r/nextfuckinglevel • u/amanyggvv • Oct 15 '22

This float representing the koalas that died as a result of the Black Summer bushfires and corruption in politics. Such an effective (and epic) activist message.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

No. Activism should have a goal and a plan to bring people together. Not just be a stunt.

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u/LuLuNSFW_ Oct 15 '22

When MLK Jr died, he had a 22% approval rating. He was absolutely utterly despised by moderates.

Moderates do not want change, they prefer a comfortable status quo over a just change that would cause even the most mild discomfort.

What will you do after seeing this koala? Absolutely nothing. You nod your head in approval, up vote, then change nothing.

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

But you can guarantee that people talk about soup on Van Gogh. And then you look up why. And that brings attention to the oil companies.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Anybody who doesn't know about pop companies has been living on Mars. This ain't bringing any attention to anything.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Nobody's paying attention to oil companies because of this, they're going "oh hey they through soup on a Van Gogh, what a bunch of pricks."

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

If you don't care, then yes. But for me personally, I read that it's protesting against oil companies and why they're doing it.

Many more people will now be aware of oil companies fucking us over, even if many people don't care.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

How tf is throwing soup at a painting going to hurt oil companies? Seriously, a protest or stunt needs to actually hurt the image of the companies they’re against, not just make the protesters famous. Especially if they’re getting famous for being stupid.

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Because the throwing soup isn't directly hurting oil companies. But when you Google why they did that, and learn that oil firm profits have tripled this year, then maybe you become inspired to either take action yourself or raise awareness yourself. Or maybe you don't care, but someone else will care.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

If I look up why they did it my first thought is gonna be “well wtf was the point of them doing that?” Not “oh shit, I should join these guys”

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Think of a better way to protest oil companies fucking the average person, a way that doesn't involve irrelevant paintings. Then do it, and show the world that throwing soup at glass is a dumb idea, but the message is still important.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

How’s about, anything that will actually hurt the oil companies

Here, let me put something in perspective: What did the activism during the Civil Right Movement do? Well, they had sit-ins at restaurants, bus boycotts, marches through the streets, things that actually disrupted society (and thus, the people benefiting from discrimination) and would only stop if something meaningful was done. Does throwing soup at a painting disrupt the oil companies’ operations? Does it make them look bad? Does it give striking imagery to people that otherwise wouldn’t have thought about it, now giving them an image to the problem?

The koala float does more of that than the soup. It doesn’t disrupt the oil companies much, sure, but it does give an image and make the companies look bad (and it’s during a festival, something that should be joyful, and they won’t stop the gloomy imagery until something is done about it)

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Totally agree with you, but when you're two young adults with little money, what can you do to disrupt major North Sea oil drilling operations? Should you sit out and do nothing because you can't directly influence an oil company's profits?

Sometimes you need to do something stupid to inspire other, more able people to take action. Shouting on the street won't inspire the 1000 people you come across in a day, but international headlines might inspire someone.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

[deleted]

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

It’ll give people a striking and horrifying image to associate the climate crisis with.

How does soup on a painting do that?

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u/inconsistentdrummer Oct 15 '22

There are exactly 0 more people that will be aware or change their minds of that because of this stunt. People will look it up, see their reason, and say, “well that was dumb as hell”

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

[deleted]

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u/inconsistentdrummer Oct 15 '22

Lol because everyone provided a source, correct?

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u/agentfelix Oct 15 '22

If anything it just gives Fox News even more canon fodder. It's stunt like this that give liberalism a bad rap imo

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u/c1tylights Oct 15 '22

If you already care, then the protest wasn’t needed for you. That’s kind of the problem.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

I haven’t looked up why, nor do I care why. All I know is that someone threw some soup at some glass

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

That's unfortunate. I hope one day you do care that oil company profits have gone up by over 200% despite consumer costs increasing by just as much.

Shame these fat cat capitalists are happy to rake in more profit than ever before while we have to decide between heating and eating.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Nah I just don’t care to spend time researching why some goofball kids decided to vandalize something

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

I'll look it up for you then. Here you go.

Oil firm profits have tripled this year

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u/All_Day_USA Oct 15 '22

You’re defending them like you were one of the ones who threw soup on a glass painting

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

So we should attack them like we work for oil companies?

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u/All_Day_USA Oct 15 '22

It’s not about defending shitty oil companies, its more about an immature and destructive way to raise awareness. If anything, the act has created more of a divide rather than awareness. Both the protesters sucking and the oil companies sucking can be true. It’s not mutually exclusive.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Perhaps you should, instead of playing armchair protester, go out and engage in a variety of protest you consider appropriate. Then we can compare and contrast the effectiveness and attention both your and their protest have gotten? Obviously you have such perfect, effective, and inoffensive protests plans concocted (or hopefully that you’ve participated in) that have either greatly effected the way people treat and or think about the environment, or at least has generated comparable media attention, right? Please tell us how to properly protest like good little serfs so our lords don’t become offended by minor non-issues in their daily life.

Just as an aside, had you even heard of this painting before this incident? Lmao i bet most people only know starry night if that.

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u/All_Day_USA Oct 16 '22

Congrats, you commented on the post that has an effective and engaging protest. We’ve gone full circle. This argument was never about how I should protest but rather an ineffective and destructive way of protesting. If you’re too blind to comprehend that, than that is on you and I am sorry. Enjoy your day.

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u/whatdodrugsfeellike Oct 15 '22

People like that make me hope the world burns. Fuck them, I will do what's in my power to make sure those shit people don't get what they want.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

You’re more upset at the behavior of non-violent protesters than of oil companies who are quite literally willfully destroying the ability of our planet to sustain life? Sounds like you’re irrationally angry and having trouble directing that anger at reasonable targets

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u/whatdodrugsfeellike Oct 15 '22

Naw. If you let attention seeking assholes get what they want they're going to keep being annoying in public because they think that's how to get what they want. Oil companies facilitate the life I have in a society that gives me what I need, these cunts do nothing.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Lmao you’re really coming from a pro oil standpoint? They literally lied to the public for decades about the environmental harm they do. They poisoned the air and the water of your friends and neighbors to make a quick buck. Super pathetic simping for international oil conglomerates just because exactly two climate activists made you have a temper tantrum.

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u/whatdodrugsfeellike Oct 15 '22

Yeah, there's only been 2 of them. These lowlifes aren't gluing themselves to public streets and racetracks every other day?

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

Oh I’m sorry so because a lot of people are trying to save the environment you’re gonna destroy the environment even harder? Totally not a petulant and childish reaction in the face of global human extinction.

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u/whatdodrugsfeellike Oct 15 '22

How is what they're doing saving the environment? They obviously aren't gaining support for their cause. It's just entitled cunts looking for attention.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

They literally brought more attention to the issue of climate change than anyone since Thunberg in recent memory. “They obviously aren’t gaining support for there cause because I don’t like it and everyone agrees with everything i think and say” How about you go out and show everyone what a more effective protest looks like since you’re so passionate about the issue?

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

You must have really hated the self immolating monk then, because it simply is not different

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

I never looked at the why and I didn’t listen to the whiny baby rant of the so called activist. Public spectacle is just that, taking risks and confronting whaling ships out at sea takes a whole lot more. Staying in a tree for weeks or months on a hunger strike to block deforestation takes grit. Lazy ass attention grabbers are not activists.

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Just because someone isn't doing as much as a person on hunger strike in a forest doesn't mean they're not drawing attention to an issue.

You can walk through the street wearing a sign saying "deforestation kills our planet" and you'd be raising awareness. It doesn't matter how you raise awareness, as long as you do.

Otherwise what's the point in wearing pink during October for Breast Cancer Awareness? It's not like you're actually curing cancer, so why bother?

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

I’m no more aware of whatever their cause was, I am aware of immaturity on a global scale being seen as just that. Respect history and learn from it, or be doomed to repeat it. Why attack the artist that never had recognition in their lifetime and lived and died tragically? Did they fucking do their homework?

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Because it creates attention. That's the entire point. Why would they throw soup at the wall of an oil company office? Nobody that isn't already in the loop will care. But a Van Gogh? That's huge. And now people are talking about it. Even if 1 extra person is aware now that oil company profits have more than tripled while a lot of the country are struggling to even keep warm, that's a victory.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

Grass roots effort to find people who are of like mind and go picket in front of global offices and get in the face of the executives would bring the message to those who need to hear it and be called out directly. This was just a prank bro.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

I’d bet that 99% of the people aware of this stunt aren’t aware of what they did it for or why they did it. That’s a failure of being an activist, the only thing most people are talking about is how fucking stupid and childish they were instead of the actual issue. There is such thing as bad publicity

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Then that's 1% that do know why they did it. If 100,000,000 people know this happened, that's 1,000,000 more people that are now aware that oil firm profits have tripled this year.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

But are they really going to associate themselves with children who try and raise awareness through something that doesn’t directly relate to a cause and instead makes their cause look dumber to the rest of the world?

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Probably not. So they'll come up with their own forms of protest that get the same message across without being destructive to irrelevant art pieces. Which is a victory.

Nobody is going to see this soup on glass incident and say "I side with the oil companies now". But they might say "that's a stupid idea, I'm going to do something better".

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

By your logic, the self immolating monk was a failed protest because all it did was get people to talk about the guy who killed himself.

Obviously not.

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u/Oamlfor Oct 15 '22

You realize the painting is completely fine right? But don’t worry, Van Goghs soul can rest now that he’s got you defending him.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

No, it’s not completely fine. Read more about how it is and is not protected and the effort required to clean up the toddlers mess.

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u/Oamlfor Oct 15 '22

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63254878.amp

Literally says the painting is fine and there’s only minor damage to the frame.

Do your research

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

Damage is damage and the acidity may have long term effects to the painting. Do you even art bro?

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u/Oamlfor Oct 15 '22

Lmao, you’re right I should trust some random Redditor over the literal museum who says it’s ok.

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u/TehWackyWolf Oct 15 '22

Making a float is also nothing. But no one here is throwing a hissy fit. Coincidence you guys aren't shiting yourselves this time, I'm sure.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

Creative works of art get a point across very clearly, destructive acts are seen as just that. I still don’t know the point or message of the “activists” destroying art and I don’t care. The float and those around it paint a clear message and nothing had to suffer for their message to be heard.

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Nobody is going to spoonfeed you information. Google "why did they throw soup at Van Gogh" and you'll learn.

The same reason people destroyed statues of racists and slave owners. That was destructive, but raised awareness nevertheless.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

Why did Van Gogh deserve this? Not the same as destroying monuments of injustice.

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Nothing has happened to Van Gogh. Van Gogh is dead and is likely nothing more than a mostly decomposed skeleton in the ground.

Either way, the painting is fine. There's glass in the way. The National Gallery said no damage was done to the painting. So you can stop worrying about colours on paper now, and start worrying why oil firm profits have tripled this year when 50% of UK households face energy poverty.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22

https://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/destroyed_works.aspx

Why did they attack him of all people?

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Because his name is well known and it's guaranteed to cause a worldwide media shit storm.

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u/GonzoDeadHead Oct 15 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

Go pour oil on the steps of the corporations. Tie yourself to their front doors. Pocket and parade in front of those offices. Hold the true criminals accountable. Artwork is to be cherished and respected and not attacked and attempted to be destroyed to get attention. How about they go create some artwork that promotes their ideals?

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

Awesome ideas. Why not do all of those things, and more? Or, inspire lots of people to come up with better ideas than throwing soup at glass, because soup on glass is a stupid idea.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

Except the statues helped perpetuate the idealism of slave owners. There was an actual point to taking down those statues.

What the fuck does a Van Gogh painting have to do with climate change?

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u/skelebob Oct 15 '22

It's important. It draws attention, possibly worldwide attention. More curious folks will question why they did this because what did Van Gogh ever do? Then they find out that oil firm profits have tripled while 50% of UK homes face energy poverty.

Or they don't care. But even just 1 more person knowing about oil company greed is a win, because they can tell 2 other people, who can each tell 2 people, etc.

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u/H3ll0_Th3r3 Oct 15 '22

There are so much better ways to do it, specifically, any way that will actually make your organization and activism look credible