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Stupidity Sells

The Penguin

The Penguin

Chilly Willy The Penguin
I am trying to figure out if we are in an age that stupidity is part of the norm for most entertainment? If I look at many popular videos on YouTube, it is people doing stupid things that get millions of views or more. Most of this stuff doesn't interest me. I wonder why it does for others? Maybe part of it is for the laughter? But at the end of the day, I might be one of those few people that are hard to impress.
 
I claim it works like this: Vanity and Anxiety are friends.

Vanity: I'm vain, so I publish my stupid stunt: hey, look at me! I don't have talent, but I also have no shame.

Anxiety: I feel so stupid, so I'll look at your stupid video so I stop thinking about my fears...hey, I may be dumb, but I'm not that dumb.
 
The Penguin said:
I am trying to figure out if we are in an age that stupidity is part of the norm for most entertainment?
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That age has been around for a very long time. Some think since November 26, 1989. When a television comedy special called "America's Funniest Home Videos" first aired. It went on to become a regular show and broadcast its 25th season last year. That's a lot of adverti$ing time sold over the years.
 
Judge said:
That age has been around for a very long time. Some think since November 26, 1989. When a television comedy special called "America's Funniest Home Videos" first aired. It went on to become a regular show and broadcast its 25th season last year. That's a lot of adverti$ing time sold over the years.
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Show was okay. Didn't care much for it.
 
The Penguin said:
Show was okay. Didn't care much for it.
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No surprise there. It simply preceded YouTube but functions on the same premise. And of course there were others.

Then again this all may have been started as far back as 1968, when Andy Warhol predicted, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes". Technology made it happen. For better or for worse...:p

But much longer than 15 minutes! :eek:
 
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Judge said:
No surprise there. It simply preceded YouTube but functions on the same premise. And of course there were others. Then again this all may have been started as far back as 1968, when Andy Warhol predicted, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes". Technology made it happen. For better or for worse...:p
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I just a penguin that prefers to connect with nature which is something most humans don't do. What I mean me having a life living camping in nature away from civilization.
 
The Penguin said:
I just a penguin that prefers to connect with nature which is something most humans don't do. What I mean me having a life living camping in nature away from civilization.
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I hear that. One reason why I live on the edge of raw desert. Best of both worlds. :)
 
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I must admit to have been an avid consumer of AFV. Mostly of the animal videos.

But at least that stuff isn't planned. I lost soooo much faith in humanity when I worked at a video rental store for a year. o_O
 
AsheSkyler said:
I must admit to have been an avid consumer of AFV. Mostly of the animal videos.

But at least that stuff isn't planned. I lost soooo much faith in humanity when I worked at a video rental store for a year. o_O
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Good point. Animal videos are the only ones that interest and amuse me when it comes to amateur videos. They always have, and always will...evidenced by the occasional humorous ones I post here. :D

Usually dogs and cats just doing what comes naturally to them. :cool:
 
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Judge said:
That age has been around for a very long time. Some think since November 26, 1989. When a television comedy special called "America's Funniest Home Videos" first aired. It went on to become a regular show and broadcast its 25th season last year. That's a lot of adverti$ing time sold over the years.
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We have 'You've Been Framed'.. People get paid £250 if their accident/idiocy is aired!
My eldest son tells me that if people post videos of themselves doing stupid stuff on YouTube, even playing video games, they get paid a few pence per view!
Is the intelligence level of entertainment dropping? Will our children see humanity reduced to drooling imbecils? :eek:
 
Spiller said:
We have 'You've Been Framed'.. People get paid £250 if their accident/idiocy is aired!
My eldest son tells me that if people post videos of themselves doing stupid stuff on YouTube, even playing video games, they get paid a few pence per view!
Is the intelligence level of entertainment dropping? Will our children see humanity reduced to drooling imbecils? :eek:
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The intelligence level of entertainment? No. The intelligence level of society? Let me think about that...

It never fails to amaze me how people so badly want their "15 minutes of fame". So willing to do it at any cost.
 
Judge said:
Good point. Animal videos are the only ones that interest and amuse me when it comes to amateur videos. They always have, and always will...evidenced by the occasional humorous ones I post here. :D

Usually dogs and cats just doing what comes naturally to them. :cool:
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Definitely with dogs and cats. But I won't turn down any other varmint, lizards and birds have great potential. Deer can have some good moments too. And rather embarrassing ones, I saw a picture of a cat chasing off a deer. And then there's that story of a bear who wasn't allowed down a tree because a nearby cat didn't like him.
 
AsheSkyler said:
Definitely with dogs and cats. But I won't turn down any other varmint, lizards and birds have great potential. Deer can have some good moments too. And rather embarrassing ones, I saw a picture of a cat chasing off a deer. And then there's that story of a bear who wasn't allowed down a tree because a nearby cat didn't like him.
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I once had a praying mantis be so accommodating while I took its picture, I almost thought it was posing for me. Really!
 
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public. Are we not coming up on the 40th anniversary of the Pet Rock?

The other thing is: stupid entertainment is cheap to make. Quality is expensive. Which is more likely to make a profit?
 
I can only speak from personal experience, but I have a sneaky suspicion that such "low-brow" entertainment, such as reality TV, and silly shows, people watch either from a perspective of complete irony, or enjoy them but are also fully open about how stupid the stuff is and view it as a "guilty pleasure." I have guilty pleasures myself. Maybe I am not very worldly, and there are in fact people who take this stuff seriously, but let's not discount the fact that not everybody who watches such tripe is stupid and complacent. ;)
 
Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, sleaze sells. The only reality show that was worth watching was Mythbusters, since there was an element of science involved in what that crew was trying to prove/or disprove. The rest of those types of shows are really no different from game shows like What's My Line, I've Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth, or Divorce Court or The People's Court.
 
One can wonder if it's even stupidity that's being promoted since plenty of things I see, one can already expect will hurt and have a high rate of failing.

On the other hand, I care little for AFHV and similar things and prefer things a bit more hardcore I suppose. But I can't make a secret over the fact that I like quite some schadenfreude... I will say that I at times check out Tosh.O and will have a chuckle about a few things on it... they're however things found on youtube and the like most of the time, so at some point it just feels like someone is airing a clip complilation and adding some comments to it and turning it into a show... oh wait.. that's the concept of that, and numerous other shows...
 
Judge said:
I once had a praying mantis be so accommodating while I took its picture, I almost thought it was posing for me. Really!
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At least it was very polite mantis. The last praying mantis video I saw was a tiny one on a microphone waving its little arms until the speaker got close enough it could crawl up his nose. And the guy never flinched! That must have been some concentration and stage fright.
 
I like watching other people be stupid because i like to see what happens when people do not recive an education. If they knew the basic laws of physics they would probably not jump off of a building on to another building and land on their face.
 
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