The garage of earthly delights

[hirez]

I think I've jabbered before about the media's unconscious response to people pointing out that it is structurally sexist, which is to portray middle class white males as essentially useless

Comments

[jarkman]

I have a theory that the uselessness is there as a deliberate placeholder for presumed audience members to identify with. It's a consequence of deliberate focus-grouping and marketeering and other unsavoury verbs.

Roadkill, OTOH, has not been subjected to any of those practices, and so is just about people and stuff.

[hirez]

Hm. So that would fit in with Furbish Louswort and the tyranny of lowered expectations, and some applied Dunning-Kreuger.

In that the tiresome become angry when shown pictures of competent people, so we can't possibly have that sort of thing because the tiresome and rugby-shirted are an important marketing demographic.

Maybe they could be distracted by a balloon on a stick that's had a face painted on it, with a voiceover telling jokes found in the bar at the last UKIP conference and someone making 'brmm! brmm!' noises.

[jarkman]

You should totally start your own YouTube channel based on that premise. 'Hot Gear'. Or maybe 'Top Gaaah'.

[hirez]

That and HRG should be used as therapy.

[inulro]

Don't get me started on the uselessness. If I think about it too much, it's about a lot more than just what you've described.

I know I'm coming over all redneck survivalist, but uselessness is never, ever OK. In men or women. I mean, by any metric I care about I consider myself pretty damn bad at this being an adult business, physically and intellectually (and probably morally) lazy. And then I look at other people and - being useless and bad at happens, OK. Don't make it a badge of honour, though.

[hirez]

I believe there is a lot more to it, but I am a middle-class white male and I have been swimming in this shit so have only recently noticed.

Right. There's structural inequality and a whole slew of ableism-based malarkey, but the set of people not subject to those things are still crap? Jayzus...

[inulro]

By uselessness, I mean "look at me, I can't do this, I'm not even going to try, and that makes me superior and special" not genuine inability to do things. And part of it is a class/status thing, in the sense of "look at me, I can afford to be useless because someone else will come along and clean up my mess". Usually somebody more female, less white, definitely someone with less choice.

[hirez]

'Oh, we have a little man come in and do that...'

Yes. Class. Or at least affectation thereof.

The interesting thing (to me, anyway) about the gamergate types is that they're all hopeless. I was rather surprised by that, because in the old days when computers were more rubbish, the gamey-gamey types were the ones with hand-built kit. GG can't even understand github, and yet they think they should have a say in how games are developed?

[ms_siobhan]

Am lolling at 'nosebleed end of the channel numbers' :-)

[camies]

+1. And I wonder who actually watches those channels. Does anyone? They seem to consist of mostly adverts but to whom?

[ms_siobhan]

Insomniacs who are looking for something to stun them into sleep.

[hirez]

I suggest that a new party game called 'Who can watch CBS Reality the longest before throwing the telly out of the window' might be quite good drunken fun.

You'd need a supply of spare tellies and a tame glazier on speed-dial, mind.

[cybermule]

I don't think I'm part of the target audience for "proper" car shows. Roadkill sounds good though. Like the good ole days of daisychaining Escorts together with gaffa tape and that squirty gasket stuff.

Not that I know anything about cars *blinks*