The Big Picture: Magneto Was Right

[Cowabungaa]

Thing is that if Bob behaves in real life anything like he behaves in his videos I can see him pissing off a lot of people. He's frankly a little condescending. I've seen plenty of nerds who think they've done nothing wrong but have (consciously or not) baited people into hating them. Someone who resorts to bullying is often insecure and to insinuate that that person is stupid is a very unwise thing to do.

Despite this, and despite the 'victims' claiming innocence, I've almost never seen someone legitimately get bullied. What I have seen far more often is some little gobshite starting a war they weren't ready to fight because they mistakenly believed they were so far ahead of everyone else that they were untouchable.

Condescending? Where? He's just explaining a theory, what goes on in the heads of certain bully victims.

Now I ain't saying there aren't cases like the one you describe, I've seen it myself too, but that doesn't mean that there's a large group of honest bully victims out there, people who are just too afraid to do anything back, people who wouldn't dare 'starting a war' as you describe it because they damn well know what'll happen (or will happen regardless). I'm honestly surprised you've never seen people gotten properly bullied, bullied for the sake of establishing a hierarchy. Fact is, nerds or anyone who differs enough from the established social norm are different enough and an easy enough target to be made an example of. It's everywhere in society, but where it's usually done subtly, kids are a lot more straightforward.

You talk about social skills, yeah, that's one reason that makes certain people easier targets. Yeah not everyone has the same level of social skills, but that doesn't equal being an arrogant snob. Some people, like me, just have more trouble verbally defending themselves, making themselves known. And that's an excellent opening for any insecure or plain cruel person to exploit.

Oh and there's no need to put victims in quotations. People kill themselves over bullying, people are damaged and scarred for life. I myself am going through psychiatry channels for over a year now as the mental fuck-up's mainly caused by my bullies through years of primary school, high school and college, is really damaging my life and future. Yes they're victims alright. Don't go about defending people who are hell-bent on making someone's life a living hell.

 

[Lazzi]

Woh Bob, I'm sure I didn't just hear you make fun of Michael Jordan. That man went through so much hardship to get where he is today.

This is so true, just because he is in sports doesn't make his life any more or less important than bill gates.

And this is coming from someone who hates sports and decrys the lack of recognition that scientists are given.

I think hes talking about how bill gates was demonized for making billions of dollars for making something that has become an intergeral part of socity while Micheal jordan is made a hero for something that is in all reality just a frivolous past time.

Dont get me wrong, I like Micheal Jordan and Im a basketball fan (GO HEAT!) but I do recondinse that technology is far more important than 12 giants dribbling an orange ball around a wooden court.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

I too spent a good number of my younger years being picked on and abused by my peers. Hell, I had to switch Jr. High Schools because it got so bad. But even after all that, my life goals are still more in the realm of Professor X than Magneto.

You see, right now I'm studying to become a High School Counselor. First and foremost, as said counselor, my office would provide a bastion for the ostracized and abused to shelter in from the slings and arrows of their oppressors. But, and this is the more important aspect really, I would also use my position and innate grasp of human psychology to unravel the minds of the bullies too, helping them to realize what they are and the effect they have. Only by showing them the light helping them to change their ways can we hope to create a better school environment for every student.

And I know the job will never be done, and the toil will be endless and often unrewarding, but if I can get even one bully to change their ways, save even one victim from taking their own life, then all my work and time will have been justified.

Gotta admire your spirit for going the peaceful way. I have from time to time toyed with the thought of becoming a teacher, to be able to publicly humiliate those who bully others. I found that kids learn best that bullying is bad when they feel the consequences of it themselves.
I've been bullied (though most likely not as bad as it seemed to me at the time) in the past, and I had little or no social skills (I had two friends at the time, and even later on in life, I'd still piggyback on their backs into their circles of friends), but I did have strength. I'm fairly certain I still have some 'scars' from it, including violent outbursts (though I have been able to control the physical side of that violence for the last four/five years or so).

And I get kind of annoyed by the people calling Bob worse than the people that bullied him. He made it quite clear that he was explaining why this fantasy gives such comfort.



PS:
Squarely in camp Magneto. I still fantasise from time to time about what I'd do to those pricks if I'd ever meet them again.

 

[DPunch4]

I'm really enjoying this series. Talk about religion again!

 

[Danpascooch]

Why are comics such a core theme of like, every single "The Big Picture" video?

It should be renamed: "Moviebob talks about comics"

 

[Xisin]

Thing is that if Bob behaves in real life anything like he behaves in his videos I can see him pissing off a lot of people. He's frankly a little condescending. I've seen plenty of nerds who think they've done nothing wrong but have (consciously or not) baited people into hating them. Someone who resorts to bullying is often insecure and to insinuate that that person is stupid is a very unwise thing to do.

Despite this, and despite the 'victims' claiming innocence, I've almost never seen someone legitimately get bullied. What I have seen far more often is some little gobshite starting a war they weren't ready to fight because they mistakenly believed they were so far ahead of everyone else that they were untouchable.

During the 5th grade, my sister was terribly excited about a school dance. She was think along the lines of prom and dressed accordingly. She wore a formal dress, with flowers everywhere and simply couldn't sit still during the car ride there. An hour and a half later she showed up at home. She had ran from school, through the ran, to home all because of a dress. The dance was an informal ones and she was the stupid little 5th grader that didn't know.

I'm sure she was just out to start a war...

I'd pick magneto in a heartbeat.

 

[Okysho]

CHOP DOWN THE RAINFOREST! BURN FOSSIL FUELS! BUY MERCEDES BENZEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

Cookie for reference. Oh, and just in case I wasn't clear enough, I'd go evil. Destroying is always easier than building and I'm lazy.

Legendary Frog One Ring to Rule them All 2:

Cookie please

 

[ProtoChimp]

In my case every bully I've ever known only ever bullied people because they were bored. They have nothing to do. Say I'm in a boring class, I would sit there and stare into space, THEY would do something to torment someone because like it or not, you get a sense of catharsis from seeing others suffer and that counts for everyone, ALL OF US. Let me use some popular examples, Spoonyone and Yahtzee, we enjoy seeing them suffer over bad games and movies and they get that, they are so successful because instead of just saying "This game sucks" they would say "This game sucks so bad I'm going to hang myself" or something along those lines. It's funny, we can't help it, however if something terrible actually did happen to them, we'd feel bad. Another example I barely need to explain-Jackass. Seeing those men put themselves, and each other through crazy, painful shit is just plain funny, but if we heard something like they became crippled after that and had to use a wheelchair we would feel sympathy wouldn't we, possibly even guilt. The difference between us and bullies however is that they don't seem to care what the outcome is, some may regret it later like if the person kills themself some of them might feel genuinely guilty, hell I've even heard of some taking their own lives as a result. Some might not even realise they're doing it (ok this one is slightly off topic but it bears mentioning), I myself once thought I was just "having a laugh" with someone when really I made them feel horrible. Shit, one time I called a girl ginger and thought I was just having a laugh, then later a teacher comes into my class and informs me that those few seconds were I made fun of someone made them cry I felt like shit, I felt like I deserved to get the shit kicked out of me because I myself had just fucking bullied someone, I mean we made up afterward and when I told her (good christ now I really am just a ****, she was a girl) that I was genuinely sorry she forgave me but I still felt like a huge ****. That was when I started to notice the difference between people like me and people like "them". When I see someone cry because of my actions, I apologise, I say sorry, if you know it's appropriate, like if I was totally out of line. But whenever I see "them" make someone cry, they laugh at them.

Bollocks I've gone on such a massive rant and I completely went off on a tangent to something quite unrelated to what was the original subject. But what I was originally saying, from all the bullies I've met, all of them, who genuinely want to hurt you and make you feel bad about yourself, the ones that don't apologise, the ones that don't feel guilt over tears, these people don't do it because they feel threatoned or jealous, they're bored.

Well that was my rant *exhale* feel free to completely dissect me and say "You obviously have never been truly bullied" or "That doesn't make sense, do you even know what you're on about" or "Yes but have you considered..." I don't mean to sound twatty there I seriously want to know what people would have to say in response. Also I've probably done that thing I tend to do where I make a long message and then forget about the subject matter or go on about other shit and make a few inconsistencies, so feel free to point that out.

 

[Dango]

Not be rude, but I can't help but feel that his point was based off a ridiculous generalization.

Is that generalization "Nerds are superior?" Because that's the one I'm thinking of.

-MEGA SNIP-

Actually the generality was just that all kids who are picked on are out for revenge...

 

[xdom125x]

Woh Bob, I'm sure I didn't just hear you make fun of Michael Jordan. That man went through so much hardship to get where he is today.

This is so true, just because he is in sports doesn't make his life any more or less important than bill gates.

And this is coming from someone who hates sports and decrys the lack of recognition that scientists are given.

I think hes talking about how bill gates was demonized for making billions of dollars for making something that has become an intergeral part of socity while Micheal jordan is made a hero for something that is in all reality just a frivolous past time.

Dont get me wrong, I like Micheal Jordan and Im a basketball fan (GO HEAT!) but I do recondinse that technology is far more important than 12 giants dribbling an orange ball around a wooden court.

I agree with you so much right now. Sports are (to be completely honest) just a game and shouldn't be cared about as much as technological advances should be. While playing sports does take an incredible amount of skill, physical fitness, determination and focus; society cares about them(sports) a little too much.

 

[Danpascooch]

I was picked on for being overweight in grade school, but I was also intelligent, and more than once I embarrassed the fuck out of someone picking on me in public. Did it happen every time? Hell no, but it happened enough for me to be able to deal with it.

My favorite line when somebody calls me fat?

"I can lose fat cells, you can't grow brain cells"

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Or could bullying result from, not the nerd's superiority, but the belief that he or she is superior? Children are judged through the age of eighteen largely on intellect, and so if one exceeds in that, it may bloat his or her ego. Given that the child's social order is rarely so intelligence-based, the kid may grab onto his or her mental prowess as the one thing that defines him or her. When confronted about a lack of physical aptitude, the child will bring up his or her brainpower, effectively bragging about being smarter than the bullies. This, in turn, will earn ire by bullies who see a person who thinks that he or she is better than them. At least, that was my case. Then I realized that while, yes, I was quite skilled in critical thinking, that did not mean that I was at the top of my game, nor that being adept in other areas, such as physical capability, was necessarily worse than being smart. I learned that someone can be a good, kind, contributing member of society without being a brainiac. And I stopped waving my ego around like some insecure asshole. I relaxed. I almost immediately stopped being bullied. So, yeah, to each his own. "Better" is objective, Bob.

 

[SeniorDingDong]

For the most time at school, I got bullied the hell out of my ass.

Well, I was almost some kind of prototype for that. I watched The Next Generation, they Power Rangers and later something on MTV. Sucked at sports and came from a poor and mostly disfunctional family. They cared for popmusic and cars, I got to catch them all !

Might be smart, but left with fucked up grades. Oh wonder.

Since the school systems works different in Germany: you can actually rejoin and switch between the school forms. It is possible to qualify yourself for a 1 or 2 year long high school on the second run.

As I climbed the school forms up, I realized that the bullying got reduced each time. From moderate, over none, to very accepted and liked @ college now.

Dont know if I adopted better over time, or there is a connection between intelligence and the bullying... If so, I dont that is some kind of "oh noes, I fear your brainz !" thing.

I think primitive or bad people just cant resist to exploit your weaknesses. Nerds look weak, freaks do uncommon things, moslems are terrorists and gays are... well gay, etc, and so on. I am guilty myself, you now.

Beeing good friends with the other students around, your eyes open for people who ... well, arent. We had one case who was nerdy and strange beyond believe. I had to avoid him as good as possible, since I felt the will of picking on him brooding inside me... Excue my dramatic term: the circle almost closed ;-)

My conclusion is, that it is a question of social intelligence and respect for each other.

 

[Danpascooch]

Woh Bob, I'm sure I didn't just hear you make fun of Michael Jordan. That man went through so much hardship to get where he is today.

This is so true, just because he is in sports doesn't make his life any more or less important than bill gates.

And this is coming from someone who hates sports and decrys the lack of recognition that scientists are given.

Who has had more of an impact on society? Bill Gates, or Michael Jordan?

It's not even close.

 

[Danpascooch]

Or could bullying result from, not the nerd's superiority, but the belief that he or she is superior? Children are judged through the age of eighteen largely on intellect, and so if one exceeds in that, it may bloat his or her ego. Given that the child's social order is rarely so intelligence-based, the kid may grab onto his or her mental prowess as the one thing that defines him or her. When confronted about a lack of physical aptitude, the child will bring up his or her brainpower, effectively bragging about being smarter than the bullies. This, in turn, will earn ire by bullies who see a person who thinks that he or she is better than them. At least, that was my case. Then I realized that while, yes, I was quite skilled in critical thinking, that did not mean that I was at the top of my game, nor that being adept in other areas, such as physical capability, was necessarily worse than being smart. I learned that someone can be a good, kind, contributing member of society without being a brainiac. And I stopped waving my ego around like some insecure asshole. I relaxed. I almost immediately stopped being bullied. So, yeah, to each his own. "Better" is objective, Bob.

First off, Bob didn't say the nerds were ACTUALLY better, in fact he says largely the opposite, that we need to stop thinking that.

But in the scenario you brought up, aren't they picking on the kid for being physically inept BEFORE he defends himself by bringing up his intellect? How can something that happens AFTER be the cause?

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

probably with Magneto. Great episode Bob. You've always got something interesting to say.

 

[iblis666]

Im really leaning towards the kill all humans side of things but id really be sad to loose all that genetic diversity

 

[Lazzi]

Woh Bob, I'm sure I didn't just hear you make fun of Michael Jordan. That man went through so much hardship to get where he is today.

This is so true, just because he is in sports doesn't make his life any more or less important than bill gates.

And this is coming from someone who hates sports and decrys the lack of recognition that scientists are given.

I think hes talking about how bill gates was demonized for making billions of dollars for making something that has become an intergeral part of socity while Micheal jordan is made a hero for something that is in all reality just a frivolous past time.

Dont get me wrong, I like Micheal Jordan and Im a basketball fan (GO HEAT!) but I do recondinse that technology is far more important than 12 giants dribbling an orange ball around a wooden court.

I agree with you so much right now. Sports are (to be completely honest) just a game and shouldn't be cared about as much as technological advances should be. While playing sports does take an incredible amount of skill, physical fitness, determination and focus; society cares about them(sports) a little too much.

I have not problem with how much socitey cares about sports. Im an engineering student and I recodnise that sport are a major sorce of funding for research. People will always want a way to become faster and stronger and science is the way to figure that out. As long as the pelbian is interested in sport, engineers will be able to get funding.

I think the real problem is enlgish/culture nerds. Your writing about the human condition isnt going to do anything, if you want to make a differnce get your pansy ass in a soup kitchen.

P.S. I hate poerty major with the fury of a thousand suns.