Splinter Chabot is a TV personality who annoys many people, but why is that? TV authority Victor Vlam has an idea. “He is one of the most reprehensible celebrities.”
You never hear anyone say that they think Splinter Chabot is such a huge asset to our TV landscape, but we still see him on television every now and then. Incomprehensible, says TV critic Victor Vlam. He says in his podcast Victor Indicates TV that he is really annoyed by Bart Chabot’s 30-year-old son.
Resistance
Victor really thinks Splinter is a terrible kid. “I was thinking: why is there so much resistance to Splinter Chabot? I intuitively feel that very strongly. I think he is one of the most reprehensible celebrities there are and what is that about him?”
He continues: “Well, to start with: he of course has a lot of things against him, because he is a nepobaby like Bart Chabot’s son, he also has a very theatrical way of doing things that already goes against the Dutch down-to-earthness and he can also be seen quite often in talk shows and other programs on the NPO.”
‘Crazy about it!’
There is a Splinter obsession at the NPO, Victor believes. “If you feel a slight irritation when you see him and you watch the NPO a lot, then you see him very often and that drives you crazy. He appears in all the talk shows and he also presents MolTalk, so he can be seen very often. That explains why there is resistance.”
But, he says: “I also think there is something more fundamental and that is that Splinter Chabot also portrays himself – that is marketing – as a kind of saint. He does this by publishing a book about homophobia for the second time.”
All praise
Isn’t that actually good of Splinter? “I don’t have any problem with him bringing that up — especially if you think it’s important — but he uses it to very strongly market himself as someone who deserves our praise and our respect. When he spoke to Eva, there was also talk about ‘his struggle’ and as if he is on some kind of mission.”
“But look, the tricky thing about that: everything Splinter Chabot does is to benefit himself. He makes money from that book and if he does something that doesn’t make money, then it is something that improves his social position. It gives him status, which increases your earning capacity in the future.”
Money
Splinter is purely about money, Victor thinks. “Everything he does is aimed at his own benefit. That’s fine, because there’s nothing problematic about making money, but if you want to be a hero, if you want to be the one who deserves everyone to look up to him, then you have to make some sacrifice.”
“That is the fundamental difference between a real hero and the marketing talk that is given around him. He is not someone who has really sacrificed himself. That is what really disgusts me about him. Everything he does is for his benefit. (…) That man drives me crazy!”