PewDiePie Claims the Old School Media Doesn’t Like Him. They Don’t, and Both are Wrong.
PewDiePie is sincere in his apology, but he clearly doesn’t understand the way in which hate thrives online
For those who do not make it their business to keep updated on the goings-on of internet celebrities, let me recap you on the controversy surrounding the most subscribed personality on YouTube, PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg). After inking a multi-million dollar deal with Disney owned Maker Studios, Disney reneged on the deal after the star posted a controversial video. In the video, PewDiePie pays a pair of young teenagers five dollars to hold up a sign reading, “Kill all Jews.” In context, the video was meant to demonstrate the absurdity of the website Fiverr, which allows people to offer any service for five dollars. While he seems to have been genuinely making an attempt at humor, even Felix admits he crossed a line in a video statement posted on February 16th. The following regards the points outlined in Felix’s response, as well as the Wall Street Journal, who originally brought the controversy to light.
In today’s political climate, there is a raw spot in society. While it may have been ok to make jokes about hate several years ago, that is no longer the case. The bastions of power are now filled with those who embody hate, and even to joke about such beliefs can empower them. After all, we live in such times that a cartoon meme frog is now registered as an anti-Semitic hate symbol.
PewDiePie claims the content in question contains “jokes,” and laments that the media refers to these videos as “posts.” However, insensitive jokes are the volley of arrows that the alt-Right and other hate groups thrust forth before they besiege the castle walls of equality. Most recently, another internet figure, Milo Yiannopoulos, has come under fire for his “jokes.” Milo always claimed to be a “provocateur” and asserted that his blatant hate speech was simply a way of pushing boundaries for laughs. While I am in no way suggesting that PewDiePie is malicious in the way that Yiannopoulos is, his ignorance does not excuse the fact that his “jokes” ostensibly have an effect on his more than 50 million subscribers. Today, the internet is a battleground of ideas. PewDiePie started out as a simple video game commentator, but has found himself enmeshed in a culture that has spiraled out of control. Though he may not have noticed the evolution himself, it is all too real.
I truly understand PewDiePie’s frustration. After all, how could he, a young, Swedish video game vlogger, have predicted the rabid appetites of the anti-Semitic far right to bite down on anything that smells even vaguely of support for their despicable views? He just wants to make funny videos for his fans, not worry about rising global trends toward anti-Semitism. But when you’re the most well-known personality on the internet, you no longer get to insulate yourself from the world at large. Like it or not, PewDiePie has a responsibility to discipline himself and consider the ideas he presents to the world in a larger context than himself.
PewDiePie attained fame and success by accident and nearly overnight, and is unwilling to accept the heightened scrutiny that comes with it. He calls the media’s focus on his controversial jokes “cherry-picking.” But when every piece of content he posts has the potential to receive tens of millions of views, cherry-picking is an irrelevant concept. Each and every statement Felix makes, no matter how small, will reach a massive audience.
This entire debacle falls at the intersection of a failure on the part of PewDiePie to understand geopolitical trends, and on the part of the media to understand internet culture. PewDiePie fails to understand that the “old media” is largely comprised of journalists who are not in touch with the often times baroque stylings of digital culture. To anyone above a certain age, unable to dissect the nuances of internet humor, parody of hate appears the same as hate itself. A large portion of the internet’s sense of humor relies on extreme, near-deadpan sarcasm as a way of pushing back against the concepts it is paying lip-service to. For PewDiePie to lash out at the media, branding them as corrupt and out for blood is to misunderstand their intentions.
Writers at the Wall Street Journal should, perhaps, consider their lack of familiarity with internet culture before writing hit pieces. They should at the very least consult with someone who understands it beforehand. PewDiePie, for his part, should do better to study the world. He is far from the first comedian to come under fire for a poorly constructed joke, and he will be far from the last.
