Paid Members Dead Mike Posted October 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) See, you're using personal taste as a measure again. It's got nothing to do with what you think is 'good'. It's about something organically becoming popular that younger people have latched onto because they like it. You claiming they've lowered their expectations is exactly the same as people claiming The Young Ones was just crude vulgarity appealing to base instincts, compared to Morecambe & Wise who didn't need to resort to such lowered tones to be funny. Can't believe I'm seemingly defending this bellend. EDIT: Actually I'm not, I'm defending young peoples rights to like what they want & not what old men like me tell them to. Edited October 10, 2014 by Dead Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 10, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 It's all very well this 'it's just old people moaning about what kids like - but we got The Sex Pistols and The Young Ones so leave them alone!' defence. But do we really want some twunt sexually harassing women to be the leader of our next minor cultural revolution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoKonjic Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Wasn't someone who posts here on that It was me. I got on with him, and from what I can tell "Dapper Laughs" is just a character. For some people that will probably make what he does worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted October 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2014 It's all very well this 'it's just old people moaning about what kids like - but we got The Sex Pistols and The Young Ones so leave them alone!' defence. But do we really want some twunt sexually harassing women to be the leader of our next minor cultural revolution? Also, as with a lot of arguments that devolve into "not meant for you though, is it, grandad? Bet your mum hated what you liked," the big difference is that Dapper Laughs has nothing to say. It's all so empty. There's no end-game here beyond making money and getting famous, and he's not getting at some wider truth. Yes, art is subjective, but there's genuinely nothing here, to the point it's like defending a man who's defecating in the street with "Well I don't like The Beatles, so perhaps this man shitting out of his arse -- whom I think is brilliant -- just isn't for you?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted October 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) It's all very well this 'it's just old people moaning about what kids like - but we got The Sex Pistols and The Young Ones so leave them alone!' defence. But do we really want some twunt sexually harassing women to be the leader of our next minor cultural revolution? It's not for us to choose as it's not our cultural revolution, it's theirs. It's for the youth & if that's what young women are drawn to then it's their choice. In the case of 'Dapper Laughs' this isn't something that's been pushed down peoples throats as some kind of cynical marketing exercise from TV producers (if it were my reaction would be different). He's done it on his own & the TV execs got onto it after he'd sold out venues up & down the country. Also, as with a lot of arguments that devolve into "not meant for you though, is it, grandad? Bet your mum hated what you liked," the big difference is that Dapper Laughs has nothing to say. It's all so empty In fairness, he's just a comedy act. His purpose is to make his audience laugh & from what I've seen he's succeeding in his job. I don't think Chubby Brown, Lee Evans, Frank Skinner et al had a message or end game? Edited October 10, 2014 by Dead Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 10, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 I never said that choice comes into it, I was merely raising the point that comparing it to other cultural revolutions doesn't work for me. As Astro points out, there's nothing here. It's a bloke taking 6 second videos of himself looking at girls' arses. It's not exactly The Specials, is it? It's influencing only negatives, for me. It's empowering no-one. It's promoting nothing. It's made of stereotypes and repression. Fair enough, art is subjective. But I think that we need to dig deeper than just its quality. We need to look at the substance beneath that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Au Posted October 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 Why are we even trying to look for depth in what he does? Presumably, the fact his entire act is so vacuous is part of his appeal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted October 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 ‘It’s disgusting towards women’ Yet as D Mal pointed out, more of his fans are female than male. They’re not bothered by it so why are you? Come off it, this comment is a bit bollocks really. You're basically saying that because he is more popular with women than men, that his fans represent ALL women in this country thus they shouldn't be offended. Moreso, why should only women be offended by sexism? It's like saying white people cannot be offended by racism towards black people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) I think part of it is that this is seen as fun, whereas gender equality is seen as serious business and no fun. If someone watched that programme and liked it and then read an article on how he's encouraging sexual harrasment, I think a lot would think 'boring' and that they're not in tune with life. The youth who are into this are the ones going out wanting to get laid. Like Mike said, there's enough people who have gone with it organically for it to be a success. He wasn't forced. I agree with Devon that if you look at the substance of this 'art', it's empty. It's not really much of a social commentary as you don't learn anything from it. It's not ironic. It is what resonates with a decent chunk of the youth though, for better or for worse. But he's just a minor part anyway. Nicki Minaj shaking her arse in the air going on about Anacondas or Miley Cyrus twerking on music video channels on daytime TV is much more of a problem. He's bouncing off of what is already there. Money speaks louder than morals. Edited October 10, 2014 by Sphinx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Got to agree with Dead Mike here. Our taste in comedy is irrelevant in this discussion. In fact, I don't even think there's much of a discussion worth having. You can't dictate taste to the masses and even the writer of the article submitted that its shitness "...is self-evident to anyone who watches his output and who isn't an idiot". Idiots need entertainment too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted October 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2014 Nicki Minaj shaking her arse in the air going on about Anacondas or Miley Cyrus twerking on music video channels on daytime TV is much more of a problem. He's bouncing off of what is already there. Money speaks louder than morals. Why are they more of a problem? And why is what he's doing a reaction but what they did happened all of its own accord in a vacuum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WWFChilli Posted October 10, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 Rik Mayall was good at being vulger. But he was funny. Dapper Laughs is a cunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted October 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) Idiots need entertainment too. I would go so far as to say that, in part, people are idiots because they watch shit like this. It's like people who don't read. If the only stuff you watch is Keith Lemon and Dapper Laughs, you're going to be a dumb-dumb. It's wrong to just wave away the existence of really bad, low-aiming pish as "well the cunts like shit, so here's some shit for them," when anyone could be watching good stuff and educating themselves. When I was younger and my frame of reference was smaller, I was a right thicko. Totally aware this makes me sound like a sneering ponce. edit: Also, it does capture a moment in culture, but it also perpetuates it. The 'lad' and 'banter' stuff is at an all-time high right now, and I dread to think how influential this kind of shit is going to be on a generation. The way that Jackass (which I love, but regardless) instantly created a generation of pseudo-skaters who filmed each other jumping off ledges, Dapper Laughs and The Lad Bible are fuelling a bunch of entitled, drunken gropers who think that George Lineker is a right chap. Edited October 10, 2014 by Astro Hollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 10, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted October 10, 2014 Also, it does capture a moment in culture, but it also perpetuates it. Absolutely. We've been fortunate in the past that such movements have perpetuated punk, two-tone music and alternative comedy. Dapper Laughs became famous and, presumably, wealthy off the back of uploading Vines of him making lewd comments to women. There absolutely fucking will be a whole load of other people who will try the same or similar thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Nicki Minaj shaking her arse in the air going on about Anacondas or Miley Cyrus twerking on music video channels on daytime TV is much more of a problem. He's bouncing off of what is already there. Money speaks louder than morals.Why are they more of a problem? And why is what he's doing a reaction but what they did happened all of its own accord in a vacuum? Come on. Their videos, and songs, are far more far reaching for a start. Miley Cyrus grinding up against a seedy, smug looking Robin Thicke for example isn't empowering females. It's enforcing that this is women's role. Hearing kids sing 'Oh my gosh, look at her butt' probably does more to instil that mindset than the relatively small amounts of viewers who see Dapper Laughs. Ok, they're a reaction too as sex sells and there will always be, and always has been, misogyny. But I'm not saying those two particular videos are the roots of it all. I'm saying that Dapper Laughs is a relatively small problem compared to, say, mainstream music (going back decades). I'm not saying it's alright because of that, just I'm not outraged by it because I've been so exposed to it in other more far reaching, more influential ways. Some guys having 'Suck it' as a catchphrase on a TV show me and some of my mates watched for example, leading to tons of people emulating it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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