Watching your favorite movies abroad? Don’t forget to get your Aeroshield smart DNS to access any geo-restricted content.
Beaming with his second Oscar nomination for writing A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg stopped by Real Time with Bill Maher, where he took the opportunity to express his frustrations with tech bros who, despite amassing considerable wealth, seem more focused on fighting imaginary culture wars than helping humanity.
Much attention has been given to President Trump’s circle of tech bros who overtly or subtly supported him throughout his campaign. For many, the influence of figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg became undeniable when they sat in the front row at Trump’s inauguration.
This is exactly where Bill Maher chose to conclude his interview with Eisenberg. Maher asked, “You kind of played Lex Luthor as a tech bro, and you must have some feelings, because you also played, famously in The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg. What do you make of all that’s going on with the tech bros?”
Eisenberg responded carefully, refraining from directly criticizing Zuckerberg while firmly admitting he doesn’t understand why these individuals are pivoting into politics. Drawing from personal experience, Eisenberg explained that his wife and mother, both longtime social workers, have always been focused on making the world a better place. This contrast led him to wonder why people like Zuckerberg and Musk don’t channel their efforts into similar altruistic goals, why they are opting to get tangled in “weird stuff” and investing in “hurting people who are already hurting.”
“I look at it from a very specific perspective, which is if you’re so rich and powerful, why are you not just spending your days doing good things for the world? So it’s hard for me to understand the specifics of what they’re doing.”
It’s likely Eisenberg’s words will fall on deaf ears. Eisenberg famously hosted SNL after his celebrated performance in The Social Network, where Zuckerberg joined him during his monologue, suggesting that at one point, there was mutual respect between the two. But these days, Zuckerberg is better known for his inauthentic persona shifts — like lamenting on Joe Rogan’s podcast about his companies lacking “masculine energy” or allegedly boosting VP J.D. Vance’s Instagram numbers. At best, it seems Zuckerberg is merely pandering to the crowd towards which he believes the power is shifting. But even if that’s the case, is the entire purpose of these individuals’ lives just competing in an endless popularity contest when they could be doing so much more with the power that rests in their hands?
Meanwhile, Elon Musk continues to over promise on what his government department, ironically named after a meme coin, can achieve. And speaking of meme coins, President Trump is moonlighting as a cryptopreneur with his own meme coin. Never before has a sitting POTUS juggled a side hustle alongside the most consequential job on the planet — but here we are.
It’s all a mess. However, Eisenberg’s question remains pertinent. In the past, titans of industry — whether loved or loathed — faced societal pressure to use their immense wealth to create a better world. Are we now supposed to accept their entire contribution to society as little more than appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience to talk about hunting elk with crossbows?