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Young and the Restless suggests Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) is taking a dangerous turn, and she could put Dominic Chancellor (Ethan Ray Clark) in real danger.

We’re going to talk about Mariah’s terrifying vow that she makes this week. It is a little scary and could mean danger for the kid.

Mariah Panics on Young and the Restless

This week, Dominic is still with Mariah as she is hustling him away from Genoa City with an imaginary Ian Ward (Ray Wise) along for the ride now and then. Mariah takes a break from driving to rest up and take a nap. She wakes up and panics because she sees that Dominic is gone.

Mariah thinks that Dominic left her, went back to his parents, and doesn’t want to be with her anymore. But then Mariah really wakes up and Dominic is still in the car with her and is also asleep. It turns out that it was a nightmare within a nightmare.

Mariah Copeland’s Terrifying Nightmares and Mental Health Spiral on Y&R

This dream has her panicking, and Mariah realizes that she cannot ever lose Dominic. This is all taking Mariah back to a dark place. She is thinking about how she was taken from Sharon Newman (Sharon Case). In Mariah’s mind, that parallels when Dominic was taken from her after she gave birth—even though he is biologically Abby Newman‘s (Melissa Ordway) and Devon Hamilton’s (Bryton James) child.

Mariah is thinking back to when a nurse stole her and sold her to Ian Ward as a baby. He then raised Mariah in his cult, The Path. When she was a teen, creepy Ian married her. Thankfully, Mariah was rescued. The marriage wasn’t consummated, and she was eventually reunited with Sharon and they’ve built a good relationship.

In a recent interview, actress Camryn Grimes said that this Dominic kidnapping storyline reminds her of when she first started on Y&R back when she was just seven years old. She said one of her first storylines on The Young and the Restless was when Cassie Newman (Camryn Grimes) was kidnapped and held for an entire year.

Parallels to Cassie Newman’s Kidnapping and Y&R History

To refresh you if you don’t remember, back in the early ’90s, Sharon’s oldest child, Noah Newman (now Lucas Adams), was born premature and suffered complications. He wasn’t expected to survive. Sharon’s best friend, Grace (Jennifer Gareis), went looking for Sharon’s firstborn child, a little girl named Cassie that Sharon had given up at birth as a teen mom.

Back then, Sharon didn’t know there were twins; that was a whole retcon. Grace thought that if she could find Cassie and bring her back, it would be a comfort to Sharon when Noah ultimately didn’t survive. But then Sharon’s newborn baby, Noah, fully recovered.

Grace decided she was going to keep Cassie for herself and never tell Sharon. In the end, Grace wound up keeping Cassie for a whole year. But at least Sharon got her daughter back, even though Cassie tragically died after a car accident as a young teen.

Mariah’s Chilling Vow to Keep Dominic at Any Cost on Young and the Restless

There are definitely some valid comparisons between what Grace did by kidnapping Cassie and how Mariah has now kidnapped Dominic. Camryn Grimes said in that same recent interview that she’s come full circle. At the age of seven, she played the kidnapped child, Cassie. Now, Mariah is basically in Grace’s shoes as the kidnapper, and Dominic is in Mariah’s place.

Things get a lot scarier this week when Mariah says shocking things while talking to Dominic, who thankfully is still asleep in the backseat of the car. It gets really creepy because Mariah starts referring to herself as Dominic’s mommy.

She says nothing will get in the way of them being together. In fact, Mariah says she will die before she lets anybody take Dominic away from her. That is absolutely terrifying because Devon and Abby are getting help from GCPD Detective Burrow (Matt Cohen), and they are about to be on Mariah’s trail to take back their son.

Abby Newman’s and Devon Hamilton’s Desperate Plan to Rescue Dominic on Y&R

Mariah may panic, and there is no telling what she could do. She may pull a “Thelma and Louise” and drive them off a cliff or into a tree—something crazy like that. Just as she is telling Dominic that she’d rather die than be apart from him, we have Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks), Abby, Sharon, and Devon debating whether Mariah is a danger to Dominic or not.

Nobody seems to think that Mariah would really hurt Dom, but they also have no idea what her mindset is at this point because she is in a severe mental health spiral. Mariah’s outlook is that if she can’t have Dominic, then Abby and Devon can’t have him either.

Mariah has completely detached from reality. She thinks that Dominic is really her son. She is increasingly certain that the only way to have a happy life is together as mother and son. If Mariah feels threatened and thinks she’ll lose Dominic, things could get dangerous fast.

Tessa Porter’s Faces a Hard Choice as Her Marriage Crumbles

This week, the detective, Abby, and Devon set a trap for Mariah. Plus, Abby has made a video they are taking public that is a plea to bring Dominic back home to his parents. Devon has all his radio stations playing Tessa’s music, hoping that might penetrate the fog and get Mariah to stop what she’s doing.

Right now, all of them are doing everything they can to save Dominic and get Mariah to back down. Tessa told Abby and Devon that even though Mariah is in pain, she knows what she’s doing is wrong. Tessa is insisting that Mariah is behaving terribly.

To me, it sounds like Tessa is mentally cutting ties with Mariah. She told Sharon she doesn’t know Mariah anymore. Tessa is scared of this version of Mariah and she has to be worried about what she might do to their daughter, Aria Porter Copeland.

The Future of Mariah and Tessa Porter After the Breakdown

It’s clear that Mariah has prioritized Dominic over Aria Porter Copeland, Tessa, and their marriage. I think Tessa is done fighting for her marriage at this point. Mariah kidnapping Dominic has pushed Tessa about as far away as she can get.

She’s going to lean into Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei). Eventually, when Mariah comes out of this, she’s going to get help. They’ll clear Ian out of her brain once and for all, but I think it’s going to be too late by then. Tessa will have probably divorced her, taken sole custody of Aria Porter Copeland, and be in a serious relationship with Daniel.

Once again, Mariah is going to have lost her family and she’ll be devastated. It all ties back to Ian and this awful start to her life that was no fault of her own. Mariah may never forgive herself for breaking her family apart while having a breakdown.

Right now, it is very worrisome that Mariah is saying she’d rather die than be apart from Dominic. Once she realizes Abby and Devon are coming for them, she may put her and Dominic’s lives at risk. Mariah is completely unhinged, and since we are in February sweeps, things could get scary soon.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 58 seconds ago

Few Star Trek creators are quite as controversial as Rick Berman, who has been accused of everything from persistent on-set misogyny to running the franchise’s Golden Age into the ground with Enterprise and Nemesis. However, for all of his alleged faults, Berman actually predicted very early on what would become the worst part of the franchise: its overreliance on the Borg. Moreover, he implied that if Star Trek couldn’t find anything original to do with these iconic bad guys, they should simply stop being included in future stories.

Berman’s thoughts on this matter are quoted extensively in Captain’s Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages. He was discussing “Descent,” the two-part Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that explored what happened to the Borg after the Enterprise crew returned a Borg with a personality (Hugh) back to the Collective. The executive producer liked how the show used the villains in this ambitious episode, but he specifically enjoyed how they were written so very differently from their earlier appearances.

Star Trek’s Most Two-Dimensional Villains

“I find [the Borg] very two-dimensional in a way,” Berman said. “They are faceless characters without personality and without specific character traits.” While many fans would say this is what makes them so scary (they are basically the closest thing Star Trek has to zombies), Berman thought that their collective nature made them “sort of a one-beat group of bad guys.”

Berman did acknowledge that these “one-beat” villains could be used well in certain circumstances. For example, he noted that “In ‘Best of Both Worlds’ they represented a threat as opposed to characters, and that was a great episode.” This is a fairly astute analysis, really: being a Collective, the Borg were always going to fail at being interesting characters, but they worked astoundingly well as TNG’s first real existential threat to the Federation’s entire way of life.

Borg Of A Different “Hugh”

For Berman, the episode “I, Borg” (where a captured Borg develops a personality before being returned to the Collective) was something of a revelation. He enjoyed how this story transformed the Borg “into a character” who was “given a personality and something to be sympathetic towards.” He then made a bold statement that would prove weirdly prophetic: “My only interest in the Borg is when they’re used off-center in other than the way they were originally conceived.”

While Berman may have loved how different the Borg in “Descent” were, that sentiment wasn’t shared by most of the fandom. Many missed the cybernetic zombies that had first scared them in episodes like “The Best of Both Worlds,” finding them far more frightening than the group of angry, screaming cyborgs in “Descent.” Accordingly, Star Trek: First Contact brought the Borg back more or less as they were, with one twist: the addition of a Queen.

The Worst Of Both Worlds

Unfortunately, this ended up being “the worst of both worlds” from a creative standpoint. The Queen was (as confirmed by Brannon Braga and other Star Trek creatives) primarily added to give the Borg a recognizable figure who could both speak and be spoken to; that made for more compelling filmmaking than having characters like Picard and Data talk to the formless voice of the Collective. But the very idea of an individual queen went against the Borg’s whole deal, irking fans who wished these villains had stayed consistent.

Speaking of consistency, Star Trek never really made any major changes with the Borg as a whole after this. Sure, the Queen still popped up, but for the most part, the Borg were back to being robot zombies. As Rick Berman predicted, constantly using the Borg without making any substantive changes eventually provided diminishing storytelling returns.

Kissing The Borg Goodbye?

For example, they popped up so much in Voyager (a show that eventually added a Borg officer) that their appearances stopped feeling special. They popped up in Enterprise and, somewhat inexplicably, every single season of Star Trek: Picard. Heck, that show even made the Borg (complete with their unkillable Queen) the final Big Bad, signifying to fans that the writers had really and truly run out of ideas.

Rick Berman’s prophecy came to pass: the Borg remained one-note bad guys until the very end, never again receiving a character change as significant as what we saw in “Descent.” They were transformed back into a reliable bad guy, but one that ultimately became reliably boring. Now that the franchise has moved into the 32nd century, we can only hope the Borg never pop up in Starfleet Academy; otherwise, the iconic race might have to get several passionate lectures on the evils of cultural assimilation, punctuated by quippy phrases like “Resistance ain’t futile, bruh” and “assimilate this, b*tch!” 

Can the Collective be defeated by pure, undiluted cringe? Here’s hoping we don’t have to find out!

Whew! Drama is heating up again, and this time GloRilla stepped into the spotlight. Just hours after her sister Victoria Woods went viral with a video and Facebook posts accusing the famous rapper of neglecting her and her 10 siblings since striking it big, GloRilla seemingly clapped back — in true social media style.

RELATED: Family Feud Or Facts? GloRilla Slammed By Sister For Allegedly Neglecting Mom And Siblings (VIDEO)

Glo Responds With Alleged Text From Amid Sibling Drama

Just hours after her sister Victoria Woods made waves with a video and Facebook posts accusing the famous rapper of neglecting the family and her 10 siblings since hitting it big, GloRilla appeared to respond — and she did it in classic social media fashion. GloRilla shared a screenshot on Instagram Story that appeared to show a message from their mom. The contact name read “Ma Nem,” and the message appeared to thank GloRilla for all that she does, praising her for always helping the family.

“Thank You so very very much!!! Really didn’t want to ask because you already do so much for us. I thank you so very very much for all that you do. I don’t take it for granted at all!” Her mother seemingly continued, “I Really do Love and Appreciate You so very much! God Bless you for your honor, respect, kindness and love shown to me! You’re such a blessing to me. When I become a millionaire, I GOT YOU!!! Meanwhile I’ll prayerfully keep you in God’s hands continually.”

Glo’s Texts Spark A Heated Fan Debate

Fans flooded TSR’s Instagram comments, spilling their thoughts on the viral text message. Some called it “off” or said moms just don’t text like that, while others reminded everyone that Glorious isn’t obligated to do anything. A few speculated she probably kept getting asked for stuff until she finally put her foot down, and the comment section was buzzing with opinions.

One Instagram user @ilovetmonet said, “She don’t have to take care of yall over grown ahh people fr!! Get up and go get it just like she had to do go“

This Instagram user @brii.treniere commented, “Exactly. Somebody mad about not getting anymore handouts 🤏🏾😌”

And, Instagram user @globallymontero added, “this why yall need to stay out of ppl business especially when you don’t know them lmao“

Meanwhile, Instagram user @tina_uhhhh_belcher wrote, “Idk man something seems off with the text message…I just can’t figure out what it is.“

While Instagram user @ct_femalepaperchaser joked, “First time i say no it’s like i never said yes 😂😂 or whatever Beyonce said 😂😂”

Lastly, Instagram user @beiluj_ added “Idk but that don’t look like a momma text lol“

Victoria Questions Rapper’s Texts

The moment GloRilla posted the text from their mom, Victoria Woods was quick to clap back. In a clip obtained by SayCheeseTV, she called out the text message, insisting their mom doesn’t text like that. Additionally, Victoria seemingly made it clear she wasn’t buying Glo’s humble flex. And you already know…fans immediately caught the subtle sibling tension unfolding in real time. And, Victoria Woods continued to take her claims straight to live.

Victoria Doubles Down On Glo Claims, Jabs Yo Gotti Too

In another set of videos, Victoria continued to call out Glo for not financially supporting the family. She also insisted that it’s her responsibility, and even threw subtle shots at Yo Gotti—whose label, Collective Music Group, GloRilla joined in July 2022. Victoria even taunted her sister over missing out on a Grammy or VMA. Furthermore, she refused to be defined just as the rapper’s sister, exposing the tension in their relationship.

RELATED: Clocked It! GloRilla Claps Back After Trolls Criticize Her Viral Bare-Faced Video (WATCH)

Kristy ‘Sarah’ Scott wasn’t playing when she said she would keep it raw and real on social media. The mom of two just gave her Instagram followers a peek at how she’s revamping her home after splitting with Desmond Scott.

RELATED: Kristy Sarah Addresses Break From Funny Content During First Grocery Shopping Trip Since Split With Desmond Scott (VIDEO)

From Divorce To Decor! Kristy Scott Revamps Her Home

Kristy Scott is keeping it 100 as she continues to navigate her new chapter. She dropped a video on Instagram showing off her bedroom upgrade, adding a little seating area to chill with a book or sip some wine. The vibes were on a 1000 as her chair sits right by the window and her little table is perfectly placed. She told fans she’s still adjusting to her new normal and it feels weird being in a quiet house while her boys are at school. But even with that, she’s learning to love it and enjoy her own company and peace of mind.

Fans Flood Kristy’s Comment Section After She Showed Off Her Post-Divorce Space

Just like her home, Kristy’s comment section overflowed with peace and positivity. Fans were loving the fresh vibes she was bringing, while others couldn’t stop gagging over her colorful dress and platform pumps.

Instagram user @foxycleo_pattra wrote, “All while looking Good! You don’t look like what you’ve been through! That’s a flex! 💪🏾 ✨” 

Instagram user @bohemegoods wrote, “Loving on yourself and I’m here for it!!” 

While Instagram user @jessyjphoto wrote, “I’m here for it🍷🧘🏽‍♀️” 

Then Instagram user @capelliamore wrote, “Loving anything Kristy Related 🤍🤍 the decor 🫶🏾” 

Another Instagram user @stacey.adrianne wrote, “I love how your house is very minimalistic but your outfits are extreme maximalist 😂💗💗💗” 

Instagram user @viccarnage wrote, “Sitting in silence and being good is absolutely the flex you think it is 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🩷🩷🩷” 

Then another Instagram user @gizavellz wrote, “Happiness & peace looks so good on you! 😍” 

Finally, Instagram user @lifewithkesh wrote, “We like it!” 

Kristy Keeps it Real About “What’s Next For Her” During Grocery Shopping Trip

Right at the end of January, Kristy took fans along on a grocery store run and kept it real about what’s next for her. She opened up about stepping into a new era, calling it “the start of a new decade.” Kristy said she’s focusing on herself and taking this time to figure out who she really is. As for the funny content with her signature flips and wild fits? She’s hitting pause on that for now, but still trying to move forward the best way she can. “I can’t lie and say that I want to be flipping around my living room right now, but we’ll get there,” Kristy said in the clip.

Where Is Desmond In All Of This?

You’re probably wondering where Desmond Scott is in all of this. He’s getting adjusted to his new chapter too. He’s been dropping content on Instagram and even share a ‘Get to know me’ video on YouTube. He didn’t spill any tea about his divorce with Kristy or how he’s handling things, but fans picked up on his chill demeanor and seemed to be feeling it. Peep Desmond’s video below.

RELATED: Social Media Users Are Sharing Mixed Thoughts After Kristy Scott Popped Out At The 2026 Grammy Awards (PHOTOS + VIDEO)

Chile! Artificial intelligence is moving fast, and social media is struggling to keep up. But not Shaq! A recent courtside moment had timelines buzzing, jokes flying, and plenty of people fooled at first glance. That is until Shaquille O’Neal himself stepped in and reminded everyone that not everything you see online is real.

RELATED: Convertible Tea! Natalie Nunn Reveals Shaq Bought Her First Car, His Ex Hoopz Reacts (VIDEO)

Flirty Courtside Photos Spark Buzz—Until Shaq Shuts It Down

A 19-year-old woman set Threads buzzing after posting what appeared to be photos of herself sitting courtside next to Shaquille O’Neal. The images showed the NBA legend smiling beside her in one shot and leaning in close as if whispering something in her ear in another. She paired the post with a flirty caption, writing, “Got the opportunity to sit courtside with Shqq” followed by, “What do you think he was telling me?”

At first glance, plenty of people took the images at face value, speculating about what Shaq could’ve possibly been saying and joking about the unlikely courtside pairing. But the fun didn’t last long. Shaq himself hopped into the comments and immediately clocked the post as fake, responding bluntly: “Uh no u didn’t” and “Shaq has a beard dummy.” That one sentence was enough to send the internet spiraling back through the photos with a magnifying glass.

Fans Call Cap And Clock AI

Over in The Shade Room’s Instagram comment section, fans wasted no time clocking the situation. Some pointed out that the woman technically wrote “Shqq” and not “Shaq,” joking that she left herself a little wiggle room. But, others sounded off on how AI is getting scarily realistic and harder to spot by the day. Meanwhile, plenty applauded Shaq for speaking up and not letting the post slide, saying he shut it down before the internet could run too far with the mess.

One Instagram user @maggiewheeler_ said, “That’s scary 😭”

This Instagram user @gabanact added, “That’s why she said she was with Shqq 😂 read lol“

And Instagram user @sirestodance wrote, “She did exactly what she knew she needed, and it worked😂😂”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @kingali claimed, “That’s Shqq not SHAQ!“

Then Instagram user @_chokhilate said, “😂😂😂😂😭😭 I screamed so loud. He said stop lying rn“

While Instagram user @ shared, “When I get caught cheating im gonna blame its AI because this shi look realistic af 😩”

Finally, Instagram user @that.dee.girl commented, “He said IKYFL😂”

Shaq Stays Busy Debunking Viral Speculation

While the moment was good for laughs, it also highlights a growing issue celebrities are facing as AI technology becomes more advanced. For Shaq, the speculation just adds to a long list of moments he’s had to publicly shut down. Last year, he denied romance rumors after appearing in a photo from OnlyFans model Sophie Rain’s 21st birthday party. When speculation took off, Shaq didn’t mince words. He made it clear he doesn’t date that young and addressed the situation directly in since-deleted comments.

Before that, he also denied being the man in a viral NSFW photo circulating on Instagram and later shared by TMZ. The image showed a woman posing in front of a very large man with his face cropped out, leading many to assume it was Shaq based on his build. He quickly shut that down too, commenting under a repost, “Nope not the kid.”

RELATED: Spilling Tea? Jess Hilarious Claims Shaquille O’Neal Is “Living Like Ne-Yo” With Polyamorous Dating (VIDEO)

By Joshua Tyler
| Updated 25 seconds ago

The 1990s are now, in the minds of many, supplanting the 1950s as humanity’s golden age. The internet was still in its earliest form, the economy was booming, and so was American innovation and culture. 

In 1994, at the very center of that era was one blockbuster movie that the entire world rushed to fawn over. A supposed tale of optimism and high hopes, a recontextualizing of the path America had taken to reach a bright and shining future, as told through the lens of one very stupid man.

Or that’s what the film seemed to be. In reality, it may have been the first big step towards decline. Whether you knew it or not, while watching Forrest Gump, you were being screenwashed. 

Forrest Gump’s Philosophy Of Total Obedience

Forrest Gump begins with a feather floating on the breeze. It has no weight, no impact, and no agency. The feather goes wherever the wind blows it, without complaint, confident that it’ll all work out in the end.

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get out. Life is like a feather floating on the air. There’s no way of knowing which way the wind is blowing; all you can do is let it move you. 

There’s no way of knowing what you’re putting in your mouth, so just keep eating and accept whatever touches your tongue next.  

It’s a philosophy of total obedience and an abandonment of agency, a rejection of responsibility, and it’s something no normal human would ever agree to.  Which is why it’s easy to dismiss Forrest Gump as just a movie. 

To make that kind of insane message stick, you’d need to go far beyond a speech about a box of chocolates into a world of secret, weapons-grade psychological persuasion. So that’s exactly what Forrest Gump did. 

Let’s start this by saying Jenny is at the center of everything, but it’s not because she’s a secret villain, which is the standard edgy Forrest Gump take. She’s not a secret villain at all, she’s an open villain, but a villain made to serve a secret purpose.

Before I explain that, you need to understand the movie itself.

Forrest Gump Triggers Emotional Reactions To Make The Audience Suggestible

Forrest Gump is beautifully made and sold as a feel-good fable about kindness and decency. It’s so good at being emotional and at making the audience feel that it’s almost impossible to see what it’s doing through the tears. And that’s exactly why it works.

While training to be a hypnotist, most of my earliest lessons revolved around how to trigger someone into a suggestive state. One of the best and most effective ways is by creating an emotional reaction. Psychologists sometimes call this emotional priming. Emotional priming takes advantage of the fact that strong emotion impairs critical thinking and increases suggestibility. 

One of the most unique things about Forrest Gump is its structure. It’s not one, continuous narrative. Instead, it’s a series of short vignettes, set at different times in the life of Gump.

Each Vignette starts a story, and then ends with a swelling emotional scene. It’s timed so that as each new segment begins, the audience is in a strong emotional state created by the last one. 

We feel Forrest’s shame as he’s mocked for being dumb. Fear in the jungles of Vietnam. Unbearable grief at the death of his mother. With the audience constantly primed, Forrest Gump then uses that to deliver something insidious: a morality play where obedience is rewarded and independent thought is punished.

All of that is then wrapped in nostalgia and empathy so thick you’re not supposed to notice.

Forrest Gump As A Compliance Exercise

From the start, Forrest Gump is a rule follower, no matter how bad the rules are around him. The movie starts with Forrest relaying things his mother told him and explaining how he followed her instructions. 

The entire movie becomes a compliance exercise for Forrest Gump, a man who never questions anything, and a script that makes that work for the audience by portraying him as a person of limited intelligence. 

Of course, Forrest just complies; he’s not smart enough to do anything else. But why Forrest complies isn’t as important from a persuasion perspective as the fact that he does comply, and the movie gets viewers to cheer for his compliance. 

Forrest succeeds because he does exactly what he’s told. Not metaphorically. Literally.

Run, Forrest. He runs.
Join the army. He joins.
Play ping-pong. He plays.
Invest in shrimp. He invests.

Forrest never questions instructions from anyone. He never resists authority. He never evaluates outcomes. He doesn’t even really choose. He complies, and the universe showers him with rewards. Wealth. Fame. Love. Respect. A charmed life delivered one order at a time.

The film frames this as innocence. But structurally, it’s perfect obedience.

Obedience to his mother and Jenny. Obedience to the state that sends him to die in the jungle and then to play ping pong. Obedience is Forrest Gump’s entire life. He has no agency, and it’s celebrated.

One of the only moments where Forrest shows any agency is in a failed attempt to rescue Jenny, who he sees making out with a boy in a car and mistakenly thinks she’s being harmed. She yells at him, tells him he’s wrong.

So it’s right back to doing what he’s told. In that moment, after he apologizes and returns to compliance, Jenny rewards him by taking off her top.

Forrest Enters A Holding Pattern When There’s No One To Obey

When Forrest’s mother dies, and he runs out of people to obey, Forrest spends his time mowing lawns. Back and forth, back and forth, locked in a holding pattern while he waits for his next command.

When Jenny leaves him, that pattern repeats. Forrest starts running.  Back and forth, back and forth, awaiting his next instructions. Like a feather being blown about by the wind. 

Moral Laundering And Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump’s character is a textbook example of a persuasion technic call Moral Laundering. In Moral Laundering, an unpopular or contested idea is made more acceptable by attaching it to a trusted, heroic, or morally admired figure, allowing the figure’s perceived virtue to transfer onto the message.

Moral laundering alone wouldn’t be enough to screenwash an audience into viewing total compliance as optimal.  So the film provides a contrast to our obedient hero, using our old friend, Poisoning the Well.

Poisoning the Well is a concept we’ve talked a lot about on Screenwashed, and it’s the polar opposite of Moral Laundering.

In Poisoning the Well, you have a villain say something good, to make people think that the good thing is as villainous as the person saying it.

Both Moral Laundering and Poisoning the Well take advantage of moral asymmetry. 

Moral asymmetry is the tendency of humans to judge the same behavior as morally acceptable or unacceptable depending on who commits it, rather than on the behavior itself.

Forrest Gump is used to launder the idea that total obedience is an optimal behavior pattern, while another character poisons the well against thinking for yourself. Who’s the ultimate free thinker in Forrest Gump? Jenny.  

Jenny’s Refusal To Follow Rules Unlocks Forrest Gump’s True Intention

From the moment we meet Jenny, she refuses to obey and follow the crowd. Forrest is getting picked on by the kids around him. Jenny has none of it; she defies the bullies’ authority and befriends him.

Throughout the movie, Jenny questions. Jenny rebels. Jenny does the unexpected. When she faces abuse from an authority figure, she gets away from it. She rejects traditional paths. She challenges authority. She experiments with politics, sex, and culture. 

For that, the movie destroys her. It destroys her narratively by making her life a disaster, but it also destroys her in the eyes of the audience by making her a villain. It does that by having her express her independence through actions and ideas that most of the audience will find intolerable, and then turning her relationship with Forrest into one where she takes advantage of him.

The movie makes Jenny a villain on purpose, not accidentally, as some commentators seem to assume. Every time Jenny exercises agency, the film punishes her with escalating consequences: abuse, addiction, illness, and isolation. Her curiosity is framed as recklessness. Her defiance is reframed as self-harm. Her independence becomes pathology.

This is not subtle storytelling. It’s conditioning.

Jenny’s Suffering Only Ends When She Complies

The movie pretends Jenny’s suffering is the result of “bad choices,” but it carefully rigs the game so every choice outside obedience leads to pain. There is no version of Jenny’s life where thinking for herself works out. The audience is trained, scene by scene, to associate her autonomy with disaster.

Worst of all, Jenny is redeemed only when she stops rebelling.

She returns home. She settles down. She becomes quiet. Sick. Dependent. Her independence is stripped away, and only then is she allowed happiness. Only briefly, before she dies.

The message is unmistakable: a person who thinks for themselves must be broken before they can be accepted.

Forrest, meanwhile, never changes. He doesn’t grow. He doesn’t learn. He is rewarded precisely because he remains unchanged and never exercises any agency. He never thinks for himself. He always obeys.

This isn’t an accident. It’s a narrative machine built to make submission feel virtuous and independence feel dangerous.

Forrest Gump Wants You To Think You Have No Agency

In the movie’s final moments, Forrest tells the audience that there are only two possibilities to life: that everything is destiny or everything is random. Either possibility has the same commonality: you have no agency, you have no say in anything that happens to you. By the time the feather floats away, the audience has been trained to believe those two realities are the only possibilities, and that the best way through life is to follow orders, trust the system, and never ask why. 

Life is a box of chocolates, and Forrest Gump teaches you to sit back and let life put whatever it wants in your mouth. So you cheer for the person who never questions. You mourn the person who does. You walk away thinking that’s just how the world works and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Congratulations, obedient slaves, you’ve been screenwashed.

DDG knows how to keep the timeline talking, whether it’s from his tweets or his content. Earlier this week,  he sparked a new debate on X (formerly Twitter) after comparing this generation’s streamers to traditional celebrities. This led DJ Akademiks and former football star Chad Ochocinco to enter the chat.

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DDG Claims Streamers Are Richer Than Traditional Celebrities

On Monday, DDG took to X and dropped a post comparing streamers to celebrities. His message immediately sent the timeline into a frenzy, with commenters flooding the replies to share their thoughts.

streamers are richer & more influential than your traditional “celebrity”..

— DDG (@PontiacMadeDDG) February 2, 2026

 To top it off, DDG doubled down the next day, ruffling even more feathers when he tweeted, “Streamers make more money than 95% of the NFL.” As the debate continued, Chad Ochocinco reacted with a subtle side-eye. A commenter even shared alleged stats between him and Tom Brady, leading the streamer to respond, “dats ma lul homy.” Amid the noise, DDG also tweeted a picture of himself holding a stack of money with the caption, “my younger self would’ve never guessed..”

my younger self would’ve never guessed.. pic.twitter.com/8cLaFRbCoO

— DDG (@PontiacMadeDDG) February 5, 2026

DJ Akademiks Enters The Chat With His Own Stance

Following DDG’s debate, DJ Akademiks entered the chat with his own perspective. He argued that when people think of streamers, they often picture only the biggest names, even though the average streamer isn’t making nearly as much.

 He wrote, “When ppl think of streamers they think of Kai Cenat, Adin Ross or Speed. The average streamer isn’t them and won’t ever be them. The average streamer still has a job and streams on the side. It’s important to be factual because kids who aspire to b streamers now think it’s easy.”

Akademiks went on to compare average NFL salaries to what most streamers earn, stating, “The average NFL player salary is $3.5 mil. The average streamer salary is below minimum wage. If we talking averages we cannot compare an average streamer income to professional athletes… only .001% streamers do.”

He added that creators like “DDG, YourRAGE, xQc, Adin, Speed, Kai, Jynxzi, and Max are not just top streamers they are “.001% streamers,” far beyond what would be considered average. He closed by emphasizing that most full-time streamers aren’t earning massive incomes, writing, “Most full time streamers make less than a teacher’s salary. I’m telling u this. I know thousands of streamers most don’t make 100k a year.”

Social Media Weighs In On The Debate

Folks gathered under The Shade Room Teens comment section to weigh in on DDG’s messages. Some agreed with DJ Akademiks, noting that while top streamers are rich, they don’t compare financially to traditional celebrities. Others argued that streamers hold more cultural influence.

Instagram user @myakierra wrote, “I agree with Akademics on this one. I do believe streamers bringing in hella money. However, the top streamers definitely rich. don’t think all the streamers are tho lol”

Instagram user @blognae._ wrote, “I don’t like Akademics but this time I agree with him like DDG acting like he started as a streamer no he already had an audience from YouTube so of course he got the easy ride in the streaming world bit he is no where near richer than a lot of these real A List celebrities”

While Instagram user @nikkiallure wrote, “The fact he’s making us agree with Akademics is wild”

Instagram user @spoilme.lulu added, “let’s not act like DDG ain’t been doing ts since he was 14-15 yrs old. y’all some haters”

While Instagram user @paperchase00_ wrote,“DDG stay rage baiting y’all”

Instagram user @lolz.taay wrote, “More than Tom Brady??? Ion even watch sports and THIS is a elasta-girl stretch 😂😂😂😂😂

While Instagram user @freebandtmuney wrote, “DDG just wanted to be the topic today”

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