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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

#371

Post by ethbro »

holywoly wrote: post #355
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…

Any shows of the same style on Hollywood? Do the show producers feel something similar to some in their own industry or their surreality is just reality for them? Are they brave enough to mock powerful people they may wish to work with later? Would be fun to watch one on Hollywood and they should have very intimate details to bare.

The Producers?

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

#372

Post by DoreenMichele »

swampthinker wrote: post #130

My favorite Silicon Valley anecdote: "During the review process once the footage [of Techcrunch Disrupt] was woven in, another editor criticized the crowd shots for not featuring any women and blamed Berg for the oversight. '...Those were real shots of the real place, and we didn't frame women out.The world we're depicting is f---ed up.' said Berg" https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/hbos-si... Sorry…

Surprisingly even-handed piece:

There's been debate about whether "Silicon Valley" the show should have more diversity than Silicon Valley the place, but Berg argues that a show made for entertainment not meant to be a "social-action wing" or be a force of change - the show is just satirizing the reality that the tech industry itself needs to take care of.

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

#373

Post by nikofeyn »

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…

oh man, they definitely should have used that. it fits right into the show in every way. i am laughing just reading a straight account of what happened.

silicon valley is really insufferable. i don't understand that place at all and don't ever wish to be there. and i am often reminded of adam curtis' documentary all watched over by machines of everlasting grace. i wish he would do another one along these lines.

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

#374

Post by pcthrowaway »

dylan604 wrote: post #351
ticmasta wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Silicon Valley as much as I loathe Big Bang Theory. Talk about a show that plays to what "regular" people think nerds are like. I am absolutely dumbfounded how popular it is. Then again, Chuck Lorre has a track record for that type of garbage...

If it has a "studio audience" laugh track, I'm out.* If the joke is funny, I don't need a laugh track to tell me about it. If it's not funny, it's not funny, and a laugh track doesn't make it funny. If it's so esoteric of a joke that I missed, then I missed it. Silicon Valley has a lot of these. "Is it Apple Maps bad?" There was one about Theranos that if you had no idea what Theranos is/was, then you'd never have a…

Seinfeld had a laugh track also, and still managed to be one of the funniest and most original shows on television, breaking major ground for its time. Don't blame Big Bag Theory's gaping inadequacies on the laugh track; the writers, actors, and producers are largely at fault.

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

#375

Post by macintux »

tokyodude wrote: post #348
Fricken wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In office space Peter Gibbons, our white Alpha, and the only guy with any sense, tries to stay sane and hold it together in a world that has gone haywire. In King of the Hill, our white Alpha, Hank Hill, the only guy with any common sense, tries to stay sane and keep it from all falling apart in a world that has gone Haywire. In Idiocracy, our White Alpha, Joe Bauer, the only guy with any sense, tries to stay sane an…

> In King of the Hill, our white Alpha, Hank Hill, the only guy with any common sense Ah, that's not my memory of King of the Hill. In it Hank is the biggest idiot and it's only those around him that have any common sense. I probably only watched the first season but I remember one episode in particular where some Laotians moved into the neighborhood and Hank couldn't except that they weren't Chinese or Japanese. His…

Or the fact that Hank was tricked into paying MSRP on his vehicles for decades.

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

#376

Post by BurningFrog »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #372
swampthinker wrote: post #130

My favorite Silicon Valley anecdote: "During the review process once the footage [of Techcrunch Disrupt] was woven in, another editor criticized the crowd shots for not featuring any women and blamed Berg for the oversight. '...Those were real shots of the real place, and we didn't frame women out.The world we're depicting is f---ed up.' said Berg" https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/hbos-si... Sorry…

Surprisingly even-handed piece: There's been debate about whether "Silicon Valley" the show should have more diversity than Silicon Valley the place, but Berg argues that a show made for entertainment not meant to be a "social-action wing" or be a force of change - the show is just satirizing the reality that the tech industry itself needs to take care of.

One thing that mildly annoys me about the show is how white the cast is.

At least in my Silicon Valley career, the "cast" around me has been vastly less so.

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

#377

Post by Aeolun »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #340
Aeolun wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me the conditions are completely different. There’s nothing racial or political about this. It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect.

Which group of people do you trust to decide which other groups should be allowed to continue and which should become extinct, without any bias or personal preference? Eugenics is always political. > It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect. Then why are you defending it? I'm confused.

If it does works it is entirely possible it will lead to a healthier and smarter society.

I see it mainly as an implementation problem, not necessarily objectively bad by itself.

A bit like communism :)

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

#378

Post by dnautics »

ethbro wrote: post #362
StavrosK wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to like BBT, but lately it has devolved into the characters just being mean to each other all the time. You are spot on with your comment, too.

The quip that made me "Hmm" on BBT was "How often are you laughing with the characters? And how often are you laughing at them?"

Oh there's other problems too, real needs (really, real people) would say "it's cold as hoth out there", on BBT they would say "it's cold as hoth, the ice planet from star wars", which tells you who the real audience is

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

#379

Post by [deleted] »

BurningFrog wrote: post #376
DoreenMichele wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly even-handed piece: There's been debate about whether "Silicon Valley" the show should have more diversity than Silicon Valley the place, but Berg argues that a show made for entertainment not meant to be a "social-action wing" or be a force of change - the show is just satirizing the reality that the tech industry itself needs to take care of.

One thing that mildly annoys me about the show is how white the cast is. At least in my Silicon Valley career, the "cast" around me has been vastly less so.

[deleted]

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

#380

Post by jackfoxy »

cknoxrun wrote: post #195
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.)

I would highly suggest checking out Halt and Catch Fire. It's a period piece, but I think it captures the spirit of Northern California. The first 2 seasons are in Texas before they jump ship to San Francisco.

I really enjoyed that series. Early in my career I spent 6 months in Dallas in the early 80s, same space-time as the first 2 seasons. They captured working in a "tech" company in Dallas perfectly.
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