samandhislostshoe

[samandhislostshoe]

i was gonna stop posting about the watcher fiasco but i saw some really confusing???? takes on my dash so I'm throwing in my unsolicited thoughts even though it's not the most eloquent

1) people who were criticising watcher's decision after the initial announcement are NOT bullies. The boys made a bad decision and had to deal with the consequences. Just because you like them doesn't mean that people expressing their (understandable and quite just) disappointment are bullies

2) people who aren't won over by the apology aren't just "haters" and "internet trolls". While the apology seems to be a step in the right direction, we have NO WAY to know if they are sincere about it yet. They might show growth in the future but only time will tell. And even if they do show growth, fans whose feelings about watcher have been tainted because of this fiasco do not owe them their loyalty when said loyalty has already been disrespected once

#watcher #ryan begara #shane madej #steven lim

[samandhislostshoe]

Plenty of y'all fans in the Watcher fandom really gonna just gloss over the fact that you were vile to these people just a few days ago.

#watcher #yeah I'm still pissed at how many people dogpiled Steven #and Ryan to a lesser extent #and now act like they never did any cyberbullying #these are actual fucking people guys #they may have made a bad business decision #but that doesn't mean they made a morally bad one #christ alive

[samandhislostshoe]

i have DeArrow which changes youtube thumbnails to random screenshots and user-chosen titles and it makes watchers announcement even funnier

#gabbering #watcher #i'm gonna restrict myself to making one more post on this subject and if i see any really funny memes abt it #but so many ppl have talked abt this already i dont just wanna pile on

[samandhislostshoe]

and you know i gotta say. the vast majority of the people losing their shit this weekend made it very clear that they do not understand the difference between "artists who want a measure of comfort in their lives" and "the billionaires actually being targeted by phrases like eat the rich." that is such a weird thing to be so proud to announce to the whole entire internet.

it's also extremely weird to behave as though any individual is entitled to an artist's work for free. or that the audience should be the final say in determining what an artist creates. there is a major difference between the betrayal of an artist who produces art and then banks on their social capital to engage in harmful, violent, bigoted behavior (like jk rowling) and the "betrayal" of an artist who decides that they should be or need to be compensated for their work. the latter isn't actually a betrayal at all. it's just a shift.

the thing is that the watcher boys didn't invent capitalism, they didn't invent the streaming model, they didn't invent youtube or patreon. they aren't getting 100% of the money from either. their merch doesn't magically appear as if made by elves while they sleep. their videos don't happen out of nowhere and without incurring bills. they have a business which employs people, and sure, you can say they employ too many people, but do they actually? a bunch of randos on the internet don't actually know that. they don't know these job titles, or how necessary it is to have everyone there. it's pure speculation. the entire company exists within a system they did not invent and are trying to stay afloat in said system while a bunch of assholes on the internet berate them for not acquiescing to their every whim at the expense of their artistic integrity, their ability to compensate their staff fairly, and their ability to keep making art.

and jumping from "i want to continue enjoying this artist's work for free" to "i think people should be fired and the remaining employees should be given greater responsibilities and more tasks to complete" is wild to me. there's nothing leftist in that and so trying to leverage leftist jargon to prove some sort of moral superiority is fucking wild, it's disingenuous, and it's sketchy as hell. you're allowed to be disappointed. you're not magically exempt from being told you're being an asshole if you decide your disappointment entitles you to take part in asshole behavior.

"but we don't want something heavily produced and we don't want these shows" then don't watch! that's it! don't watch! you are not being held hostage and forced to engage with this content. you have the choice not to. throwing a tantrum and launching racist vitriol at steven lim and demanding he step down as CEO shows a level of entitlement and childishness that, frankly, i wish they could have ignored, but they're both kinder & more patient than i am.

anyway congratulations to watcher on their new streaming service and their gorgeous new website, congratulations to the boys on a new step in their careers and on achieving something they've made clear they've wanted for ages, thank you to the boys for all their hard work and for sharing their creativity with us. thank you too for taking such a big and genuinely brave step to no longer be beholden to major corporations and advertisers so you can make the art you want to make. thank you to steven lim for taking so many steps back to keep the company running and for doing your best in a shit economy and while being targeted by this kind of nastiness online. and thank you to the entire team at @wearewatcher for continuing to do amazing work despite being treated like shit by the fan community at large on the internet while you're trying to make a living and create art. you all deserve better than you've been shown of late and i hate that such an exciting moment got overshadowed by so many temper tantrums.

because the whole fucking point, the dream, is getting to make the art that matters to them, without being held back. i'm sorry y'all don't want the heavily produced and high quality shit but your preferences as a member of an audience are not the law by which artists should abide. they are artists and they are free to, and deserve to, make the art they want to make.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #could this rollout have been handled better? sure! but for the love of god the way y'all have been reaching to demonize them #steven in particular #it's frankly pretty horrifying #like y'all actually behave that way? and are proud to have a record of it?

[samandhislostshoe]

*john mulaney voice* the youtubers listened to the fans and genuinely apologized?.... i didnt know they knew how to do that

#real talk tho i love them so much #and im glad they did this #watcher #we are watcher #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim

[samandhislostshoe]

i think all the ex-buzzfeed youtubers should only have 1 couch, and ship it to each other everytime they fuck up

#watcher #try guys #lmao did they hire the same PR people or did they just watch the video back and decide to replicate it on their own 💀 #watcher tv

[samandhislostshoe]

people are saying "finally" or "they took too long" .... i did NOT want a next day update. the fact that they waited a few days shows they made proper business decisions that included a lot of debating. if anything it builds my trust in this new direction rather than destroying it

#watcher #mega.exe #people are always gonna say whatever but this just annoyed me sm.

[samandhislostshoe]

#watcher

[samandhislostshoe]

you know shit went down when it’s three ex buzzfeed employees apologizing on a couch

#watcher #watcher entertainment #the try guys #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim #buzzfeed unsolved

[samandhislostshoe]

I think two statements with this whole thing can cexist;

They listened. Apologized. Were very accountable. Fixed the issue. Admitted to how insensitive and tone deaf what they said and did was. Etc.

And.

They are still rich. The comments and stuff they did were very insensitive, tone deaf, and outright cruel and not okay at all, and many people will never trust them again as they once did, many won't even ever watch again. Many people, while being able to accept the apology, will still want nothing to do with them after that, especially for us who genuinely are struggling in life with money. It was highly insulting and it makes you look at people differently after that.

#buzzfeed unsolved #watcher #shane madej #shane and ryan #steven lim #ryan bergara

[samandhislostshoe]

Am I happy Watcher rolled back their plan and apologized? Yes. Have I still lost any desire to watch their videos? Yes. Do I think people are being too harsh towards Steven, singling him out and such? Yes. Do I think Steven and Andrew bringing back worth it in the middle of a global cost of living crisis is extremely out of touch? Yes.

All of these things can coexist. Feelings towards the situation can be complex. It happens.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #this is truly the last thing I’m going to say #but I’ve seen so many takes where you can only feel one way or the other

[samandhislostshoe]

so are watcher fans going to apologize for the unreal amounts of racism they projected toward steven or are we going to pretend that was totally normal behavior?

#watcher #they were way too nice to u guys. wtf was all that

[samandhislostshoe]

I think they should've created an OnlyFans account for Professor. It would unironically made them so much money.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #and call it fuzzybutt or somwthung

[samandhislostshoe]

Absolutely AMAZING response by Watcher imo.

They acknowledged that they made a mistake, made the wider context more clear, and addressed basically all of the criticisms brought forward by the community as far as I know.

Anyone who already subscribed to the streaming service who no longer wants it gets a refund.

Patrons get a free subscription to the streaming service.

The service now only offers early, ad-free episodes that will still be released on YouTube.

They acknowledged the insensitivity of the original pitch and how the price is not something that everyone can afford.

THIS is how you respond to backlash, especially this widespread. Take time to collect your thoughts, take the criticism into account, and change your actions going forward.

Great job Watcher 👏

[samandhislostshoe]

Miles is ONCE AGAIN here with the jokes

#watcher #watcher tv #watcher entertainment #miles bonsignore #YouTube

[samandhislostshoe]

"If you truly love someone or something, it needs to be inside of you."

- Mads Mikkelsen

#wow #what a poet #source: The Chesapeake Kitchen on tiktok #nbc hannibal #hannibal lecter #hannigram #mads mikkelsen #bottom hannibal #bottom hannibal rights

[samandhislostshoe]

dev talking about The Raid 😌

#dev patel #monkey man #the raid #this is all I needed #film