I used to watch Conan, back before the 2016 election. His monologues could be hilarious. As the presidential election neared, it was not surprising that he made jokes about the candidates, Hilary and Trump. But over time, little by little, his jokes were all aimed at denigrating Trump. And they stopped being jokes. They were just pure hate speech. He could say, "Trump sure is stupid", no punchline, and the audience would cheer.
Hate speech with a smile is still hate speech. Conan, you can kiss my ass.
It seems like if the biggest brands are catering to the 8%, and presumably those brands are controlled by members of the 8%, then the messaging the brands are trying to convey is either further insulate themselves from the wider ideological spectrum or more likely to indoctrinate the other 92%. “Say it loud enough, often enough, and with enough confidence, and it has to be true,” right?
Good point. I agree that a lot of this is circular -- producers are part of the 8% and they're catering to the 8%. As for the 92%, yes there is probably lots of indoctrination. But there is also the opposite effect -- the 8 percenters turn off a lot of people too. I'm not sure which effect is stronger.
I used to watch Conan, back before the 2016 election. His monologues could be hilarious. As the presidential election neared, it was not surprising that he made jokes about the candidates, Hilary and Trump. But over time, little by little, his jokes were all aimed at denigrating Trump. And they stopped being jokes. They were just pure hate speech. He could say, "Trump sure is stupid", no punchline, and the audience would cheer.
Hate speech with a smile is still hate speech. Conan, you can kiss my ass.
Interesting and depressing. I used to really enjoy Conan too, but I didn't realize he also became consumed with Trump.
It seems like if the biggest brands are catering to the 8%, and presumably those brands are controlled by members of the 8%, then the messaging the brands are trying to convey is either further insulate themselves from the wider ideological spectrum or more likely to indoctrinate the other 92%. “Say it loud enough, often enough, and with enough confidence, and it has to be true,” right?
Good point. I agree that a lot of this is circular -- producers are part of the 8% and they're catering to the 8%. As for the 92%, yes there is probably lots of indoctrination. But there is also the opposite effect -- the 8 percenters turn off a lot of people too. I'm not sure which effect is stronger.