• zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    hexbear
    31
    8 months ago

    This same guy also has a series where he helped bust a scam call center in India that was duping elderly Americans of their savings.

    Was this the one where he once again deployed stink bombs to choke out an office full of people?

    For some reason, all of these videos seem to have a theme. The goal is to make one particular person as miserable as possible, on camera. And the pretext always seems to be "who can I find that I can justify doing this to?"

    It's all just spectacle. And the targets are, incidentally, almost always us-foreign-policy for some crazy reason.

    • quarrk [he/him]
      hexbear
      11
      8 months ago

      I won’t argue that it is spectacle. It clearly is for entertainment purposes—basically justice porn without involving the police, excluding the call center case.

      I never got the vibe he was specifically targeting minorities or even poor people. I mean yeah if you’re in poverty then you might be more likely to steal, but stealing from other people in your neighborhood (ie same class) makes everyone hate them. You might be onto something with him though, maybe a general NIMBYism, but I think many people can relate to the frustration of having their package stolen, and I struggle to equate that frustration with some sort of class warfare when it impacts everybody who shops online.

      The goal is to make one particular person as miserable as possible, on camera

      The mantra on Hexbear is that bullying works. People are group shamed in the comments here with the aim of forcing reflection on actions/opinions. It’s fair game as long as the misery is kept in proportion, which IMO is true for a glitter bomb.

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        hexbear
        19
        8 months ago

        The mantra on Hexbear is that bullying works.

        We've also got a strong "shoplifting is cool" sentiment and a long-standing "crime wave politics is media bullshit" standing view.

        The fetishization of porch piracy cuts across both. It fuels the hysteria and paranoia of suburban life. It villainizes poor people, particularly people of color, who always feature prominently in these series - whether they're indian call center workers or black porch pirates. And the "pranks" grow increasingly vindictive over time - escalating from honking horns to glitter bombs to stink bombs and even on to pepper spray and fireworks in some more extreme examples. There's no sense of retributive justice or proportional response, its just an escalating game. And in an era of people just firing shotguns through their front doors at strangers, I shouldn't need to explain why this shit has a corrosive effect on public opinion.

      • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]
        hexbear
        10
        8 months ago

        it's revenge porn not justice the fantasy is of retaliation.

        bullying works I disagree with but the concept is more based around social ostrasisation for certain behaviours not just mean pranks

    • RoabeArt [he/him]
      hexbear
      7
      8 months ago

      Like those videos where the youtuber leaves a tethered down bike and waits for someone to steal it and face plant while riding off. They always set them up in low-income neighborhoods.

      • RyanGosling [none/use name]
        hexbear
        6
        8 months ago

        That’s pretty funny lol. Fuck bike thieves. I don’t care if you’re poorer than the poor guy next to you. That shit is literally how many people survive in this hell world