I think this is a dumb trope to parrot. Media analysis and critique is valuable artistic output in its own right, and using it to process media that’s more complex, or with additional context and research, is a totally valid way to consume and engage with the content. Hell, there are plenty of video essays that I’ve watched for content that I never watched in the first place, because the analysis was highly entertaining and is much less time consuming than watching an entire several seasons of a TV show or whatever. In some cases that has made me want to go watch the content in its entirety with new appreciation, e.g. House MD.
there are plenty of video essays that I’ve watched for content that I never watched in the first place, because the analysis was highly entertaining and is much less time consuming
This makes me think of Angela Collier’s essay segment “that time I read and enjoyed Ayn Rand”, because nobody should ever have to sit through reading Atlas Shrugged.
Red Letter Media are obvious and I would guess they were the channel being referenced, but I’m not sure because they don’t do the misogyny angle.
My favorite YT critic is YMS, his output is less frequent these days but I always enjoy his takes even if I don’t agree with all of them, and he covers a lot of more artsy and niche movies, including foreign stuff that I wouldn’t even hear of otherwise.
Jenny Nicholson is the biggest source of the essays on stuff I’ll probably never watch – her video on The Vampire Diaries, for example, is unhinged and very funny. She also outputs less and less these days, but seemingly largely because her video lengths keep ballooning, her last one was a 4+ hour video about the massive failure of the Star Wars hotel.
I think this is a dumb trope to parrot. Media analysis and critique is valuable artistic output in its own right, and using it to process media that’s more complex, or with additional context and research, is a totally valid way to consume and engage with the content. Hell, there are plenty of video essays that I’ve watched for content that I never watched in the first place, because the analysis was highly entertaining and is much less time consuming than watching an entire several seasons of a TV show or whatever. In some cases that has made me want to go watch the content in its entirety with new appreciation, e.g. House MD.
This makes me think of Angela Collier’s essay segment “that time I read and enjoyed Ayn Rand”, because nobody should ever have to sit through reading Atlas Shrugged.
https://youtu.be/GmJI6qIqURA?t=1580
Recommendations, please!
Red Letter Media are obvious and I would guess they were the channel being referenced, but I’m not sure because they don’t do the misogyny angle.
My favorite YT critic is YMS, his output is less frequent these days but I always enjoy his takes even if I don’t agree with all of them, and he covers a lot of more artsy and niche movies, including foreign stuff that I wouldn’t even hear of otherwise.
Jenny Nicholson is the biggest source of the essays on stuff I’ll probably never watch – her video on The Vampire Diaries, for example, is unhinged and very funny. She also outputs less and less these days, but seemingly largely because her video lengths keep ballooning, her last one was a 4+ hour video about the massive failure of the Star Wars hotel.
Thank you!
I watched her Star Wars cruise line one a while ago and really enjoyed it. I don’t understand why they just don’t turn that into a hotel.
Kermode and Mayo’s Take Podcast and basically anything written/presented by Mark Kermode.