5 ms·

Tim Burton: The internet makes me quite depressed

28 points by tartoran 2y ago

93po 2y ago
Terrible article and headline. He doesn't actually say why it makes him depressed. Just says it's a dark hole. Which makes sense if you're a world famous successful person with hundreds of millions of dollars - the internet sort of sucks compared to millions of fans lavishing praise upon you while you sip martinis on your yacht. He touches on one small part - AI generators making "Tim Burton" style transformations of people/characters/whatever, and feeling down about that. He doesn't really say why. I assume because he feels less special that his trademark style can be generated by computers instantly? Not trying to be a dick here though maybe I am. He's allowed to feel sad. The AI thing from his perspective makes sense. I'm just annoyed that the BBC thought this was worth an article. This is, at best, a tweet that I don't really have any empathy for.
- sseagull 2y ago
  Not a super amount of detail, but it’s subtle: “It was very clear from King Kong to Frankenstein to Creature from the Black Lagoon that all the monsters were the most emotional. The humans were the ones that scared me,” he said. “They were the angry villagers in Frankenstein - like the internet - these nameless faces…
BSDobelix 2y ago
Maybe X/Twitter/Facebook is what he means with "Internet"? Hey Tim if you read that go to: https://www.tasteatlas.com/map https://www.tasteatlas.com/map
thenoblesunfish 2y ago
Sufficiently recognizable name: Commonly held opinion
megaman821 2y ago
I really don't like this style of article. It tries to imply something greater than Tim Burton's experience of the internet, but it is more like hot sauce gives me heartburn. Know what you should do when hot sauce gives you heartburn, stop eating hot sauce.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Part of the problem is that it's become very difficult to avoid the internet. To use your analogy, it's like you know that hot sauce gives you heartburn, but the world has decided to start putting hot sauce on as much of the available food as possible.
tombert 2y ago
I get kind of annoyed when people look at the internet or social media and act like it causes all these problems. People have always been terrible [1], we just didn't have the ability to see what most people were thinking or saying. I used to think that the internet radicalized my idiot grandmother in 2016 and made her hyper-racist and part of the psychotic wing of the conservative party, until I saw a home video where I saw her very casually use the N word [2] where I realized that she's always been a nut. The internet made her more visibly a nut but I don't think it actually changed anything about her. [1] By any definition; there's 8 billion of us, meaning there are probably millions of people that do stuff that you think is awful, no matter what it is. [2] In 1997, well after using such a word was considered unacceptable in most places.
- tarkin2 2y ago
  It's not that the internet created new behavioural problems, but that intensified old problems.
  - tombert 2y ago
    I know that's what everyone says, what I'm saying is that I'm not sure I agree. I mostly think it just made old problems more visible. At the risk of upsetting Godwin, if you look at the rise to power in Nazi Germany, Hitler was able to appeal to people's inner prejudices and susceptibility to demagoguery and commit one of the worst, if not the worst, atrocities in human history. Hitler didn't post radical content on Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, he just spoke publicly about stuff.
    - MisterTea 2y ago
      > Hitler didn't post radical content on Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, he just spoke publicly about stuff. That's what social media allows random people to do much more easily: speak publicly about stuff. Before that you'd have to build a reputation and following in meat space which takes a lot of time and effort. Now it's just a like and share button. I'm sure Hitler would have totally loved using Twitter, Facebook and the like.
paxys 2y ago
Is video calling your friends and family depressing? What about group chats with friends? Looking up the weather every morning before you leave the house? Checking up scores of the game your favorite team is playing when you are on the move? Clicking a photo and sending it to a loved one? Playing Wordle or solving the NYT crossword on your phone during your commute? Downloading episodes of your regular podcasts? Tapping your phone to pay at the checkout counter or the subway? Being able to translate between hundreds of languages in real time? Paying rent every month without mailing a paper check? Looking up driving directions for your next appointment? Managing your fantasy football team? Checking Wikipedia when you don't know something, or generally having the sum total of human knowledge at your fingertips? Being able to work from home? Most people (including Tim Burton I bet) do all of this every day and love it, yet "the internet" is scary and depressing? Just more low effort "everything is bad these days" clickbait content.
- scotty79 2y ago
  > Is video calling your friends and family depressing? Could be. I tend to get depressed after positive interactions.
  - paxys 2y ago
    [flagged]
- pixelready 2y ago
  Yeah, I think it’s human nature for modern conveniences to fade into the background and just become “part of life”. When people say “I’m going on the internet” what they’re really saying is: “I’m itching for a TikTok / YouTube / Social Media Doomscrolling fix”
  - croes 2y ago
    Convenience works for bad things too.
- piva00 2y ago
  You are attacking it semantically, reading the article is a bit clearer he's not talking about the conveniences of services on the internet but specifically: > 'Humans were the ones who scared me' > "They were the angry villagers in Frankenstein - like the internet - these nameless faces [Burton makes monster roaring noises] and the monster always had the most emotion and most feeling even though they're looked upon as a certain way. > "Every monster usually has some kind of pathos and some kind of humanity" that the humans lacked he added. So "like the internet" means people on the internet, is it technically wrong to call comments, social media, etc. "the internet"? Yup, it doesn't mean it's not understood when we hear it, at least for me it's quite clear when people in real life tell me "I don't like to be on the internet" they mean this side of it. I think it'd be a better discussion if you focused on what the article is about instead of your argument on semantics, you are verging quite into exactly "the people on the internet" by doing this.
retskrad 2y ago
Humans often strive to distance themselves from others in many aspects of life. We buy cars to avoid public transport, seek homes over apartments for privacy, and prefer remote work with its isolation. Yet, paradoxically, we turn to social media to engage with the very strangers we avoid in daily life. We reject unsolicited opinions in person, but eagerly seek them online from countless unknown voices.
- tonyedgecombe 2y ago
  I think I'd argue that's about seeking comfort rather than avoiding people. When public transport is unreliable and dirty, apartments are poorly insulated and offices so dysfunctional it's no surprise people avoid them. Extraverts make up the majority and they aren't hiding from the rest of humanity.

28 points by tartoran 2y ago

93po 2y ago

Terrible article and headline. He doesn't actually say why it makes him depressed. Just says it's a dark hole. Which makes sense if you're a world famous successful person with hundreds of millions of dollars - the internet sort of sucks compared to millions of fans lavishing praise upon you while you sip martinis on your yacht. He touches on one small part - AI generators making "Tim Burton" style transformations of people/characters/whatever, and feeling down about that. He doesn't really say why. I assume because he feels less special that his trademark style can be generated by computers instantly? Not trying to be a dick here though maybe I am. He's allowed to feel sad. The AI thing from his perspective makes sense. I'm just annoyed that the BBC thought this was worth an article. This is, at best, a tweet that I don't really have any empathy for.

sseagull 2y ago
Not a super amount of detail, but it’s subtle: “It was very clear from King Kong to Frankenstein to Creature from the Black Lagoon that all the monsters were the most emotional. The humans were the ones that scared me,” he said. “They were the angry villagers in Frankenstein - like the internet - these nameless faces…

BSDobelix 2y ago

Maybe X/Twitter/Facebook is what he means with "Internet"? Hey Tim if you read that go to: https://www.tasteatlas.com/map https://www.tasteatlas.com/map

thenoblesunfish 2y ago

Sufficiently recognizable name: Commonly held opinion

megaman821 2y ago

I really don't like this style of article. It tries to imply something greater than Tim Burton's experience of the internet, but it is more like hot sauce gives me heartburn. Know what you should do when hot sauce gives you heartburn, stop eating hot sauce.

JohnFen 2y ago
Part of the problem is that it's become very difficult to avoid the internet. To use your analogy, it's like you know that hot sauce gives you heartburn, but the world has decided to start putting hot sauce on as much of the available food as possible.

tombert 2y ago

I get kind of annoyed when people look at the internet or social media and act like it causes all these problems. People have always been terrible [1], we just didn't have the ability to see what most people were thinking or saying. I used to think that the internet radicalized my idiot grandmother in 2016 and made her hyper-racist and part of the psychotic wing of the conservative party, until I saw a home video where I saw her very casually use the N word [2] where I realized that she's always been a nut. The internet made her more visibly a nut but I don't think it actually changed anything about her. [1] By any definition; there's 8 billion of us, meaning there are probably millions of people that do stuff that you think is awful, no matter what it is. [2] In 1997, well after using such a word was considered unacceptable in most places.

tarkin2 2y ago
It's not that the internet created new behavioural problems, but that intensified old problems.
- tombert 2y ago
  I know that's what everyone says, what I'm saying is that I'm not sure I agree. I mostly think it just made old problems more visible. At the risk of upsetting Godwin, if you look at the rise to power in Nazi Germany, Hitler was able to appeal to people's inner prejudices and susceptibility to demagoguery and commit one of the worst, if not the worst, atrocities in human history. Hitler didn't post radical content on Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, he just spoke publicly about stuff.
  - MisterTea 2y ago
    > Hitler didn't post radical content on Facebook or Twitter or Reddit, he just spoke publicly about stuff. That's what social media allows random people to do much more easily: speak publicly about stuff. Before that you'd have to build a reputation and following in meat space which takes a lot of time and effort. Now it's just a like and share button. I'm sure Hitler would have totally loved using Twitter, Facebook and the like.

paxys 2y ago

Is video calling your friends and family depressing? What about group chats with friends? Looking up the weather every morning before you leave the house? Checking up scores of the game your favorite team is playing when you are on the move? Clicking a photo and sending it to a loved one? Playing Wordle or solving the NYT crossword on your phone during your commute? Downloading episodes of your regular podcasts? Tapping your phone to pay at the checkout counter or the subway? Being able to translate between hundreds of languages in real time? Paying rent every month without mailing a paper check? Looking up driving directions for your next appointment? Managing your fantasy football team? Checking Wikipedia when you don't know something, or generally having the sum total of human knowledge at your fingertips? Being able to work from home? Most people (including Tim Burton I bet) do all of this every day and love it, yet "the internet" is scary and depressing? Just more low effort "everything is bad these days" clickbait content.

scotty79 2y ago
> Is video calling your friends and family depressing? Could be. I tend to get depressed after positive interactions.
- paxys 2y ago
  [flagged]
pixelready 2y ago
Yeah, I think it’s human nature for modern conveniences to fade into the background and just become “part of life”. When people say “I’m going on the internet” what they’re really saying is: “I’m itching for a TikTok / YouTube / Social Media Doomscrolling fix”
- croes 2y ago
  Convenience works for bad things too.
piva00 2y ago
You are attacking it semantically, reading the article is a bit clearer he's not talking about the conveniences of services on the internet but specifically: > 'Humans were the ones who scared me' > "They were the angry villagers in Frankenstein - like the internet - these nameless faces [Burton makes monster roaring noises] and the monster always had the most emotion and most feeling even though they're looked upon as a certain way. > "Every monster usually has some kind of pathos and some kind of humanity" that the humans lacked he added. So "like the internet" means people on the internet, is it technically wrong to call comments, social media, etc. "the internet"? Yup, it doesn't mean it's not understood when we hear it, at least for me it's quite clear when people in real life tell me "I don't like to be on the internet" they mean this side of it. I think it'd be a better discussion if you focused on what the article is about instead of your argument on semantics, you are verging quite into exactly "the people on the internet" by doing this.

retskrad 2y ago

Humans often strive to distance themselves from others in many aspects of life. We buy cars to avoid public transport, seek homes over apartments for privacy, and prefer remote work with its isolation. Yet, paradoxically, we turn to social media to engage with the very strangers we avoid in daily life. We reject unsolicited opinions in person, but eagerly seek them online from countless unknown voices.

tonyedgecombe 2y ago
I think I'd argue that's about seeking comfort rather than avoiding people. When public transport is unreliable and dirty, apartments are poorly insulated and offices so dysfunctional it's no surprise people avoid them. Extraverts make up the majority and they aren't hiding from the rest of humanity.