#Steven Lim

[partlyironic]

On Steven Lim, Making Watcher

"Every day I thank God for Steven Lim" - Shane Madej, 2024

#watcher #watcher entertainment #steven lim #ryan bergara #shane madej

[companyissuedbicpen]

“That was a good apology, I’m glad they made changes” and “I’ve lost a lot of trust in them and that will be hard to repair” are statements that can coexist, and are both valid!

#watcher #watcher streaming #watcher entertainment #ryan bergara #shane madej #steven lim

[royalpurplehuskies]

Maybe hot take but I don’t think most of the hate directed toward Steven was racism. It was a proportional (if extreme) reaction to their public personas. Shane and Ryan are why everyone follows watcher, so of course they’re going to get less hate automatically. But even excepting that, this is how each of the boys is perceived:

Steven: CEO (meaning he’d likely be the one making the final decision here, and in the general public consciousness the assumption is that the CEO makes the most money), drives a Tesla, gets goop (notoriously expensive) salads door dashed (notoriously expensive) every day and admitted it without shame, wants to bring back a series that does not include Ryan and Shane (the reason people watch and the content they’d be most ok paying for) and that is at its core is a show of wealth and that previously included gold-flecked ice cream - something obviously expensive and ridiculous

Ryan: neither flagrantly anti-capitalist, nor a flagrant spender, a net neutral in terms of money

Shane: anti-capitalist, regularly tells you to steal from the rich, told you in the goodbye video to steal from the company (share passwords), has never spoken to any degree about what money he makes or what he buys with it, has spent years building this persona by joking directly with fans

I don’t think this is racism, I think this is a direct reaction to perceived classism judged by how each of the boys has shown their wealth and crafted their online persona over the years. The guy with the Tesla was always going to get the most shit. The guy who told you to share passwords was always going to get the least. I don’t think it’s right, all three made this decision together and they all believed in it enough to take it this far (they shot expensive overseas episodes of ghost files - Shane and Ryan’s show - already for god’s sake) but I think crying racism to make justifiably upset fans feel bad is a stretch

#watcher #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim #ghost files #if Steven was white we would still be mad at the CEO with the Tesla

[suetrim]

Bit of a serious meme for once

#shane madej #ghost files #ryan bergara #shane and ryan #boogara #shaniac #the boys are back in town #watcher #food files #puppet history #watcher entertainment #pod watcher #steven lim

[ostensiblynone]

congrats to Watcher for People's Voice Winner for two shows in 2024: Ghost Files and Mystery Files!

#watcher entertainment #watcher #ryan bergara #steven lim #shane madej #ghost files #mystery files

[maquet591]

We need to talk about the Watcher "fans".

These are the top comments on Shane’s IG post. Just look at the number of likes.

“Steven Lim is a greedy, manipulative evil CEO that twists his white co-founder's hands and forces the said co-founder into his will!!!” – this narrative is being prevalent in this fandom since April 19. People harassed him all across social media on every platform. People wrote nasty comments not only to his social media accounts but also to his wife and friends.

People made a Change.org hilariously dumb petitions to have him leave the CEO post.

People gleefully demonize and tear down his reputation. Twist his words out of context in to something vile. Weaponize the years old inside jokes his friends made on camera.

“This is not racism!!!” they say. “These are just the facts!!!”

No they aren’t. And here’s why:

because this

is the same as this:

Covert racism in language, or coded racism, is the deployment of common stereotypes or tropes to elucidate a racially charged idea. Rather than expressly perpetuating racist tropes, covert linguistic racism is seen as rational or "common sense", and many are not aware of its impact.

Racial stereotypes. Racial or cultural stereotyping refers to generalizing a group based on a simplified set of norms, behaviors, or characteristics.

The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror, the Yellow Menace and the Yellow Specter) is a racist color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia[a] as an existential danger to the Western world.

Fu Manchu is a fictional character created by Arthur Ward, a music hall writer and journalist in London in the early 1900s. Writing under the pseudonym Sax Rohmer, Ward had absolutely no knowledge of Chinese culture or Chinese people – but his invention of a Chinese supervillain struck a chord in Victorian Britain and became a smash hit.

Fu Manchu was the original fictional Asian villain, a trope which became embedded in popular culture and Western psyche spawning spin-offs, spoofs, pop songs, video games and even consumer goods. But how damaging is Fu Manchu and how much can he tell us about modern Asian racism?

Ward wrote Fu Manchu as the personification of the so-called Yellow Peril threat: exotic, alien and inhuman, a mastermind boasting degrees from top universities. Using sinister powers to control minds, he aimed to undermine Western civilisation.

"This led to the idea that the Chinese were deceiving – they weren't being honest, they weren't revealing who they really are as people. This spawned into stories of Chinese as cheats and liars and deceitful – never giving you the truth, always fabricating."

Seven Lim being labeled as “greedy” “evil” and “manipulative” (of his white co-founder) is rooted in Anti-Asian racism. Whether people admit it or not.

Racism is not always derogatory slurs or white hoods. Racism is also casual micro-aggressions and putting people of color in the metaphorical boxes of harmful stereotypes. Racism is twisting the narrative and shaping it into a vile stereotype straight from the 19th century.

Also, let's not forget that people are happy to jump on Ryan in the similar way for the same reasons.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #steven lim #watchertv #watcher tv #shane madej #ryan #ryan bergara #tw racism

[noa-nightingale]

I hope this is okay of me to bring up because I really don't want to detract from the racism directed at Steven.

But speaking as an autistic person, some of the things I saw being said about him... Well, they did not exactly make me feel good or appreciated or welcome by/in the fandom in general.

Things like... saying he is unpleasant, he has bad vibes, he is unlikeable and all of that. Also blowing unfortunate word choices WAY out of proportion.

The thing is, I relate to Steven a lot. I won't speculate about him being non-neurotypical, I am not saying that he is autistic. But as an autistic person, some of his traits and personality are relateable to me.

Like... I am weird, I have weird vibes and I have trouble communicating. A big fear of mine is that I will word things weirdly and accidentally be rude or insensitive.

And seeing people going after him like this is really not comforting, ya feel?

#watcher #steven lim #autisticwatcher

[ohno-myfeefees]

#watchertv #watcher tv #steven lim #watcher entertainment #watcher #eugene lee yang #try guys #tryguys

[demonproofboi]

S: It's not just about eating, it's about the experience! A: That's how the best memories are made.

#travel season #watcher #watcher entertainment #steven lim #andrew ilnyckyj #adam bianchi #worth it #sorry gotta use the old tag #standrew #yeah i gotta tag that too #not to toot my own horn or anything but I made magic here #also it took like 5 hours in total my god #op #if you're on desktop this used to look a lot more saturated but mobile makes it EVEN MORE saturated so I had to lower the red a bit #I hope it still looks decent tbh I've looked at it too much atp #if you're on mobile... you're privileged #huge thank you to levyfiles!!!

[psmith73]

Unforgettable Gala Awards 2023

#steven lim #watcheredit #stevenlimedit #watcher entertainment #travelseasonedit #buzzfeed worth it #travel season #my gifs #mywatcheredit #my edits #watcher #gif #deserves better #antis will be blocked on sight

[tony-stark-has-a-heartt]

Facts that don't change despite the apology:

First and foremost, Watcher is still a buseness. The employees might enjoy what they do, but the goal of the business remains the same as always

They're financially mismanaging the company into ruin, and if they won't cut costs (which they don't want to do) this situation will repeat (although considering all their income aspects it's likely that they are also lying on top of mismanaging their company)

Ryan and Shane are adult men who agreed to this and are just as "guilty" as anyone about this going through

Shane "eat the rich" Madej is still way better off financially than most of us, and the parasocial fans who absolve him of every and all wrongdoing are weird (not a crime, but mentally unsustainable)

(To my knowledge) Steven hasn't come out with any statement regarding his sexist/racist comments at any point, therefore it is reasonable to conclude he still enables bigotry (and by extent so do the people that still keep him around despite the red flags) Apparently he has apologised for it.

The fandom as a whole would be way happier with Steven and his shows gone, as well as the old style videos coming back, rather than overproduced impersonal stuff

Fans that sent threats, were making racist comments, etc. are still way out of line

Everyone is allowed to feel the way they feel (as long as they don't engage in the previous point) and it's nobody else's business

All these points can coexist with arguments such as "they really seem sorry" and "the fandom is full of hypocrites"

#watcher #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim

[haveanateday]

I think one of most fascinating aspects of the watcher subscription service debacle is how it kinda broke open the floodgates for people to voice their frustrations with the content that Watcher produces.

Some of the most frequent and popular comments and posts I saw on the matter were about how

-Watcher does not make TV quality content

-No one is happy with the high production budget of these new shows

-Pretty much everyone has been supporting them this whole time just because they enjoy the chemistry that Shane and Ryan had on Unsolved

-All anyone was asking for was Shane and Ryan bantering behind a desk tbh

But the outrage generated by "we want to make more stuff that our fans don't like so please give us more money to do that" let people feel justification to say "hey we never actually liked any of the decisions watcher was making we just wanted to support the creators we liked, even though we don't happen to like what they're creating right now"

Wonder if this whole thing will change how they approach creating content in the future

#watcher #watcher entertainment #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim #ghost files #buzzfeed unsolved

[and-make-it-double]

i was gonna stop posting about the watcher fiasco but i saw some really confusing???? takes on my dash so I'm throwing in my unsolicited thoughts even though it's not the most eloquent

1) people who were criticising watcher's decision after the initial announcement are NOT bullies. The boys made a bad decision and had to deal with the consequences. Just because you like them doesn't mean that people expressing their (understandable and quite just) disappointment are bullies

2) people who aren't won over by the apology aren't just "haters" and "internet trolls". While the apology seems to be a step in the right direction, we have NO WAY to know if they are sincere about it yet. They might show growth in the future but only time will tell. And even if they do show growth, fans whose feelings about watcher have been tainted because of this fiasco do not owe them their loyalty when said loyalty has already been disrespected once

#watcher #ryan begara #shane madej #steven lim

[chronic-solitarian]

#watcher #guys please #i miss it #ryan bergara #shane madej #steven lim #watcher entertainment

[levyfiles]

One last thing that still makes me sad is how the "Steven only eats gold", "Steven is a little rich fancy boy", "Steven and his gilded tract" were all inside jokes between the ghoul boys and Steven/Andrew. It rose up during their fake feud at Buzzfeed. It used to be fun.

People took that so seriously and now they've twisted what is supposed to be an ironic joke about a picky eater who used to subsist on Malaysian food or chicken nuggets only actually trying new things, sharing this experience with the viewer .

#watcher #steven lim

[clownishvlogs]

RIP ryan bergara you would have loved 0.5 mode

#ghost files #mystery files #puppet history #ryan bergara #shane madej #watcher #steven lim #youtube #watcher entertainment #too many spirits