After I made a response to Alex Day’s video “The Past”, I was contacted by a third party asking - apparently on his behalf - if I would like to interview Alex on camera. In the interests of full disclosure, here is my response:
Yesterday, Alex posted another video and, though I can’t be bothered to make another one of my own, I think it warrants a response.
I think this video will probably cause even more contention than the first one, but I believe that everything within it is true, useful and timely and for the benefit of helping more people than it will harm.
The description sets the tone for the video with Alex attempting to appear selfless and altruistic in intent.
Most people, I suspect, will find it patronising, dismissive and self-important, but that’s okay too - people will react as they will.
This is a brilliant diffusion and dismissal of any potential criticism of the video and Alex’s attitude. “People will react as they will” insinuates that any accusations of the video being “patronising, dismissive and self-important” are somehow predestined or personal and not based on any any actual comprehension of the video.
Hi. I hope you’re doing well, I hope this message finds you well and that you’re having a peaceful day. If you’re not having a peaceful day, then I’m really sorry. Just, breathe and sit quietly and enjoy nature.
From the outset, Alex is patronising the viewer. Again, the insinuation appears to be that if the existence of this video has made your day not peaceful, you just need to calm down.
I’ve been finding that I’ve been going for walks. Every day that I go for a walk, well the last time I went for a walk I ended up making a video. And this time I went for a walk and I thought ‘yeah I can make another video.’ Yeah both times I intended to just go for a walk so. I keep thinking about what I want to say I keep thinking ‘oh if I make another video I’ll say this I’ll address this point I’ll say all these things’ and then I don’t do it. ‘Cause I think the best thing to do is just turn the camera on and say some words. And yeah so I finally got to a point where my head just felt like I was just with myself and I wasn’t thinking about anything and I thought right now so I’m ready, I’m ready to talk some more.
This over-insistence on the “unrehearsed” nature of the video sounds much like another excuse to not engage with questions raised about his previous video. It’s dishonesty disguised as honesty. “I was going to address some points, but I decided I would just talk instead as that is more honest.”
This is actually gonna be just a quick thing I think. Mainly because I don’t wanna subject one of my friends, or well former friends I should say, who transcribed the whole of my last video so that people on tumblr could read it without supporting my content. Like that’s a, that’s a mammoth task. And I don’t want to put her through that again that soon.
Again, Alex is apparently showing compassion for people who are mistreating him, presenting himself as a kindhearted, forgiving soul who looks out for others. Hidden within this is an allusion, however, to the vindictive nature of the former friend and - with “that’s a mammoth task” - an insinuation along the lines of “hasn’t that person got anything better to do”.
Alex then spends the next 5 minutes or so talking like a self-help book about how people should stop being angry and be more happy. He speaks abstractly apart from one tiny reference to “if you’re angry because Alex made a video or whatever”, aiming to align the viewer with his way of thinking.
Of course, people in general should be less angry, but all his rambling about anger trees amounts to a real insight into his outlook on the situation he is in. He distances himself from it because it makes him unhappy and he feels that we should do the same or risk having no room left for happiness in our lives. This is essentially Alex saying “That’s your problem” to his angry critics.
My friend Nick said something to me recently, about, ‘cause I do have friends I think it’s important to say,
Why is it important for Alex to say he has friends? This is another in the long line of “I’m happy” and “I don’t care about youtube” insistences that Alex is doing fine and has risen above this and moved on.
my friend Nick said something to me recently about he’d learned about this thing about saying things in terms of truthfulness. Like, if you’re going to speak, if you’re going to say something, then you should consider three things, and the three things are: whether what you’re saying is true, whether what you’re saying is useful or whether it’s gonna be helpful, or kind, I guess you can use those interchangeable, kind, compassionate, useful, you know, whether it will help ease people’s suffering, and whether it’s timely is the third one, whether it’s an appropriate time to say that thing. So I’ve been thinking about that, it really stuck with me recently I’ve really thought about it a lot since he told me. And I think, I think this, everything I’m saying here, obviously I think it’s true because I think it’s true, with the plants and with the watering your anger and stuff. I think that’s true. I think it’s useful in the sense that if it helps people be less angry then that can only be a good thing. And I think it’s timely because I think there’s a lot of anger in the world.
Here, Alex again insists on the altruistic nature of his return to youtube. He asserts that these videos are true, timely and kind, apparently with no regard for the accusations levelled at him, the current state of affairs on youtube RE: sex abuse, and the discomfort that his return will visit upon many people. The message is clearly that Alex’s “haters” need to “chill”.
Like I was on holiday and I came back the other day and I walked into the airport and the front page of the Sun it said in capitol letters ‘SECOND BRITISH MAN BEHEADED’ there’s a lot of stuff going on.
This is a measure to emphasise his opinion of the insignificance of his charges and our angry reaction to his return. This is basically him saying “this isn’t important in the grand scheme of things” whilst also drawing a proximity parallel between the anger of his critics and the anger which fuels religious extremism. It’s very telling that Alex leaves this reference unexplained, simply stating his intent to help reduce anger, mentioning the beheading and then moving on. It is a true skill to make an audience believe that they have reached your conclusions on their own.
Yeah, and as long as I feel like I have things to say that are true, and are timely, and kind and compassionate, and considered, and uh, and they’re useful, I want to, I’m gonna keep saying them.
Alex re-asserts himself as a crusader for truth and compassion in the face of adversity, once again positioning himself as an underdog hero in his own narrative.
You might not hear from me again for months because I have nothing to say. I might go for a walk and make a video every day until one of you shoots me. Who knows, I dunno. We’ll just see how it goes.
This throwaway reference to murder seems another insinuation that the anger aimed at Alex is irrational and extreme and that he is a victim.
[indistinguishable words due to wind]
And thank you to all of you that have said such positive things, ‘cause they’re out there. And I know, it’s the angry people that are louder in their anger, and the positive people are less expressive. But they do it privately, I’ve had many nice private messages and stuff. I just wanted to say thanks. It’s really nice.
Here in his sign-off Alex confirms that he’s been referring to his critics (the angry people) when discussing anger in this video, meaning that the whole video has amounted to him insinuating that his critics are irrational extremists with no room for happiness in their lives.
So there you go. This’ll be the last time I comment on Alex Day for a while, because I genuinely think we’ve heard all we’re going to hear from him. Anything else will just be a rehash of the same evasive shit. I can’t say if he is guilty of what he’s accused of but, judging from these videos, he is a very clever man and is every bit as detached and manipulative as his accusers make him seem.
