#bad media criticism

[sjbattleangel]

Seriously, people! Can we STOP using The Owl House to tear down She-Ra and Steven Universe!!? Hearing others refer to The Owl House as "the anti-She-Ra", "the anti-Steven Universe" or "what She-Ra/Steven Universe should've been" makes my blood boil to no end! Do you realize that Dana Terrace, Rebecca Sugar and ND Stevenson are mutual friends who respect each other and their work? Not to mention how they helped paved the way for one another: For instance, without Rebecca Sugar fighting Cartoon Network for Steven Universe to be openly queer, there would be no She-Ra and without She-Ra, there would be no Owl House.

We need to stop tearing queer creators down just to put others on a pedestal. It no longer becomes about "wanting diversity and representation" but about turning "diversity and representation" into some elitist, gatekeeping competition. And that....that is just wrong.

For the record: I love all three series.

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Oh I know Lily didn't just come for my girl Ty Lee

[Lily's Post]

"Suck at combat"

Bitch she can take down benders and ALL she has at her disposal is her wits and pure combat technique.

[peoplesrazor]

This is what I was saying before. Your critics don't like your takes. They are allowed to not like your takes. They are allowed to use their platforms to express that. And I know it might not seem fair to you, but they are even allowed to grow their platforms by talking about your takes. N.D, Stevenson isn't coming after you for talking about his show all the time. This is how it works.

These are not personal attacks. These are professional criticism. Can someone also be attacking you? Yes. But then you have to show how those two things are related. Me not liking something like your take on the Owl House, for instance, wouldn't be the same as me attacking you personally.

[whimsyskullhorror]

I genuinely saw someone on Tiktok call I Saw the TV Glow BAD TRANS REPRESENTATION

And.

I just. I.

How can... You... I just. I feel like my brain is running out of my ears like melting candle wax.

What.

[hellyeahheroes]

YouTube Critics Are Lying to You | A Bad Media Criticism Video Essayby Anthony Gramugila

[partywithponies]

Lily Orchard is like the final boss of online people whose media/fandom opinions make me want to tie them to a chair and force them to consume content other than video games, cartoons, and extremely tame and family friendly sitcoms.

[dearestgentlereaders]

once you see subpar media through a ‘but daddy, I love him and I can fix him’ approach it honestly changes the game. give me all the plot holes, shitty character arcs and underdeveloped worlds because that means I can now spend an ungodly amount of years picking this apart and reimagining it in so many ways. this is just a minefield of head canons and au’s waiting for me to unpack.

[darkacademiaarchivist]

Its INSANE to me when people are like "maybe people just are more homophobic now because gay people are everywhere nowadays" and like... a person who wasn't homophobic to begin with wouldn't be bothered by that??? A person who is normal about queer people would not care that there's a trans person in an ad on TV because literally who cares it's an ad. Good for the actress on getting a job and creating visibility but literally who cares?? If you didn't have a problem with people being queer wouldn't have a problem with that Jesus fucking christ

[hedgebotherer]

I 'love' it when somebody has a criticism of something they don't like and they imply/outright state that anybody who disagrees must not be as analytical as they are.

No, we are. We just don't agree with you.

I 'love' the attitude because it makes me nostalgic for my inner twerp. I remember when I used to scoff at people who liked things I thought were bad - I was about fourteen and it was cringey as hell. I understand the urge to hold up your own opinions as evidence of greater intelligence, more depth, refined understanding - but that urge makes for bad criticism.

When people like something you don't it's rarely because they're too uncritical to see the flaws. It's because they either don't interpret the things you find flawed the same way, don't find the flaws weighty enough to shift their opinion dials to negative, or they think the positive aspects outnumber the negative. Some opinions are ignorant, but not all differences of opinions are a matter of ignorance on one side.

You're allowed to just... Not like something. Can't you say why you didn't like it without holding your own opinions up as a mirror to the completely imagined failings of people who disagree with you?

(tagging this #good omens because I saw it in reference to GO2 and I'm hoping the muse to my rant sees this, but it has much broader applicability. Even fans of media that, unlike GO, is actually generally regarded as 'bad' aren't experiencing enjoyment only due to some flaw on their part. Leave them out of your opinion. It's not as if they're wilting away without the light of your personal truth.)

[catharsis-scrawled]

"Why is a kid going off on adventures unsupervised!?" Because it's a show made for kids.

I feel like some people need to relearn Genre Expectations... "Man, this tragedy sucks!!! Why didn't they just do XYZ, then everything could have ended happily!!" well, then it wouldn't be a tragedy, would it. "Man, this lighthearted teen romcom is terrible, it's so sappy and unrealistic!!" Well, yeah. If it had been gritty and dark, it wouldn't have been a lighthearted romcom, would it. Is the writing actually bad or are you just trying to order a milkshake from a Home Depot

[sjbattleangel]

Double D facts book: When we said "Be critical of the media you love"... we didn't mean "nitpick and tear it to shreds" to the point of seeing things that aren't there such as "pro-status quo Neoliberalism" or "Nazi apologia".

[6monthsofwinter]

I have been having Thoughts and may be reaching the conclusion that the awful cult horror film "Birdemic: Shock And Terror" is actually scary. Not in the intended way, because James Nguyen is the worst filmmaker and another candidate for Disaster Artist, but in an actual existential way: you can't question a single thing about that film, or you'll be driven mad by the search for an answer. And I don't know, the thought of not being able to examine and query and criticise something like that is deeply troubling for me. I might write something about it idk we'll see. Depends on how media I'm feeling

[hellyeahheroes]

Across the Grifterverse by Pillar of Garbage

[funfacts24-7]

It’s interesting how it seems the lgbt community in hollywood can only infect and tank every project they can touch, but they can’t create anything new or meaningful.

[fairy-bard]

i’ve been loving watching critical role recently if for no other reason than because i get to watch a decent portion of viewers actively falling for cult tactics lmao

a forbes article describes cult tactics as when cult leaders “censor dissenting viewpoints, promote a distorted narrative and use relentless repetition and peer pressure”

ludinus needing to monologue at everyone he meets. cherry picking what information to let people know (ie the orb). showing popular world leaders (gods?) at their absolute worst as a means to win over the vulnerable. creating dissent between cult prospects and the people who they’re close to outside the cult. doesn’t take no for an answer. repeating his points over and over, in whatever context he thinks will be most persuasive. targeting people who’ve lost everything. convincing people that they’re special

matt is a genius.

[sjbattleangel]

Seriously, if I hear one more "She-Ra is incest" take (which is based on faulty, outdated information) one more time...

I am going to scream!

NO IT FREAKING ISN'T!!! Adora and Catra WERE NEVER SISTERS. They are orphans who grew up as best friends in an orphanage-military boarding school with other orphans. They always loved each other but they were raised as CHILD SOLDIERS and were eventually forced to fight each other due a conflict they had no control over as well as Shadow Weaver's toxic favouritism!

CinemaSins, Ain't It Cool News and RedLetterMedia/Mr Plinkett's influence is seeping into animation, especially in discourse around diverse, queer media, and hurting media literacy even more.