"Someone ONLY Gets What They Deserve" & Its Implications

[Wolfeye]

I notice that frequently people here believe that someone only gets what they deserve, even if it's sometimes in a wordless, subconscious way. It's the general concept of "good goes to good & bad goes to bad," so someone will:

(1) Win if they're right (whether it's a fight or an argument).
(2) Will be believed if they tell the truth.
(3) Will be held in the esteem they deserve all around (seen as the actually are & will only see THEMSELVES as they actually are).
(4) Will get "paid hard" if they work hard.

All of this CAN happen, but there's no ambient "Santa Claus Principle" that makes it go that way. It seems that there's a concept of symmetry or reciprocity involved, but it can also work like a God Complex- since the person is the only factor in how these things go. I've wondered about people looking at someone else as the "bad guy" when something comes down on them & always thought they were simply being cruel (which happens) or had issue with the situation & wanted to not sympathize because they had issue with the mental picture- not wanting to be disturbed by the prospect of this happening to them, which they likely make easier by acting this way (prison seems to have this dynamic about certain things & rapisty ones at that).

What do you guys think? Any of you notice this in America? How about in other countries?

[wanderlust]

Bogus, bogus, bogus.

1) Consider massive disinformation campaigns in politics, or science vs. profit scenarios. Tend to be successful, even when the facts are out available.

2) If someone you know has a habit of telling the truth the obviously they'll earn more credibility among their acquaintances. But at higher echelons, consider an entire professional field, public relations. Consider the mainstream media and how much credibility they have with the masses. Consider presidential elections.

3) Consider which actors and musicians make $$$. The real talent is buried; Autotune, the studios or producers make celebrities.

4) Hardest jobs tend to pay poorly. Great schmoozers tend to get promoted. Top positions stem from the right network.

To me, it seems celebrities, executives and politicos are subject to more criticism than in the past. I've talked to foreigners who've praised various American celebs but when they're presented with the full picture their awe fades pretty fast. On average, maybe less of a cult of celebrity abroad.

[Wolfeye]

I know it's bogus- that's what I was saying.

[The_Adventurer]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that people have the wrong idea about celebrities. They are paid based on how much money they can make for you. (you being the producer) A single celebrity can mean the difference between your picture finding an audience and making millions or not not getting sold at all and making no money. Believe me. I've worked on the latter kind of pictures.

Even at SyFy Channel we had to put "kinda" name talent in our pictures. Having a celebrity on board, in a pitch meeting, could mean the difference between getting a green light, or getting laughed out of the room. Sadly, they are more important than how good your script is. Tom Cruise gets paid $20 million because they know that having him could mean making $500 million worldwide, whereas not having him could mean going direct-to-DVD.

The movie John Wick is perfect example of celebrity. If Keanu Reeves wasn't in that movie, it would be on HBO at 2:00 in the morning.

[Wolfeye]

Hey, Edward Bernays f***ed things up with that pretty seriously. It's kind of a "if you do what they're at least depicted supporting, you'll be like them- or, rather, your impression of how things are for them" thing.

A guy in biker leather, jacked in a non-Calvin Klein model kind of way, has some weapons or at least some durable gear on him, no problems going on or they are solved by this guy that's drinking a particular beer- that beer comes off like some kind of magic elixir at that point. There was recently some beer commercial that was giving lots of simple "instructions" and on of them was to ask a woman's father if you want her to marry you. That pissed me off quite a bit & the guy had that somewhat "talking down to a novice" tone with a deep voice to go with it (seems usually that has an effect).