Thank you Bill for some reason, thought and for starting this conversation. D
--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Cammack" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "danielmcvicar" > <danielmcvicar@> wrote: > > > > Hi Bill > > I was wondering what you may think, as a resident African American > > voice in the vlogosphere. > > > > Loren took great risks, said funny things, but didn't add any positive > > stereotypes to mix in with the negatives. I found it funny AND > > offensive. He could have gone more minstrel in blackface, but I don't > > know how much more offensive he could have gotten. Or he he could > > have found a black actor to do it...tht may have filtered out some of > > the ugliness. > > > > Do we want the follow up? > > > > Techspic > > Techkike > > Techmick > > Techtowelhead > > Techslope > > > > and so on. > > > > I don't think so , really. > > > > Don Imus is spinning in his unemployment line. Carlos Mencia is > > stealing the material. > > > > D > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Cammack" <BillCammack@> > > wrote: > > > > > > Loren Feldman = Technigga <http://1938media.blip.tv/file/326972/> > > D, > > ok. Since Loren's now put up a podtech video spoofing going into the > Promises center in Malibu, CA for "sensitivity training and > rehabilitation" (which, according to their site, > <http://www.promises.com/index.php/facilities/> only deals with > alcohol and drug rehab), I'll assume there will be no context > presented by him about his "Technigga" video. > > Unfortunately, as far as critiquing "Technigga", as 'simple' as his > concept is, it's actually a very complex video, created by someone who > has a complex format of marketing himself. It's a kind of "Andrew > 'Dice' Clay" / guy-you-love-to-hate / > guy-who-says-what-people-are-thinking-but-are-too-chickenshit-to-say > character he's built for himself. Reminiscent of Morton Downey Jr. > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Downey_Jr.> .... um.... Actually, > if you go to that wikipedia page, Loren actually RESEMBLES Morton > Downey Jr. :D > > So anyway, his gameplan is to say a lot of offensive stuff about a lot > of different people and a lot of different types of people. His style > is inconsistent. He complains and curses in this video > <http://tinyurl.com/ytrak5> about some guy that said he learned > selling from "Jewish colleagues" (apparently, Loren is Jewish).... > > [Side Note: Andrew 'Dice' Clay was also Jewish, "Andy Clay > Silverstein" <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001048/>, which eventually > came as a major surprise to a lot of Italians that thought 'The Dice > Man' was Italian] > > So in that video, where he's complaining about the Jewish reference, > he says... verbatim: "Do you learn how to drink from your Irish > friends? Do you learn how to get in the mafia and wack people from > your Italian friends? Do I learn how to make fuckin' sushi and attack > Pearl Harbor from every fuckin' Japanese guy I know?"... That post was > dated May 5, 2007. Then, three months later, on August 3, 2007, he > drops "Technigga" and answers his own question of (again, verbatim) > "... Where is the, like, the black Scoble?... or... the black > TechCrunch?" with a dream sequence where he dresses up "in character" > and acts out a single-dimensional version of a black technology > blogger. The exact same thing he's complaining about happened to him > on May 5th, he turns around and does to other people on August 3rd. > Inconsistent. > > As far as the dream sequence, hahahaha even though in "wired", Loren > claims to have been "a professional actor and comedian" > <http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/08/living-in-1938-.html>, unless > that's a pen name he selected to do his blog and videos with, there's > no sign of "Loren Feldman" AT ALL on IMDB > <http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=loren+feldman>. However, IMDB *HAS* > heard of Dan McVicar! <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002743/> hahahaha :D > > Anyway..... > > Did I LAUGH at the beginning of that dream sequence? HELLS YEAH, I > LAUGHED! :D First of all, Loren looked RIDICULOUS in sunglasses, > pantyhose on his head and wearing his girlfriend's jewelry! :D That's > obviously not a MAN'S chain, so I was laughing from the get. On top > of that, he threw on some 1980s or 1990s "En Vogue" music, which is > hilarious on its own if you've ever seen that video. Next thing you > know, he's produced drug paraphernalia (which he claims in his > comments is not actually his, but "just a prop from a friend") and > according to comment #47, "hit that pipe like he's had some practice". > THEN he involves his girlfriend in the video. THEN he fakes drinking > bacardi straight out of the bottle with the cap still on it and no > liquid moving AT ALL in the bottle... Maybe it's because I'm an editor > and I could see how ridiculous and fake the whole setup was, but I was > laughing my ass off at the intro. However..... > > As SOON as he started talking, it was clear that he was being > disrespectful. He had an opportunity, after all his bitching and > moaning about someone else using what he perceived to be a stereotype > <http://tinyurl.com/ytrak5> about Jews, to present a balanced and FAIR > spectrum of what MIGHT BE "the black experience" when it comes to tech > blogging. He chose not to do that. He chose to imagine "the black > TechCrunch" as this one-dimensional situation. He fucked up from the > beginning when he said (24 seconds in) "I'd love to see the black > TechCrunch, and get, like, a different cultural view on technology". > Different from whom? See... How does he know what MY cultural view is > when he doesn't know me at all? I have over 260 episodes of videos > that I've done on http://reelsolid.tv where I'm either in front of the > camera or within earshot of the camera and I defy ANYBODY to find me > (or ANYBODY ELSE, for that matter) speaking like that, acting like > that, dressing like that..... ANY of it. Feel free to look, because > it's not there. While you're at it, go through my flickr sets > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/billcammack/sets/> and you're going to > see SOMEBODY that *YOU*, whomever's reading this... Somebody that > *YOU* know personally or at least admire and respect that has hung out > with ME and can tell you RIGHT NOW if they've EVER seen me acting > anywhere similar to Loren's video portrayal of "the black TechCrunch". > Please do it. Feel free. > > So, to me, the whole thing was ridiculous off the bat, because Loren > chose to select ONE character or set of characteristics that TO HIM > represented what it would be like if blacks got their hands on > TechCrunch. Actually, now that I think about it. I was laughing at > that video the same way I was laughing at "The Birth of a Nation" when > they showed it in High School. > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation> > "The film was based on Thomas Dixon's novels The Clansman and The > Leopard's Spots. At its Los Angeles premiere in February at Clune's > Auditorium it was entitled The Clansman, but on the advice of author > Thomas W. Dixon was retitled for its official East Coast premiere at > the Liberty Theater in New York's Times Square three weeks later > (March 3).[citation needed] > > The title was changed from The Clansman to The Birth of a Nation to > reflect Griffith's belief that before the American Civil War, the > United States was a loose coalition of states antagonistic toward each > other, and that the Northern victory over the breakaway states in the > South finally bound the states under one national authority." > > "The Birth of a Nation" was so funny because it was so SKEWED!!! :D > They had a sequence, very similar to "Technigga", where they showed > what it would be like if blacks got their hands on the State House of > Representatives instead of a tech blog > <http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/birthofnation.html> (halfway > down the page, here are the jpgs: > <http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/images/photos/nation3.jpg> > <http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/images/photos/nation4.jpg>). Incredibly > disrespectful in the exact same way as "Technigga" because it assumed > that there was only one type of black person, so this MUST be the way > it would be if they got into office. Unfortunately for "Technigga", > it's one thing to spread propaganda in 1915 using a movie you're > making about a book written in 1905 about people that you're trying > YOUR DAMNEDEST to keep oppressed... and it's another thing to make a > video in 2007 when you know damned well that along with people (black, > white and otherwise) that act EXACTLY as Loren did in "Technigga", > there are blacks smarter than him, blacks that make more money than he > does, blacks that know more about tech than he does, blacks that know > more about etiquette than he does.... hahahaha you get the picture. :D > > So that's another reason the video was funny to me. There was no way > that I believed that Loren Feldman, who gets to hang around being a > sidekick to Scoble & Calacanis > <http://www.podtech.net/home/3745/calacaniscast-31-beta> (in a > conversation about Facebook that I thought was extremely interesting, > BTW) was ignorant enough or sheltered enough to actually believe that > was the only possible outcome for a black version of TechCrunch. > > On top of that, if you look in the comments, several black tech > bloggers were either named in comments or made comments themselves. > Links posted included http://www.bwana.tv/ , http://www.themhshow.com/ > , http://darlamack.blogs.com/ , as well as Tari Akpodiete, an > Associate Editor and Contributing Writer (print and online) over at > Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine (PPCmag.com). There was no response > from Loren Feldman to the posting of these links, although he DID > respond in order to deny ownership of the drug paraphernalia. > Meanwhile, he's gone on to post an entirely new video. > > So... Loren started with a poor premise, that just because it would > have been the black TechCrunch, there would have been "a different > cultural view on technology". He followed up with a > single-dimensional portrayal of black people that I found > incredible... meaning NOT CREDIBLE as in there was no way that I > believed HE believed what he was saying and then he chose not to > balance that out with ANY other perceptions he might have of black > people and chose not to make ANY useful concluding statement OR > indicate in writing anywhere what his point or intention was when he > made "Technigga"..... At least, not on HIS site..... > > In wired > <http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/08/living-in-1938-.html>, here's > their question and his answer: > "Wired News: > Given your strong reaction to Guy Kawasaki's past video comment about > his working experience, why do you think it is acceptable to create a > video with strong racial stereotypes and what some will consider > racially offensive language? > > Loren Feldman: > Because I'm an artist and a professional actor and comedian. I am a > member of the Screen Actors Guild and have performed stand-up and > improv for years. It's the context of the language that matters. It > was meant as satire and to bring up a point, what that point is I > leave to my viewers. Art is a subjective thing." > > So this is why I posted the link with ZERO context. > > If you take Loren Feldman at face value, having never seen his antics > before and having no idea who he "hangs around with" in cyberspace, > "Technigga" appears to be an idiotic video created by an idiot. > > In reality, Loren _started_a_conversation_ by sucessfully emulating > someone who believes that's the only way the black TechCrunch could > possibly be. He also emulated someone short-sighted enough (Kramer, > anyone? <http://billcammack.com/2006/11/21/kramer-flips-out-d/>) to > feel like he could "pop that kind of shit" without it having any > effect whatsoever on his career. Ultimately, there are tons of posts > on Loren's site dissing people. This wasn't the first time, and it's > not going to be the last time. It's his niche. > > ..... > > What was more interesting to me than the video itself was the > responses & non-responses from the videoblogging group. Loren started > the conversation, I linked to it without context and people either > wrote how they felt about it or wrote nothing at all, leaving opinions > about their opinions to one's imagination. > > Having said that, I don't know anything about Loren Feldman other than > what I've observed that's freely available on the net... a lot of > which, I've linked to in this post. It's possible that I'm completely > wrong. It's possible that he really thinks this stuff and his view of > black people is that limited. However... > > > I think you've all been Hornswoggled! :D > > -- > billcammack > http://reelsolid.tv >
