#MEDIA ANALYSIS IS MY PASSION

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

I have a lot of thoughts about whb. On one hand, the pacing is awful, some of the story decisions are just dump (like the poison making us psycho-project into Leviathan's memories) and a lot of problems being presented and never acknowledged (like Minhyeok's relationship with MC). On the other hand, I adore the way they present the demons.

A lot of media that includes demons as protagonists/love interests get stuck between a rock and a hard place, not wanting to present morally bad actions yet at the same time not wanting to make them saints with no wrong doing. But whb does something interesting with the concept and makes the demons more human in a sense. They are capable of doing great acts of kindness and evil, but the thing that makes them devils is that they are true to their desires. It's one of my favorite parts of the story.

[heroictoonz]

I think a lot about the dance off scene in Trolls 2. I think it says a LOT about Branch and who he is as a character

In Trolls 2 there’s this emphasis on how Branch is always listening and Poppy isn’t and how when Branch finally puts his foot down Poppy finally wises up and started really listening to people instead of just her own drumming and I think the dance off scene really fits the narrative that Branch is a good listener

Not even just a good listener he’s an AMAZING listener as we actively watch him jump between TWO different styles of dance and SEAMLESSLY meld into the two groups performance with no hesitation

Branch is able to assess the style of music, the moves they’re making, and match their flow and energy PERFECTLY

Which, again I think really drives home how good he is as listening and observing people I’d even go as far as to say Branch is very emotionally intelligent (see the true colors scene) but I think is moment does even MORE for his character

I don’t know how much the writers knew as they were making the movies so I don’t know if ‘Branch and his long lost brothers were once in a boyband’ was always gonna be canon from day one, but I think the dance off scene lends to that narrative really well too. The idea that being a part of a group like that gave Branch the necessary skills to be able to join in on the dance off

Cause like Branch doesn’t take the spotlight there. He’s not jumping in the middle and making it his own thing. He just joins the two groups to add to them and follows their lead never forcing them to follow his

It also lends to how open minded Branch is during this whole movie

Through the second movie Poppy kind sucks hard. Constantly making snide comments about other types of music, not interested in seeing and respecting the other trolls’ differences, and just all around clearly having the mindset that her way of life and her music is superior. She’s exactly like Barb until literally the final leg of the movie

BRANCH however is way different. When they’re in Lonesome Flats and Poppy is like damn this country shits depressing I hope these guys get better soon ig :/ but Branch seems way more open minded to the style of music and the emotions in it even to an extent seems to resonate with country (which makes sense since in the movie country is shown to be open to singing about sorrows and hardships and what is Branch if not the most traumatized pop troll of all time actually)

And then with the dance scene this only reinforces the idea of how open minded Branch is to other styles of music. Instead of Poppy or Barb who probably would have tried to drown out the two styles with their own, Branch jumps in and follows THEIR leads and dances in THEIR styles to THEIR musics

I just love the dance off scene. Not only is it so insanely fun but also it just is such a perfect scene for Branch’s character and for the movie and what it’s saying

Also they put Russian Roulette by Red Velvet in a fucking Trolls movie that’s baller as fuck

[nyxofdemons]

this was going to be like a mile long essay but i just realized the most concise way to say it is that "it feels like a retcon that blitz has been so resentful and hostile towards fizz all this time since he was supposed to feel guilty" is simply not a good criticism when we have been shown, time and time again, that blitz's number one defense mechanism when he feels guilty or judged or attacked is to lash out, to deflect and ignore all his responsibility, and to shift the blame to someone else. that's like. his defining character flaw

[sugarcarnation]

love love love how similar these two panels are. makes me insane

[metanarrates]

i also just DO think that if you're like "oh those (lazy, vapid, brainless) people who only Consume Media" I am gonna be raising one hell of an eyebrow at you. like hey quick question where do disabled people fit into your mental model of all this. do you think it's bad if someone with a disability can only ever muster the energy to watch tv?

like disregarding all the weird viewpoint of art that goes into referring to it as Media Consumption, I just flat out do not think you're very kind to disabled people if you're getting mad about this boogeyman of someone whose only hobby is something you view as mindless. if you want people to be more active audiences of art, or if you want people to try more hobbies, that's totally fine! maybe you should post some resources to help people branch out more! but if your entire thesis is snidely saying that people who don't have hobbies you approve of aren't cool or good or whatever.... maybe you're just kind of an asshole

[wormthe]

i feel like i have to delete my tumblr and never look back, but i dont know if i can!

[ms-all-sunday]

just popping in to say that i adore your meta posts and i love how you talk about certain characters, particularly nami, usopp, and sanji. so much of op discussion/meta is so stagnant and boring to me because it's all the same. very rarely do i see differing interpretations and i find your specific analysis of them so interesting

Oh you're so nice. Thank you. I've actually never gotten a direct compliment like this before. I'm so glad I can provide.

[volfoss]

I’ve never seen you talk about themes and tropes you enjoy in media and stuff like that, it’s always about how misogynistic or racist something is, which it’s totally valid of course, but I think we often forget those are not the only types of things we can take from a story. Anyways you’re totally valid for being a hater lol.

if u are referring to the stuff ive been posting lately irt tezuka its because the themes and tropes are pretty well documented but the horrors are not. and id rather any mutuals know about those rather than solely focusing on the themes being there and not addressing that, esp when those are easily found on sites like tezukainenglish or even looking up essays on the matter. i also feel that if its about this topic, it is something i bring up when its there (the one im reading rn handles a lot of anti-war themes in a really good manner and i did get into that pretty deeply in my review of it (which i havent posted yet bc its been taking a while to get through)). imo its something where it is important to discuss issues w media and id rather be getting into both that and thematics of the media vs just an analysis of it (which can tend to overlook issues). w kimba specifically, it was VERY hard to overlook the issues that were in the media as it was glaring and pretty much everywhere bc it was DRENCHED in racism. i did not want to be like ok :) heres the super good themes in this bc quite honestly it was a very miserable experience to read. my posts on tumblr are also not indicative of HOW i enjoy something or if im focusing on themes or not bc often thats something i tend to be messaging friends about as i watch/read something. i love analyzing themes and getting into the nitty gritty of a media but i also think its important to bring up issues when they are less talked about in the general fan space of it all. if you talk to me one on one you KNOW how passionate i get about themes in a story but its just not something i talk about publicly.

[vi-enti]

when you watch a piece of media that is so loved by the creators, the writers the actors the producers the crew everyone involved, that’s what impacts you the most. i love loved media so, so much

[dandelionjack]

i don’t want to kill myself but looking at the future sometimes i feel like i have no other option. i fucked it up too far without anticipating consequences and it’s too late to make a change or strive towards any kind of hopeful meaningful existence. there is no way out for someone like me who has nothing going for them, squandered any opportunity, any talent, everything that was handed to them on a silver platter. no interesting personality traits, no aptitudes, nothing to make up for the gaping void where motivation and will to live and thrive and put in effort towards a goal should be. even the most basic steps are a pipe dream. i don’t want to die because i fear the possibility of hell but i no longer see any tolerable way of living.

[fruitsofhell]

One day I have gawt to find a really good video on liminal spaces and weirdcore/dreamcore, etc. Like it is suuuuuuuuuuuuuch an interesting fucking trend, and deeply intertwined with the nature of the internet. It's a collective sharing of the sometimes existentially horrifying nature of memory and nostalgia that could only come together into a community as is now from the worldwide scope of the internet.

Like... without the internet there have definitely been explorations of the concept of these dead static worlds, conglomerations of the mundane into something now supernatural, but the way its mixed with indie creative cultures on the internet I think breathes life into it in its most perfect form.

The rise of the internet and 3d games and other such shifts being in the early childhoods of this generation to adds so much. That artificiality and just barely covered up uncanniness of that era of technology really did something to our brains, and I love seeing that explore man. LIKE MAAAN, I LOVE INDIE INTERNET HORROR MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[minty-the-demon]

Something cool I realized is that Masato and McQ had very similar experiences. Both had their dreams crushed by the same person, both have felt like Shun was in the way of their success and both don’t want to be seen as weak.

Masato tried being successful within Kazami International Holdings, but is unable to meet Ichiro Kazami’s (Masato’s uncle and the president of KIH) high standards and he almost gets fired. Ichiro put a lot of pressure on his family to be perfect. Masato has been raised to think there is no room for failure. After his dad got fired from KIH, he started becoming a perfectionist and strived to not be a “loser”. Masato envies Shun because Ichiro is less harsh on him and Shun has a better chance of being the next leader of KIH.

McQ had a successful business selling devices until the KIH sold better devices. McQ’s company is bankrupt and he turns to a life of crime. McQ does have an interest in the popular stuffed animal known as Tumpy, but he hides that interest from strangers and even his own gang. An adult who likes playing with stuffed animals is usually seen as childish by society. McQ likely hides his interest in stuffed animals because he’s afraid of being seen as weak/not manly. Some people try to get others to feel ashamed about their interests or something they can’t control.

Both Masato and McQ have been pressured into not being vulnerable. But Masato went into The Maze (right before he got fired) and stayed there for ten years. He separated himself from his emotionally neglectful uncle and found out there is more to life than being what your family wants you to be, grew closer to Shun and Ichiro and got what he wanted from the beginning (running KIH). McQ hasn’t been so lucky. McQ and Masato both envied Shun and were rivals of his. I really wish Masato and McQ interacted with each other more and became rivals.

[eattherichplease]

(sorry but this has become a rant. I'm talking to myself pay no notice)

So.

People saying that Wednesday has a bad relationship with her mother and she's rude to her now and/or she hates her because she's going through a rebellious phase are completely right btw, meaning: that's what the show wants you to think, sure, that's the correct reading, that's what the writers intended indeed.

But that's not my point though! My point is: why? What I don't understand is: why.

Why do teenagers have to be portrayed as stupid/rebellious/reckless ignoramus, first of all? Jenna Ortega said something along the lines a while ago in an interview. She's tired of playing teenagers that are portrayed as just plain dumb. That's a bad trope. Is tired, is sad, and is false. Also, it has a very malicious, often overlooked intention: teenagers are often portrayed as dumb and rebellious so the parents watching the show in question can feel superior and vindicated; so they can say to themselves: "ah, teenagers, they are indeed dumb... why my own children, they are always saying these stupid things about gender and capitalism... so dumb and rebellious... but it will wear off eventually". And they feel good with themselves. Are we, the viewers, supposed to think that? Are we supposed to think: "Ah, Wednesday Addams, so rebellious, so fierce, so weird... you are just young and dumb, but it will wear off and you'll see the light, you'll fall in love with a nice guy and you'll stop being so crabby and you'll be nice to your mother". That's stupid. That feels lazy and wrong, mostly because:

Why is Wednesday Addams, of all people, going though a rebellious phase? First of all, she's FAR from a typical teenager/person (for teenagers are, indeed, people after all). She's an Addams! Secondly, and more importantly, what the hell is she rebelling against?? She has the best parents in the whole wide world! You need space? You got it. No hugs? Noted. Not feeling like communicating? We'll be here waiting, girl. You killed a kid? Don't you worry, saved your ass, got you covered, gonna send you to a top-class very expensive school with werewolves and shit, since you like Gothic literature so much. Wednesday rebelling against her parents makes NO NARRATIVE SENSE. That's the issue to me. Maybe I'm missing something?

What I'm getting at is this: Wednesday is portrayed as a rebellious teenager because that's what the writers of movies/shows default to when they don't know how to portray a teenager.

And it just doesn't work. It feels fake.

When Morticia gives Wednesday the obsidian amulet you'll think Wednesday will be happy. Instead she makes a sarcastic comment about spirits like wtf bitch? You love that shit? Who is writing you, babygirl? Why are they making you say dumb stuff? You love séances. They used obsidian for human sacrifices! You love that!

"I'll never be you mother, I'll never fall in love, I'll never have a family!"

Girl what!

For some unexplained reason, Wednesday has become the lost lamb that needs to find her way back into the flock. She's not an important part of the family, she's set apart. She's not neurodivergent, or queer, or extremely gifted, or zealous of her personal autonomy, or an artist... She's just being a brat, you see, and she'll get over it eventually, when she finds her True Love (which apparently implies going to a dance dressed like a princess with a psycho that proceeds to kill her therapist for fun and/or being courted by a guy who has an oil painting of her in his secret cabin to look at).

That's dumb.

They tried to make Wednesday Addams into a Disney princess going through puberty, hating boys and hating her mother, being slowly but painfully dragged into the world of heteropatriarchial normalcy.

That's why we are at a crossroads now.

Writers have realized we are not swallowing it. They made such a mess with the white-boys-Twilight-love-triangle that they have to drop the Straight Agenda completely. Jenna Ortega is marching through every TV show/podcast/whatever like a tornado, saying it over and over again, so it gets solidified, so it sticks.

From now on, then, we have two options:

They let Wednesday be queer with her werewolf girlfriend.

They send her to a convent. They make her renounce love and sex completely. They make her caste and pure, send her to the nunnery for bad girls that don't want penis. They will not say it that way, of course. They'll market it good, they will make it look pretty, using our language and stuff. They'll say: "Wednesday, the first asexual queen of TV" or some shit. But it will be a lie and it will be false. And they'll give her a male love interest eventually some way down the line.

So which way.

[clonewarsahsoka]

Just had to write a draft intro paragraph for the prompt "since films are occasionally used in English curriculums, should video games be included too?" Which I think is an interesting prompt and I want to write a proper essay on it now

[spekktors]

seeing the results on polls like "which bg3 companion is mostly likely to x" just confirms to me how many people haven't done the Galemance. you know nothing about this man beyond the memes about eating boots and it shows

[andtheyreonfire]

local autist finds video analysis that affirms their opinion and is also banger as fuck 2692768 revived 13580088 healed 1826340507 blessed