#restin peace my gallbladder

[colorisbyshe]

fanfiction and popcorn movies and netflix shows that remain culturally relevant for 3 and a half minutes that are like... thematically empty and serve as just escapism would be fine if we as a culture were also investing time and money into... literature and other media with depth and cultural criticisms and harder themes to grapple with

and while on one level i understand why people get overly invested in the former (when you live in a capitalistic society with too little free time, when you’re worn down and just so fucking tired, why not go for media that feels EASY and is often cheap/with a low barrier of entry), it still is really amazing to me that instead of just owning that (”yeah, since i only an hour a day that isn’t work or cooking or cleaning or child care, i’m gonna use it to truly relax and turn my brain off”)... so many people need to inflate the value of their escapism media

like it’s FAR from a perfect 1:1 comparison but it’s like people who mostly consume “junk” food (that isn’t bad on its own, is much more accessible and easy/cheap to make, and is much less time consuming) if they pretended that their microwavable lean cuisine is like... fine dining and actually the MORAL choice of consumption. it’s not enough to just... like it... it has to be better even though we can all admit that like... fresh, nutrient dense, and complex food is the ideal for everyone

like when you are ONLY consuming “junk” media, it’s technically better than consuming nothing at all (hell, reading comprehension actually benefits even from texting let alone from 100k fanfiction, though... this isn’t often apparant) but the IDEAL is a mixture of both. where fanfiction and mcu films are like..  a side dish

like, no, not everything has to be complex or even DECENT, but when it’s the only thing you’re consuming... that’s when it’s a problem.

i mean it’s also a problem when your side dishes are like truly fucked up and heinous shit or military propaganda a la the mcu but i’d be more trusting of people to “handle” that “critically” if i knew they were also consuming content that WAS critical of that content

but some of you legit only consume empty media and then posts about empty media and nothing else. and then are convinced that since it’s technically not mainstream and niche (it’s not anymore) that means it’s counter culture and progressive when it’s not