There's almost a crabs in the bucket type thing that is really obvious to see when a person becomes successful. People start to dredge up all the shitty things in their past. MLK was an adulterer, Mother Theresa was a dick, etc etc. I hope you understand what I mean.
I really enjoy thinking about this stuff, because while it obviously doesn't apply to people at an individual level at all, it's really interesting to see how information overload can affect people en masse
On another note, I think maybe a lot of the cultural-death-by-irony (that phrase is overstating it, but it gets the point across) stuff I'm saying is better shown in a movie called The Comedy with Tim Heidecker, which is a movie that is just about what the fuck 'Post-Irony' is and why it's a scary thing
I do get what you're saying but I think it's not a useful place to focus your attention. I'm not a fan of being a dick, though I sometimes am one, nor a fan of adultury, that said I devote no bandwidth to hand wringing about MLK's personal life, Mother Theresa's temperament.
Under that much scrutiny, you can find a lot of dirt about any human being. Not useful.
Yeah, irony has amplified the whole nihilism thing. I'm fine with irony if used in moderation not as a way of life.
I know you weren't talking about politics specifically but this is likely part of the reason there are too many douche bags in public office. How many earnest, smart people want to subject themselves to that kind of scrutiny?
I don't want a president who hasn't smoked pot, fucked on a trampoline, swam laps while tripping, and traveled to at least one other country other than the U.S. and Alaska.
How do we get real people elected if the footage of every time they shoplifted a snickers bar is going to be compiled into a montage for an unfair attack ad? Sure, it seems like a lot of shoplifting but to be fair it was spread out over 20 years.
I really enjoy thinking about this stuff, because while it obviously doesn't apply to people at an individual level at all, it's really interesting to see how information overload can affect people en masse
On another note, I think maybe a lot of the cultural-death-by-irony (that phrase is overstating it, but it gets the point across) stuff I'm saying is better shown in a movie called The Comedy with Tim Heidecker, which is a movie that is just about what the fuck 'Post-Irony' is and why it's a scary thing