# Why do so many people these days tie their sense of self-worth to fictional media?



## Lensherr (Sep 7, 2020)

As most of us I’m sure are aware of via the Consoomer meme:






there’s a ubiquitous modern phenomenon of adult men and women who invest a tremendous amount of time and money in a fictional universe to the point where their identity largely revolves around being a consumer of whatever IP or IPs are prevalent at the time. This primarily happens with large, sprawling corporate-owned franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Game Of Thrones, and both the Marvel and DC pantheon of superheroes to name a few.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying any of these franchises (or fiction in general) in and of itself. However, I’m not talking about people who occasionally go to see a superhero movie with their friends in their spare time. Rather, I’m talking about those who are so heavily invested in these properties that they tie their entire sense of self-worth to it. We see this manifest in, among other things, the constant dick-measuring contests that they have as to who owns the most disposable plastic crap and the extreme, over-the-top emotional reactions that they have to movie trailers:






(On the flip side, we have people having mental breakdowns whenever these franchises release entries that suck)

So how did it come to this? How did this low to middle-brow nerd pop culture stuff become like a religion to these people. Well, I have a few theories, and they aren’t mutually exclusive:

1. The receding influence of actual religion. Because fewer people are religious in the sense that they adhere to one of the five major religions in the western world, they have supplanted it with the aforementioned pop-culture, thus filling the void for the sense of meaning and guiding wisdom that religion used to fill.

2. Lack of meaningful connection to history and culture. As people have started to become deracinated, rootless cosmopolitans, they attach themselves to these corporate IPs as a means of getting invested in some sort of history (i.e., lore/canon), albeit a fictional one, as opposed to real-world history and heritage.

3. Corporate marketing. Basically, the corporations that produce this pop culture have become very adept at exploiting the fanatical devotion of and emotionally manipulating these consumers. Ultimately, they don’t care about quality as long as they can keep milking their consumer base of enough money to make a profit. In other words, they encourage the unhealthy, all-consuming obsessing that people have with these IPs, because after all, healthy, well-adjusted people don’t spend hundreds of dollars on Star Wars toys.

Do you guys think that any of these hypotheses are accurate, or do you have your own theories as to how the phenomenon I’m describing came about? And how can we, as a society, wean ourself off of this obsession with corporate franchises that primarily exist to make money off us?

Endnotes:
Two videos that I recommend that go further into detail on/cover similar ground as to what I’m talking about are ‘The Infantilization Of Popular Culture’ by Paul Joseph Watson and ‘What could replace nerd culture?’ by Endeavour:


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## Cyclonus (Sep 7, 2020)

Because it distracts us from the meaninglessness of existence. Fictional worlds mean nothing, and neither does anything else. In less than 100 years every single member of this forum will be dead and forgotten. The universe will carry on for trillions of years until the last star dies leaving an empty meaningless void.


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## Icasaracht (Sep 7, 2020)

Cyclonus said:


> Because it distracts us from the meaninglessness of existence. Fictional worlds mean nothing, and neither does anything else. In less than 100 years every single member of this forum will be dead and forgotten. The universe will carry on for trillions of years until the last star dies leaving an empty meaningless void.


Wubba lubba dub dub.


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## The Fool (Sep 7, 2020)

Cyclonus said:


> Because it distracts us from the meaninglessness of existence. Fictional worlds mean nothing, and neither does anything else. In less than 100 years every single member of this forum will be dead and forgotten. The universe will carry on for trillions of years until the last star dies leaving an empty meaningless void.



That's a reason to generally enjoy fictional media, you edgy pseudo-intellectual faggot. He's asking why people base their entire personalities around a specific IP.

It's definitely something to do with their lack of a personality. I always just assumed because they have no personality, no real unique ideas of their own, no ability to have any sort of introspective thoughts, that they try to find those things elsewhere. How many of these people love spurting "deep" quotes or life lessons from Star Wars and Harry Potter? They need to find these things in media because they don't know how to find it themselves. It's why they're all so boring and similar (and why kids call them NPCs).


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## {o}P II (Sep 7, 2020)

Says the guy with the Breaking Bad avatar


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## RejectedLynx (Sep 7, 2020)

The Fool said:


> It's definitely something to do with their lack of a personality. I always just assumed because they have no personality, no real unique ideas of their own, no ability to have any sort of introspective thoughts, that they try to find those things elsewhere. How many of these people love spurting "deep" quotes or life lessons from Star Wars and Harry Potter? They need to find these things in media because they don't know how to find it themselves. It's why they're all so boring and similar (and why kids call them NPCs).



Basically this. Whatever the reason is, they never think on their own and make their own personalities so they have to find someone to emulate since they want to be emulated and coveted. It's really not that deep because they're not that deep, sadly.


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## 737 MAX Stan Account (Sep 7, 2020)

Allow me to follow up with a somewhat related question? Why do these same types of people always have to compare their political boogeymen (for lack of a better term) to fictional characters. And then follow it up by comparing themselves to the characters that defeat said villain? Are the heroes of real world history not flawless enough for their liking?


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## Steely Dan (Sep 7, 2020)

>Sourcing Paul Joseph Watson


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## The Fool (Sep 7, 2020)

737 MAX Stan Account said:


> Allow me to follow up with a somewhat related question? Why do these same types of people always have to compare their political boogeymen (for lack of a better term) to fictional characters. And then follow it up by comparing themselves to the characters that defeat said villain? Are the heroes of real world history not flawless enough for their liking?



That's not complex either. They spend a lot of time thinking about their IP of choice, more than real-world events and history. So they draw more connections between current events and their IP of choice. Everyone does it, in fact I bet a lot of us do it. We just don't autistically spurt it out in the open because we're self-aware enough to realize that comparing current events to fictional media makes us sounds like we're 9 years old.


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## Exigent Circumcisions (Sep 7, 2020)

I doubt it's a recent phenomenon.


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## Red Hood (Sep 7, 2020)

If my self worth was tied to the comics I follow I'd have been institutionalized about halfway through Tom King's Batman run. The modern geek hates to admit that sometimes a franchise you like sucks. You have to be a brand zealot or you're not a true and honest fan.

The healthy thing to do is just shake your head and move on.


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## Fandom Trash (Sep 7, 2020)

The Fool said:


> That's a reason to generally enjoy fictional media, you edgy pseudo-intellectual faggot. He's asking why people base their entire personalities around a specific IP.
> 
> It's definitely something to do with their lack of a personality. I always just assumed because they have no personality, no real unique ideas of their own, no ability to have any sort of introspective thoughts, that they try to find those things elsewhere. How many of these people love spurting "deep" quotes or life lessons from Star Wars and Harry Potter? They need to find these things in media because they don't know how to find it themselves. It's why they're all so boring and similar (and why kids call them NPCs).




I think its this too. People get so attached to fictional shows that they think its quirky to quote Harry Potter nonstop or show everyone their latest rick and morty tattoos. 

And when things don't go their way (like in terms of a ship becoming canon or a character doing something that might not match with their personality) these very same people get angry and attack the creators.

Instead of writing stories that involves what they want, they would rather sit, consume and complain.


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## Vampirella (Sep 7, 2020)

During the 80s and 90s there was a lot of commercials targeted to kids. Toy commercials every where, just say Crossfire and someone remembers that stupid commercial. Toys R Us, "I don't want to grow up", Chunky E Cheese, "Where a kid can be a kid, Trix are for kids, you get the idea. Now Toy commercials are nothing new, they've been around as far back as radio, but this was different. There was also this thing with kids outsmarting adults all the time in movies and TV. Adults just don't get it, blah blah blah. You had Latchkey kids, kids that get back from school to an empty house and don't ever go outside because of stranger danger. They spend hours watching TV, internalizing all of this, screaming at their parents for the new Transformers toy that just came out because they feel they need it or they're not cool. These are the kids that didn't really have friends because they just wanted to stay inside all day watching cartoons. They ate this up, it became their personality because they had nothing else.


They grew up, physically any way. They're still that lonely kid wasting time watching TV eating junk, they happiest memories that they have from childhood are when they got a new plastic toy that they only played with for half a hour before forgetting. They never matured mentally so they stick to the easy to digest joys of childhood. That's why they get so upset when a cartoon is rebooted or when an author that they loved says there are only 2 genders. They've held on to this identity of childhood good adult bad, and any thing that challenges that like say a reboot of the Thundercats attacks their identity.

They still think that they're that smart ass kid that adults just don't get, and they're cool, but really they're a sad sack that almost 40 with nothing to show for it but a bunch of plastic used to fill an empty home.


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## Pissmaster (Sep 7, 2020)

737 MAX Stan Account said:


> Allow me to follow up with a somewhat related question? Why do these same types of people always have to compare their political boogeymen (for lack of a better term) to fictional characters. And then follow it up by comparing themselves to the characters that defeat said villain? Are the heroes of real world history not flawless enough for their liking?



We're all exposed to fictional characters a hell of a lot more than historical (or biblical) ones, so they're a lot more familiar.



The Shadow said:


> The modern geek hates to admit that sometimes a franchise you like sucks. You have to be a brand zealot or you're not a true and honest fan.



I've run into that a hell of a lot more than I'd ever like to admit. There's a weird ordeal in nerd culture where you can make friends with someone through being fans of a franchise, really get along great, and then have them act like you're betraying them when you're disappointed in the next thing from the franchise, or even if you're just drifting off onto another thing.  Which leads to some of the gayest fucking friendship breakups imaginable.


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## Clones of Alex Jones (Sep 7, 2020)

For a multitude of reasons more and more people are living in a state of arrested development. Not starting families, shit dead end jobs, poor to no social lives. So many of them take the easy way out which is living in escapism instead of dealing with reality. 

Gay ass manchildren.


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## Next Task (Sep 7, 2020)

The obvious answer is autism. 



The Shadow said:


> If my self worth was tied to the comics I follow I'd have been institutionalized about halfway through Tom King's Batman run. The modern geek hates to admit that sometimes a franchise you like sucks.


I think that's only one half of it. Being a geek means being passionate. So there's the ones who will defend their preferred area against all criticism. But there's also the ones who hate what their beloved franchise has turned into and can only complain about how much they hate it while still watching. 

Much, but not all, of which comes from fans who always automatically hate the new stuff. Some of these consumers define themselves by how everything new in their 'beloved' media is shit, but the point where everything became terrible is always moving. They can't ever appreciate new content, and seem to take pride in that, even if later the stuff they profess to hate will be the high point the *new *content disgraces with its very existence.


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## Jonah Hill poster (Sep 7, 2020)

{o}P II said:


> Says the guy with the Breaking Bad avatar


I heard your chicken makes your skin complexion look nice



Spoiler: NICE


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## Samson Pumpkin Jr. (Sep 7, 2020)

Glad to see my comrade and "nigga" endeavour gaining more popularity. 
Anyways, I think this whole thing is a bit over exaggerated. Of course these man children exist in real life, but they aren't that pervasive. Everyone to some extent participates on pop culture. I'm sure that everyone in this thread saw avengers infinity war within the first month of its release. The difference between normal people and them is that their primary source of entertainment and hobby comes from pop culture, while most normal people have a mix of pop culture and more niche things as well as having hobbies which are completely distinct from that entertainment like carpentry. The consooomers on the other hand have everything invested into that culture, even their hobbies. 

The way we end this is destroying America. Death to America, long live Iran. RIP Suleimani.  I bear witness that there is no deity but God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God, and I bear witness that Ali is the vicegerent of God.


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## Vampirella (Sep 7, 2020)

Next Task said:


> Much, but not all, of which comes from fans who always automatically hate the new stuff. Some of these consumers define themselves by how everything new in their 'beloved' media is shit, but the point where everything became terrible is always moving. They can't ever appreciate new content, and seem to take pride in that, even if later the stuff they profess to hate will be the high point the *new *content disgraces with its very existence.


It really is a stupid mindset, just because they do a remake doesn't mean that the old material is gone forever. And you never know if the new take on something could be great, John Carpenter's The Thing is seen as one of the greatest horror movies of the 80s.

I don't think that these type of people are that numerous, they just seem that way because you always see them online. That's because they're always online. Places like Reddit and Twitter are the only places they get any social interaction.


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## Lensherr (Sep 7, 2020)

{o}P II said:


> Says the guy with the Breaking Bad avatar


> Implying that at least half of all Internet forum users don’t have some sort of fictional character as their avatar


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## {o}P II (Sep 7, 2020)

Lensherr said:


> > Implying that at least half of all Internet forum users don’t have some sort of fictional character as their avatar


Breaking Bad is fucking loser retard babies


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

{o}P II said:


> Breaking Bad is fucking loser retard babies


I hope your love one is shot and killed in front of you by a Mexican cartel don.


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## {o}P II (Sep 7, 2020)

Fromtheblackdepths said:


> I hope your love one is shot and killed in front of you by a Mexican cartel don.


Breaking Bad fans are subhuman


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## Casshern (Sep 7, 2020)

Pissmaster said:


> There's a weird ordeal in nerd culture where you can make friends with someone through being fans of a franchise, really get along great, and then have them act like you're betraying them when you're disappointed in the next thing from the franchise, or even if you're just drifting off onto another thing.


I blame things like this on modern fandoms. Used to, you could happily enjoy any and all media, now though, similar to politics, you have to toe the line and hope your opinions on the series match with the group consensus, and you can only like that specific thing forever. If not? People won't like you and won't see you as a true and honest fan.


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

Does this subject also cover niche media as well?


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## GHTD (Sep 7, 2020)

> implying 80% to 100% of the site doesn't consume media
>"liking things makes you soy"
>"real people don't like anything"

Fucking doomers.

Also Breaking Bad is shit. Neck yourself.


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

GHTD said:


> > implying 90% to 100% of the site doesn't consume media
> 
> Fucking doomers.
> 
> Also Breaking Bad is shit. Neck yourself.


I hope someone cuts off your head and stuffs it on a tortoise.
edit: I wrote neck and not head.


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## GHTD (Sep 7, 2020)

Fromtheblackdepths said:


> I hope someone cuts off your neck and stuffs it on a tortoise.



Point me to the nearest ISIS cell and I'll go trespass on their territory to please you.


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## Driftwood (Sep 7, 2020)

I think this explains a lot of childfree, 35-45yo adult Disneyfags too.


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## Bad Take Crucifier (Sep 7, 2020)

People used to draw their personality from religion and weird crap related to it. Now worshiping a brand is a religion. it's pretty weird but I think it's mostly dumb people that do it.


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## D̥̜̖͗͆̿E̼̰VÔ̦Ȗ̟̹̮͊͋R͊̒ (Sep 7, 2020)

There have always been people who are born followers. They have no hobbies or activities to develop personalities around so they have to identify with entertainment or religion (or a cult) or simply exist for their job (though workaholics can be married to skilled work as well).
Now you have actual children all over 4chan and reddit and twitter talking about how great their cartoons are and the adults who don't realize they've grown up latch on too because they get a quick dopamine hit every time they praise one of the shows and everyone upvotes them and buys them those paypig reddit awards.


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

(______) said:


> There have always been people who are born followers. They have no hobbies or activities to develop personalities around so they have to identify with entertainment or religion (or a cult) or simply exist for their job (though workaholics can be married to skilled work as well).
> Now you have actual children all over 4chan and reddit and twitter talking about how great their cartoons are and the adults who don't realize they've grown up latch on too because they get a quick dopamine hit every time they praise one of the shows and everyone upvotes them and buys them those paypig reddit awards.


And those kids reply with "OK Boomer" you rightfully tell them this shit.


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## Chongqing (Sep 7, 2020)

Is this the argument that none of us should be upset that they ruined star wars for no reason? Because we'll be like the meme? 

In that case, Disney good!


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## Bland Crumbs (Sep 7, 2020)

It has been too long since a world war or actual depression. Anyone who believes the great recession was anything like the depression has not spoken to someone who lived during the depression.


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## Drain Todger (Sep 7, 2020)

It's because people are shallow as shit, OP. You ever walk out of a movie theater and overhear members of the audience who've picked up the accent of the characters? Maybe adopted a few of their mannerisms or even their entire walk? It's because there's nothing in their head. They're an empty vessel. The media goes in, gets digested and regurgitated, and hollow blather comes out.


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

Drain Todger said:


> It's because people are shallow as shit, OP. You ever walk out of a movie theater and overhear members of the audience who've picked up the accent of the characters? Maybe adopted a few of their mannerisms or even their entire walk? It's because there's nothing in their head. They're an empty vessel. The media goes in, gets digested and regurgitated, and hollow blather comes out.
> 
> View attachment 1579398


Black Hermiones or White Hermiones?


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## Lensherr (Sep 7, 2020)

Chongqing said:


> Is this the argument that none of us should be upset that they ruined star wars for no reason? Because we'll be like the meme?
> 
> In that case, Disney good!


No offense, but if what you get from my post is “Disney good”, you’re living in a fucking dream world.


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## Tim Buckley (Sep 7, 2020)

Yeah, they should tie their self-worth with REAL LIFE characters, this world and their agents had quickly become more cartoonish, unintentionally funny and in some rare cases inspiring than most of the shitty shows and films anyway.


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## Fromtheblackdepths (Sep 7, 2020)

Tim Buckley said:


> Yeah, they should tie their self-worth with REAL LIFE characters, this world and their agents have quickly become more cartoonish, unintentionally funny and in some rare cases inspiring than most of the shitty shows and films anyway.


Emperor Norton for life.


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## Tanti-Fanti (Sep 7, 2020)

You see too many people connect their self worth to these projects not just out of immaturity but to find twisted a sense of belonging. *Learning to hate certain things that align with your worldview in fictional media is easy.* It's also easy to claim these things are part of the reason why you're a victim. Using real world examples requires effort and is much harder to justify because it's real people with *thoughts, emotions, etc.. It's not all black and white. There are no easy answers.* However, fiction allows for *interpretations* and many stories are purposely laid out to lead to a* conclusion.*  In a way, you have people who like this because it's easier to conform their worldviews to what already confirms their biases. As a result, you have people who *easily claim to speak as if they know the intentions of the creators and assume the worst of them for their own benefit. *

In the end, it's really just people not being able to come to terms with the fact that they can't feel like they belong unless they attach themselves to something that makes them feel better about themselves. Hating a creator, series, or any form of media is easy. It's even easier to go and make ""callout"" posts about why "x" is problematic in media for clout


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## Kiwifarmsname (Sep 8, 2020)

Well shit what else is there to feel worthy of. Most adults revert to be like children or teens because stuff like childrape and murder being real is to much for them to handle. So what more is there to feel pride about then the deep philosophical questions brought up by your stupid larp.


GHTD said:


> > implying 80% to 100% of the site doesn't consume media
> >"liking things makes you soy"
> >"real people don't like anything"
> 
> ...


its more how people are PROUD of watching another persons achievement. If you're really good at csgo or something you have the right to be proud, if you made something you have the right to be proud. Someone throwing a ball that you picked the number of isnt an achievement.


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## ToroidalBoat (Sep 8, 2020)

What if it's what Ted Kaczynski called "surrogate activites"?


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## RSOD (Sep 8, 2020)

Please help me i am a virginity soap 2000 consoomer also buy virginity soap 2000


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## Ponchik (Sep 8, 2020)

Cyclonus said:


> Who can a fuck. We're all going to dead anyway. Life is completely meaningless The void awaits us all. Read Nietzsche's wikipage and you're understand what I'm talking about.


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## Make Anime Illegal (Sep 8, 2020)

ToroidalBoat said:


> What if it's what Ted Kaczynski called "surrogate activites"?



Fictional media is how they try to go through the power process.


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## Chongqing (Sep 8, 2020)

Lensherr said:


> No offense, but if what you get from my post is “Disney good”, you’re living in a fucking dream world.


Fair enough. What do you think I'm missing?


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## I Love Beef (Sep 8, 2020)

From an artistic perspective, I blame both public education, a dearth in artistic interest by civil functions, and complete indifference and even far removed out of touch disdain shown by modern day "high art" figures for this. I put "high art" in quotations because you can't believe that shit that some closet assholes and faggots who smell their own farts and don't share with the public direct the world on trends and such anymore, unless they were like Jeffery Epstein.

All of this I blame for failing to prompt people to care about art, be it from the past or in the long run, because the perspectives are made to be extreme. Art is not focused on nowadays in how it inspires, how it is used to communicate ideas, aesthetics, stories, etc., and how it can also build self motivation. You have oldfag diehard asshole hipster boomers who are angry that the world isn't jerking them off for being such a fan of Mozart or Van Gogh or Liberache, are stiffer than a fossilized constipated piece of shit who are stalwarts for "tradition", to hipster faggots hosting their own art shows and exclusively reserving them for "exclusive guests" (ie drug addict acquaintances), to how guilty of being consuumers are much of the public by being swayed by political bullshit, left and right, and to how everyone is made to be more hard work and "rational" minded for the workforce machine.

All of this boils down to a complete lack of use of creative parts of the mind and internal development over "keeping it real" and "being rational" (ie putting your zeal into the material than the spiritual, which is just as bad). Hypothetically, the restraint and starvation of artistic expression is why it slingshots back into a fanatical expression of realistic attainment than to showcase abstract inspirations and ideas. You don't think this happened before? Hitler's Ghost Command and Madame Blavatsky based their beliefs of Hyperborean superhuman ubermench predecessors and vital energy theories on a fictional book series called Vril: The Power of the Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Yes, some of the first fucking otherkin and soulbonders lolcows in the world were fucking Nazis by its repressed artist dictator leader. Go fucking figure.

An edit for further elaboration: This is why art, be it from the past, present, or the future, of all forms, is not appreciated just for what it is and what comprises it by these people. There's always some faggot egotripping going on with these people who tie themselves with popular media. There's no interest in what inspirations what the creators had to create a series. There's no want to share common ground of the mass thematic world of art mankind has built up throughout its existence. There's no study going on of why it is so popular and compelling to warrant its massive appeal. I've been on Wikia- All of its most asstight and regulated places aren't run out of standard; it's run out of a want to look like "good consuumers fans".

Now, where's my fucking puzzle pieces?


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## Gangster Talk (Sep 8, 2020)

Tbh, I don't think it's any less pathetic and gay to tie your entire identity to fanaticism for a sports team.

Here's something though


			
				Roger Ebert said:
			
		

> A lot of fans are basically fans of fandom itself. It's all about them. They have mastered the "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" universes or whatever, but their objects of veneration are useful mainly as a backdrop to their own devotion. Anyone who would camp out in a tent on the sidewalk for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is more into camping on the sidewalk than movies.
> 
> Extreme fandom may serve as a security blanket for the socially inept, who use its extreme structure as a substitute for social skills. If you are Luke Skywalker and she is Princess Leia, you already know what to say to each other, which is so much safer than having to ad-lib it. Your fannish obsession is your beard. If you know absolutely all the trivia about your cubbyhole of pop culture, it saves you from having to know anything about anything else. That's why it's excruciatingly boring to talk to such people: They're always asking you questions they know the answer to.


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## I Love Beef (Sep 8, 2020)

Gangster Talk said:


> Tbh, I don't think it's any less pathetic and gay to tie your entire identity to fanaticism for a sports team.
> 
> Here's something though


As much as I disliked him for saying that "video games aren't art" quote, I can now see his perspectives and reasons that got him to say it.


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## Shield Breaker (Sep 8, 2020)

Gangster Talk said:


> If you are Luke Skywalker and she is Princess Leia, you already know what to say to each other, which is so much safer than having to ad-lib it.



Probably should have gone with Han Solo and Leia, unless he meant 'I know we deep throated each other, but it turns out we're siblings!'


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## Y2K Baby (Sep 8, 2020)

Big, Big Chungus.


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## Providence (Sep 8, 2020)

Chongqing said:


> Is this the argument that none of us should be upset that they ruined star wars for no reason? Because we'll be like the meme?
> 
> In that case, Disney good!


How would one go about "ruining" dog shit? Is that possible??


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## Casshern (Sep 8, 2020)

Sofonda Cox said:


> How would one go about "ruining" dog shit? Is that possible??


Leave it out in the summer sun for a week


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## Medical Hawaii (Sep 8, 2020)

With the advent of the Internet and, more recently, the diversification of online socialization platforms that offer someone the ability to personalize their own profile, people are now able to construct a new identity for the entire world to see.  They choose what to show, how to present themselves, who to "follow" and who to let follow them back, etc.  Their online persona becomes a sort of escape, should they see it that way, and at the very least, it becomes an extension of themselves, even if they do not afford it great import.  It's another source of validation from the largest group of people possible (the entire Web).
The more invested in this identity they become, i.e. the more they build it up, the greater its link to their sense of self; as such, just like any other situation in which a person feels challenged or threatened, they will become understandably distressed.
They may start to wonder why their pictures don't get as many likes as they once did, or worry when they don't have as many "followers" as their peers (both IRL and online).

most social media is cancer


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## wtfNeedSignUp (Sep 8, 2020)

It's simply a replacement for the community that is either non-existant in many places or that those people actively avoid.
So those people use pop culture as their community identity, and when that community goes to shit they either break down or immediately flock to the next community.


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## UntimelyDhelmise (Sep 8, 2020)

Medical Hawaii said:


> With the advent of the Internet and, more recently, the diversification of online socialization platforms that offer someone the ability to personalize their own profile, people are now able to construct a new identity for the entire world to see.  They choose what to show, how to present themselves, who to "follow" and who to let follow them back, etc.  Their online persona becomes a sort of escape, should they see it that way, and at the very least, it becomes an extension of themselves, even if they do not afford it great import.  It's another source of validation from the largest group of people possible (the entire Web).
> The more invested in this identity they become, i.e. the more they build it up, the greater its link to their sense of self; as such, just like any other situation in which a person feels challenged or threatened, they will become understandably distressed.
> They may start to wonder why their pictures don't get as many likes as they once did, or worry when they don't have as many "followers" as their peers (both IRL and online).
> 
> most social media is cancer


And as already pointed out in earlier posts, such a concept is _extremely _tantalizing for the losers of society. Those who don't have any real notable strengths, talents, or otherwise interesting personality traits in reality can suddenly find themselves some level of fame on the internet due to both the sheer odds of finding others who'd be impressed by mediocrity and the ability to grossly exaggerate (if not outright lie about) who they are as a person.

Basement dwelling Jimmy who hasn't seen sunlight in months and has the intelligence of an earthworm can suddenly find himself as a well-respected paragon of knowledge due to his autistic memory of (insert pop-culture icon here).

Ugly fatass Betty who was never popular in school finds herself surrounded online due to either be able to transform her appearance into something more attractive for zero effort or (increasingly so nowadays) actually find others who will force themselves to like and defend her because "Everyone is beautiful" or whatever.


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## Medical Hawaii (Sep 8, 2020)

UntimelyDhelmise said:


> And as already pointed out in earlier posts, such a concept is _extremely _tantalizing for the losers of society. Those who don't have any real notable strengths, talents, or otherwise interesting personality traits in reality can suddenly find themselves some level of fame on the internet due to both the sheer odds of finding others who'd be impressed by mediocrity and the ability to grossly exaggerate (if not outright lie about) who they are as a person.
> 
> Basement dwelling Jimmy who hasn't seen sunlight in months and has the intelligence of an earthworm can suddenly find himself as a well-respected paragon of knowledge due to his autistic memory of (insert pop-culture icon here).
> 
> Ugly fatass Betty who was never popular in school finds herself surrounded online due to either be able to transform her appearance into something more attractive for zero effort or (increasingly so nowadays) actually find others who will force themselves to like and defend her because "Everyone is beautiful" or whatever.


Yes, exactly!  People can LARP as their ideal self, no matter how far from reality that may actually be.


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## Not Really Here (Sep 8, 2020)

Because they don't have the skill of a backwoods hick to do anything with their hands.

Learn how to make anything you can point at and say '15 years ago I made that and this is how.'.


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## Sweet and Savoury (Sep 8, 2020)

Whenever I think about the Millennials TS Elliot alway comes into my mind

We are the hollow men
    We are the stuffed men
    Leaning together
    Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
    Our dried voices, when
    We whisper together
    Are quiet and meaningless
    As wind in dry grass
    Or rats' feet over broken glass
    In our dry cellar

    Shape without form, shade without colour,
    Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

    Those who have crossed
    With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
    Remember us-if at all-not as lost
    Violent souls, but only
    As the hollow men
    The stuffed men

They are hollow.  No purpose, no drive, no direction.  Empty of morality except for what is convenient and popular.

I feel for them, having lived a life so protected then pushed out into the harsh reality of life unprepared as a newborn.

I don't place them blame  on them but their parents instead, who wanted them to have the super childhood they never had by not realizing that said childhood was just a product of their own fantasy. Childhood is not about a carefree hedonistic experience but rather a learning one  to understand the world and your place in in.

Yes you will get hurt, that's life. You will fail and get crushed, that's life.  You will have to learn to fall and get up again and again and again. 

This is the experience that all those boomer parents did their best to avoid do there offspring had a stunted and grossly unrealistic childhood full of no responsibility, no cares and no effort.

And now we are all paying the price as these immature individuals are trying now to shape the world so that they can go back to a childhood that should not have existed so that they can continue to live a bland, challengeless life full of bright colors and banality.

Life is the road taken, the challenges overcome on the path you choose. A life without failure is a life not lived well.


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## Tachibana (Sep 8, 2020)

I don't know man, sourcing Paul Joseph Watson and some guy who bases his opinion from people who really seems to like Sargon of Akkad and the skeptics.

What is it with skeptics and the overt attachment to "history" and SJWs not touching it? My local universities deny professors from talking about history because it might offend students. I believe understanding where we come from and the situations our ancestors were put in is important, but to base your self-worth and trying to identify with history figures is autistic.

A large part of that history was written in paradigms with their own political and moral strife. Napoleon comes from a time when "degeneracy theory" was a thing. The British, Germans, and French believed that Africans were retarded due to the climate. British ambassadors would "cleanse" themselves in saunas/special baths to wash the "degeneracy" off them in order to avoid devolving into Africans.


As for media, not everything a brand does is bad. Harley Owners Group chapters come to mind. They foster a community between bikers, and there is a strong sense of loyalty to the Harley-Davidson brand. However, Harley doesn't own these people's lifestyles. Nerd culture is weird though.

It's one thing to go towards a product to enable your lifestyle, it's another one entirely to base your identity/lifestyle around the product. I think this is especially nasty in your formative years. I have seen plenty people in their late teens and early twenties get enamored by some Tumblr thing, like Homestuck or superwholock whatever shit. They never quite recover from it and their world view is entirely based around these franchises' characters. It's a strange form of parasocial relationship with fictional characters. I think some people just have very poor self-concept. I don't think it's much different from people obsessively watching streamers and virtual youtubers.

Besides, what the fuck are these character building "hobbies" I see brought up in these conversations all the time? Hobbies come up in these conversations as a silver bullet of sorts. I used to do a lot of hiking and rock climbing, and I've met some of the most vapid fucks like women "looking for adventure" as an aside from "watching netflix" and "traveling", and men who are just regular dudebros who play xbox.


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## Lensherr (Sep 10, 2020)

Chongqing said:


> Fair enough. What do you think I'm missing?


In writing this post, I never intended to defend Disney or any of the corporations that produce the media that I mentioned. In fact, I was critical of how they encourage the unhealthy obsession consoomers have with said media, and I’d go as far as to say that Disney is the corporation whose practices are the most egregious in this regard. At this point, they don’t care about artistic integrity, just pushing out a line of homogenized products for their fanbase to lap up. And the fact that they own so many assets entertainment-wise and keep expanding their reach further and further just means that we’ll be seeing more of this crap in the future.


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## muh_moobs (Oct 6, 2020)

Failed adults with no skills and no accomplishments.


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## Never Scored (Oct 6, 2020)

They always did. What do you think the Bible and Qur'an are, non-fiction?


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## whogoesthere (Oct 7, 2020)

Let us not pretend they just popped up as normal adults and switched to this shit. They were created under the eye of the corp and feed a daily dose of advertising from a very young age. Parents not raising their children, instead stuffing them in front of the telly and throwing an ipad at them so they can avoid having to engage their children. If you let machines raise your children, do not be surprised if you have machines for children.



I think it will only get worse, as God is gone now, all a person has to feel something is the never ending misery the news media and media in general spews out, or some children's show that avoids those topics. They are conditioned to get their information from the machine, so they just change the channel so speak as a means to escape the dread. I find it hard to fault them, they were never given a chance as children, the parents happily handed them over to the coprs. Same reason you see so many people shaping their world view based on what an actor has told them, they see these people as their new Gods, having grown up with them as de facto parents.


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## Falcos_Commisar (Oct 8, 2020)

Clones of Alex Jones said:


> For a multitude of reasons more and more people are living in a state of arrested development. Not starting families, shit dead end jobs, poor to no social lives. So many of them take the easy way out which is living in escapism instead of dealing with reality.
> 
> Gay ass manchildren.


Goddamn right


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## Doctor Placebo (Oct 9, 2020)

Yeah, as others have said, more people than ever before have no connection to their families, their ancestors, their local community, can't form functional relationships, etc. Their only outlet is the pseudo-relationship they have with fictional characters in media.


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## mr.moon1488 (Oct 9, 2020)

Imo, rabid consoomerism isn't that different from other unhealthy coping mechanisms people use to survive in modern (((secular))) western societies.  


Consoomerism
Histrionic thottery
Drug use
Extreme attention-seeking behaviors (e.g. teeth filing/tide pod eating kinds of shit.  Hell even acts of violence like seen with school shooters.)
Bizzare cliques (e.g. furries, gender specials, incel communities)
Cults (e.g. modern witches, Qanon types)
Indulgent behaviors (e.g. deathfats)
Self-loathing behaviors
Social isolation
Extreme vanity (e.g. anorexics who think they're getting sexier.  That girl living on ramen noodles but wearing designer shoes from everyone's school days.) 

The list goes on, but you can even make some pretty clear observations along these lines from the guy in OP's videos.  The dude has a deviated septum.  It wouldn't be farfetched to say he likely got that by being bullied in school, and due to his fears of being bullied again he's walled himself off to the world and decided to escape the pain by indulging in a fandom which is at least presented as being something socially acceptable, which is his real desire.  In order to fill that hole, he's engaged in this behavior to the point at which it reflects on him physically, hence the abnormally pale skin from a lack of going outside.


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## Jack Haywood (Oct 11, 2020)

mr.moon1488 said:


> Imo, rabid consoomerism isn't that different from other unhealthy coping mechanisms people use to survive in modern (((secular))) western societies.
> 
> 
> Consoomerism
> ...


Cults? I can see your point there but I'm curious about where'd you say the line is drawn between normal religions/religion-like movements and weirdo cults/cult-like movements?


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## REGENDarySumanai (Oct 11, 2020)

It's because they are nothing without what they have tied themselves to.


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## mr.moon1488 (Oct 11, 2020)

Jack Haywood said:


> Cults? I *can* see your point there but I'm curious about where'd you say the line is drawn between normal religions/religion-like movements and weirdo cults/cult-like movements?


This is highly debatable, but personally, I feel like if at least 50% of the group's membership is comprised of persons who'd easily fit the diagnosis for schizotypal personality disorder then it's safe to say that the group is a cult.


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## Jack Haywood (Oct 11, 2020)

mr.moon1488 said:


> This is highly debatable, but personally, I feel like if at least 50% of the group's membership is comprised of persons who'd easily fit the diagnosis for schizotypal personality disorder then it's safe to say that the group is a cult.


Fair enough, but any major world religion strictly judged by psychiatric criteria would show up as containing schizotypal *elements*, which their followers would presumably need to be schizotypal to believe in. The Abrahamic faiths have God being able to bend any aspect of reality to his will, Hinduism has half-elephant ten-headed gods being able to clone themselves through blood droplets, Buddhists believe you're reborn into any of multiple other realms after death.

I don't mean to nitpick, I just thought you were ignorantly stigmatising non-conformist, newer faiths by lumping them in with conspiracy theorists, because you mentioned 'modern witches' by which I assume you mean Wiccans. That part irked me because it's not as if magical thinking isn't present in even the mainstream older faiths.


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## Jonah Hill poster (Oct 11, 2020)

it’s the same reason why people attach themselves to famous sports leagues and athletes 




it gets to a point where it just doesn’t make any sense anymore


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## mr.moon1488 (Oct 11, 2020)

Jack Haywood said:


> Fair enough, but any major world religion strictly judged by psychiatric criteria would show up as containing schizotypal *elements*, which their followers would presumably need to be schizotypal to believe in. The Abrahamic faiths have God being able to bend any aspect of reality to his will, Hinduism has half-elephant ten-headed gods being able to clone themselves through blood droplets, Buddhists believe you're reborn into any of multiple other realms after death.
> 
> I don't mean to nitpick, I just thought you were ignorantly stigmatising non-conformist, recently founded faiths by lumping them in with conspiracy theorists, because you mentioned 'modern witches' by which I assume you mean Wiccans. That part irked me because it's not as if magical thinking isn't present in even the mainstream older faiths.


No I see where you're coming from, but that's also why "magical thinking" can't be used on its own to define schizotypal personality disorder.


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## ⋖ cørdion ⋗ (Oct 12, 2020)

Consuming media 10 years ago: Nerd!
Consuming media today: Omg what kind of IPs do you like? I love Marvel and Harry Potter!

It's a trap for 'actual' nerds to suddenly have something akin a personality without going beyond just consuming media. A nerd is a nerd, now and then. They're falling for the illusion that they've suddenly got something of a personality now because other people who do have one, also just now happen to enjoy Marvel.


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## BOONES (Oct 12, 2020)

Even if our existence is meaningless and fictional media is a distraction i know that one day this won't matter.

Last star burning out. Right. Thats kindof a questionable theory. If the universe is ever growing and energy cannot be created nor destroyed at what point can you truly say there is nothing left? I mean Every action has an equal and opposite reaction so who can truly say nothing at all exists?

Remember this, a theory is a just so. A theory.


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## Cabelaz (Oct 12, 2020)

My coping mechanism for the pain and dread of existence is going to Planet Fitness and lifting a heavy metal object


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## Oglooger (Nov 5, 2020)

Cabelaz said:


> My coping mechanism for the pain and dread of existence is going to Planet Fitness and lifting a heavy metal object


RUH ROH, LUNK ALERT!

lUNK ALERT!


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## LeChampion1992 (Nov 5, 2020)

Because we have a generation of peter pan kids that haven't grown up and raised generations of kids without dad's.


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## t(h)rash (Nov 5, 2020)

because they somehow get confused or not even notice the difference between what you like vs who you are,  that is retarded since who you are is how you relate to other people  and not fucking The Boys, you can take some of media and use it as your own personality since people can be subconsciously influenced, however they should know the line and not act like you saying  you think smash bros suck equals you saying they are a worthless human being


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## janedoe (Nov 6, 2020)

they refuse to grow up and accept responsibility, so they regress into their manchild hobbies. things with the disney stamp tend to pump out easy to digest 'good guy vs bad guy' content for them to wrap their smoothbrains around. this is also why they throw tantrums about any villain (except genocidal faggots like loki) being shown in a sympathetic light. that's why no shades of gray are allowed in real world thinking. it's inconceivable to them that a trump supporter isn't racist bigot. too much thinking. not enough getting their way and the 'heroes' triumphing over 'evil'.


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## Stoneheart (Nov 6, 2020)

Because we need it! how can you not become a total doomer if you dont have the slight hope that star fleet is realy the future of humanity?
No jews, no Arabs, cool aliens...


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## Buffy the SJW slayer (Nov 7, 2020)

I think people need an identifying culture to belong to. A lot of culture has been eroded in recent years and this makes a fantasy world, an imaginary culture or way of being that feels more grand, sweeping and fantastical, very appealing to many, especially in a world that can feel at times as though it is changing/disintegrating quickly.


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## Emperor Julian (Nov 8, 2020)

I think this is a little harsh, it's not with precident as people often become remarkably over invested in sports teams or other asinine bullshit. On a practical level the tabboo status of nerd culture is gradually fading and it's becoming more socially acceptable to *Really *like it so without the social presure to conform people are more able to follow their autistic passions.


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## AnOminous (Nov 8, 2020)

Because they're fags
/thread


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## paint huffing shaman (Nov 9, 2020)

Cyclonus said:


> Because it distracts us from the meaninglessness of existence. Fictional worlds mean nothing, and neither does anything else. In less than 100 years every single member of this forum will be dead and forgotten. The universe will carry on for trillions of years until the last star dies leaving an empty meaningless void.


why so negative?


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## John Titor (Nov 11, 2020)

"Community". It's the fastest and easiest way to connect with someone. Without it, it could have been sports teams for all we know.


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