I agree with the comments. I thought the thing had potential, based on that headline, because of the young people "attuned to inequality and privilege." Are they going to get principled and staunch against nepotism? There wasn't much about that. In fact, it was a bit pro-nepotism regarding black celebrities:
"I think that there was a time where you couldn’t ‘nepo’ your baby if you were a person of color.... We haven’t even seen Rihanna’s baby yet … but this baby is already a superstar. Is that nepotism? Sure. But when you layer on the inequity from past years in history and you think about nepotism through the lens of race and privilege, I think it’s kind of exciting and cool that Blue Ivy and Rihanna’s baby are celebrities from birth.”
This was another one of those articles that gets my tag "MSM reports what's in social media." It's trying to spin a mainstream article out of a successful Tiktok hashtag — #nepobaby. Now that I'm googling that hashtag, I see the New York Times did its own report back in May: "What Is a ‘Nepotism Baby’? Gen Zers have turned a term of derision into one of admiration. That doesn’t mean they’re not jealous, though." Not much going on in that article either, but it's at least short.
Posts
25 comments:
at least they got their click(s)
So there’s an art theme today! Nice. And here we veer into where nepotism and art intersect. Althouse’s first tag nails the salient feature: celebrities. (Pretty sure “celebritnies” is a typo.) Celebrity is an occupation that can be passed on easily at the top tiers. Something new and fresh occasionally gets made in Hollywood but most of the output is derivative and “safe.” With celebrity itself being a viable occupation via social media and “reality” TV, using family connections is an obvious necessity.
When you have no logical, scientific, ethical, or moral structure...you create something. Welcome to traditional family-tribal reality. This has shaped most world events since the dawn of time.
For Gen Z: Families are groups people who are biologically related to other people, who spend their lives in generally close contact, and who thereby tend to favor them over strangers. This is sometimes summarized as "blood is thicker than water." Pedantry day.
I can't wait until the Millennials and Gen Z discover the rest of biology. Many minds will be blown.
"We haven’t even seen Rihanna’s baby yet … but this baby is already a superstar."
And that my friends is how you know that the United States of America has jumped the shark.
This is what our newspapers of record focus on. World's richest man owns this rag. This is what they spend their time doing.
Goodnight, folks. It was a good run.
"Pretty sure “celebritnies” is a typo."
Not a typo, though YOU made a typo. It's a longstanding tag of mine. Feel free to click on it.
Nepotism was the original tradition -- sons going into their father's profession. That certainly applied to acting. As actors love to remind each other, actors were once outcasts despised and excluded by society, so of course they stuck together. It's the idea of equality of opportunity and careers open to talent that is the innovation.
In showbiz, growing up with the profession, and knowing agents, directors, casting directors, and producers is an invaluable advantage. Also, if producers need a Goldie Hawn type and Goldie is too old and hasn't cloned herself, it's easier to just cast Goldie's daughter than to interview hundreds of hopefuls.
Then too, sometimes all you get from your dad may be a name and connections. It's your repayment for abandonment. I wonder if that was the hidden theme behind Adam Bellow's book in praise of nepotism.
"Pretty sure “celebritnies” is a typo."
Not a typo, though YOU made a typo. It's a longstanding tag of mine. Feel free to click on it.
I did misspell the tag. Now that I’ve burrowed back to 2004 to see the origin I still don’t know what prompted the portmanteau.
WWII and the GI Bill shook things up, now they have settled back into the natural order where children likely take up their parents' professions. It isn't only Hollywood, it also happens in academia and research laboratories. The result is increasing inequality, especially after merit is no longer a consideration. Young folks may be concerned, but they aren't going to do anything useful about it. They don't know how.
If I win the lottery I’m gonna get me one of them nepo babies and give it to Ricky Gourmet, then just wait to see what happens. I bet it’ll be spectacular.
If you're worried about nepotism in Hollywood, then you really need to step away from the TV. You're the problem.
#Nepobaby weren’t aborted. Double the privilege.
Soft nepotistic edumacational and professional advantages are at the corpse of White Privilege. All those "& Sons" businesses and no one complains because they are plumbers, stoned masons, carpenters, etc
A Star is Born, literally.
Don't remember exactly where I read this but there's a similar phenomenon going on in sports, too. More and more professional athletes are now the offspring of former professionals. Stories like Jim Morris and Vincent Papale (whose son had a professional football career though not NFL level) don't happen as often.
Wars used to be fought in defense of nepotism. Anointed kings and aristocrats owed their position to nepotism. The human brain seems hard wired in favor of nepotism....I'm not totally against it. You want to pass on your advantages to your children, and that's honorable. Nepotism, however, does seem more prevalent in Hollywood and politics than in other fields. I guess that's fine, but those are the two fields that are most apt to preach against nepotism and privileged elites....Well, in Hollywood and DC, the right connections matter and hypocrisy doesn't.
Hollywood acting is a profession that would like you to be competent, but it's more important you have charisma. That "It" factor is not something you inherit. The Duke tried to push his son on us and failed. Although handsome, the kid was flat.
Nowadays we have way too many uncharismatic children working. Enough that it's become noticeable.
There was Video of GenZers making the rounds recently. Dumb and dumber. They could name all the Kardashians, but they couldn't say how many stars were on the flag, what language was spoken in Idaho, or how many states in the US.
Come to think of it, didn't a successful candidate for President in 2008 say there were "57 states"? I wonder if he can name all the Kardashians.
“ I still don’t know what prompted the portmanteau.”
It combines “celebrities” and “Britney” to suggest a lightweight pop-culture type of famous person.
The nepobaby that needs somebody to teach her to vibe the most has got to be Liz Cheney.
In showbiz, growing up with the profession, and knowing agents, directors, casting directors, and producers is an invaluable advantage. Also, if producers need a Goldie Hawn type and Goldie is too old and hasn't cloned herself, it's easier to just cast Goldie's daughter than to interview hundreds of hopefuls.
This is true plus Hollywood once operated on a merit system. John Wayne worked as a property man, then spent years in B westerns. Lots of great character actors who are not remembered anymore. The 1940s was the golden era for movies.
Is that [thing we claim is bad]? Sure. But when you layer on the inequity from past years in history and you think about [thing we claim is bad] through the lens of race and privilege....
80% of what makes the Left utterly evil in three short sentences.
For the Left, there is not "good" and no "evil", there's "that which we like" and "that which we don't like".
Is nepotism wrong? Then end it
Is racism wrong? Then end it.
Not willing to do that? Then STFU about it, and accept that people you hate will be pushing nepotism / racism / sexism / whatever that you hate, and will not feel the slightest guilt about doing so.
Because if that thing was actually wrong, you wouldn't be doing it
Howard said...
Soft nepotistic edumacational and professional advantages are at the corpse of White Privilege. All those "& Sons" businesses and no one complains because they are plumbers, stoned masons, carpenters, etc
Poor Howard, still unable to understand anything.
Let's start with the basics: Are parents allowed to pass an inheritance to their children?
Yes? Then "and Sons" is perfectly fine. Dad is passing the inheritance to his kids
No? Then your'e a commie POS.
When is nepotism wrong? When it demonstrates the principle - agent problem. Which is to say, when people are doing it with "someone else's money."
Are you a manger in a company? Then you owe a fiduciary duty to the owners of that company to hire the best person for that job, not your cousin's kid who needs a job.
Do you sell yourself as "open to the best"? Then you have a duty to actually be "open to the best", rather than "only available for the connected.
It's lies, fraud, and spending other people's money that makes nepotism wrong. "And Sons" doesn't violate any of those
Hunter Biden. He who can do no wrong.
#DiversityDogma (i.e. color judgment, class-based bigotry)
I don't see those with privilege and have far more than the average...do anything about it.
I have only seen on family do it. Wealthy farm family, with 220 acres of high producing ground (+90 CSR) sold it, sold all the equipmet, sold the recently built house on their own man made 25 acre lake,donated it all, and have been doing mission work for the last 30 years.
So you can do something about it.
chuck said
Young folks may be concerned, but they aren't going to do anything useful about it. They don't know how.
This is what I've been thinking about lately. Everybody is educated, but they dont know how to do anything. They treat life like a college paper. spouting others people stuff, but not knowing what it means or how they might utilize the knowledge. Out VP comes to mind. She has no idea how. Our VP couldn't last to the Iowa Caucus. Huge name recognition, but not a clue how to leverage that asset. Now at VP, as no idea she could be exploiting the office to build political capitol to advance herself. She doesn't know how.
Post a Comment