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If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

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Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#271

Post by dragonwriter »

24gttghh wrote: post #36
blocked_again wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pardon my ignorance but what did big bang theory got wrong?

Pardon the terminology, but I consider that show to be Nerd-Blackface. I'm not sure how else to describe it. I find how the show deals with anything technical to be an affront to intelligence in general.

> Pardon the terminology, but I consider that show to be Nerd-Blackface.

I find that characterization to be as stupid and insensitive as referring to highly paid tech workers in the Bay Area as slaves.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#272

Post by bduerst »

samstave wrote: post #188
ham_sandwich wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This chart holds only in the sense that the Kardashians play dumb caricatures of themselves. They may cater their brand to the lowest common denominator but they most certainly aren’t dumb themselves. They essentially parlayed Robert Kardashian’s friendship with OJ Simpson into a media empire; there is something to be said for how media savvy they are.

I met someone who worked for the kardashians on the show and said they are king, generous and respectful to the staff working their brand. Said that they know full well they are managing a brand and that they are parlaying that as they know it shall run out soon. They said that the mom is the eagle-eye over the brand and pushing it to ensure max profit for them. While i wanted to respect that, and i respect the hustl…

>The dicotomy of the education gap in this nation

Or just awareness of how brands are operating now in general. I don't know if it's as dramatic as education.

It used to be the brand name/logo/trademark itself held all the value (e.g. Apple, Nike, etc.), except now we're seeing the value shift to how the brands correlate with consumer's identities (e.g. privacy, kaepernick, etc.). Kardashians, political parties, and corporations are especially cognizant of this social shift and are adapting faster than people are aware of it happening.

I personally blame social networks, which have made consumers hyper-aware of how decisions affect their carefully-constructed image of themselves online - but it's probably more complicated than just that.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#273

Post by humanrebar »

kohanz wrote: post #10
slivym wrote: post #3

It's quite amazing how good a job Silicon Valley does considering how badly wrong it could go (I'm looking at you Big Bang Theory). I'm sure there are quite a few industries that could have similar comedies about them from people who really know what the industry is like. W1A is another great example.

> Big Bang Theory Oh how I loathed that show, especially at height of its popularity. I got so tired of smiling and nodding (or rolling my eyes, depending on who it was) as non-technical people at work and even my mother-in-law made it clear they thought of me when they watched that show (simply because I was the "smart engineer", so obviously a huge nerd with no social ability). None of these people were my age thou…

> ... I was the "smart engineer", so obviously a huge nerd with no social ability...

> I got so tired of smiling and nodding (or rolling my eyes, depending on who it was)...

> ... Silicon Valley would have likely been much too sophisticated for them.

Not to get personal, and I'm sure you're more empathetic in real life, but your frustrations might seem like geeky egotism to your coworkers.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#274

Post by dleslie »

garmaine wrote: post #146

I find it hits a bit close to home, so much so as to ruin the comedy sometimes... it’d be funny if it weren’t so true, which is depressing. Still watch it, and love it though. And super impressed that a Hollywood production finally understood Northern California. That never happens (see: The Social Network, Hackers, every Steve Jobs movie, etc.)

Hackers is best enjoyed, IMHO, if you interpret it as a hyperbole of the media stereotype of the hacker culture of the era. I tend to revisit it every year and have grown to appreciate it more and more with time.

Also, Sneakers and The Net.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#275

Post by village-idiot »

huaw6 wrote: post #236
samstave wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met someone who worked for the kardashians on the show and said they are king, generous and respectful to the staff working their brand. Said that they know full well they are managing a brand and that they are parlaying that as they know it shall run out soon. They said that the mom is the eagle-eye over the brand and pushing it to ensure max profit for them. While i wanted to respect that, and i respect the hustl…

Well throughout history the education gap has always existed. "Bread and Circuses". In every culture, from the east to the west. What has changed today is hyperconnection. That changes the rules of game.

“Bread and circuses” is not a comforting comparison.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#276

Post by dragonwriter »

24gttghh wrote: post #68
rustcharm wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Nerd-minstrelsy" is a better term

Seems like the same thing... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show >The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that mocked people specifically of African descent. The shows were performed by white people in make-up or blackface for the purpose of playing the role of…

They aren't the same thing: minstrelsy is the root offensive thing, blackface is offensive by association with minstrelsy. “Nerd blackface” could be any instance of non-nerds portraying nerds [0], “nerd minstrelsy” would, at least if you take the modern objection as defining [1], be the unfavorable portrayal of nerds (whether by actual nerds or non-nerds) for the entertainment of non-nerds.

[0] which is problematic as a blanket characterization of TBBT, though it may apply to some players; it seems pretty clearly not to apply to Dr. Bialik, for instance.

[1] historically, from some quarters it was roundly attacked on the opposite basis, for excessively sympathetic portrayal of blacks, especially during slavery, and especially for it's frequent positive (from the viewpoint of those objecting) portrayal of runaway slaves.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#277

Post by humanrebar »

smsm42 wrote: post #101

I love the show, but there's a lot of things that Silicon Valley is that it does not cover. It's not the fault of the show - it probably would be much worse if it did. But some aspects of SV - like how much it is integrated into the big politics and yet how much they try to downplay it and make it look like their behemoth companies are just young and agile rebels playing this new Internet thing, as if it were the ear…

> ...how office politics often becomes more important than tech...

Basically all the Hooli scenes are about that. Also just about the entire careers of Big Head, Jack Barker, and Denpok the "spiritual advisor".

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#278

Post by riazrizvi »

snowwrestler wrote: post #63

Amazing anecdote from a 2016 New Yorker article on the show: > During one visit to Google’s headquarters, in Mountain View, about six writers sat in a conference room with Astro Teller, the head of GoogleX, who wore a midi ring and kept his long hair in a ponytail. “Most of our research meetings are fun, but this one was uncomfortable,” Kemper told me.... > “He claimed he hadn’t seen the show, and then he referred ma…

It was a great show because of on point, biting satire like this. Then in the last season the writing dropped off a cliff, I guess they got neutered - post Gawker world and all that.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#279

Post by lucideer »

coleifer wrote: post #81
skunkworker wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This Venn diagram always gets me. https://i.chzbgr.com/full/8291744000/h3159FC59/

I use this simple litmus test: if it has a laugh-track, then it's for dumb people.

Laugh tracks are mostly a litmus test for era rather than quality, and also disproportionately affect British comedy, which is excellent.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#280

Post by jacobush »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #250
Fricken wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of his work is about middle class suburban white people, and their lives. There's nothing wrong with that, 'write what you know', but 'breadth' isn't really the term to describe it.

Beavis and Butthead?

Hehe
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