Vic Berger is an American artist and editor known most notably for his work on videos for Super Deluxe, an entertainment company owned by Turner Broadcasting. His content primarily consists of compiled clips of public figures warped to emphasize awkward pauses, dissonant moments and absurd quotes.
His videos cover people like Jim Baker, Mike Cernovich and Steve Harvey. As any fan of Berger already knows, his favorite target by far is the president of the United States. Of all of the popular figures that his videos lampoon, President Donald Trump is definitely featured the most.
Berger’s Trump videos for Super Deluxe circulated heavily throughout the most recent election. Some of them even played as whole advertisements before videos on YouTube.
Super Deluxe is known for its underground stoner aesthetic that’s similar in tone to networks like Adult Swim. Berger’s content naturally falls under this umbrella. Since the videos would appear as advertisements, I remember being caught off guard by the visuals and getting locked into watching. It was cool because it subverted your expectations of what you were seeing in place of an advertisement.
The way Berger highlights the most uncomfortable aspects of a speech or public appearance and then magnifies the absurdity is incredibly entertaining. For a long time I didn’t have anything to criticize him for. I enjoyed the editing and that was enough.
Yet once I started following Berger on Twitter, everything fell off for me. The sheer amount of Trump-bashing is enough to outweigh any other single person on social media, hands down. It’s funny the first few times — then eventually it becomes ridiculous. There seems to be no time of day where Berger isn’t entirely consumed by the political environment, which seems like an exhausting way to exist.
It’s important to raise awareness and criticize the powers that be, but there’s a balance that needs to be had so you don’t end up making your enemies look better. Berger’s no longer raising awareness when his responses are as toxic as the people he criticizes. You can’t deny someone a platform just because their opinions are inflammatory and counter to your own.
Not to mention that all of his content is distinctly reliant on the mishaps of public figures. His editing talents are incredible and are wasted on endlessly poking fun at the mistakes of popular conservatives.
Berger tries his best to crusade against people he deems hate mongers and toxic to society like Ben Shapiro, Mike Cernovich and the president, but he ends up fostering an environment that is more polarized than ever. Instead of using comedy to help bridge the gap, he has hammered a wedge further into the existing chasm.
It can be argued that the people Berger criticizes are guilty of the same thing, but instead of trying to surpass it, Berger has decided to meet them at their level and play the same game.
