The Puppets

luka

Well-known member
How do we feel about Greta Thunbergs and Malala Yousafzais? The people selected by particular interest blocs to be the face of that cause, until that is, that outlive their usefulness at which point they are discarded.

Pop stars serve an near identical purpose.

Funded, tutored, put on display. The voice that speaks through them is corporate and impersonal.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Good thread idea. I feel slightly ill about the way Greta Thunberg is not being properly protected by those who claim to love her - it's sad, but surely this whole experience is going to scar her badly, the amount of hate she has received. Someone older in the climate movement needs to step up and relieve the pressure on her - a proper, thought-through transition before she is simply discarded as yesterday's news at some point. She's being created into a magical child/prophet in whom absurd amounts of responsibility are invested, whereas in reality she's just a 16 (?) year old child.

This is just my personal view, but when I heard her speaking, I couldn't help but wonder if the metaphorical language she used about the planet could actually apply to her own life, as well as to the state of the world. There was something deeply disquieting about it.
 

luka

Well-known member
"You have stolen my childhood" yes, very good spot that. I hadn't twigged.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Absolutely, and there were other phrases too that came across like a gut-punch. Whatever the other details of her history, if nothing else her parents have clearly not protected her through this whole process of becoming a world icon.
 

sadmanbarty

Well-known member
"You have stolen my childhood" yes, very good spot that. I hadn't twigged.

very strange speech that was.

i remember thinking how bizarre it was. the either feigned or just strangely expressed anger portrayed with these weird facial contortions and furrowed brow.

the artifice and contrivedness of it really apparent.

you could see the strings.
 

sadmanbarty

Well-known member
another strange thing about her is that she appears far younger than 16. still very much a child.

that's in part accented on purpose presumably with the pigtails for example.
 

entertainment

Well-known member
I suppose the pragmatic puppet critique of her is that all real radical dissent is stifled and subsumed into this more controllable movement. I think that critique is pretty dumb.

Nothing but love for Greta.
 

luka

Well-known member
very strange speech that was.

i remember thinking how bizarre it was. the either feigned or just strangely expressed anger portrayed with these weird facial contortions and furrowed brow.

the artifice and contrivedness of it really apparent.

you could see the strings.

 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I suppose the pragmatic puppet critique of her is that all real radical dissent is stifled and subsumed into this more controllable movement. I think that critique is pretty dumb.

This was the argument several people were putting forward in the Extinction Rebellion thread a while back. There were some apparently leftist "critiques" (read: hatchet jobs) on Greta posted there, too.

It did rather leave me thinking "So these are good, constructive, progressive demolitions of a teenage eco-activist, and not to be confused with bad, evil, reactionary demolitions of a teenage eco-activist, then?"
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
very strange speech that was.

i remember thinking how bizarre it was. the either feigned or just strangely expressed anger portrayed with these weird facial contortions and furrowed brow.

the artifice and contrivedness of it really apparent.

you could see the strings.

I haven't watched this but it's worth bearing in mind that she is autistic, so judging her demeanour and speech patterns by neurotypical standards might not be entirely fair.
 

luka

Well-known member
That's true and needs to be said. But do watch the speech. It's why I posted it.
 

luka

Well-known member
So what this is about, to try and clear up the confusion, is not whether or not we like a given mouthpiece (I love/hate Taylor Swift) not whether or not we are in favour of the message espoused (I support/don't support gay rights) not about whether or not we think the individual in question is sincere (Taylor Swift does/doesn't really care about the gays) it's simply about how machines speak through human faces.
 
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Leo

Well-known member
and it's a two-way street: the machine doesn't always pick the person, sometimes it's the other way around. the celeb who needs a certain form of reputation rehab scans the social and political options and selects the cause that might best help them course-correct with their audience.
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
Why do you think "the machines" are speaking through Greta? I think there's absolutely a Spectacular element in how she's been picked up and promoted but that's not all of it. The personal sincerity is part of the branding also which feeds into her presentation /amplification.
(also - re sincerity as a driver of message/popularity isn't this what happened with Corbyn?)
 
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Leo

Well-known member
Why do you think "the machines" are speaking through Greta?

because she's sincere and embodies the message of young people taking climate change more seriously than adults because kids will inherit the worst of it. but also because she's a viral sensation, a hot commodity in the news. there are arguably thousands if not millions of environmental experts who are more qualified to speak on climate change, but qualifications often don't matter.
 

luka

Well-known member
Why do you think "the machines" are speaking through Greta? I think there's absolutely a Spectacular element in how she's been picked up and promoted but that's not all of it. The personal sincerity is part of the branding also which feeds into her presentation /amplification.
(also - re sincerity as a driver of message/popularity isn't this what happened with Corbyn?)

As I say In this thread personal sincerity is neither here nor there.
 
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