Watched the puff daddy documentary on Netflix, Sean Combs The Reckoning. Overall it was a pretty good overview of what happened not only during the recent court case, but his rise into the entertainment mainstream. Good to see them dig deep into his role in the deaths of both Tupac and Biggie which I think most people who were into 90s gangsta rap knew he was involved but never had a true deep dive into it.
Dude is the ultimate piece of #### and looks like he's grooming his son to be the same as his future heir.
I had a really hard time with this one. Primarily because I dont really care about puff daddy although he seems like a real POS and, frankly, because it displays how he manipulates people to largely get away with it.
All of those crimes and in the end he gets something like 50 months less time served? Seems a tad light in regards to the nature of the crimes themselves and then the victims have to worry that in a few years he'll be out and probably gunning for revenge...like a crazy person.
Also, the whole 'Rapper/Gangster' culture seems pretty silly to me. I understand that they had hard lives, but then they became successful...why continue with these constant beefs and carrying guns around and doing insane drugs and drugging other people and shooting other rappers or bystanders in clubs and such.
I have a hard time with that. It was a well done Documentary but it just seems unsatisfying in the end.
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I had a really hard time with this one. Primarily because I dont really care about puff daddy although he seems like a real POS and, frankly, because it displays how he manipulates people to largely get away with it.
All of those crimes and in the end he gets something like 50 months less time served? Seems a tad light in regards to the nature of the crimes themselves and then the victims have to worry that in a few years he'll be out and probably gunning for revenge...like a crazy person.
Also, the whole 'Rapper/Gangster' culture seems pretty silly to me. I understand that they had hard lives, but then they became successful...why continue with these constant beefs and carrying guns around and doing insane drugs and drugging other people and shooting other rappers or bystanders in clubs and such.
I have a hard time with that. It was a well done Documentary but it just seems unsatisfying in the end.
Well, you had one of the jurors justify domestic abuse with the good ole' "why did she keep going back", and both of them not believing a kidnap victim because she was too emotional.
If you're a victim a trial by a jury of your peers seems like one of the most terrifying aspects of the justice system.
__________________ "It's a great day for hockey."
-'Badger' Bob Johnson (1931-1991)
"I see as much misery out of them moving to justify theirselves as them that set out to do harm." -Dr. Amos "Doc" Cochran
Well, you had one of the jurors justify domestic abuse with the good ole' "why did she keep going back", and both of them not believing a kidnap victim because she was too emotional.
If you're a victim a trial by a jury of your peers seems like one of the most terrifying aspects of the justice system.
I do find it interesting. Both Epstein and Diddy have both been described initially as 'irresistibly charming.'
Thats not something I can easily understand, I see people that are trying to get you to do what they want for their benefit and I immediately want nothing to do with them, but apparently there is this charismatic power, which I dont get.
He was obviously a scumbag and a user who would just as soon step on your face as look at you...why would you do this person any favours to your own detriment? He seemed to somehow engender the belief that if you were ever in a tough spot he'd come to your rescue despite a veritable mountain of evidence that he absolutely would not.
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This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
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He was obviously a scumbag and a user who would just as soon step on your face as look at you...why would you do this person any favours to your own detriment?
The power dynamic isn’t really that complicated, is it?
Diddy, Epstein, Weinstein, all the way down to Graham James.
It’s never “suck my dick for gain or leave unharmed” with these types. Most would leave in that situation. Rather, it’s always “suck my dick or I’ll ruin your life”.
Its a very polarizing documentary which I feel did a fairly poor job of explaining itself or it's vision.
On the one hand, I think I understand where it's seemingly trying to go...which is to say that these shows went out of their way to manufacture picture-perfect means and opportunity and lured people into doing something that they maybe otherwise wouldnt have done having been left to their own devices.
They had fantasies and the show manufactured the possibility of realizing those fantasies.
Then the line becomes...'was this really to entrap predators who may or may not have engaged in this activity on their own, or, was it just done to make an entertaining show?' The moral and legal implications of that do exist.
The real question is; 'would these predators have acted on those fantasies had the seemingly ideal possibility not been handed to them on a silver platter?' We'll never know, but I do see the ambiguity there.
But it does somewhat seem like entrapment.
On the other hand...they did still embrace the opportunity once it was presented to them, which obviously carries culpability of it's own.
Like I said, I think the documentary did a poor job of conveying it's purpose, but at the end of the day, the show deliberately lures people in for the express purpose of capitalizing and monetizing on this. Which is also kind of predatory.
Who is the real 'Predator' in that scenario?
But again, the individuals still went, which, in and of itself is incriminating. However its not like the show were luring in multiple-time offenders so authorities could finally get the evidence they needed to lock them up and get them off the streets. These were Randos with seemingly no prior history.
So I can kind of see what the Documentary was going for, I dont agree with their position but I can understand the position being taken, but I wasn't really sold on the 'why.' At the end of the day, these guys still went which seemingly implies that if the circumstances allowed it, they would do it regardless of the fact that these particular set of circumstances where wholly manufactured.
And manufactured for TV Ratings, again, another twist in the tale.
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I'm not going to defend any of the men caught by TCAP or its copycats but the fact that Chris Hanson ambushing them with a zippy one-liner and interrogating them was purely for ratings. The fact that their charges were often dropped because of that is entirely on Hanson and the production team.
I do feel empathy for the guys who realized they needed help but sadly they didn't get it before they chose to prey on a child. I don't know if help was available or if they just didn't seek it out due to shame, but I plead with anyone who has those feelings to do what you can to prevent acting on them.
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I'm not going to defend any of the men caught by TCAP or its copycats but the fact that Chris Hanson ambushing them with a zippy one-liner and interrogating them was purely for ratings. The fact that their charges were often dropped because of that is entirely on Hanson and the production team.
I do feel empathy for the guys who realized they needed help but sadly they didn't get it before they chose to prey on a child. I don't know if help was available or if they just didn't seek it out due to shame, but I plead with anyone who has those feelings to do what you can to prevent acting on them.
Nor will I.
The fact remains that given the opportunity these individuals still chose to take it, regardless of the fact that it was manufactured specifically to lure them.
Overall I just find that the Documentary failed to hit its marks.
And frankly, I think you kind of nailed it. Perhaps instead of tackling these guys on the lawn they could have instead offered reformatory help? But I dont know enough about that to really speak on it.
Oddly, while they 'Caught the Predator' the manner in which they did so often allowed said Predator to go free.
As I said, I see where they were trying to go with this Documentary, but I also think they really missed it.
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I think the documentary may have been frustrating for some because the director did not get the answer he was looking for, but I think that was the point.
Osit had been abused as a child, and he wanted to understand why and how it may have been or could be prevented in the future. While these shows brought attention to the subject and made parents much more aware of the dangers lurking online, it never addresses or even attempts to correct the problem in any meaningful way.
There is an epidemic of child abuse occurring and all these shows and vigilantes are is vampires feeding on the bloodletting. If any of these people actually cared about children and their safety they wouldn't need the subscribers and their view count. They would investigate the root cause and come up with affectual solutions, which Osit is trying to implore by exposing them as bad actors.
They are ruining more lives than they are saving.
__________________ "It's a great day for hockey."
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"I see as much misery out of them moving to justify theirselves as them that set out to do harm." -Dr. Amos "Doc" Cochran
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I think the documentary may have been frustrating for some because the director did not get the answer he was looking for, but I think that was the point.
Osit had been abused as a child, and he wanted to understand why and how it may have been or could be prevented in the future. While these shows brought attention to the subject and made parents much more aware of the dangers lurking online, it never addresses or even attempts to correct the problem in any meaningful way.
There is an epidemic of child abuse occurring and all these shows and vigilantes are is vampires feeding on the bloodletting. If any of these people actually cared about children and their safety they wouldn't need the subscribers and their view count. They would investigate the root cause and come up with affectual solutions, which Osit is trying to implore by exposing them as bad actors.
They are ruining more lives than they are saving.
Excellent way of putting it.
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This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
The World Ends when you're dead. Until then, you've got more punishment in store. - Flames Fans
If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
I've found I really enjoy older documentaries as they are often less sensationalist and it's easier to find more balanced takes. Here's some that I've really enjoyed. If anyone has more to add to my list, hook me up!
Death of Yugoslavia: I mentioned this before I think, but The Death of Yugoslavia is amazing. Filmed during the war, and has a bunch of interviews with war criminals as it's going down. Really gives you a good understanding of how complex that area is, and the damage that was done that still lasts today:
The Chinese Revolution: I found we learned very little of China's complex history in school. There is a ton of very pro-Mao and very anti-Mao material out there. I liked this one as it tells the familiar story of someone who probably starts with good intentions, and then hunger to preserve power leads to awful things that they justify as for the greater good:
Korea: The Unknown War: Watching the above got me very curious of Chinese involvement in the Korean War. I'd only heard a very western narrative of that war. While this is still fundamentally a western viewpoint, it goes a bit beyond USA good, communists bad:
This one is a bit harder to consume. This playlist has the earlier parts.
Part 1 of the playlist:
A single video that picks up part way through the playlist that seems to be better quality and isn't chopped up (I started with the above playlist, then moved over here):
John Pilger covered all sorts of dirty deeds by Western governments intervening in other nations:
George Strombo is doing a new doc series where he travels across the country and talks with various people and artists about the stories, films, music, and pop-culture that binds us as Canadians. The first episode has dropped and it's pretty great so far. Love the bit about the Beachcombers. Man, I watched that show religiously when I was a kid.
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George Strombo is doing a new doc series where he travels across the country and talks with various people and artists about the stories, films, music, and pop-culture that binds us as Canadians. The first episode has dropped and it's pretty great so far. Love the bit about the Beachcombers. Man, I watched that show religiously when I was a kid.
I've found I really enjoy older documentaries as they are often less sensationalist and it's easier to find more balanced takes. Here's some that I've really enjoyed. If anyone has more to add to my list, hook me up!
Death of Yugoslavia: I mentioned this before I think, but The Death of Yugoslavia is amazing. Filmed during the war, and has a bunch of interviews with war criminals as it's going down. Really gives you a good understanding of how complex that area is, and the damage that was done that still lasts today:
Here is the link to play all of them that isn't restricted
