WEBVTT - 🎬 The Problem With The Main Character Epidemic  🌟

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<v Speaker 1>Flex and Frooms, Flex and Frooms. This is the Flex

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<v Speaker 1>and Frooms catch up podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>We've got a main character epidemic. And I know what

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<v Speaker 2>you're thinking. This is a new thing. People are just

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<v Speaker 2>coming into themselves. Let people feel confident. Know it's worse

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<v Speaker 2>than that. It's been an issue since twenty seventeen. I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't realize that there was a study that came out Viacom,

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<v Speaker 2>they own MTV and stuff. Anyway, they did this study

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<v Speaker 2>and over fifty percent of the millennials that they surveyed

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<v Speaker 2>believe that a movie could be made about their life.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh dear, oh dear.

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<v Speaker 2>And you might think that's kind of like it holds

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<v Speaker 2>no bearing or it's not that strange, but like, the

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<v Speaker 2>average person lives quite a mundane life, even if you

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<v Speaker 2>get near on the weekend and you've been to Europe

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of times in your life. We create movies

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<v Speaker 2>about exceptional people, and even the most exceptional people in

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<v Speaker 2>the whole wide world will never have mo who's made

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<v Speaker 2>about them and you. But it gets worse, right, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know if it gets worse or better, But it's

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<v Speaker 2>really interesting that when this article was made, they were

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<v Speaker 2>tying this like shift in self concept of the rise

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<v Speaker 2>in instagram about getting being able to self publish so

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<v Speaker 2>frequently and so heavily, and to be able to curate

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<v Speaker 2>and edit your persona so specifically gave people this kind

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<v Speaker 2>of like internal director, as in, instead of living life

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<v Speaker 2>more intentionally, it gave people this feeling that they were

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<v Speaker 2>living an exceptional life by being able to choose how

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<v Speaker 2>when people saw them fascinating anyway. Some of the other

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<v Speaker 2>findings were that sixty one percent of millennials believe they

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<v Speaker 2>can influence pop culture.

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<v Speaker 1>In me Lousiza. These stats are crazy.

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<v Speaker 2>Eighty six percent of millennials believe that fans have some

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<v Speaker 2>ownership of the things they're fans of. Terrifying but also

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<v Speaker 2>very indicative of the way people like behave with things

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<v Speaker 2>that they like and appreciate. I'm sure the majority of

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<v Speaker 2>Taylorswood fans would feel like they're somewhat responsible for her

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<v Speaker 2>level of success.

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<v Speaker 1>Definitely, which like is that true?

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<v Speaker 2>If you had to remove one thing from Taylor Swift,

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<v Speaker 2>like her voice, her looks, her fans, her law, what

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<v Speaker 2>could she live without her looks? Taylor stood would always

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<v Speaker 2>be Tailor Swift without fans. Oh the thing that got

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<v Speaker 2>her fans, is her law, her looks, her personality, her music,

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<v Speaker 2>Hi lyricism, I think she came.

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<v Speaker 1>First firstly is her lyricism? This wasn't in order?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh she's Shakespeare. This is say, becoming a Shakespeare.

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<v Speaker 2>And I would love to see how these findings have evolved,

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<v Speaker 2>for like the life we live now, because there is

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<v Speaker 2>no way a millennial in twenty seventeen could have even

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<v Speaker 2>imagined the life they'd be living in twenty twenty three

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<v Speaker 2>post the internet.

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<v Speaker 1>The Internet was around in twenty seventeen.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but post this internet, Oh okay, TikTok is a

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<v Speaker 2>different kind of internet.

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<v Speaker 1>We jumped timelines.

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<v Speaker 3>Can you just explain to me or explain to the audience,

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<v Speaker 3>what is this jumping to TikTok? What about TikTok is

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<v Speaker 3>different compared to the Internet that we had in twenty seventeen.

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<v Speaker 2>The Internet we had in twenty seventeen was the first

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<v Speaker 2>wave of TikTok. It showed you that regular people could

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<v Speaker 2>achieve some kind of celebrity for a little while. There,

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<v Speaker 2>they were seen as being exceptional because they could do

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<v Speaker 2>so right. In twenty seventeen, influencers were seen as exceptional

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<v Speaker 2>because how are you amassing this much popularity and this

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<v Speaker 2>much allure, you're just a regular person. And what ended

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<v Speaker 2>up happening was that influencers had to start living exceptional

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<v Speaker 2>lives for it to be justified. So you weren't just pretty.

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<v Speaker 2>You had to be the prettiest, or you weren't just

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<v Speaker 2>well if you had to be the most well off,

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<v Speaker 2>or the most connected or the most clouded up. Right,

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<v Speaker 2>But it was still a very small percentage of people.

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<v Speaker 2>Not everyone could do it. The price of admission to

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<v Speaker 2>that lifestyle was a lot you had to pay to play.

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<v Speaker 2>People couldn't afford it. Then you fast forward almost ten

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<v Speaker 2>years later or like, I don't know, five years later.

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<v Speaker 2>Now literally every single person can experience a level of

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<v Speaker 2>fame and virality and clout from TikTok. We're not prepared

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<v Speaker 2>for a world where everyone can be a celebrity and

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<v Speaker 2>everyone can be a main character. If we think about

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<v Speaker 2>the fundamentals of movies, the fundamentals of literature, the fundamental media,

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<v Speaker 2>there's always a protagonist, main person.

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<v Speaker 1>And a love story.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, I realized that's why I didn't like Barbie just

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<v Speaker 3>came to me in a flash.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, no love story.

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<v Speaker 2>I was always like, what are you guys gonna they

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<v Speaker 2>never did?

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<v Speaker 3>Kid?

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<v Speaker 1>Can I say? Yeah? Of course.

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<v Speaker 3>I think that The Rise, which is kind of on

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<v Speaker 3>the same timeline as like twenty seventeen Dan Data was

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<v Speaker 3>mumblecore movies and like hyperreally sick TV programs because art

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<v Speaker 3>imitates the life.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, the Rise of the Normal mm which was just

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<v Speaker 2>like I think it's like, I don't think it's the

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<v Speaker 2>worst thing to happen to media, but I don't think

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<v Speaker 2>it's good that we can't discern between what is real

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<v Speaker 2>and what's fake, and that we can't separate ourselves from fiction,

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<v Speaker 2>and that we see these like constrived and constructed narratives

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<v Speaker 2>and we're like, wait, that's me.

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<v Speaker 1>I chew them like that.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like good Ever, anyone thinks their favorite celebrity is relatable.

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<v Speaker 1>It's to you, it's not possible.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like Instagram was the first wave, TikTok is

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<v Speaker 2>the second wave, and we're seeing the issue with that

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<v Speaker 2>because people can't discern between what voices are worth listening to,

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<v Speaker 2>what information is worth hearing. I how to discern between

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<v Speaker 2>people who are thought leaders and who are trustworthing people

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<v Speaker 2>who aren't. But also when everybody is aiming to create.

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<v Speaker 2>We forget the role of the consumer. You know, the

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<v Speaker 2>consumer holds a lot of merit. You get decide what's important,

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<v Speaker 2>what's not important, what's worthy watching. But now everyone's just

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<v Speaker 2>fighting for any type of eyeball. I don't think it's

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<v Speaker 2>inherently bad. I just think that, like where to from here,

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<v Speaker 2>I think if people thought that Hollywood and fame was

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<v Speaker 2>gate kept before, it's gonna be worse now because even yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>because I think that right now people are going to

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<v Speaker 2>be like poisoned or like led astray by this fake

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<v Speaker 2>exceptional It's like when regular people are taking up exceptional places,

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<v Speaker 2>exceptional people are gonna become more and more rare, and

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<v Speaker 2>then things become more gate kept. Like it's not going

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like, right now it's enough to just be

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<v Speaker 2>it's enough to be mediocre, and it gets to a

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<v Speaker 2>point where it's like, no, it's not enough to be mediocre, babe,

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<v Speaker 2>like we should be better. For example, right the one

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<v Speaker 2>thing that's trending on the internet is this MPC streamer

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<v Speaker 2>thinky she just makes noises all day and here she'd

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<v Speaker 2>be like, look ice cream ice cream, delicious, delicious ice cream,

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<v Speaker 2>ice cream, Wow, wow ice cream and she's making bank.

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<v Speaker 2>What is this and like she's really good at it,

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<v Speaker 2>Like it's.

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<v Speaker 1>Hardway MPC is the platform, or she's non that's like

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<v Speaker 1>that's the archetype of what she's doing.

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<v Speaker 2>Like she's not being herself, she's being just like this

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<v Speaker 2>shamaugas board of characters.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, she needs a joke or it's fetish content.

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<v Speaker 2>Really she's a sex worker, so she's got like a

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<v Speaker 2>pipeline to take her audience down to. So like people

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<v Speaker 2>are seeing that, they think it's sexy, they go to

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<v Speaker 2>her only fans, they subscribe. It makes sense right right,

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<v Speaker 2>and she's making bank from that. She goes viral. Now

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<v Speaker 2>a bunch of people are trying to imitate what she's

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<v Speaker 2>doing and doing it poorly, hoping for their moment of fame.

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<v Speaker 2>So like it's like this exceptional person starts this thing exceptional,

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<v Speaker 2>not in the sense that what she's doing is amazing,

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<v Speaker 2>but how she's doing it, the fact that she can

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<v Speaker 2>make money from it is exceptional. Everybody following it in

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<v Speaker 2>a mediocre sense it ruins the exceptional thing, and then

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<v Speaker 2>people get disillusioned. Why couldn't it be me? He was

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<v Speaker 2>never gonna be you.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, I was just so interested to see.

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<v Speaker 2>Like, what what happens after fame, what happens after celebrity,

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<v Speaker 2>what happens after exceptional because people don't like normal, and

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<v Speaker 2>people aren't aspiring to be the best regular people they are,

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<v Speaker 2>They're aspiring to be mediocre exceptional.

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<v Speaker 3>I think we are renaissance of the normalcy along with

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<v Speaker 3>the renaissance of community and religion.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's coming.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like, what was that guy saying that futurist He's

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<v Speaker 2>like in the eighties, he did this whole monologue. He's like,

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<v Speaker 2>the world is on track to get exponentially weirder in

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<v Speaker 2>a way that you could never imagine. And he's like,

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<v Speaker 2>it's going to be really really hard for everyone to

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<v Speaker 2>get back to get back to default, because it's like

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<v Speaker 2>you're gonna have to reprogram, rebuild and redoctrinate everyone to

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<v Speaker 2>figure out what is neutral Hammond Tale.

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<v Speaker 1>Under his Eye. You've been listening to The Flex and

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<v Speaker 1>Froom's daily podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>For more, Tune Indicator on DAB or stream it on iHeartRadio.