6 ms·

As others have pointed out, this is a pro(ject/duct) of a creative studio called MSCHF https://mschf.xyz/ https://mschf.xyz/ Their work satirizes art and comm

by adwi 6y ago

As others have pointed out, this is a pro(ject/duct) of a creative studio called MSCHF https://mschf.xyz/ https://mschf.xyz/ Their work satirizes art and commerce, usually simultaneously, often while still being both. To me this project is about the absurdity of gatekeeping celebrity branded common-sense for $180, when it can more effectively be conveyed in the low-rent wikihow style for free.

soneca 6y ago
If it’s just ”common-sense” there is nothing to ”gatekeep”. I (edit) don’t see in absurdity in Masterclass product. It is not worth for me, but not absurd in the least.
- criddell 6y ago
  Yeah, I don't see anything absurd either. It's about the same price as a Netflix subscription. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that there exists an audience for Masterclass.
- lioeters 6y ago
  Well, many people seem to lack "common sense", of which everyone has their own definition. And absurdity is in the eye of the beholder. I don't agree with what this company is doing, stealing content from a commercial product and making it free. But I can see they're making a point, as a kind of perfomance art and social criticism. They're brazen about its controversial nature, and perhaps the free content will benefit someone who doesn't have the means to access this knowledge. It also makes me question, how will such knowledge production be funded, if not as (highly priced) commercial products? If everyone started stealing and giving away knowledge for free, how can it be sustainable? Is it even possible to "steal" knowledge? Well, yes, in the form of information/data - but, if it's digested and re-presented, as they have done here, does copyright extend to such works? Perhaps their goal is to raise such questions in the audience.
- adwi 6y ago
  I was referring to the celebrity’s name and reputation being a gate that’s being erected around what I believe, based on my personal experience with their content, is general common sense, best-practice sort of advice. This isn’t my piece so I can’t say my opinions are 100% aligned with the creators intent, but going in loving the concept, I was disappointed by the lack of depth in the content... it’s a lot less a class taught by your hero, more like your professor scored a really cool guest lecturer.
criddell 6y ago
> it can more effectively be conveyed in the low-rent wikihow style for free Masterclass clearly has different goals. It isn't hard to guess that they are optimizing for something other than minimum cost per view.
rileytg 6y ago
the ramsey eggs are comical to me as a chef, someone who’s watched this actual masterclass, and someone who’s made an attempt to learn many famous chefs scrambled egg styles. (alton browns add mayo trick, worth a try!) decadent ingredients with absurdly terse instructions, and when he yells at the kid, i died!
- Blackthorn 6y ago
  Don't leave us hanging with that, you've got a really unique viewpoint to share here! How did you find the masterclass overall, and what sort of things did you learn from the various scrambled egg styles you've tried?
  - bdickason 6y ago
    Seconding!
- MisterBastahrd 6y ago
  I've hated almost every online celebrity scrambled egg recipe I've ever watched. I can't divorce them from that runny crap made from powdered eggs they serve at buffets.
  - azinman2 6y ago
    I think what’s misleading is that there are so many different ways to both scramble eggs but also cook eggs in general that only are a function of these few things: heat, friction, and time. The ability for the proteins to do such different things totally based on your technique is unlike almost all other foods out there. It sounds like you don’t like a soft scramble. That’s ok! You might want bigger curds or a harder scramble (not the same thing per se!). You can watch Jacques Pepin make an omelette that you might like (big curds), or I’m sure plenty of others out there with good instruction too. “Celebrity chefs” are probably mostly teaching soft scrambles because you end up with a very silky rich product, and most people equate rich fatty velvety textured with “high end.” Ignore the Gordon Ramsey’s out there, they’re endless self promoters with oversized egos who take on the worst of toxic masculinity.
Grustaf 6y ago
Surely people don't pay for the content with MasterClass, they pay for the hosts. That's how it's marketed, and they of course wouldn't use these presumably extremely expensive celebrities if they just wanted to create high quality content.
- paulgb 6y ago
  The premise is that you're learning from top people in each field. Sure, in some cases they are people who have been very successful at self-promotion in their field, but I don't remember seeing anyone on there who was there purely through self-promotion. The target market is basically people who would have paid $20 for a book with the same content. To them, it's not a bad deal.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    And it's mostly entertainment, maybe get some interesting insights, etc. from what I gather. Presumably, people don't actually think they're going to learn screenwriting by listening to Aaron Sorkin talk about it or by watching Gordon Ramsay.
    - nsxwolf 6y ago
      There's definitely a big entertainment component. I find these things very entertaining. I've also read several books on how to write a novel even though I have no interest in ever writing one. Why? I don't know. Certainly the How to be an astronaut Masterclass is meant for pure enter/edutainment?
  - Grustaf 6y ago
    Well, that may be the pretext, but of course they are chosen because they are famous. People buying it justify it by saying they want to "learn" something, but as you say it would be much cheaper - and certainly more effective - to buy a book. Compare this to Lynda or The Teaching Company. They both have amazingly high quality content, and choose teachers solely based on their ability to teach, not their fame. Lynda is focused on imparting directly applicable knowledge whereas TTC focused on serving the intellectually curious (these days they are inching ever closer to your typical airport self-help offering).
powersnail 6y ago
If it's really common-sense, by definition, it's not gatekept. While I do think $180 is way higher than it should be, I also don't believe everything there can be conveyed as wikihow. Especially for the hands-on type of subject, I'd rather see actual people doing the demo in a video than read through vague text descriptions. Satire works are brilliant, but sometimes it has the drawback of justifying everything with "well, it's satire". You didn't laugh? That's on you.
delfinom 6y ago
>when it can more effectively be conveyed in the low-rent wikihow style for free Don't mind the few hundred dollar illstrations
simonebrunozzi 6y ago
I watched a few masterclass and honestly I don't see the point. It's more entertainment TV, and much less "class", nor "master" class.

by adwi 6y ago

soneca 6y ago

If it’s just ”common-sense” there is nothing to ”gatekeep”. I (edit) don’t see in absurdity in Masterclass product. It is not worth for me, but not absurd in the least.

criddell 6y ago
Yeah, I don't see anything absurd either. It's about the same price as a Netflix subscription. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that there exists an audience for Masterclass.
lioeters 6y ago
Well, many people seem to lack "common sense", of which everyone has their own definition. And absurdity is in the eye of the beholder. I don't agree with what this company is doing, stealing content from a commercial product and making it free. But I can see they're making a point, as a kind of perfomance art and social criticism. They're brazen about its controversial nature, and perhaps the free content will benefit someone who doesn't have the means to access this knowledge. It also makes me question, how will such knowledge production be funded, if not as (highly priced) commercial products? If everyone started stealing and giving away knowledge for free, how can it be sustainable? Is it even possible to "steal" knowledge? Well, yes, in the form of information/data - but, if it's digested and re-presented, as they have done here, does copyright extend to such works? Perhaps their goal is to raise such questions in the audience.
adwi 6y ago
I was referring to the celebrity’s name and reputation being a gate that’s being erected around what I believe, based on my personal experience with their content, is general common sense, best-practice sort of advice. This isn’t my piece so I can’t say my opinions are 100% aligned with the creators intent, but going in loving the concept, I was disappointed by the lack of depth in the content... it’s a lot less a class taught by your hero, more like your professor scored a really cool guest lecturer.

criddell 6y ago

> it can more effectively be conveyed in the low-rent wikihow style for free Masterclass clearly has different goals. It isn't hard to guess that they are optimizing for something other than minimum cost per view.

rileytg 6y ago

the ramsey eggs are comical to me as a chef, someone who’s watched this actual masterclass, and someone who’s made an attempt to learn many famous chefs scrambled egg styles. (alton browns add mayo trick, worth a try!) decadent ingredients with absurdly terse instructions, and when he yells at the kid, i died!

Blackthorn 6y ago
Don't leave us hanging with that, you've got a really unique viewpoint to share here! How did you find the masterclass overall, and what sort of things did you learn from the various scrambled egg styles you've tried?
- bdickason 6y ago
  Seconding!
MisterBastahrd 6y ago
I've hated almost every online celebrity scrambled egg recipe I've ever watched. I can't divorce them from that runny crap made from powdered eggs they serve at buffets.
- azinman2 6y ago
  I think what’s misleading is that there are so many different ways to both scramble eggs but also cook eggs in general that only are a function of these few things: heat, friction, and time. The ability for the proteins to do such different things totally based on your technique is unlike almost all other foods out there. It sounds like you don’t like a soft scramble. That’s ok! You might want bigger curds or a harder scramble (not the same thing per se!). You can watch Jacques Pepin make an omelette that you might like (big curds), or I’m sure plenty of others out there with good instruction too. “Celebrity chefs” are probably mostly teaching soft scrambles because you end up with a very silky rich product, and most people equate rich fatty velvety textured with “high end.” Ignore the Gordon Ramsey’s out there, they’re endless self promoters with oversized egos who take on the worst of toxic masculinity.

Grustaf 6y ago

Surely people don't pay for the content with MasterClass, they pay for the hosts. That's how it's marketed, and they of course wouldn't use these presumably extremely expensive celebrities if they just wanted to create high quality content.

paulgb 6y ago
The premise is that you're learning from top people in each field. Sure, in some cases they are people who have been very successful at self-promotion in their field, but I don't remember seeing anyone on there who was there purely through self-promotion. The target market is basically people who would have paid $20 for a book with the same content. To them, it's not a bad deal.
- ghaff 6y ago
  And it's mostly entertainment, maybe get some interesting insights, etc. from what I gather. Presumably, people don't actually think they're going to learn screenwriting by listening to Aaron Sorkin talk about it or by watching Gordon Ramsay.
  - nsxwolf 6y ago
    There's definitely a big entertainment component. I find these things very entertaining. I've also read several books on how to write a novel even though I have no interest in ever writing one. Why? I don't know. Certainly the How to be an astronaut Masterclass is meant for pure enter/edutainment?
- Grustaf 6y ago
  Well, that may be the pretext, but of course they are chosen because they are famous. People buying it justify it by saying they want to "learn" something, but as you say it would be much cheaper - and certainly more effective - to buy a book. Compare this to Lynda or The Teaching Company. They both have amazingly high quality content, and choose teachers solely based on their ability to teach, not their fame. Lynda is focused on imparting directly applicable knowledge whereas TTC focused on serving the intellectually curious (these days they are inching ever closer to your typical airport self-help offering).

powersnail 6y ago

If it's really common-sense, by definition, it's not gatekept. While I do think $180 is way higher than it should be, I also don't believe everything there can be conveyed as wikihow. Especially for the hands-on type of subject, I'd rather see actual people doing the demo in a video than read through vague text descriptions. Satire works are brilliant, but sometimes it has the drawback of justifying everything with "well, it's satire". You didn't laugh? That's on you.

delfinom 6y ago

>when it can more effectively be conveyed in the low-rent wikihow style for free Don't mind the few hundred dollar illstrations

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

I watched a few masterclass and honestly I don't see the point. It's more entertainment TV, and much less "class", nor "master" class.