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Manny/Patrick

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The interesting thing to me about this is that it seemed pretty clear on watching that the biggest point is that society allows itself to get distracted easily by the superficial reactions and commentary and doesn’t get into the more important discussion behind what’s going on in front of its face.

Ironic because it seems like much of the initial criticism of the video and its apparent commentary is on the superficial aspects of it. Sure, it raises the specters of gun violence and police interactions with certain parts of the community. But the substantive stuff is all happening in the background while we all (society) get distracted and fail to actually address it. So I think it’s odd to critique the video for “virtue signalling” and “pointing to issues without offering solutions” when the video itself appears to be calling out, at least in part, many of those very same things.

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1 minute ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I'm kind of proud of this community that this thread made 6 pages without being locked. 

And the one post that was a clear rule violation was completely ignored by everyone! Almost like most of us are reasonably mature enough to handle these types of discussions.

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Just now, cddolphin said:

And the one post that was a clear rule violation was completely ignored by everyone! Almost like most of us are reasonably mature enough to handle these types of discussions.

Yeah, but this is the entertainment forum.  Could you imagine if some of the people from NFL General came into this discussion?

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57 minutes ago, cddolphin said:

And like so many other debates IRL, what some assert is a result of POV, or subjective experience / environment, often times simply boils down to measurable biological differences:

but biological differences being the root of certain issues is an uncomfortable topic so best avoid it, or deflect and obfuscate instead of having a reasonable discussion :^)

But I hear them both so pretty sure that means I’m Emperor of the Internets.

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16 minutes ago, fretgod99 said:

The interesting thing to me about this is that it seemed pretty clear on watching that the biggest point is that society allows itself to get distracted easily by the superficial reactions and commentary and doesn’t get into the more important discussion behind what’s going on in front of its face.

Ironic because it seems like much of the initial criticism of the video and its apparent commentary is on the superficial aspects of it. Sure, it raises the specters of gun violence and police interactions with certain parts of the community. But the substantive stuff is all happening in the background while all we (society) get distracted and fail to actually address it. So I think it’s odd to critique the video for “virtue signalling” and “pointing to issues without offering solutions” when the video itself appears to be calling out, at least in part, many of those very same things.

I’ll need to revisit this post tomorrow. It seems I’m all out of likes for today (already?) I definitely agree, that’s the biggest message. Our ability to ignore tragedy unless it’s up close and personal. Otherwise we attempt to go back to dancing to the music and following the dancer because it makes us feel better.

In that sense the Jim Crow reference could be just that. Jim Crow before the laws/restrictions, was simply an entertainer that danced around and made fun while tragedies occurred in the background. He went on tour and people laughed at his routine all the while people struggle in the background.

Thus we are just like the folks back in the day. Our phones being “weapons” that allow us to see the next “Crow” moment (damaging us?) and only when truly transcendent violence reaches us do we look away from our phone screens to see what’s going on around us.

I love this video. So complex. The meaning is in the eye of the beholder.

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8 minutes ago, fretgod99 said:

But I hear them both so pretty sure that means I’m Emperor of the Internets.

Yeah, I hear them both as well. Really took some training for me to do at first, but now I can hear the Yanny consistently. But Laurel is still most prominent for me.

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47 minutes ago, HorizontoZenith said:

Yeah, but this is the entertainment forum.  Could you imagine if some of the people from NFL General came into this discussion?

Childish Gambino is overrated because he might get injured

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1 hour ago, fretgod99 said:

The interesting thing to me about this is that it seemed pretty clear on watching that the biggest point is that society allows itself to get distracted easily by the superficial reactions and commentary and doesn’t get into the more important discussion behind what’s going on in front of its face.

Ironic because it seems like much of the initial criticism of the video and its apparent commentary is on the superficial aspects of it. Sure, it raises the specters of gun violence and police interactions with certain parts of the community. But the substantive stuff is all happening in the background while we all (society) get distracted and fail to actually address it. So I think it’s odd to critique the video for “virtue signalling” and “pointing to issues without offering solutions” when the video itself appears to be calling out, at least in part, many of those very same things.

This is a good post.

Look, unlike some, I'm not so blindly set in my views that I cant see or respect someone elses point of view as long as it makes sense.

However, the fact of the matter is, as many have noted, the messages behind the video can be interpreted in a number of ways, and when all Hollywood and the mainstream media do is "virtue signal" seemingly nonstop, its not shocking that so many people are seeing it as just the status quo....and it doesnt help when alot of proven SJWs are praising this video and pointing out the very "virtue signaling" elements that many critics of the video are.

I am willing to admit that the commentary behind the video COULD be an honest look at society being distracted by the minutia of discussing the politics behind everything, but I also think that might be giving it too much credit.

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"Virtue Signaling" is a concept that needs to be shoved back into whatever dusty tome it was unearthed from. It has a vague enough definition that people have been using it to apply to any and all statements and opinions. In my opinion its been used as a primer for alot of "I dont like what they say, I dont want to hear it and this means they shouldn't say it loud enough for me to hear it" arugments lately. 

Pericles Funeral Oration was definitely "Virtue Signaling". So was Churchills 1940 Speech to Parliament, Kennedys inauguration speech, and Kings "Dream". What Im getting at is,

1. VS isnt inherently negative, although it is used by the internet as if it was.

2. VS is so ingrained in normal human interaction within social groups (micro and macro) that it is pointless to try and carve it out as something foreign and bad within social interaction.

Everyone is constantly Virtue Signaling, and the irony is, the minute you start condemning someone for Virtue Signaling, you start Virtue Signaling. In fact, I may have Virtue Signal-ceptioned myself within the post. To me, that shows the true absurdity of this concept. 

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