No literally, that is the question. And no, I'm not talking about The Weeknd's embarrassing softcore porn fantasy of a show, I'm talking about the concept of idols in general.
Y'remember back when people in the early internetdom used to mock politicians and celebrities equally? When we had our own little club? I will admit that some of these attacks were founded in deep hatred for anythin' popular, girly, kid-like or just a disdain for female pop artists and that kinda fuckin' sucked, but we used to put Bush through perils and openly mock politicians! But then there was a moment in time where we seemingly shifted from having a detached or balanced relationship with our idols, to worshipping 'natural idols' and right into listenin' to every bullshit claim outta their moufs. Now it feels like you can't really say the soberin' statement that a lot of politics and politicians are a total fuckin' farse and they should be mocked — mostly 'cause you will piss off a bunch of people on either direction accusin' you of anything they think you are. Politicians have effectively infected the online space so that now you, a normal citizen, can't escape their holy status and any kind of mockery will be followed by the cult following taggin' right behind to chastise you. Celebrities, too, have garnered some semblance of holiness but much less than politicians. After all, they've always felt expendable when you consider their entire team just milks them dry for money. The celebrity now tries to be "in" by postin' pics and trying to stay up with the latest memery so that people can pat themselves in the back when they point at that celebrity and go "he's one of the cool ones!" The only exceptions of this being Lynda Carter, who genuinely seems to just connect with her fans and fandom for a good time -- never for any kind of promotion, unless I eat my words in the future.
But now, there's a different kind of idol, an idol that is going through the 'holier than thou' era right now and that society at large expects me to listen to.
I'm talkin' influencers and other fools that are in my same career (much to my chagrin) like XQC, Mister Moist'n'critical, The Lord Of Beasts and my mortal fuckin' enemy Asmondgold. A good majority of us went from being part of the underground culture of not worshippin' celebrities mindlessly (but being real fuckin' hypocritical when it came to OUR rolemodels, which I got a whole shit to say 'bout but that's for some other time) to now sittin' in our asses and listenin' to what putrid shit comes out of a talentless man's mouth, delusionally convincing ourselves that our political opinions align with the absolutely buffoonery of uneducated spillage that our favorite influencer (read, the internet's favorite) of the hour has to share! Now, I'm not talkin' about YOUR fave here, but if the shoe is fittin' then put it on.
Like, how did that happen?! When the internet came 'bout and we took control of our entertainment shit was cool! Art and media made by the people, for the people, with jokes to be understood by those who had their fingers in the pulse of the internet culture of that era. It wasn't like you were cool for knowin', it just meant you knew and that people like you would get it, the world movin' along with their shit. No idols to come about, just personal favorites and rolemodels that we modestly kept to ourselves -- that implicitly inspired us to create something even for a brief moment. Whether or not we listened or worshipped these mundane ass people it was our own g'damned choice and it never felt like it bled outside of the internet, but now it feels like all content creators that reach a certain amount of popularity MUST be listened to and MUST be worshipped 'cause, I dunno, they won the fuckin' algorithmical lotto? Then, that kinda shit bleeds on the outside world with 'em being on award shows, interviewed by the news, tangible merch that was but a twinkle in the eye of a super fan that could not be past the age of 7. Viral memes come and go by the second and now every other small creator is trying to take a piece of the pie by recreating these memes in hopes of garnering an audience so THEY can become famous too!
A good chunk of popular people that aren't revered are pseudo-lolcows and that shit is just as bad and I'll probably rant about that some other time, but the people revered that end up comin' out to be total assholes and kid-touchers?? The fuck are we doin' here? Dedicate time of your day to listenin' to someone that resonates with you, sure, but it's about time we stop putting 'em on weird makeshift pedestals that the entire community takes the time and attention to fix and maintain for some ungodly reason. Worse yet, it's time we pretend the entirety of the internet (which has increasingly blurred its lines with reality and now pertains to society as a whole) is rallyin' behind users. I don't give a shit about pewdiepie and the guy can suck my ass for all I care, Moistcritical bored me by the second video, I don't even know who the fuck schlatt is and I care much less to know who is hookin' up with who! I'M SICK OF IT, YOU PEOPLE ARE TIRING ME.
I WANNA GO BACK -- OR I WANT TO FIND A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHO EMBODY THAT ENTHUSIAST OF THE OLD YOUTUBE DAMN IT.
Being a video maker of any kind on youtube now feels like it comes with this unintended fuckin' baggage, like being a celebrity or an actor. The platform directly demands commitment from you or it punishes you with no exposure over people who WILL obey the system, and the new 'style' of video has made it so that your niche audience is small. So small that it feels insignificant when compared to the numbers that Youtube wants you to see. I want to be able to do the things old youtubers used to do and just BROADCAST MYSELF.
No fuckin' algorithm, no fuckin' pressure to make a big production.
Just create, out of love.
Safe to say, I am fuckin' PISSED.