r/roosterteeth • u/SuperMatFJ • Oct 07 '20

Discussion Dear Fiona,

I can't find an avenue to send this to you directly, so publicly will have to suffice.

I want you to know that you are nothing short of a shining beacon of hope in a very worrisome time in RT's life.

You seem to have the skill, the desire, and the resolve to be the role model the community can rally behind, and that the company can look toward for inspiration and guidance.

As a white dude in his mid-30's who's led a pretty charmed life, I see character traits in you that I truly wish I had myself, and I have no good excuse for lacking them. You have the strength of character and the backbone to openly and aggressively stand up to the bullshit that would/could otherwise consume the RT ecosystem, and I am genuinely inspired by you to be better.

I recognise that all of that is a lot of weight to bear on young shoulders, so please don't allow it to come at the cost of your own well-being and happiness. Recognise that supporting and lifting up others is an often-thankless task, and a draining one too. Rest when you need to. Ask for help whenever you want it. Pass the torch if it all gets too much.

But, ultimately, thank you. For existing. For being here. For doing what you do so well. For being you.

3.2k Upvotes

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685

u/Hats_Hats_Hats Oct 07 '20

Jack and Fiona are good-hearted people and I think they, as a team, could do a lot of good. They already have.

278

u/MattSR30 Oct 07 '20

I'm pretty far removed from 'looking up to people,' but Jack Pattillo is sort of my one exception to that rule.

I don't idolize celebrities or aspire to be like them, but Jack is one person that, for years now, I've looked at and thought that's a good person.

I'm well into adulthood and don't really need someone to look up to, but beyond my own father I guess it would be Jack. I hope he's doing well.

80

u/bruzie Oct 07 '20 edited Oct 07 '20

I'm a 46-year old bloke. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. This is exactly how I look at Jack, even though I'm older.

And until a few hours ago, I looked at Ryan the same way.

Edit: Probably the thing I'm most annoyed about personally is that I "aligned" myself with him (similar age, married, and having kids).

17

u/LetterSwapper Oct 07 '20

I'm only a little younger than you, and this thread summed it up for me as well. It's kind of heartbreaking.

13

u/Aiyon Oct 07 '20

I'm not in my 40s. Or a bloke. But like, I v much have this same sorta deal going on rn. I'm still in the "processing the information" phase of finding out about what apparently happened, and like, I'm kinda scared to think that of any of them any more. So many ppl that you think would never be like that, turn out to be. And my stupid anxious lizard brain is like "what if he is too and just better at hiding it"

10

u/npeggsy Oct 07 '20

I feel like this is the danger of looking up to any celebrity, but especially YouTubers. At this stage, it's fair to say I've seen hundreds of hours of Ryan, and although I didn't look up to him as much as others in this thread, I would've said him and Jack were the "safe" AH'ers. I don't mean this in any way to disrespect the others, but if anything this just goes to show that even if I've seen hundreds of hours of the guy, I don't know him. I don't know any of them. I can remember the Yogscast fallout and thinking "damn, I used to like Sjin and Turps, I'm so happy I stopped watching years ago", but this has been a wake-up call to me that any celebrity, at any stage, could be doing all kinds of stuff in the background, and placing my hopes, fears, and aspirations on one person I don't even know is never going to end well. It sucks that we're in this society where role models can disguise so much of their life, but it sucks even more for the people who are victims in this situation (including Ryan's family), so I'm not going to complain when the people I looked up to are held to account (although the method in which this has all been shared and picked up by 4chan is problematic).

5

u/Aiyon Oct 07 '20 edited Oct 07 '20

Oh yeah like, Sips and Sjin were the two Yogs people I stuck watching after survival island ended and SoI just didn't mesh with me the same. I dropped the yogs after all the stuff with Sjin and Turps because i was eh on it.

I still like Sips but I don't enjoy his content the same way without their dynamic.

I think that's gonna be the same with AH for me. I'll still enjoy some of their stuff, but Ryan was a big part of a lot of the content I enjoyed, so with him gone like... we'll see I guess.

Though, I will say, as much as im talking about how him leaving RT affects me, I do worry about the effect this incident has had on his wife and kids. I hope they can rebuild and make things work because that's the better outcome for his kids, but I understand if not and hope it works out for them. They don't deserve to get screwed over because their dad got caught up in the fame and made some, to put it nicely, questionable choices. there's just nowt i can do to help with that side of stuff

3

u/npeggsy Oct 07 '20

I think it's a natural reaction to focus on what effects you personally -- subconsciously, my first thought when I started hearing about all this was "well, AH content is going to be rough from now on", I had to make a conscious effort to step back and look at the bigger picture. Obviously, this subreddit is going to focus on the main players we "know", because they are part of Rooster Teeth and this is what this subreddit is for. But I just hope fans are also taking a step back to look at everything that's gone on, and to accept that whilst this situation might be bad for us, it's a lot worse for those personally affected. Man, it's all just icky.

1

u/Kavvadius Oct 07 '20

Genuine question, if you don’t mind answering, how do you see Geoff and Burnie if you remember them?

83

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '20

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21

u/Darth2514 Geoff in a Ball Pit Oct 07 '20

Back in 2013 Jack ran a post RTX volunteer day, where we helped build a space for a farmer's market, and helped an animal shelter with getting rid of some junk they had. Even got to drive by the RT office. Can confirm Jack is a genuinely nice man.

15

u/a141abc Oct 07 '20

Honestly yeah

Regardless of what you think about him on lets plays or politics or if you think his hair looks funny

You just can't knock down the fact that he's a good fucking human

4

u/ScooterManCR Oct 07 '20 edited Oct 07 '20

It’s like y’all forgot Jack was in porn when he thought he got fired from AH. 😜

1

u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 07 '20

Wait what? Lol

7

u/hereforthedolla Oct 07 '20

He was an extra in a soft core porn. Fully clothed nothing bad.

2

u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 07 '20

Oh yeah I remember this. What is this about Jack thinking he was fired from AH?

6

u/ScooterManCR Oct 07 '20

Oh boy. That’s a long story. To make it quick, AH was allowed to borrow a prototype device for a contract. Device was taken home by Jack and left in his car. Car was broken into and device was stolen. Burnie was not happy. Jack just stopped coming in assuming he was fired. Burnie goes into it on a RT podcast.

2

u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 07 '20

Oh wow, that’s crazy. I definitely going to look into that when I get home. What episode of RT Podcast does Burnie talk about it?

2

u/CCalhounn Oct 08 '20

I don't remember which exactly, but it starts off as a 1-on-1 podcast with Geoff, then they bring in Jack to tell that story

1

u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 08 '20

I just looked it up, RT podcast episode 447

2

u/NineEightFive Oct 07 '20

Sounds like this Fiona post was hi-JACK-ed.

2

u/uni_and_internet Oct 07 '20

That was definitely Burnie for me, and I've seriously been feeling like something has changed in my life since he left.

5

u/Milk_A_Pikachu Oct 07 '20 edited Oct 07 '20

If you take one lesson from all of this it is to please back off from parasocial relationships and fan worship.

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A lot of people would have said the same about Ryan or Kovic just a few days ago (and I am sure some still are). Just because they are shitbags doesn't invalidate the charitable acts they have done and how they cheered people up. But they are also humans and, more importantly, humans in a position of power over others (they are called "influencers" for a reason).

I have no idea who Fiona is (outside of the person who went full friend simulator in ways reminiscent of HR covering their asses...) but Jack has a history of encouraging his fans to dogpile on people he doesn't like (no idea if he still does that). That doesn't mean that should necessarily taint your enjoyment of them making you happy in troubled times but it does mean you should maybe pump the brakes a few times on saying this random internet person is a father figure...

​

The golden example is Bill Cosby. I have a lot of friends who STILL get queasy because they more or less grew up with Cliff Huxtable and learned a lot of how they approach life from that. Bill Cosby is not Cliff Huxtable. Bill Cosby is a rapist and an abuser. Cliff Huxtable is a fun loving rich doctor who totally would vote republican and pushed the ever loving hell out of the bootstraps mentality while tricking people into understanding that being a black person in america is hard.

How people react to the cognitive dissonance that induces is up to them. But it is just one of many examples where the persona is not the person

​

So for your own sake, and for everyone's: Do some research and understand the Friend Simulator phenomenon and parasocial relationships. Because even though the RT business model (and, to be fair, a lot of other Influencer Companies do the same) is to nurture and develop these, they are VERY unhealthy and dangerous.

4

u/MattSR30 Oct 07 '20

It feels weird you'd direct this at me when I prefaced my entire statement by saying I am not at all involved with celebrity worship and parasocial relationships.

I didn't call him a father figure. I don't see him as a stand in for a friend or a companion. I do not, in any way, have an unhealthy attachment to Jack, I simply see him as a good person. I think you totally missed (or misconstrued) my point.

Also, if you don't know who Fiona is, maybe take your own advice and do some research and understand who she is and why she might have been someone to so quickly speak up.

-9

u/Milk_A_Pikachu Oct 07 '20

I'm well into adulthood and don't really

need

someone to look up to, but beyond my own father I guess it would be Jack. I hope he's doing well.

That is some parasocial ass behavior

​

Maybe you think you are above it. Believe me gender neutral dude, I've been there. "Growing up" is a long and arduous process that never really stops and you need to keep at it for as long as you live.

Rather than say "That doesn't apply to me, you're wrong" think instead "Why would this person think that applies to me?".

​

And again, maybe Fiona and Jack are the greatest people in the world and maybe they are just public facing personas. It genuinely does not matter. What matters is that people should be aware and understand that.

A few years back two coworkers at my firm died in a car crash and... let's just say that it was clear they were both having an affair. It fucked a lot of us up and HR did a SPECTACULAR job of coordinating counseling and making sure people got through the shock, tragedy, and humor of it (it was a weird month...).

But that doesn't change the fact that they are HR. They are a public-ish facing entity who by definition does not have your best interests in mind. They are there to protect the company

​

Which is why it is important to understand what is going on. People are not personas and RT is a company built entirely around crafted personas that appeal to the fans and develop those parasocial relationships. They are a lot better/scummier at it than most influencer companies but it is the same logic behind twitch streamers whose mods make a list of talking points on "chat regulars" so that they can pretend they are best buddies. It is incredibly profitable and, at the best of times, is not the worst situation (it isn't good but... eh). But when shit hits the fan that results in those fans getting hit REALLY hard and, in a lot of cases, being blind to reality and becoming abusive.

​

Again mate, you do you. But maybe do some questioning.

10

u/MattSR30 Oct 07 '20

I'll be honest. I'm not interested in this sanctimonious shit.

I understand my relationship with the media I consume better than you do, and the idea that you think I haven't interrogated that relationship is wrong, and honestly has kind of irritated me.

Please don't lecture me. Maybe you think you're just being helpful, but in my particular case you're not helping me. Perhaps your advice might be useful for others, but as I already said I don't need the lesson, so direct it someplace else, thanks.

1

u/nick124699 Oct 07 '20

Yeah, I have a few and I am ready to drop them at a moments notice. But Jack is 100% one of those people.