The social media feed gruel has switched it’s serving of slop from the speculation about the potential outcome of one hundred men versus a gorilla. The content creators who recycle the same shit, because of algorithms and trends now concern themselves with the apparently ‘vile’ imagery of one Pamela Anderson, now in her late fifties, daring to present herself in public with no make up on, and without the assistance of filters. The mostly males from behind their meme accounts are shocked, armies of anime avatars and tradcon bros shriek in outrage. How dare this woman age!
This woman did not remain as she appeared thirty years ago. How dare she not catfish the world, with the use of filters. How dare she stand as a human with intellect rather than a pair of, er, lovely eyes. Pamela Anderson has in her post-sex symbol phase been an ardent advocate for free speech, and peace. In doing so she has drawn the ire from far more sinister and calculating elements than the current outrage mob, who will return to complaining about the casting of the next Disney princess or live action adaption of whatever anime or game they are binge watching. It’s safe to say this uproar does her ego no harm, rather it proves a point.
That point being is that a lot of people crave fake things. The synthetic, they need an artificial orderly presentation to satiate their insecurities or preferences. Nature or natural self is for many of these people, ugly. The imperfections that define us as human beings, and arguably make one beautiful are to be shunned. So, women are to be taught that lip filler, fake tans, layers of make up and other additions are the way. And, I am aware that there is some irony in mentioning body enhancements in a rant about defending Pamela Anderson. But that was the old Pam, well in this case the younger one, that happens to be from an olden times. The current one is embracing the tranquility of natural self.
Being a public figure, whether that means you have sung songs that entertains a lot of people or played make believe convincingly enough, it brings with it a sense of public entitlement. The voyeurs will have elements from within their ranks who have decided to take ownership over you, they may obsess, fantasise about you, boast to their spouse that you are their celebrity pass or they may even conjure up your effigy in hopes of harming you. It’s a strange and dysfunctional relationship that strangers can develop for someone simply because they happen to be entertaining and thus famous. In this regard in the minds of strangers, Pamela Anderson belongs to them.
This means that a celebrity, seldom, if at all can not be a former celebrity. They have been locked into the collective memory of those who watched or listened to them, an inescapable duty to serve and present themselves a certain way, for ever. As they age and deteriorate it becomes a reminder to those who once adored, worshipped and idolised them, that we all get old. To dehumanise someone, so that they remain frozen in a period of history is to deny them the course of ageing.
And the gorilla in the room is that most social media trends and viracy are conjured up by those who are too young to understand the ageing process, or most things for that matter. So through the screen, the world seems to remain static and filtered. This breeds an entitlement and unrealistic expectations all based on the delusional illusions that those online often consume. It can range from fitness inflation, where there is an unrealistic trend of teenagers and twenty somethings to gorge themselves on PEDs, lifting hard for the mirror with no concern of any future repercussions. The discipline of study is long lost in the TikTok age, the blips with a phonk soundtrack washing across the eyes has bred impatience. This married with the frozen moments of history, that are re-circulated from time to time ignore the real world concept of, age. And may even have redefined beauty.
Instead of looking to the elders who are remaining active and ageing gracefully or more appropriately, with dignity. They are shamed and isolated. Individualism and health, truly diverse perspectives and a will to be true to self or principles are attacked, ridiculed and denigrated into slop content by a digital mob of avatars.
Women are allowed to age, men for that matter are as well. It may be uncomfortable for those yet to do so, to consider. Beauty is revered because of it’s subjective scarcity and youth is precious because it goes all too fast. It is an asset that can not last. If one’s only virtue is that they are young, well I have news for you. And it seems that much of the hatred and indignity is an immature struggle to come to term with the human processes found beyond the screen by many who are medicated, insulated and digitally dependent on that realm lost in the screens.
I take notice of the memetardery because it is a concerning fascination as to what is an allowable thing, in a moment. Why is a chicken dance done by so many strangers, then suddenly it’s suddenly ‘cringe’ to do. How did so many kids know that it was marble season, and who decided the market value of each and every marble, which was consistent beyond any one school, in an age before the internet. These trends now happen faster, and take hold over many who are fixated and interested in them, until they are not.
Grok is this true?
“The above post is made by a curmudgeon attempting to come to terms with internet trends, commonly known as memes. The authour is unable to truly articulate their disdain for such a culture of digital community and communication but raises points about human agency and individual determination. It is unlikely and there are no confirmed reports that Pamela Anderson has or will ever fight 100 memetards.”
Now that the community notes have arrived, we can await the still ever confused comments arguing about the religious or racial background of Pamela and if she listened to Ye, thus she may in fact be a Nazi or a troll. It’s all so very enthralling, engaging and informative, I am assuming. The worse part, the slop does not even taste nice, despite being nutritionally empty. Then again, in an age of Edibles Appearing as Foods, it’s no wonder we have so much shit passing for content. The truth of the matter is, Pamela Anderson was a beautiful woman and still is. This is a subjective evaluation. To scream and farm for engagements, that she is not, is more of an indictment on oneself. The trouble is, avatars and screen names have no self, and besides those that are bots, most are human beings that only find courage in their screen persona.
But. It’s all a grift. All of it. The insincere shit exists for all of us, you, me, them. To interact with, share, comment on, like, view. Each single one of us makes them wealthier for it. With that in mind, the internet is dying. It’s not just the bots and marketing bunk that’s killing it. The insincerity and constant rewards to those who conjure up such disingenuous junk. Those who still seek out things, search and look and waft through the memeyards, I applaud you. Those who rely on the feed, let an algorithm infest your eyes and mind with such slop, break free before it’s too late. Let’s not feed the trolls any more. And to answer the question, Sigourney Weaver already made friends with the gorillas, so we are all good.