• TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
    25·
    4 months ago

    While he was always an asshole, everyone has some ratio of bad/good. In the early/mid 2010s he was able to keep enough of a lid on things that he had a positive reputation with among both the public and investors.

    Back then he still had his handler/business mommy Mary Beth Brown. She had basic control over his scheduling and publicity outreach since he started Tesla. In 2014 he canned her after she asked for a raise, he’s been handling his own pr and schedule ever since.

    The problem with assuming that this is a recent change in personality is that it requires ignoring all his prior reported behaviour. It ignores how much media marketing actually changes our perceptions of powerful people.

    No Elon did not become an asinine child overnight, he’s been that way the whole time. He just believes he’s now rich enough that he doesn’t have to pretend to be a different person. No JFK Jr did not become an insane person because he watched too much fox news, he’s literally been eating roadkill since he was a child.

    All of these wealthy and powerful people have an entire system working for them dedicated to protecting their public image.

    • hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world
      2·
      4 months ago

      I’m not saying he wasn’t always an asshole. I’m saying the level of asshole political extremist he is now is a huge departure from how he was previously.

      2017 Elon isn’t a good person, but is a lot better and sane than 2021 Elon, who is in turn a lot better and sane than 2024 Elon. His first huge Twitter spat was the submarine pedophile fiasco, and now he says something more deranged than that on a weekly basis.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
        1·
        4 months ago

        My point was that he’s always been an extremist right winged nut job, he’s just letting people see it now.

        If you look at his work history, the people he hung out with, and how he’s run his businesses, it’s all very consistent with far right libertarian ideology. He’s always been against regulation, he’s always been anti union, and he started a business with Peter Thiel.

        Not much has changed, except he now believes his cult of personality is strong enough to withstand media criticisms.

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
      2·
      4 months ago

      It ignores how much media marketing actually changes our perceptions of powerful people.

      I similarly didn’t know how much of an asshole Steve Jobs was until listening to a podcast about his behavior. I had the same vague understanding of him everyone did (he’s regarded as a visionary, but was a micromanager and a perfectionist, etc).

      PR firms and handlers do the devil’s work of making these monsters presentable to the public.