The best part is that Marc Evan Jackson (who plays Shawn) doesn’t know a damn thing about Pewdiepie. The writing staff gave him that and he delivered it perfectly regardless.

Can we talk about how fucking absurd it is to actually believe that PewDiePie holds a candle to the atrocities committed by war criminals..

really? the man who is consciously introducing MILLIONS of children world wide to fascism isn't as bad as a war criminal? he's creating future war criminals you fucking idiot

Cite your sources, pewdiepie engages in satire. Maybe if people paid attention in school, you would know the different between being a neo-nazi and making satirical content.

We live in a world where a guy paying poor people to hold up a sign saying "death to all jews" while jews face hate crimes around the world and a person can UNIRONICALLY call that satire and say that OTHER people need to go back to school for not knowing what satire is.

Just let that sink in.

the good place has a morality system which is based on impact, not intent. by citing pewdiepie, the show isn't commenting on if he's "actually" racist or not; the show is pointing out that his actions put more harm into the world than good. regardless of his "true intentions," by paying someone to hold a "death to all Jews" sign and promoting channels that support white supremacy, he has done more harm than good.

and before anyone complains about how "he raised money for charities" or whatever, that doesn't negate the harm he's done elsewhere (especially given the whole fiasco with his recent "attempt" to donate to adl. regardless of your opinion on whether it was right or wrong to cancel the donation, there's no denying that white supremacists felt, once again, emboldened by his actions).

this "impact vs. intent" morality actually goes pretty well with the claims his fans make that these acts are satire. anyone who studies literature could tell you that true satire, effective satire, mocks oppressors/the powerful by mimicking them to such an absurd degree that no one can mistake what they say for agreement. people generally cite jonathan swift's "a modest proposal" for a reason — he calls attention to starvation in ireland by suggesting they eat babies. it's absurd and appalling, exposing how poorly the english treated the irish.

this is why pewdiepie's actions are not satire. he doesn't seem to be mocking antisemites; he's simply behaving the same way. that's not satire. that's just being a white supremacist. paying people to hold a sign and promoting a channel are not big, ridiculous actions that obviously point to satire. using the n-word when you're mad at a game is not satire. those aren't big, ridiculous actions that clearly mock those who hold those views.

that's just supporting those views, plain and simple.

and that's the point the good place is making. even if his fans are correct and he's being satirical, he's still harming people. he's still exposing people to antisemitism, using the n-word, and exposing kids to channels that promote white supremacy. he's creating a place for white supremacists to find each other and feel emboldened to share their views with children.

so that's what this means. he has put a lot of bad into the world, and no defense of "it's a joke!" negates that.

PERIOD!! you articulated your point so well

Also: none of these people are considered unambiguously evil in the world right now

Elizabeth Holmes was the youngest female “self-made billionaire” ever who started a medical technology company.

Henry Kissinger was head of the National Security Council and secretary of state under Nixon and Ford and was awarded a freaking Nobel Peace Prize.

And PewDiePie is the most subscribed-to Youtuber in the world.

These aren’t traditional villains who are universally despised, and regardless, the fact that PewDiePie isn’t widely considered to be particularly evil is what makes this a joke. A pointed one.

Holmes committed massive medical fraud, Kissinger perpetuated war and crimes against humanity, and PewDiePie is an unabashed antisemite and white nationalist - who literally shared a video of protestors being murdered in the car attack at Charlottesville - for his audience of young kids. These are all people who are pretty difficult to defend, and yet plenty of people, particularly powerful people, are happy to bend over backwards in order to do so.

And this show doesn’t pull its punches. That’s a big reason people love it.

Also, it's just a joke. Nothing wrong with a joke, right, pewdiepie stans?