u/lucidgroove

I absolutely love electro but I realized that I haven’t really been keeping up with newer artists, labels, or releases. I’m into pretty much all styles. A few somewhat recent artists I’ve enjoyed include Sansibar, Animistic Beliefs, and Assembler Code. I’d love to discover some of the new stuff happening in this space. Grateful for any recommendations!

I finally saw Obsession last night, and had a reading of the film that I haven't seen online yet. It might a bit out there, curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

In essence, I think it works as a perfect allegory for how the dynamics of social media and content creation are poisoning hetero dating and gender expectations.

Women are being increasingly incentivized to present versions of themselves online that are totally idealized under the male gaze. Forming parasocial attachments, men fall in love with these unrealistic representations, or come to develop similar superficial/submissive/commitment-free expectations in their dating life. In parallel, women are constantly being nudged to think of these dynamics as normal, with the risk of moving deeper and deeper into these archetypes while suppressing their true selves and autonomy.

Through black magic, Bear was able to secure this type of girlfriend for himself and was only really opposed to the situation when it inconvenienced him personally despite the costs for Nikki, with subtle displays of entitlement undermining his socially acceptable "nice guy" presentation. It is strongly suggested that he is mainly into Nikki for her appearance, and doesn’t seem particularly bothered as her real personality fades away. Nikki represents a formerly independent woman forced to become someone whose entire identity is contingent on male approval (in the form of Bear), despite her subconscious occasionally bubbling up in opposition.

In real life, the "black magic" behind these trends are the algorithms, nudging us subconsciously towards toxic expectations. Bear has the illusion of control over Nikki, but pretty soon the relationship takes over his life and he loses his freedom and certainty in whether what he is experiencing is "real"—reminiscent of the dissociation felt by being chronically online. Bear probably was a genuinely nice guy at the beginning of the movie, but the "black magic" gradually pushes him to accept a degree of darkness in himself, just like our behavior is shaped by our use of social media.

Interacting with indifferent customer service (both by phone and in the occult store) further cements this feeling of loss of control, even as the representatives acknowledge the horrors their product is creating—not unlike the apathetic attitude of tech companies as more evidence piles up against them. In the meantime, virally-boosted manosphere and tradwife influencers continue to normalize the toxicity. There's even something to be said about how partner selection has become more and more algo-driven with Tinder, Bumble, etc.

Not sure if any of this was intentional, but Curry Barker has grown up in a world steeped with this stuff, so maybe there's something there—consciously or otherwise.

I’m Canadian, and a common observation here is how soft we are on crime. Dangerous gang affiliated criminals with an obviously high likelihood to reoffend receive relatively paltry sentences, and are often released early. Law enforcement usually knows who the gang members are but have a hard time justifying arrests. Transnational crime groups see us as a soft/easy target.

As a result, organized crime groups are still well established in cities like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, with billions of dollars in money laundering constantly at work.

I’m curious if there are any specific constitutional or legal reasons why Canada has never instituted something like RICO, which was instrumental in breaking the backs of organized crime groups like the Italian Mafia in the US. While the Mafia still exists in the US of course, everyone agrees it’s a shadow of the organization it once was in the 70s and 80s.

From what I understand, RICO makes it easier to arrest known gang members, and also easier to impose lengthy sentences, resulting in more guilty pleas and more cooperation. Here in Canada, it sometimes feels like this organizations operate with relative impunity, especially the higher ups.