I finally watched the most talked about documentary here in the UK in recent times: “Inside the Machosphere”, by Louis Theroux, of which I’ve been a fan for years.
Theroux delves into the rotten universe of the “machosphere”, the network of toxic masculinity that has become popular on social media and that indoctrinates young people about the false superiority of men over women. The influencers he follows are as pathetic as they are dangerous.
A podcaster spreads misinformation and humiliates women on his show, with the excuse that he likes them so much that he knows “they want a man who can guide and dominate them.” A businessman friend of Andrew Tate and supporter of Donald Trump has several girlfriends and classifies his relationship with the mother of his children as “unilaterally monogamous” — “women don’t need to sleep with others when they love their man.” An influencer “teaches boys how to make money and be real men.” The recipe? Have huge biceps and follow their investment advice. Theroux then discovers that the guy is a charlatan.
When the cameras follow them on the streets — because, of course, they want to show that they are popular — the brainwashed teenagers don’t seem to believe it. They ask for selfies and call these idiots that they only know from short, edited scenes on the internet, idols. As a good documentary filmmaker, Theroux doesn’t need to ridicule anyone — they do it alone, with the insanity they talk about. “Inside the Machosphere” looks like the sequel to the series “Adolescence”, only in real life.
Both show the obvious — what happens when negligent parents, schools and governments allow children and teenagers to remain unsupervised in the sewers of social media. Pediatrician Daniel Becker’s definition in Globonews, at the time when “Adolescence” became a worldwide craze, is perfect: not having the password for your child’s cell phone is the same as leaving them at a party with Nazis, racists, misogynists and thinking everything is fine.
This week, the University of Oxford, here in England, released the World Happiness Report. The annual publication interviewed 100,000 people from 140 countries and, for the ninth time in a row, Finland was voted the happiest nation in the world.
The report also showed the impact of internet use on life satisfaction. To no one’s surprise, the greater the use of social networks with algorithms and influencers, the more unhappy one is. It mainly affects people up to 25 years of age and girls.
What does this have to do with a sports column? All. All these worlds are connected.
Finland, like Brazil, is a country surrounded by nature and places to explore the outdoors — which is directly related to positive emotions. And, when we exchange the solitude of screens for sports and physical activity, we experience community living. We learn to make our own decisions instead of being influenced by opinions, false promises and lies from people we have never met in our lives.
It seems natural and intuitive, but sometimes it takes reports, documentaries and series to hear and see the obvious. In times of discussion about social media bans for minors, they are yet another example that there is nothing more incredible and enriching than the real world.
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