cerberussy - Tumblr blog

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Time for a turning point 🤞🙏

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Shocked

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Zayn misses Louis�� fist bump and then runs to give him one

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Barbara has so much to say, and this is only some of it. Her story is so incredible. I tried to keep everything in order, Sorry if it is difficult to read. You can read more on Twitter here. 

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otra tokyo 27.2.2015

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zouis kiss collection 😘

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If No Control was a video in caricature version..

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Summer’s coming now, new season of craving for Louis’ we spend our days under the sun we sing along we sing along song

I mean 2020 has been shit enough Louis honey baby could you please release it to make this horrible year a lil bit better 🥺

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x

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I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOR FOREVER BLESS

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🦋

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“Treat People With Kindness”: The Mantra Bo Burnham vilifies

Treat People With Kindness as Kill Yourself and Repeat Stuff

TW: suicide mention & antisemitism 

As seen in “Repeat Stuff” from his comedy special, what., and “Kill Yourself” in his most recent special, Make Happy, Bo likes to bring up a reoccurring theme that criticizes the cult mentality of mindlessly agreeing to and following whatever messages celebrities will preach, even if their only credibility is fame and status. These messages he refers to are often marketing tactics: disingenuous, catchy, and most importantly, profitable. In the case of Harry Styles, his message is “Treat People with Kindness” (TPWK), a mantra he describes as “universal,” applicable to anyone and everyone (x). The phrase is itself innocuous; however, because it’s universally applicable, it lacks actual substance and it doesn’t take any risks. It’s perfect marketing slogan: it encourages people to just be respectful of each other, and it’s enough to market Harry as a “good” influence on the general population—it’s a prime example of Bo’s recurring theme. 

“Kill Yourself” satirizes revolutionary anthems that are intended inspire listeners in the face of conflict. Bo refers to songs like “Brave” by Sara Bareilles and “Roar” by Katy Perry, and how they’re tone deaf—these songs offer futile words of encouragement to complicated, complex problems. Similarly, TPWK is a marketing tactic camouflaged as a motivational slogan that inspires others to be kind as means of addressing larger issues: “Small changes end up making a big difference,” Harry elaborates in an interview with MusicWeek. He himself admits that “treating people with kindness” is a small change in behavior, but argues that these small changes can make a “big difference.” It’s offered as a solution to a vague, larger issue, but Harry doesn’t specify what this issue is, much less what it’s advocating for. “You shouldn’t just be brave, you shouldn’t just roar,“ Bo chats in between verses, “but if you search for moral wisdom in Katy Perry’s lyrics / then kill yourself.” Bo is not encouraging his listeners to kill themselves to solve their problems, but instead spotlighting how trivial this kind of advice is; listeners wouldn’t commit suicide because a song told them to, and in the same light, they wouldn’t just be brave, or “roar,” because a song told them to. “I’m just trying to make a simple point that … life’s toughest problems don’t have simple answers,” Bo explains in his song. These songs and mantras are masked as huge inspirational anthems, but at their roots, they’re intended to profit off the vulnerabilities of the public and reap good publicity for the singers, as they are now seen as "good” influences. Treat People With Kindness—like Roar and Brave—is an incredibly tone deaf mantra, and Harry (and Katy Perry and Sara Bareilles) should not be commended for “advocating” this behavior. 

In Repeat Stuff, Bo directly criticizes Harry’s role in One Direction for exploiting his fans’ vulnerabilities. He takes on the character of your average pretty pop-star (like Harry) and sings, “I love your hands ‘cause your fingerprints are like no other. / I love your eyes and their blueish brownish greenish color.” Bo suggests that these all too familiar, all-inclusive declarations of adoration are what captivates impressionable teenagers into “falling in love” with these pop stars, granting these singers new-found leverage and power over their audience. Bo proceeds present what these singers do with this power: “I’m in magazines / full of model teens, / so far above you. / So, read them and hate yourself, / then pay me to tell you I love you. … I hope that you don’t see through this cleverly constructed ruse / designed by a marketing team / cashing in on puberty and low self-esteem / and girls’ desperate need to feel loved.” It’s an endless, fruitful cycle of exploitation, and he takes it step past critiquing, and vilifies these pop artists to an extreme. 

Harry saw the way “Treat People With Kindness” has spread through his fanbase, and has written a song of the same name to accompany this slogan in his sophomore album, Fine Line. While “Repeat Stuff” directly denounces the specific cycle of profiting off young girls’ vulnerabilities, other elements of the song criticizes the music industry in a way that is still applicable to “Treat People With Kindness”. “Repeat Stuff” is, quite literally, a mantra of the phrase “repeat stuff”—a clever refrain, as Bo mocks catchy choruses that get stuck in our heads, while simultaneously emulating these exact kinds of choruses. While the chorus of “Treat People With Kindness” is not as repetitive as “repeat stuff,” the chorus functions to be repeated and sung. TPWK includes the lyrics: “All together now! … One more time!”, intentionally inciting listeners to sing along, cryptically similar to “Repeat Stuff.” In the second chorus, Bo encourages his audience with “C’mon, louder, I can’t hear you!” before he stands up and gestures the Nazi salute. In doing so, Bo delivers a clear and concise message: these mantras are hypnotic, and considering the endless cycle of exploitation these singers participate in, the mantras are comparable to hold the Hitler had over Nazi Germany. It is an extreme and problematic suggestion; however, his outrageous comparison underscores how appalling Bo perceives this sequence of exploitation to be. (Make no mistake, I am not suggesting this comparison is justifiable. I am only stating that Bo is willing to make this problematic comparison in order to emphasize the severity of this issue).

Lyrically, “Treat People with Kindness” is hollow and incomprehensible, and many have stated that it is cult-like, with religious undertones comparable to conservative, Christian songs (x)(x). Ironically, Bo makes a religious allusion in the “Repeat Stuff”, and when discussing the song on Conan, Bo says himself: “I sort of imply [these pop artists are] working for Satan” (x). He does this twice: the first time in the second chorus, he interrupts himself with an exclamation, “Oh, hello Satan!” and mimics fellatio with his microphone, before returning to his mantra of “repeat stuff.” Then, at the end of song, he unintelligibly babbles: “I am a vessel / 666 / Illuminati / Free Masons” between various animalistic noises. He’s mimicking the act of possession, and implies that these pop stars are lifeless shells of who they were, that the music industry is a horrific establishment analogous to the work of evil, and have given up their souls for profit. As we have seen, Harry uses this slogan in his merchandise, as he even sold COVID-19 shirts under the guise of charity. All profits of the merchandise goes to the COVID-19 relief fund, meaning the cost of producing the shirt is covered with the purchase. By donating the profits to the relief fund, Harry has viewed this pandemic as an opportunity for publicity and profit—he is now perceived as charitable celebrity and is able to receive tax benefits. He’s more than aware that his fans are more than willing to drop money for a shirt with this slogan, and instead of directly donating his own money out of his wealth, he takes advantage of it. Harry relied on his fans—many of who are struggling with finances under quarantine—to fund his donation, instead of directly donating money out of his own pocket (x). 

“We know it’s not right, we know it’s not funny,” Bo narrates in his character in “Repeat Stuff”, “But we’ll stop beating this dead horse / till it stops spitting out money.”  Meaningless messages like TPWK hold immense leverage over fans and this leverage is highly sought after in the music industry. This kind of leverage is dangerous and wicked, but celebrities like Harry are more than happy to trade in their morals for profit. 

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𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐄: anonymous asked lilo or nouis

@Louis_Tomlinson I like these little Irish lads but enough with the rapping

@NiallOffical: @Louis_Tomlinson Stop talking about me like that , I’ll rap if I want . You know I can spit bars .

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Zayn in iT’s YoU (2016)