BARING IT ALL
Derek Ramsay exudes the seductive integrity and casual confidence of the modern man. He is passionate, never holding back even as we tackle a very controversial topic—jests and vitriol included. This guy is as real as it gets. “I’m already in the industry where I’m pretending to be somebody that’s not me by bringing life to characters that I portray. And then in real life, I also got to filter out and pretend to be something else? That’s just not me,” he says. A quick run-through of his Instagram feed will reveal how much truth he speaks of himself. Occasionally, he’ll post photos from work (a lot of it forwarded or promo material), but his personal posts are authentic. Forget about the Valencia filter or the consistent lighting, Derek just clicks the button. While being a celebrity means constantly putting yourself out there, he stresses the importance of keeping it real. “It’s a way of showing my life. I’m not pretending to live a life that I don’t have. That’s the content that you get on my Instagram. It’s very me. No filter, no editing. It’s very raw,” he confirms.
Very much aware of the dangers of technology addiction and the issues surrounding social media, Derek tells us of how extreme people can get just to get the desired number of likes and views. “They do stupid things—like riding a bike on a side of the building or trying to jump off some high structure, and practically one little mistake and you’re dead. They do it so they can have those views on Instagram and it’s insane,” he says shaking his head in disapproval.
And that’s why he takes drastic measures to ensure his son doesn’t fall to this kind of online dependency. He shares, “I can go on about this all day. Knowing me, Mr. Outdoors, I’m into sports, the beach. He’s a gamer. And it’s been a struggle because I tell him to get out there and enjoy life. I’m not going to take away your passion for gaming and all of that stuff even if I don’t understand that. But there’s more to that. Balance it out. Go out outdoors. He can be in his room just playing games all day. And that’s not good for you. Whether it’s mentally, physically. That’s why I try to get him to go outdoors more. But it’s tough, man.”
A long enumeration of online abuse and internet issues ensues, and Derek has a strong opinion on these things. “If you have too much of anything, it’s not good for you. The way to access information during my days, you go through an encyclopedia. Now, kids can just google how to make a bomb. You see a video of guys blowing up stuff and the people are laughing, and this gets about a million views. What are they (viewers) going to do? For me, it’s scary times. I’ve said this to my friends, this generation—they’re screwed. They really are screwed,” he says with a chuckle.
He offers his genuine advice, “At the end of the day for me, it’s all about respect. For me, a meaningful life is you do all the things that you want to do in life, and you do it with respect.” Hence, regardless of the occasional negative comments he receives, Derek knows all too well to brush off the senseless ones, and build himself through constructive criticism.
Creating his own digital zen is easy for someone who has firmly stood his ground with his truths. With Derek, it is his unapologetic manner of just being himself. “This whole social media craze for me is a cancer. Yes, I don’t want to be called a hypocrite. Yes, I have social media. But again, look at how my Instagram page is. It’s real. Yeah, I’ll show pictures sometimes of my work, but that’s part of who I am. But the stuff that I post where it’s me, you don’t see me in different filters. It’s just true.”