David Foster Wallace on The Adult Industry (or how egirls hijacked writers creativity)

David Foster Wallace's essay "Big Red Son" is an examination of the adult industry in 1998. But, it's 2024 now! The industry is now worth over 100+ billion and more people are addicted to porn than ever! Today we will examine the negative aspects of the industry and how it connects to Wallace's novel "Infinite Jest"
Hear the full-length version of this video (115 minutes) and also gain access to 7+ hours of DFW content on the Write Conscious Substack.
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[@yaeli_i_guess]

most people experience traumatic events but only a minority develop PTSD, it's wrong to tell your audience that they "probably have some kind of level of PTSD" because it's just not true haha. not trying to be overly critical, i just work in a psych lab that deals with anxiety disorders. PTSD is rare, it's abnormal by definition because it's a psychopathology. just like you wouldn't be depressed if you only had some of the criteria in the DSM but not all that are needed for a diagnosis. i do love DFW, i think big red son is an amazing essay. i was struck by his sharp ability to see through people so clearly, especially the way he described max hardcore, the way he was empathic to some of the actresses ("she appeared 14 for a second, it was heartbreaking") anyway love your channel and love cormac, gaiman and wallace. you have good taste.

[@laurareeves9754]

Always great content. Thank you.

[@Misserbi]

I suggest an individual takes a step to learn. The statistical chance of failing is phenomenal if the individual uses fantasy in real life. That is why everyone should think and act in accordance. Why beg and end up where you thought you would end up anyway? Instead enter a new outlook and take a calculated risk. You may win big later on?

[@bjwnashe5589]

Wallace was an addict, so he had a tendency to project addiction onto almost everything he looked at. Entertainment, TV, porn, food, sports, etc. However, the vast majority of people who indulge in these pastimes are not addicted to them. Same with alcohol and drugs. To claim they are mostly all addicts is bizarre, and it reeks of a certain kind of pop psychology Puritanism that is often used to make people feel bad about themselves. “You are all miserable addicts!” Hey, life is tough for a lot of people. Who are we to scold them for seeking pleasure in various ways? Do you want someone writing about your “yoga addiction?” Of course not…

[@AJPzaworld]

Big Red Son is such a good essay, and it really is a fantastic insight into the industry, as well as the conniptions we have with the adult industry, the folly and ramifications on men's psyche, and the nature of sexual urges, mental gymnastics, and the counter-productive nature of sex, love, and pornos.

[@smokinmystic7363]

Brilliant Ian!👏🏻

[@taambangerz]

Sorry if you already have made this, but it would be interesting if you could make a video on the epilogue in the cities of the plain

[@individua23]

Hello. I would like to know if there is a video about Foster Wallace and Cormac McCarthy. I'm from Brazil and his channel has been an interesting source about this writer who is like an alien cathedral

[@kentjensen4504]

Alien cathedral. What a fantastic term.

[@lowfmedia]

“The desert upon which so many have been broken is vast and calls for largeness of heart but it is also ultimately empty.”

[@moritzrathmann2529]

from whom is this?

[@perfectdarkmode]

What would you say are the top three most life-changing books you've read and how did they affect your outlook on life?

[@andie599]

Where did you get your ATPH shirt from??

[@WriteConscious]

My t-shirt website. I am relaunching it this week with some sick new designs which hopefully include a couple more ATPH horses shirts!

[@WriteConscious]

Will post it about it on the community tab when it launches

[@devil_pls]

I've actually listened to the whole audiobook of the Big Red Son like 2 times now ( its pretty long btw ) and man what a ride that one is. Definitely recommended who hasn't checked it out yet. I feel like its not as much recognized as his other work. Maybe because it deals with a very specific subject whereas allot of his other stuff seems to work on very broad levels if that makes sense.

[@Edoom17]

Would you be kind to share which platform did you use to listen it? I’m intrested, but can’t find the audiobook here on youtube.

[@loon4830]

@@Edoom17 you did not try very hard to search the title and click the first option did you???

[@Edoom17]

@@loon4830 what are you talking about? There is only DFWs 2 hour read. I’m talking about the whole book

[@loon4830]

@@Edoom17 this is a video and comment about BIG RED SON. you asked for a copy of BIG RED SON. now pretend you wanted something else little baby.

[@psychicdriver4229]

A true believer here. Love your passion. Love your channel. thank you. If I weren't a starving artist myself, I'd throw money at you😅

[@R.L.Kramer]

Complex trauma is not simple

[@billpoole8541]

There are alot of men over 40 on TRT (testosterone replacement theropy) or just taking excessive amounts of testosterone (non-prescribed) and their libidos are through the roof...in conjunction with viagra, cialis...etc. That is an issue i dont hear anyone talking about in regards to porn addiction.

[@andie599]

Oh my god the point you make at 12:23 😳

[@WriteConscious]

lol, most of them are as dumb as a pile of rocks and would sell their soul for anything

[@benjaminholt6640]

I like how you describe how men and women hate each other but frame it as a natural part of feminine-masculine dance

[@Misserbi]

As an educator I think the practice of repeating to allow the truth a way to exist to return to it again refreshed is a good tactic to explain the "fantastical" behavior I think you are pinpointing. It explains why we were a certain way or when we were caught not really thinking through the need versus the flesh appeal. I think DFW explains it is too easy to be in that bunt and not think outside of ourselves. That is not reality. In my book years later (after the guilt pushes away) you can chalk it up as experience but who is to say whether the experience should have happened at all? The philosophy of dating requires "going out" but what if you only have $5 in your pocket? She needs to let her male counterpart know when he is overthinking? I admit being there but I wonder if others know good people exist in the world still? That is the first thing thrown to the wayside.

[@kentjensen4504]

I dub thee Sir Ian, Knight of Word and Wisdom, Buddy to countless Buddies.

[@briankim7419]

do you believe that writing can be self-taught? do you believe that fiction gets better when other people take a look at it and give you opinion?

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

The difference between the act of love and rape is love. This thin line, from the same act, is ego or greed. Pornography is consensual rape.

[@pepefrogic3034]

This is one of Wallace weakest essays. Overlong, condescending, offering very few insights, surface level. Also hypocritical given his own attitude towards women, and lacking empathy, very snobish too. He succeeds in portraying it as a surreal affaor but he hammers his points to the death and offers a lot of very boring and uninteresting things. I mean avn awards are amateurish - noone is surprised by that. His predictions about snuff films failed and he failed to go deeper or to explore human side of it. He comes off as more diagusting than the absurd event he was portraying. Such a contrast with his other essays where he offers his empathic toughts beautifully formulated. The only worse writing from him that i saw was his 2003 math book which is trully terrible full of errors and lack of understanding of elementary cobcepts be is trying to portray - its an utter failure even more appaling given that he has learned this studf in college being a philospphy major with a bent on math, it really shows his intelectual limitations.

[@sweetviolents29]

I yearn for the never-to-be DFW essay about the generations of women who grew up being told by the TV to emulate girls like Amanda Bynes who put up with so much abuse and degradation behind the scenes. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men is underrated