Getting upset for my friend thinking I'm crazy for watching Alex Jones/David Icke?

[zenithfreedom]

So I have a very 'unique' YouTube history. I watch all sorts of random stuff. Doesn't mean I believe most of it but it's interesting nonetheless. From 9/11 conspiracies to prank calls to documentaries, and commonly conspiratorial figures like Alex Jones, David Icke, Max Keiser

I gave my friend who has been staying with me since lockdown my tablet to watch something since hers died and she couldn't find the charger. She saw David Icke and thought I was a bit insane and was worried about my mental health.

I said it's just entertainment but I also took a bit of offense to the fact that she thinks I'm mentally unstable for watching these guys. What do you think?

@eandz13

I watch them too, I watch a whole host of conspiracy theorists. I love Michael Tellinger! I don't believe a word they say, but I think it's fascinating how they come up with the shite they do. Very entertaining. Your friend seems very literal. So do most of the posters here. Grow up. E.T wasn't real either, it was still one of the most watched movies of all time.

Conspiracy theories that pray on the vulnerable and make money for their unethical promoters versus a popular film made for entertainment and obviously not real?

Not really the same thing is it?

It's hard to take it lightly if you've heard stories (like on here) about families being torn apart by QAnon etc

OP has a right to watch what she likes even if it funds these people but the friend also has a right to judge even if she didn't ask OP more questions so she could be reassured that it was for entertainment. If you were my friend I would at your history (I have not heard or Max) and probably avoid talk of politics and Covid in future.

Reverse?

I've watched a handful of Icke /Jones stuff I think it is good to see a wide range of views even if some are batshit. It helps to understand what is going on in wider society - by which I mean why and how people are being influenced by things like conspiracy theories. I think it is interesting too, not the content itself but what it drives and how to combat it. I think Corbyn is just as bad

Agree with @DismantledKing at 8:55 re generating income for them.

@eandz13

I watch them too, I watch a whole host of conspiracy theorists. I love Michael Tellinger! I don't believe a word they say, but I think it's fascinating how they come up with the shite they do. Very entertaining. Your friend seems very literal. So do most of the posters here. Grow up. E.T wasn't real either, it was still one of the most watched movies of all time.

It’s probably less entertaining for the parents of the children murdered at Sandy hook when they have to deal with the harassment which is a direct product of these conspiracy theorists

Max Keiser went on the Alex Jones show. Birds of a feather and all that:

news.bitcoin.com/keiser-bitcoin-price-alex-jones/

@MrsKeats

Reverse?

No. Wind up would be my guess.

I was a bit obsessed with flat earth for a while, the theory fascinated me, not for one second do I believe any of it, just the fact that people do is what made me look into it. It's escapism I guess... so I understand a bit what you're saying.

Also:

coingeek.com/hey-max-keiser-whos-the-bigger-con/

@GintyMcGinty

How is watching anti-semites fun?

In some ways because they are ridiculous. I watched the David Baddiel programme about holocaust deniers a few years ago, basically they were all freaks (one insisted on playing a ridiculous antisemitic song on his guitar).

Anyway, just because someone has offensive views on one subject doesn't mean they can't be entertaining or knowledgeable on another. An abhorrent personality or behaviour doesn't preclude someone from having a genuine talent. Michael Jackson sold millions of records, people didn't immediately stop when abuse accusations first started. Chuck Berry's conviction didn't stop his music being good. Lots of people still rate Oscar Wilde despite him committing what would now be called child rape.

I don't agree with the point that PP made about people who watch absurd Youtube videos or news channels being on a slippery slope to becoming a flat-earther or other misguided person. I have watched RT from time to time, it's so obviously biased that I don't see how anyone could fail to see it for what it is. Same with the Daily Mail, same with the Mirror. What concerns me more is people watching the BBC (for example) and not seeing how biased it is. That is where the danger is, people trusting biased media. Blatantly ludicrous people like flat-earthers, holocaust deniers or George Galloway on RT (if he's back, not seen him for a while) are easily dismissed by all but the most stupid.

@BeardieWeirdie

I’m with your friend.

And me.

I've never given David Icke much head space.

Having a flick through his Wikipedia page just now. Is he mentally ill? I'm struggling to see how somebody can be so far removed from reality for such a prolonged period of time and still functioning?

Crikey watch what you want! We all have our guilty pleasures, as long as you're not taking any of it seriously then so what?

@yourestandingonmyneck

I've never given David Icke much head space.

Having a flick through his Wikipedia page just now. Is he mentally ill? I'm struggling to see how somebody can be so far removed from reality for such a prolonged period of time and still functioning?

I think he definitely was mentally ill at one point, but whether he still is I would question. Personally I think he found himself with a well paying gig with lots of attention and stuck with it.

Your friend is 100,000% right. That people even give Jones and Icke the benefit of hits, of their viewing hits, so in a way rewards and encourages them, makes me sick. What those 2 men say is so very, very deeply disturbing on so many levels, I don't think a normal person could get past 20 - 30 seconds of one of their 'clips'.

If you were my friend and I knew you were regularly watching dangerous and disturbing material like that, I would basically cut contact and no longer be your friend. If she sticks around, she's a better person than I, and you are lucky to have a normal and decent person as a friend.

I truly would. No tolerance for that shit at all. There is no possible excuse you can give that justifies watching that sick, degenerate, dangerous and harmful propaganda. Please give your head a wobble and wake up to yourself.

@yourestandingonmyneck

I've never given David Icke much head space.

Having a flick through his Wikipedia page just now. Is he mentally ill? I'm struggling to see how somebody can be so far removed from reality for such a prolonged period of time and still functioning?

David Icke was a sports presenter when I was in my teens. I vividly remember the tv interview when he first came out with the lizard people stuff. Conspiracy theories were less widespread and less well known than they are now and it was genuinely shocking. It seemed as though he was having a nervous breakdown on national television.

God knows what's going on with him now. In a way, I feel sorry for him because he is so clearly deluded. On the other hand, he seems happy and has a huge following, especially in the US.

We do seem to export our most notorious conspiracy theorists and then they make a successful life for themselves in the US. See Andrew Wakefield who was struck off in the UK.

@OliverBabish

There’s SO much information out there, far too much to ever read/listen/watch. And that’s what you choose? Alex Jones said that Sandy Hook never happened and that the parents of the dead children were actors. Hell yeah I’d be judging!

This. What sort of scum would support that?

Yeah, i'd cut you off too.

I don't see there is anything wrong with listening to a range of views, so your friend is being unreasonable. Never heard of Alex Jones and find listening to David Icke for than a few minutes a struggle, but we can't just live in an echo chamber of socially sanctioned opinions.
I'd only worry about you if it started spilling out into your real life.

@knittingaddict yes, you are probably right.

@Iloveginger If you've never heard of Alex Jones (fair enough, he's not particularly well known in the UK) then I really think you should RTFT and you'll see why people are dating not to give him the views that he craves.

There are plenty of legitimate YouTube channels, websites and newspapers that people can visit or buy in order to engage with a wide range of views.

@cariadlet Yes, nervous breakdown seems likely.

God knows what I was trying to write before autocorrect jumped in but it definitely wasn't "dating". 🙄

I wouldn’t ‘feel sorry’ for the likes of David Icke; he’s made a lot of money from his paranoid racist bullshit. There’s plenty of stupid/gullible people in the world, and it’s all about the grift.