GRcade

Dig Dug wrote:

VlaSoul wrote:yeah tbf he did ask for it in a stream, with the inscription on his tombstone reading "no bitch ******"
it'd be kinda cool if they do it

Dig Dug wrote:Even after his death people are not separating the person from the personality. Etika was a character who lived a life of memes and fun stupidity, he wanted those things because that was the character. Did Desmond Amofah want to be buried in front of youtube HQ with a tomb stone that said "No Bitch Ni**a's" on it? I doubt it.

idk man end of day I don't think either of us definitively know what he actually wanted
I guess the only people who do are the people who actually knew him, but a lot of them seem to be at a loss as well

Banjo wrote:I have to comment on this being one of the best Thread Title + OP Username combos I've ever seen.

This made me laugh.

Then i felt terribly guilty for doing so.

He put in his suicide note that people saw him as a clown. I don't need to know him to know he probably didn't want a joke funeral.

VlaSoul wrote:yeah tbf he did ask for it in a stream, with the inscription on his tombstone reading "no bitch ******"
it'd be kinda cool if they do it

Really? I think sending the message that "popular youtube personalities who kill themselves get to be buried outside youtube HQ" is stupid in the extreme. Especially when, from what I can gather, the pressures of social media played a significant factor in this person's suffering.

This does seem to be happening more and more now too, Etika certainly isn't the first youtube personality to do this, and i fear he will not be the last.

Doing YouTube as a regular thing does bring with it a certain level of pressure, and for those with very large audiences (and who gain their audiences by taking on the role of a 'personality/character') that pressure must be massive (even more so when the content created can end up attracting as much negative feedback as positive which does happen to a lot of big channels). Unfortunately though, there doesn't seem to be any system set up to help people deal with it, and sadly, some folks can find themselves metaophorically backed into a corner as a result, with ultimately tragic consequences.

OrangeRKN wrote:

VlaSoul wrote:yeah tbf he did ask for it in a stream, with the inscription on his tombstone reading "no bitch ******"
it'd be kinda cool if they do it

Really? I think sending the message that "popular youtube personalities who kill themselves get to be buried outside youtube HQ" is stupid in the extreme. Especially when, from what I can gather, the pressures of social media played a significant factor in this person's suffering.

In the sense that it sets a bad precedent? I didn't think about it in that way but yeah I guess you're right

Dig Dug wrote:I will say one more thing about his passing. That petition people are doing to try and get him buried in front of YouTube HQ because of that video he made saying that's what he wanted is part of the problem, as is people putting things like "No Bitch Ni**a's" signs in his memorial on Manhattan Bridge.
Even after his death people are not separating the person from the personality. Etika was a character who lived a life of memes and fun stupidity, he wanted those things because that was the character. Did Desmond Amofah want to be buried in front of youtube HQ with a tomb stone that said "No Bitch Ni**a's" on it? I doubt it.
I feel like that is the gist of the problem and people are choosing to ignore it, he has been dehumanised even after death. He called himself a clown in his suicide note, it was what his existence had become. More people knew him as Etika, the clownish youtube persoanlity, than Desmond Amofah and that is going to continue to be a trend even after his death.

And that is why no one is going to learn anything from this, and why it will likely happen again to someone else in the future.

Thoughtful posts man, thanks.

Banjo wrote:While this is absolutely a deeply upsetting situation, I have to comment on this being one of the best Thread Title + OP Username combos I've ever seen.

Would be stupid if he got buried outside YouTube HQ. Let's not glorify his death in case others follow suit.

Burying him outside of youtube isn't a case of glorifying him. It's about people not being able to separate the person from the public persona. If someone thinks he actually wants to be buried at youtube HQ then they can't tell the difference.

>Separate the person from the public persona
Was it meant to be a character from the start? He always seemed very genuine, and in videos he'd often be up front about how he was feeling with regard to real life situations he was going through, and its impact on his ability to produce content. Look at videos from other Youtube stars like JonTron or Egoraptor. They clearly have end slates in their videos with a clear distinction between the person and whatever's contained in the video. Etika never had this. Idk the man, what he went through, or his intentions, but he seemed to be a genuinely nice and funny guy. Perhaps he went too far with the jokes and felt like he made a fool of himself. I'm sure he had other regrets and haunts from the past which ultimately lead to what happened. Either way, I don't think the whole thing can just be summised as "The internet berrated a man, not realising it was just a character". The internet is just a horrible place that allows for such hate and bullying because it's such an easy outlet, it will, and does, happen to pretty much anyone who's ever used a social part of the internet. Something like being buried outside of YouTube HQ is so wild and ridiculous, I absolutely believe a person like Etika, someone so seemingly carefree and passionate about his hobbies, could potentially want that, to go out as a symbol of high spirits and hilarity, for the fans. I'm not saying that's what he would have actually wanted, or whether it's the right thing to do. I personally just wish to remember Etika in this way, as the optimistic start-up streamer, looking to brighten up the world with his content, based on what he was passionate about. And of course, heed the warnings and messages of his final thoughts.

Point being that even when he was going through a bad period, people were dismissing it as Etika just being Etika. Etika doesn't need help because he's Etika, someone who lives a life of gooseberry fools, giggles and memes. The likes of JonTron and Egoraptor fall under the distinction of being comedians, people know there is more to them than the portrayals in those videos. People laugh with them, not at them.

Desmond Amofah didn't have that, he was Etika. I absolutely believe there was a disconnect there which caused people to dehumanise him from a lack of distinction, being Etika was his life. He said it himself in his suicide note, he was a clown. You don't laugh with clowns, you laugh at them. That was who he was to the masses, a permanent clown and jokester. This is why people were so fast to dismiss not only his issues earlier in the year, but also dismiss the suicide note when he went missing. You can't separate the art from the artist when the artist is the art.

I think it also has to do with the medium. I know I personally think of stuff like Youtube and Twitch as platforms for individuals to broadcast themselves, and so when you watch stuff like this I think your mind just defaults to this idea that this is a person rather than a character.