#bad media analysis

[evelhak]

Aaaaa, this!!! I literally cried, I am so happy to see some actual common sense!! I am so, SO tired of this trend, it's not just Rory either, there's a really unfair pattern going on where the "renaissance" on a piece of media is basically just fans ripping a protagonist to pieces for things that these fans do not hold other characters, particularly beloved antagonists and rivals, accountable for.

This video perfectly illustrates the dynamic: Rory, who tries her best to both achieve her goals and be a decent human being while doing it, who never was a perfect human if you paid attention, gets held to the standard of an angel, so every time she makes a mistake that mistake is treated as disproportionately horrible and irredeemable. Meanwhile, as a good example, Paris, who consistently treats other people horribly, gets downright babied, and how she deserved better is repeated, her own responsibility over her actions downplayed or completely ignored. Only her good qualities are remembered, and highlighted.

There's an excellent quote in the video:

"The audience loves Paris because she is so over the top that she becomes a non-character. But when you take her as a real person and judge her with the same standards as you would Lorelai and Rory, she is pretty terrible."

This. This happens with so many characters whose traits are so much that they are viewed as inherently comedic or unbelievable, so they don't count in people's eyes. Paris having a fit in her college entrance interview, yelling over the interviewers and defending eugenics, gets brushed off as "poor baby, she's clearly mentally ill, she just deserves better, she should have gotten in", while Rory, who got manipulated into an internship by the BIGGEST journalism figure just so he could tell her "she didn't have it" was JUST weak and entitled for getting upset and discouraged over it.

Paris cheating on her boyfriend for months with a college professor gets pushed under the rug because people are too uncomfortable to even acknowledge the whole thing, meanwhile Rory is THE WORST for sleeping with a married guy after she repeatedly asked him if both him and his wife agreed their marriage was over, suggested they could try counselling, and was lied to by said guy that both he and his wife knew things were over between them.

Yeah, Rory made mistakes, and definitely didn't act perfectly after either of the situations I mentioned. She was emotional and people generally make mistakes when they are. But for some reason certain characters get a free pass all the time, while it feels almost like Rory gets punished for even trying to be a good person. Like "See, I caught her making a mistake, that means she's the worst." As if trying to have morals and be decent is inherently arrogant and hypocritical. Like trying and failing is worse than not even trying. It's like, her mom and grandparents and home town expect her to be perfect, so fans did too, and now they're mad at her for being human because they put her on a pedestal. Meanwhile characters who consistently don't care about their impact on others don't get scrutinized, their actually horrible behaviour is just taken as comedy or proof of their victimhood.

Basically, people are desensitized to horrible things from certain characters, they expect it, so they don't react to it, but when Rory who is "supposed to be good" makes a mistake, it's suddenly the core of her character and all she is. Geez.

And don't get me wrong, I love both Paris and Rory. I love every character in the show. But this double standard drives me nuts. So many characters in the show have done very similar things as Rory gets accused of, some of them while feeling no remorse. Some of them have done a lot worse things that get forgiven easily.

And don't even get me started on what a hot guy with a tragic backstory gets excused for. Yeah, some things are understandable when you know the backstory. That doesn't make those things not wrong.

It's like people are obsessed with the idea that someone who appears good on the surface must be bad, and vice versa. Nuance be damned.

#Youtube #bad media analysis #gilmore girls

[positively--speculative]

It's amazing how you can tell sometimes that a person doesn't get much exposure to fairytales outside of Disney:

Like, this person really read the novelization of Pan's Labyrinth which takes place during the Spanish Civil War and expected the story not to have themes of sacrifice? They expected Ofelia to be a Power Girl™? They didn't expect women to be flawed? They expected the fae to be trustworthy?

This person was doomed to fail at this little analysis because they expected the story to be "uplifting" due to it being a fairytale.

#bad media analysis #media analysis #media literacy

[buggachat]

honestly just in general it's very exhausting to try to analyze media that is literally meant to be analyzed, only for the replies to be filled with people arguing not against your analysis, but against the premise that the media can be analyzed at all.

i don't even know what to say about it without starting to really betray my frustration, so i'll just settle with— just don't engage with analysis posts? I'm serious. if you're typing a response to a media analysis post, reread what you've written and ask yourself "is this comment/response against the very concept of analyzing the media at all?" and if the answer is yes then delete it all and go sit in the shame corner. throw your curtains away if you want to so bad and stop telling me that I'm not allowed to hum and haw at the fact mine are blue

#ml fandom salt #I suppose #and no amount of adding ''stop telling me to not analyze the media'' on my analysis posts stops people from saying it anyway #and yes. the leaks count. stop telling me that the existence of outdated leaks invalidates all analyses of the completed material #and no. just like every other time i've said this. me saying that i don't care about the leaks is not an invitation for you to try to #convince me to care about the leaks #do i tag this spoilers? it feels weird to. i mean this to be a vague overarching thing about media in general #also of course any ''or maybe the writers are just bad'' arguments ALSO are included in this. YOU guys have been my bane since FOREVER #would you guys consider commenting on fanart with ''umm.... drawing seems pretty pointless lmao'' rude? #i know this is not the first time i've made a post like this and i'm sure it won't be the last

[courtrecord]

honestly i hate how that “maybe the curtains are just blue” post has become shorthand for anti-intellectualism and shit bc as someone who has an utter passion for media analysis now, I WAS THAT PERSON IN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS.

english class never taught me how to analyze stories, it taught me how to remember what things the teacher said were “symbolism” and how to take quizzes where we had to match a quote to the character who said it. i didn’t give a shit about any of it, bc literally why should i. it was bullshit.

there’s this idea online that people are forgetting or rejecting what they learned in english class when they’re bad at media analysis, and maybe that’s a little bit true, but i think the much bigger problem is they never learned it in the first place. cinemasins & “maybe the curtains are just blue” aren’t convincing people to abandon an intellectualism they already had, they’re filling a void.

when all you learn in high school is to write on the test “blue = depression”, why is it surprising that so many people don’t give a shit about the curtains.

#media analysis #i literally didn’t care about criticism until i started watching video essays in 2017 #and they taught me that u could actually do interesting things with analysis #and i cannot fucking stand this shit that pretends people should all know better #also it’s not new; people who act like media literacy is getting worse are so fucking funny like #have u met an adult. have u spoken to say. an adult family member #ever in ur life #ur just on the internet now. ur seeing a million bad takes that used to be reserved for in-person conversations #or maybe writing into a paper or magazine #get real #get fucking real #1k

[i-dont-know-how-this-site-works]

I've truly hit rock bottom.

The major complaint with all our delusional takes regarding Tech's survival is that we are taking them out of our asses, but in this case, it is quite literally outta someone's ass.

Look, I don't wanna dunk on my main man, but Tech's got no booty. He is as flat as an airport landing strip in the Netherlands. I don't know what voodoo dark magic Nala Se did to strip Tech of the standard issue clone tushy, because our next possible candidate for Clone CX-2 is Cody, and dude is packin'.

Exhibit 1:

Certified 0° booty.

Exhibit 2:

That's a category 10 booty right here ^.

Now, fortunately for us the creatives put Clone CX-2 in a leotard from the waist down, so we got an unobstructed view of the clone's behind and I gotta say, it's some pretty convincing evidence right here that CX-2 is Tech.

Also, I made this account three years ago and have never changed the profile picture before, but today I did cause delusion is swallowing me whole.

#the bad batch #the bad bad spoilers #tbb tech #clone trooper cody #commander cody #imperial!tech #clone cx #CX-2 #tech is alive #tech is alive ist conspiracy theorist reporting for duty #puts on clown shoes #with my clown make up on #and my clone nose #and my clown wig on #media analysis #tin foil hat #conspiracy theories #scraping the bottom of the barrel #star wars

[reasonably-annoyed-fog]

I’m not much of a shipper, especially compared to other people on tumblr, so let me tell you I saw the gif set of the scene with Hugh Grant before I saw Glass Onion, just vaguely skimmed it and went “oh? he’s playing a gay husband? how nice, OH this is from Glass Onion? That’s Blanc’s husband? Fucking Neat gotta watch this soon now don’t look at the gifs too hard so I don’t get spoiled any further”

so I am terribly sorry but I gotta say, people’s reaction being “I thought that was his butler” has me like ????? You thought. That  was. his BUTLER? You saw a frazzled looking man in a t-shirt and tie-die apron holding a sour dough starter in the may of 2020 scolding another man for being in the bathtub too long and went “this seems like an emploer employee relationship”? If that had been a fictional english butler Jeeves’ ghost himself would have jumped out from the pages of a Best Of P H Woodehouse collection and politely tossed him out of a window WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS HIS BUTLER why would someone’s BUTLER complain to ANgela LANSBURY about his boss not leaving the bathtub Where did you get that idea from he wasn’t dressed as a butler he didn’t talk like one There are Movie Conventions that will tell you if someone is a butler Hugh Grant telegraphed None of them

what you did there was you gal palled them, you looked at two queer people and went against all evidence for the straightest explanation. “Well why didn’t we see them kiss and stuff” Because they didn’t have to they really didn’t. There is No Fat in that script it’s Yes he’s in a relationship let’s move on. We didn’t even get to see Helen’s makeover! Frankly I had assumed that Blanc is just living alone like so many famous fictional detectives do, Sherlock Homes has his famous flatmate but that’s as far as it usually goes, Columbo has a awife but we never even get to see her, the fact that they just gave Benoit Blanc a spouse and we got to see him in the second installation of the franchise on screen was enough of a shock for me to take in if they had shown us any more domestic stuff I would have dropped dead on the spot

#Glass Onion #you all are so good at media analysis why are you also so bad at it #this is 'Xena and Gabrielle is gay subtext I wish it was canon' all over again THEY KISSED YOU IDIOT THEY GOT MARRIED IN THE FUTURE #I will throw a shoe at someone Oh My God #I'm having an anoyrism or something #anyways watch Glass Onion it's a banger 10/10

[nekropsii]

“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

#homestuck #media analysis #disability #representation #bad representation #good representation #nekro.pdf #nekro.txt

[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.

#whb #what in hell is bad #media analysis is my passion #after the slog that was Obey Me's struggle to figure out how demons exist getting a straight forward answer in a quarter of the time #is refreshing

[hellhoundmaggie]

Do you have any SDV hot takes?

Boy do I ever Anon! Thank you for giving me the chance to get on my soapbox about this.

Shane doesn't relapse when he is happily married to the Farmer. The popular "relapse" interpretation is based on faulty assumptions about what substance abuse recovery is supposed to look like and flat-out misreadings of the text of the game.

Shane doesn't "start" drinking again: he never stops, just reduces the amount he drinks. (Unless we are supposed to interpret the phrase "cut back" in the 7 Heart Event as meaning "quit” or "gave up” for some reason. Or if we ignore the new 1.6 dialogue about him drinking less after his 6 Heart event.)

Shane's mess is not a consequence of uncontrolled drinking, but a consequence of his depression and possible under-managed ADHD. His room at Marnie's remains exactly as messy when he's in recovery as it is when he's spiraling, so the drinking has no effect on his cleanliness.

”Okay,” you might say, “but he still shouldn’t drink, and he should pick up his room.” And sure, yeah. Ideally we should all do the same. But that’s not always a fair or realistic expectation for everyone. Not everyone can quit their addictions or bad habits cold turkey. Not everyone is going to be the model citizen. That doesn’t mean they can’t live happy lives. That doesn’t mean they don’t have value. That doesn’t mean Shane doesn’t have value.

So instead of complaining about the ways that Shane fails to measure up to typical adult standards, it may be more productive to ask: is he happy? Is he doing okay?

By any reasonable measure, a married Shane is living his best possible life. He‘s surprised and delighted to be your trophy husband. He doesn’t have to worry about taking a soul-sucking job or struggling with unemployment. His drinking isn’t causing him any problems, and if he can’t keep his personal space clean, at least he doesn’t let his mess spread to the rest of the house. He has his own little coop for Charlie and it’s just adorable to watch him bounce her up and down. He actually makes time for Jas. I am not requiring everyone to love Shane the way he is written, or to make space in their farmhouse for him. But please, have realistic expectations for the character that exists. And do make friends with him. He gives you an OP recipe and access to blue chickens!

#My other hot take is that people shouldn’t install mods that “fix” NPC character flaws #Yeah it bothers me too when Penny pushes George’s wheelchair without consent or when Clint gets on his “Nice Guy” hobbyhorse #But CA gave these characters flaws for a reason #Flaws add interest and depth to characters #Instead of knee jerk rejecting my discomfort with the character’s bad behavior #I can sit with it and reflect on my own behavior and values #And I can recognize the worth even in characters who don’t share my values #Or who don’t change and grow in the “right” way #After all I’m not gonna share all your values #Or always change and grow the way I ought to #But we all gotta live together and give each other a little grace #Anywho those are my hot takes #Thank you for your time #shane stardew valley #stardew valley #media analysis #media criticism #media literacy

[angelsdean]

people will say stupid things abt dean winchester everyday. the good thing is we can just say "that's dumb" and keep on being so good and sexy at media literacy. and loving dean winchester.

#sorry but why are people projecting their personal experiences with shitty family members onto dean winchester ?? #all while ignoring canon and people literally pointing out that their takes and interpretations hold no weight #like everyone is entitled to their Headcanons. but that's all they are. and no one is required to share your personal (bad) interpretation #and also ppl need to understand that no one is going to bring their headcanon into actual analysis and discussions abt canon #also analyzing canon thru your headcanons and trying to twist canon to fit what you believe while ignoring anything that contradicts it #is bad media analysis point blank. and people having actual discussions abt canon are gonna rebuttal #and debunk your claims if you have a weak argument with little support #again. headcanons are fine. do whatever you want forever in your personal sandbox. #but don't bring unsupported headcanons into discussions abt canon and present them as fact. #because they're not #and also stop acting like dean winchester is your shitty dad / uncle / brother / ex / whomstever #vic.txt

[godmademeinmspaint]

Going to say this now even though I barely post here::::: Adaptations are never meant to be a 1:1 recreation of the original source material. The goal is never to recreate the exact same experience in a different format, the whole point of remaking something in a different format is to make something new.

I don’t understand why people are out here acting like the new Netflix ATLA walked onscreen, shot the original with a 44 and declared itself the new ATLA. I’m not saying you can’t criticise anything about it or any other adaptation, I just think a lot of people need to remember that an adaptation that gives you the same experience and explores the exact same themes and doesn’t elaborate on or look at things in different angles would be utterly pointless.

#honestly disappointed with how a lot of people are treating the cast of child actors #like even if you don’t like the script writing you don’t need to come after the kids #maybe the fans just have trauma from that terrible movie and don’t know how to cope with an actually decent adaptation idk #while I agree that a lot of live action remakes of animated media are unnecessary that doesn’t instantly make them bad yk #avatar the last airbender #Atla #netflix atla #netflix avatar #avatar live action #natla #natla positivity #natla review #natla critical #avatar analysis

[eclipixnova]

all pjsk characters get mischaracterized everyday. We need to talk parts of them that hasn't been talked abt

#project sekai #pjsk #an shiraishi #akito shinonome #kohane azusawa #toya aoyagi #tsukasa tenma #rui kamishiro #nene kusanagi #emu otori #saki tenma #ichika hoshino #honami mochizuki #shiho hinomori #minori hanasato #haruka kiritani #airi momoi #shizuku hinomori #mafuyu asahina #kanade yoisaki #ena shinonome #mizuki akiyama #vivid bad squad #leo/need #more more jump #nightcord at 25:00 #wonderlands x showtime #Pjsk tumblr this is your chance to share Ur character analysis aus five or whatever in reblogs or anywhere any social media #Share your ideas cause we need more of them!!

[utilitycaster]

It's a very small thing, but from a sometimes DM's perspective, Chetney asking for the list of Novos's items is just...one of those things that separates the best D&D players from the rest of the pack. The DM creates the world, and often has a general storyline in mind, but the players are, ideally, driving the action. Railroading is a bit like murderhoboing, in that while you can have people who do it in bad faith, a lot of the time it happens because the players aren't invested enough in the world (or are too tied to a single outcome that cannot be guaranteed in a game of improv and chance), and so having players who are always looking for ways to expand the world and seek out the hooks themselves and connect with NPCs is truly what every GM wishes for.

Anyway, Travis is incredibly good at opening up these little optional avenues that he, other cast members, or Matt can pick up later and use in-game to guide the story. Maybe Bells Hells will decide they've got other priorities and the list will only serve to give us a tiny glimpse into who Novos once was, but that's still a small piece of the world we wouldn't otherwise have! Maybe it will be a fun moment of Bells Hells coming across an item down the road and make space for another interaction with the crew of the Crimson Abyss; maybe it will allow Matt to guide them towards some other important things they need to know for the Solstice plot. But because he asked for this silly list in earnest, those doors are all open in a way that feels organic and player driven.

#this is a whole massive discussion but like...there are some truly earthshatteringly good actual players #and i think that while many of them also make big flashy swings little stuff like this gets overlooked #anyway it really is like. look you do not need to like Travis's characters. i do obviously but you're entitled to dislike them #but if you do not think he is a player most GMs would kill to have at the table you're straight up bad at TTRPGs and media analysis #this is the player agency of which the prophets (twitter unfortunately) foretold in action #critical role #critical role spoilers

[androgynouspenguinexpert]

it's in your nature to protect the innocent

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #art #illustration #comic #redacted porter #porter solaire #vampire #fnaf 6 #hello its me again captain of the porter solaire train been thinkin about him bc when am i not #now using my elite media analysis skills im picking up that porter's old boss was getting (read: forcing) him to do far worse things #than pretty please kill a bad person for me #look yes murder is bad but this is blorbo tumblr cmon half of these bitches kick old ladies for fun and we still love em #anyway im at the door like a dog waiting for LOOOOOORE #but i have a suspicion that porter was caught and killed on purpose then turned so he could be tossed straight into crime

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Here is a list of words to use instead of "filler episode"!

• Episodic

• Lower-stakes episode

• Character-driven episode

• Worldbuilding episode

• "Lower-Deck" episode

You can replace "Lower-Deck" with a subject specific to your favorite show: "Clone" episodes

• Breather episode

• Bottle episode

• Slice of Life episode

• Monster of the Week episode

• Stand Alone episode

• "Skippable" episode (if you must, but at least it's better than calling a non-anime episode "filler")

#media analysis #western animation #'filler' #steven universe #the bad batch #my posts

[baambastic]

Spoilers ahead for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

I can’t stop thinking about The Last Wish (go see it if you haven’t, seriously, it’s incredible) and I wanted to talk about a moment that I think carries a lot of meaning even though it’s easy to gloss over.

I want to talk about the moments before and after Puss draws his gatito blade against El Lobo del Muerte.

During Puss’s climactic duel with Death, the Wolf slashes Puss’s boot, bats away his hat, and knocks his sword out of his hand. The Wolf is destroying the symbols of the legend of Puss in Boots, stripping Puss’s mortality bare.

But Puss is no longer defenseless before Death. He has spent the movie’s runtime building bonds with other characters, finally letting others into his life, no longer walking alone as his legend demanded. His gatito blade, given to him by Kitty Softpaws, represents this development. Puss has cast aside his legend through learning the value of his life, and in doing so, he can stand against and block Death’s blows.

Ironically, Death’s attempts to take Puss early are the very catalyst for Puss’s success in redefining himself, symbolized by Death’s blocked blow allowing Puss to reclaim his symbols—his hat and sword—with their meaning now changed by the accompaniment of the gatito blade. The unstoppable weight of Death’s scythe has quite literally pushed Puss towards a new life.

The Last Wish is packed with moments of visual symbolism, but this one in particular is the standout to me, both because and in spite of its brevity.

#the wording in this feels awkward but whatever #media analysis #visual themes #themes #symbolism #gatito #el lobo #big bad wolf #puss in boots #pib #the last wish #puss in boots the last wish #pib the last wish #puss in boots the wolf #kitty softpaws #film analysis #analysis #mortality #the last wish spoilers #🐍