Being banned is Andrews only way to leave the board and keep his self pride.
Well, or keep the joke running.
shazaam6 said:
Are you sure you are not insecure about yourself, so you put up a front. Some are saying Andrew fooled us. If he did, so what. What have we lost? He is the one being phony, but you are worried that he is making a fool out of you if you take him seriously.
Let's keep a little perspective. Posters who "attacked" him (and there were very few who attacked him
much; most just complained about his tedious and repetitive requests for free game streams) were attacking his online persona. His online persona is, indeed, ridiculous, as he has also acknowledged. Is it real or an act? At this point I suspect it's an act, but I don't care; the joke has run its course. Why someone would go so far out of his way to create a ridiculous online persona is another intriguing question, but I agree that it's one that's not worth our time.
You are scared so you attack. Your insecurity is what causes you to fear.
It is true that the degree of attention-seeking that Andrew represents (genuinely or not) is threatening. Our society cannot function if its citizens require constant affirmation for every breath they take. Just imagine if someone like Andrew's online persona tried to hold down a job.
In my own job, one of my main responsibilities is helping people understand the transition that they have to make between the ages of 18 and 22. Collectively, we need the younger generation to understand what their responsibilities are to everyone else -- a topic that is usually ignored in childhood and can't be usefully engaged during adolescence. Telling someone to "grow up" isn't an idle put-down, but a call to action. Eventually, all of the Andrew-personas out there (whether Andrew is himself one or not) need to get past their myopic, ego-consuming celebrity worship and start thinking about making a real contribution.
Or he was phony, in which case I have to admire someone who can pull such an elaborate prank with all the videos too what forethought.
I agree that the amount of energy that went into creating the persona is impressive. Of course, the same could be said about the infamous troll "Cubby," who has been keeping up the same act for, what, 15 years now? He's pretty open about his feelings too, so maybe he deserves the same emotional protection.