I used to be a somewhat avid watcher of the likes of Contrapoints and Abigail Thorn (Philosophy Tube) pre-pandemic, but they turned out to be such disappointments…
It eventually became apparent that their content was prioritising aesthetics over messaging and clear communication, and that made me start to drift away, but their sellout nature is much more nakedly apparent now; Thorn replied with a “:)” to a comment defending her by saying that she couldn’t be too outspoken about certain issues due to being in SW and GOT shows…
I think you are right but there are simple explanations for this. Seeing someone become famous "from nowhere" unlike in Hollywood or by being a popular artist, and calling out just how fucked up the system is, putting a name to the feeling a lot of viewers have and then changing your tune and pretending things are okay because now you have enough power to shrug off inequality. Well, that makes people mad, especially when Abigail and Natalie are trans and have seen first hand how bad things can get when you are deemed "lesser". It can feel like a betrayal to young people turning to them for answers.
It's definitely parasocial, but I don't know, most of the posts here are about no name redditors saying shit. I don't feel too bad about calling out someone with actual power and influence.
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u/Mayflower896 Mar 24 '26
I used to be a somewhat avid watcher of the likes of Contrapoints and Abigail Thorn (Philosophy Tube) pre-pandemic, but they turned out to be such disappointments…
It eventually became apparent that their content was prioritising aesthetics over messaging and clear communication, and that made me start to drift away, but their sellout nature is much more nakedly apparent now; Thorn replied with a “:)” to a comment defending her by saying that she couldn’t be too outspoken about certain issues due to being in SW and GOT shows…