6 ms·

This channel has such a good window on what is going wrong in America at the bottom. The stories of how people end up being exploited and damaged, the failure

This channel has such a good window on what is going wrong in America at the bottom. The stories of how people end up being exploited and damaged, the failure of foster care, and the awful reality of kids being born into the exact same circumstances which will repeat themselves.

grecy 4y ago
I wonder if that's part of the reason it was demonetized. Dirty laundry is not something the powers that be usually like aired.
nonethewiser 4y ago
But why does he film them half naked?
- deleted 4y ago
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- mjburgess 4y ago
  The interviewer is a bit of a "photography narcissist" and basically just created the channel to have interesting people to photograph. The interview angle was added later, and it wasn't something he cared about initially. The impression I get is that it's best not to explore his motivations too much, as they're quite disappointing compared to what he's been able to create.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- jayski 4y ago
  I love this YouTube channel, I find the stories very interesting. I haven't watched them all, but the ones I've watched 80% were fully clothed. I highly recommend this YT channel.
- bergenty 4y ago
  Why not? I like it better that way anyways.
- vogt 4y ago
  I always got a slight feeling that he was a bit of a creep in disguise, but looking back after having watched, I don’t know, maybe half of the videos on the channel currently, I think that he intentionally brings interviewees in off the street exactly as they are. I believe the studio is near skid row in Los Angeles and that many of them are invited to film in whatever they were wearing that day. Whether or not that is appropriate or germane to the end goal of the channel is debatable, but I do feel like he is simply trying to show these people “as is”, with no production varnish
- 4oo4 4y ago
  The clothing choice is that of the interviewee, not the interviewer. If you approached the interview subjects on the street, they'd probably be wearing the exact same thing, since you're probably referring to the sex workers he interviews. He's not telling them to dress a certain way to get a reaction, he really just wants the interview subject to show what their lives are like. The way the interviews work is that the interview subjects walk in off the street and they just start talking. The clothing isn't the issue, since there are lots of other videos on YouTube with women wearing less, that aren't (yet) problematic, so it's not the sexual content itself as much the context surrounding the sexual content. Corporate America prefers a Disneyfied version of reality, and anything that falls outside that they try to banish. They will tolerate sexual content as long as it promotes consumption and aligns with capitalist thinking. Consider this Jay-Z song Big Pimpin', which glorifies the objectification of sex workers and women in general. Contrast that with Soft White Underbelly which humanizes the same types of people. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgoqrgc_0cM https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgoqrgc_0cM Even though this is dealing with very similar subject matter and the women in it are wearing far less clothing, it will probably never be demonitized. Why? It's encouraging consumption and promoting the idea that being wealthy means you get to have lots of happy sex with women that will let you objectify them, because of your money. Also Jay-Z's wealth means he's more important and the rules apply to him differently (if at all). Whereas Soft White Underbelly is showing a more sad and complicated view of sexuality and the objectification of human beings, one that doesn't promote consumption and glorification of wealth. Someone might watch that and realize that a sex worker selling their body for money isn't really that different than someone destroying their body working in an Amazon warehouse, or other jobs that require physical labor, and an idea like that is threatening to Corporate America. I'm not singling out hip hop, but rather that's a song that's so misogynistic that even Jay-Z himself has disowned it: https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/jay-z-apologises-for-his-chartbuster-song-big-pimpin-says-its-very-harsh-to-read.html https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/jay-z... This is a huge loss, SWU is one of the best creators on YouTube and I've been really moved by some of his interviews. Pretty much all the creators I follow on YT are either self-censoring or not posting videos anymore, because of this nonsense. Kudos to him for continuing the work, I didn't know that his proceeds went back to the communities he's portraying so I definitely will be making a GoFundMe donation.
- StanislavPetrov 4y ago
  I think because he wants to film them exactly as they are on a day-to-day basis. The whole point of the channel is to show you a raw, unfiltered look into the lives of these people. Dressing them up in costumes or clothes that they don't normally wear as a show for the camera would defeat the whole purpose.

grecy 4y ago

I wonder if that's part of the reason it was demonetized. Dirty laundry is not something the powers that be usually like aired.

nonethewiser 4y ago

But why does he film them half naked?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mjburgess 4y ago
The interviewer is a bit of a "photography narcissist" and basically just created the channel to have interesting people to photograph. The interview angle was added later, and it wasn't something he cared about initially. The impression I get is that it's best not to explore his motivations too much, as they're quite disappointing compared to what he's been able to create.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jayski 4y ago
I love this YouTube channel, I find the stories very interesting. I haven't watched them all, but the ones I've watched 80% were fully clothed. I highly recommend this YT channel.
bergenty 4y ago
Why not? I like it better that way anyways.
vogt 4y ago
I always got a slight feeling that he was a bit of a creep in disguise, but looking back after having watched, I don’t know, maybe half of the videos on the channel currently, I think that he intentionally brings interviewees in off the street exactly as they are. I believe the studio is near skid row in Los Angeles and that many of them are invited to film in whatever they were wearing that day. Whether or not that is appropriate or germane to the end goal of the channel is debatable, but I do feel like he is simply trying to show these people “as is”, with no production varnish
4oo4 4y ago
The clothing choice is that of the interviewee, not the interviewer. If you approached the interview subjects on the street, they'd probably be wearing the exact same thing, since you're probably referring to the sex workers he interviews. He's not telling them to dress a certain way to get a reaction, he really just wants the interview subject to show what their lives are like. The way the interviews work is that the interview subjects walk in off the street and they just start talking. The clothing isn't the issue, since there are lots of other videos on YouTube with women wearing less, that aren't (yet) problematic, so it's not the sexual content itself as much the context surrounding the sexual content. Corporate America prefers a Disneyfied version of reality, and anything that falls outside that they try to banish. They will tolerate sexual content as long as it promotes consumption and aligns with capitalist thinking. Consider this Jay-Z song Big Pimpin', which glorifies the objectification of sex workers and women in general. Contrast that with Soft White Underbelly which humanizes the same types of people. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgoqrgc_0cM https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cgoqrgc_0cM Even though this is dealing with very similar subject matter and the women in it are wearing far less clothing, it will probably never be demonitized. Why? It's encouraging consumption and promoting the idea that being wealthy means you get to have lots of happy sex with women that will let you objectify them, because of your money. Also Jay-Z's wealth means he's more important and the rules apply to him differently (if at all). Whereas Soft White Underbelly is showing a more sad and complicated view of sexuality and the objectification of human beings, one that doesn't promote consumption and glorification of wealth. Someone might watch that and realize that a sex worker selling their body for money isn't really that different than someone destroying their body working in an Amazon warehouse, or other jobs that require physical labor, and an idea like that is threatening to Corporate America. I'm not singling out hip hop, but rather that's a song that's so misogynistic that even Jay-Z himself has disowned it: https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/jay-z-apologises-for-his-chartbuster-song-big-pimpin-says-its-very-harsh-to-read.html https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/jay-z... This is a huge loss, SWU is one of the best creators on YouTube and I've been really moved by some of his interviews. Pretty much all the creators I follow on YT are either self-censoring or not posting videos anymore, because of this nonsense. Kudos to him for continuing the work, I didn't know that his proceeds went back to the communities he's portraying so I definitely will be making a GoFundMe donation.
StanislavPetrov 4y ago
I think because he wants to film them exactly as they are on a day-to-day basis. The whole point of the channel is to show you a raw, unfiltered look into the lives of these people. Dressing them up in costumes or clothes that they don't normally wear as a show for the camera would defeat the whole purpose.