So, it has come to my attention from an ad (one of the first time an ad has actually worked on me or suggested something to me I actually find interesting) that Fox has a new show out called "Universal Basic Guys." I watched the first 3 episodes, which are currently free on Fox's site, and...I have mixed opinions.
So, first, to get the obvious out of the way, this show kinda sucks. Hard. It's not that the premise isn't good. The show centers around two guys who got let go from their jobs at the hot dog plant that was recently automated, and they were put on universal basic income at $3000 a month. But....the show itself is...largely not realistic. At all. As some negative reviewer I've seen covering it discussed, it's stupid guys doing stupid guy stuff, and...did I mention that it's kinda stupid? Like the first episode the guy blows his $3000 monthly check on buying a chimpanzee. And then it rips his face off and he needs to get facial reconstruction. And then there's another episode where he's shooting himself out of a cannon and asking about "safety nets" when he does it. And yeah. Again, stupid guys doing stupid guy stuff. It's kinda cringe and stupid.
At the same time, as an actual supporter of UBI, there is one thing that the show did right, and the relationships in the show were portrayed somewhat well. If this show does anything right, it shows that yes, people can have dignity without employment. They can have relationships. What we refer to as "the dignity of work" is a bunch of nonsense made up by weirdos who wanna keep us all working forever and who take pride in their servitude. These guys have romantic relationships. The lack of job is often not an issue, merely having money is enough. The main character's job is basically a nurse. And while there is some tension in the first episode with him being jealous of a doctor coworker's expensive gift for her birthday, she later reassures him that at that job they make so much money, $200 is nothing and that they care more about effort and spending time together and stuff. And that seems to be a focal point of a lot of the relationships there. In another episode, another character is struggling with getting romantic affection from his wife, who works at a tech startup and is always busy, but later on they later make time for each other and blah blah blah. So yeah, the characters seem well adjusted, and if the show does anything right, it's portraying people who are unemployed and on UBI in a relatively positive light. Maybe some people would resent them being so happy being unemployed in the real world, but that's exactly how we get to our current situation with "the dignity of work" in the first place. The system invests so much time making unemployed people miserable both from a material and cultural perspective that the obvious solution is...employment. And that's why things are the way they are. When we point to people losing dignity when they stop working, that isn't a problem with the people involved, that is a problem with society and how it perceives value. So, if there's anything I can praise the show about, it's that. And if culture shifted as to not so strongly sanction unemployment, then maybe it wouldn't be as big of a problem as it is. Just saying. I doubt we'll all go around buying chimps as pets and super expensive sex bots to use as a crash test dummy (true story, happened in the show), but again, from a relational perspective and how the people in the show are portrayed, I think it's positive in a sense.
Beyond that though? Yeah, it's a mid show. I'm interested enough in it to consider watching this season of it, but if i wasn't a hardcore UBI guy, would I be watching it? Probably not. To be fair, i'm a sucker for UBI. It's like how that one UBI reference caused me to watch solar opposites too. But yeah. Give it a chance, but if you don't like it don't watch it. That's my overall opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment