.
I would say don’t take [the] advice [to follow your dreams] from people like me who have gotten very lucky, you know, we’re very biased, you know. Taylor Swift telling you to follow your dreams is like a lottery winner saying ‘Liquidize your assets! Buy powerball tickets! It works!’ its just you won’t [succeed].
But I think Bo is saying to give up because there is no point trying to do something that’s highly unlikely to succeed. So while Bo said that our system is rigged, I don’t think it’s fair to claim from what he said in the interview that he was trying to say the social safety net for creatives is not good enough.
Some of the comments he makes reminds me of some of the comments you’ve made in one of your podcast episodes (this one).
Could you be more specific?
Sure. To clarify, I was just trying to post more and the thought occurred to me before bed and I’m just trying to get in a habit of posting more. I don’t necessarily think it’s adding much to the discussion. mb.
Around 16 into the episode Elliott talks about financial independence and says you should try to live a reasonably balanced life right now and do stuff you like. "Work a reasonable amount now and also do some things you like and then plan to work a reasonable amount later’. HIs point was made more so related to people who try to do a lot in the early parts of there life so they can do what they like in the future. Now thinking on it I don’t know how much relevance it has to what Jason says.
Jason says, “… but the dream should be create a life for yourself that leaves room to do these things that you love.” Jason is talking about doing that as a necessity because he believes theres no way realistically the average person can pursue what they like to do full time.
Going through the podcast episode again, I guess the only other thing I noticed a similarity with is around 30 seconds Elliot says, “in our society making a lot of money does not correspond well with product achievement.” I guess that also ties into how Jason talks about much more talented and hard working people than him (assuming he isn’t being humle) didn’t get as lucky as him and aren’t as successful.
If you think the video is just a fake skit, read some comments. I don’t think it’s made up.
Cool thanks. I had a listen to it when you posted that first comment to see if I noticed anything I thought was related. The one I saw was the same one (that making money in our society not corresponding well with productive achievement.) I also saw the resemblance in the later part that you saw but I agree it’s not the same idea.
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This kind of thing is not a secret, but usually isn’t said out loud in clear ways. It’s also commonly denied when people have some incentive/bias.
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