Great video. I really appreaciated split between good writting and metacommentary and acknowledgment that we can learn about stories from diffrent places. I think still that we are valid to see lowering of the standarts in the places once writting them. Like Disney or any particular company/director/gamedev/ect. Even if we still can find fantastic stories in other places it still can stink a little.
There are a lot of reasons why people think that. I don't think so, however. The problem isn't the writers; it's the higher-ups not letting the writers write and the artists make art. But that's not the case for everything, and there are tons of new and very original TV shows and movies, but nobody seems to care. There are tons of new shows, comics, and movies, but those do poorly when compared to the stuff that works, and that's what big companies look at. They don't care if a show or movie is good; if it gets people watching and buying merch, it's good in their eyes. It's a shame.
Fanfics are PICK in modern writing. Sometimes I read the most profound character studies and world building out there in random fics. For publishing you just need to have enough money, but to write 2000 letters in Naruto fanfic? You need talent, skill and dedication.
Objectively, saying fanfiction is cringe is like saying fan art is cringe, as both exist for the sake of a fans dedication and general enjoyment for a piece of media. I myself am not a fan of a majority of fanfiction works that consist of the general fanfiction tropes, but to assume all fanfiction is cringe, is just a gross generalization of fanfiction as a whole.
I haven't finished the video, but personally, I think we aren't less skilled at writing; it's an amalgamation of many things such as capitalism/toy selling, lack of media literacy, fear of doing something new, fear of being "woke," trying too hard to be "different," big companies not letting their artists be artists, and capitalism again. I think at the end of the day, it's not all bad, and there are tons of great stories. It's just that hating on things that already exist is apparently more fun than going out and seeing new things.
Honestly we could use a wee bit more fear of being woke. That littlt bit is the difference between stuff like Static-Shock and the Endless mediocre Pandering Pushing for equality and what have you is awesome... but this preachy agenda bullshit has to go
They should fear being woke but aren't at all. Just look at Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy lol. They don't care about how much money they're burning as along they're isolated from the major consequences
I AM someone who gets easily influenced by random youtubers too! But I do wholeheartedly agree that writing didn't get worse, it just got more visible. And usually it leads to seeing a lot of bad written media, because everyone nowadays wants to create a story, but it doesn't come with experience, so most writers are amateurs. One thing to keep in mind though, is that most great writers have made at least 2 bad stories before their first great story. This math applied to every single writer there is will naturally result in a lot of bad stories, it's been present forever, but now it just got more visible since pretty much everything happens on the internet.
I had a period in my life where I would regularly watch videos about how x thing is "woke" and has bad writing, and I grew out of it after making a few realizations. The main realization, though, is that "wokeness" isn't what's making the writing bad, but rather, like you and other commenters have said, a symptom of how corporations would rather create a shallow product that draws attention through performative progressivism for profit than something with artistic value. Even if you stripped the "wokeness" from these stories, bad stories will still be bad. Because progressivism isn't the weakest link, it's the crutch corporations use so they don't have to hire actual artists to make their stuff. I say crutch because they only ever use it as a selling point and not something inherent to the work, they know that progressivism is more profitable and that reactionaries will do some of the marketing for them by complaining about it, so they think they can get away with shallow writing because they think that being performative makes up for it. The problem at its core is that corporations don't care about artists, and if we want good stories and good representation, the solution is to support artists and their projects. Because artists understand art, diversity, and authenticity better than any executive ever will.
i feel as though “The Boys” isn’t an inherently bad show. i think that there are parts which are definitely confusing for sure. some things that just randomly happen that are weird. i mean the very first main event is A-Train running into Hughie’s girlfriend. and how that changes him as a person. i feel as thought “The Boys” is a character study. i don’t think that the writing has gotten worse, because it relies on shock factor in all aspects. it shows the damage characters have done and the weird things that super hero’s will do BECAUSE of the fact that they are super, the fact that they are above everything that they need a higher dose of dopamine so they inflict pain, or use different types of drugs or do different types of things. season 4 is most certainly weird, but NONE of the show makes sense unless you watch it from the beginning. you have to see homelander become who he is to the point where he wants destruction on “humans” people he believes is lesser than him, even though he is a human, just with super powers. he goes through a character arc of caring for a woman who is using him, until he realizes she’s using him and he tries to get rid of that. from the start of his life in a lab, he was built to be Homelander so his sense of self worth IS Homelander, the fact that we never see him without his cape or suit, is a representation of that. they build on the fact of his self worth and how he needs validation from a figure in his life, may that be a father figure like Edgar, or a Mother figure like Firecracker. they all have a role to show you how violent and hysterical he is. how people fear him, how he fears himself and will break down into a multi personality episode and talk to himself. or how he gets mad and angry at other superhumans even though he says he cares for the superhuman race, and that he hates humans, if a superhuman isn’t going with his plan, or on his side, he will try to kill them, it shows his ego and how he thinks no matter what people should be with them, or get lost. that’s all. i personally think it’s a good show, the writing certainly has gotten weirder, but that’s because they have the budget i feel, and that now they can really show out with really weird scenes and bring that shock factor they wanted so badly back.
I belive what lacks is boredom in the industry. Copying each other and stuff doesn't help but boredom is something I rarely see now, its the fuel of imagination and creativity and maybe the internet and social media has in some way stopped that boredom, which is both good for those with time and bad for those that get distracted from their ideas on more quick and effective ways of satiating that boredom.
I read a lot of self published stories and I accepted that what I'm reading is written by amateurs that are learning the writing process. If the writing is ok it's fine. If there is endless boring useless descriptions I can skip them and continue to read the interesting story if there is one. My order of preferences when I read a story : good writing+interesting story+ interesting characters > ok writing+Interesting story+interesting characters > good writting+boring story+ok characters (= not reading the full story) In media it's the same. If it's not perfect but I enjoy it's good for me (It don't need to be memorable forevermore)
I wouldn't say storytelling has declined. It's just that terrible writing has become the norm for Hollywood. There are really good weiters out there, but they never get the spotlight they deserve.
"Woke" isn't necessarily the problem, it's more of a symptom of the problem. I define it as a shoehorned left-wing message that sticks out like a sore thumb and takes you out of the story. The studios who make this stuff aren't concerned with art. Like you said, they're concerned with the big bucks and want to peddle their worldviews smack-dab in the middle of already mediocre slop
"I define it as a shoehorned left-wing message that sticks out like a sore thumb and takes you out of the story." That is *literally* the definition of woke my guy, your problem is that you think it's synonymous with "progressivism" as a whole. You're using the same logic as someone that equates all forms of leftism to communism.
@@SaberSin-mu4kt Woke means being socially conscious and aware of the nuances of socioeconomic status. Stop spreading your stupid interpretation of a word you did not define.
We need to stop legitimizing the bigotted definition of woke. A shoehorned message is a shoehorned message. People who complain about that message being too woke are bigotted imbeciles who don't want to see other people represented in media. If the issue was the shoehorned message, they would say that. But, those people conveniently fail to criticize shoehorned messages that support their perspective because they don't actually care about the quality of the writing, they're crying about not being the only subset of human being in media.
@@SaberSin-mu4kt hate to break it to you but that isn't the definition of woke. the original definition meant having knowledge on the oppression minorities face, particularly in the black community as that is where the term originated. it became twisted into a buzzword for "minority in media bad!!!" by "anti-sjw" channels and right wing politicians and influencers like ben shapiro. what's being described in ops comment isn't "woke", it's performative progressivism. no actual leftist would consider shows like magic guardian spice or velma "woke" because they aren't, just pretending to be
So if there is one thing I feel we have to address is that I believe sometimes we overrate the creator and when one problem with a story happens we freak out. I cannot deny I met subreddits such as JJK and Chainsaw Man, where both fanbases have the We Are So Over Meme and wanting both creators to cook. Could we just admit they're not always the best creators all the time. Anyone can make mistakes and we should understand even the famous creatora can make messy mistakes? Look I enjoy both stories (Though I'm more of a CSM fan than JJK) but I feel we have to recognize not every story will be perfect. I cannot deny ever since Gojo was defeated, everyone is starting to crap on Gege and some even threatening his life on Twitter. Or the CSM fans reaction to say the chapter of 167 and feeling its too inappropriate and wanting to drop off. Look guys could we please not threaten these creators because its their stories. Yes do I feel some creators may not accept criticisms (Looking at you Viziepop and Thomas Astruc). Yes. But can we understand that these creators are human too? We cannot simply believe every piece of medium is always Peak Fiction. Maybe we shouldn't obssess over a piece if it isn't our magnum opus. At the end of the day, threatening the creators is not criticism its endangerment. It's why I feel we have to understand the creators but also tread carefully between or tastes and media literacy.
man, i cannot believe the recent things and memes regarding the new season of The Boys... this all feels like the writers are just fucking with us lmfao
Not trying to be rude but you really should have revised your script. The video comes off as an unfocused vent session rather than a methodical takedown of the idea that writing has gotten worse. We go from the claim that because different mediums are so prevalent now that means people are just hyperfocused on bad stuff from one or the other, to race jokes bad, to hey Miles is cool, to the difference between meta critique and objective critique but it's all feelings anyway, each peppered with analysis of stories people complain about and you admit you haven’t watched. The presentation comes off as really farcical. It feels like you didn't investigate any one medium with enough depth to conclude whether or not its gotten worse.
In your opinion, what sort of investigation and research should I have done to prove that writing is not worse than it was before? Should I have tracked down studies? Should I have listed some statistics? How would those things assist in proving a point I never had any intention of forcing upon the viewer in the first place? I see this video as more of a thought experiment than me trying to convince or talk down to an audience. Yes, I do disagree with points made in the general discussion, but I also think it would be disingenuous to structure this video as if I have some sort of hidden truth to reveal to everyone. The only thing I reveal is my opinion and subjective view of the topic. Something which pretty much everyone does when discussing this topic, but almost no one likes to admit to. I can't 'prove' writing is not worse because I cannot prove a negative. The claim is that writing is worse because of XYZ reasons, and my rebuttal is to bring up examples and counterarguments from a wide variety of angles. But fair's fair, I could certainly try to rewrite my scripts beyond a rough draft, or do more research. At the moment, though, this is sort of just a hobby for me, and this channel isn't something I spend even 10% of my week on. I like just writing some thoughts and such down and making a video about it. Gives me plenty of opportunities to remake and redo those topics as I either learn more about them, or change my mind.
Finding good stories is so hard nowadays. I keep wanting things like breaking bad, attack on titan, things that are considered a masterpiece in their mediums and I doubt I will ever find something similar let alone as good as those stories :(
“Being half-Italian, it is my birthright to openly and passionately argue about meaningless topics. Hand gestures and all.” As a fellow half Italian, I felt that in my soul
To be honest, I think wokeism is a problem that highlights mediocrity. That said, not because wokeism is bad. Wokeism gave us Hades, Black Panther, Isaac from Castlevania , Baldurs Gate 3, and got people to look at previously unknown villains like Black Manta. The problem lies in consulting firms bullying their way into projects and almost like clockwork, using their journalistic pull to have hit pieces written on games that do not comply. That is to say : when people of an ideology say that you have to make something in accordance with this ideology or suffer, we have a problem. The thing is: right wingers are now trying to do the same thing. Slam everything they don’t like as “DEI” or “Woke” and attempt to have it cancelled. I want to live in a world with Hades 2 AND Stellar Blade. Not one or the other.
@@friedchicken4735 I actually do. It's a new hegemony of marginalized groups. Support them, pull them up, help them, and the goal being removing straightness whiteness from the center of things. But, what makes it so suffocating is how it is enforced commercially. So what we ended up getting was a mini reign of terror online where people were afraid to invoke the ire of the mob and face the "guillotine" (cancellation).
i was watching this in hopes of expanding my writing style for a future project which is a fan webcomic based off homestuck. i watched the video only thinking about it in contrast in contrast with my idea. that single goddamn frame at 14:16 made me yell, spill all my water, choke on it and throw some of it left from my mouth on my floor. unironically. i thought i was gonna die. its insane.
A very insightful watch. This is my first time coming across your channel. As a Black woman, I find your disdain for revisionist media deeply saddening. It comes across as dismissing the stories and perspectives of marginalized communities, many of whom have been historically overlooked or misrepresented. Your platform reaches a diverse audience, including people of color who see revisionist media as a crucial step towards broader representation and understanding. You say they should be analyzed as products of their time, which I agree. However it is also important to acknowledge that it is still the reality of some of these groups even today as racism still exists in our society. By outright rejecting such narratives, it may seem that you are unwilling to acknowledge and validate the complex histories and experiences of those outside the dominant culture. This stance can appear not only hurtful but also ignorant, as it overlooks the importance of inclusive storytelling in fostering empathy and social progress. Even I as a black person is uncomfortable with the casual racism in Rush hour perpetrated by a black character as this often contributes to the minimization of racism across minority groups. I urge you to consider the impact of your words as a white man and the value of diverse narratives in enriching our collective understanding. Otherwise, I did enjoy most the ideas conveyed in this video😊
There are many confounding elements in any judgment of which media eras where "good" or "bad," from nostalgia, selective memory, or even just one's tiredness with the trends of a given era. If I were, however, to pinpoint a failing in modern media, it is that writers seem to be inspired by other fiction rather than experiences with other human beings in the real world. Also, modern screenwriting advice, both professionally distributed and here on youtube, emphasizes the technical aspects of writing like plot construction, efficiency and logical consistency over any of the qualities that actually make films worth watching, like humanity, empathy, purpose or even just a desire to portray a beautiful sunrise or the inner workings of an airplane. We have become obsessed with turning the art of storytelling into something technical, something knowable, when that has never been what makes movies, books, comics, or games worthwhile.
I feel like the study of 'writing' has always been more about structure and technical skills over storytelling. And that the best storytellers/authors are people who were specialists in fields outside of writing or who had life experience beyond writing in academia. It's not really all that different from today aside from the fact that more people are exposed to it. My own personal philosophy is to put storytelling before technical skill when writing fiction. Also that inspiration comes from everywhere and everyone. We are exposed to more media, but that does not mean we are not also experiencing life and storing it away to be used in our stories. On top of that, research and fundamental understanding of certain subjects is much more readily available to us when we want to portray something accurately. If I wanted to write about a pilot, I would either have to read a lot of books on piloting a plane and interview pilots to accurately depict its nuances. These days, I can find those first hand accounts and experiences faster and easier than before. While people experience less things in person, our experience and knowledge is more accessible and fast than it ever has been. We no longer NEED to be experts to write something accurate and inspired by something (Though it would still help). We might also say that it's still inferior to first hand experience being reused for a story, but I would argue it's also superior to people who would do no research at all and make things up based on their assumptions.
@@ScritRighter I am more directing my issues toward the point that people who get into narrative media seem to be passionate about media rather than being passionate about a real world subject. This might be bigger in the anime field, but I remember a lot of older works involving the world outside of Japan, having more discussion of IRL pursuits, and involving people from many backgrounds. New works, on the other hand, seem to mostly exist in relation to the history and tropes of their medium, or of a specific genre, while centering very particular, dominantly otaku, concerns and characters. The same issue is growing around superheroes in American media, but when we get past that my ability to comment gets significantly more limited. So, in a sense, it is not the abilities that are limited, it is the mindset, assumed audience, and sense of direction.
@@jpickens189 i think those stories built from experiences still exist to the same degree, but it is easier(and sometimes more popular) to create a derivitive of a genre or story than to break new ground and serve a niche which might not exist yet.
Great video, friend👏 I initially expected your take to just boil down to "Those who complain about wokeness are bigots" but i was wrong. Your takes are very balanced and objective. You call out those of us who spend too much time being critical of media and those in media who are too antagonistic over constructive criticism. As a Nigerian, I do enjoy seeing diversity in western media but i, like most people hate wokeness mainly due to how it's all about lazy pandering and tokenism that ruins genuine diversity. As you correctly point out, most of us just want good stories with great writing and characterization. I mean, there's a reason tge Spiderverse movies, (As you show), pre-Kelvin Star Trek and anime are so popular right now, especially among us anti-woke folks. They all have diversity, use social issues/themes in their plots but are well written and not focused on pushing toxic identity politics or antagonism towards audiences. Respect to you for your balanced takes.
I don’t think modern shows are actually doing anything different politically compared to shows 20/30 years ago. As someone living in the present, you are more aware of things that are commenting on the present than things commenting on the past, something that at the time was radical and intentionally political no longer seems it. This can be annoying, sure, but it’s not really new. An equivalent of you living in the 90s would feel like Stark Trek next gen is pandering and pushing liberal propaganda, and in 20 years, there’s gonna be a version of you lamenting that the show you think is woke trash now was actually based and it’s the current all trans girl Star Trek show thats the problem.
Just had this on while cooking, but I had to double take when i heard Towering Cloud in Summer start playing. I love the story and soundtrack of Ryukishi's Umineko.
Spite and pettiness have become a major problem in entertainment. its just hate, hate, and more hate. The companies hate the fans, the fans hate the companies, Left hates the right, the right hates the left, old fans hate new fans, new fans hate old fans. its a never-ending cycle of anger, that just leaving everyone just mad... Velma was a petty fuck yo to old Scooby fans. Mr. Birchum a fuck you to democrats. Politics and spite is what ruining entertainment.
I've been binging all of your videos to try to get better at writing stuff myself and you definitely have a ton of valuable insight. Though I'm wondering what the name of the song at 0:09 is
Most of the best films and shows of all time have came out 2010 and beyond, if someone disagrees give me a list of older stuff that is better than the best modern ones.
regarding nocturne the show is pretty flawed, then again the original 4 seasons(especially the latter 2) are also very flawed, but god dam I never want to see dracula's handsome mug again except for maybe a minor cameo, dracula's story has ended and bringing him back just for the sake was one of my biggest fears I had for nocturne and I'm glad it's trying to be its own thing rather then relying on the previous seasons
I'm a fiction writer, self-published, and Media is getting worse, not only because writers don't have time to write, people don't have the attention span, or skills to take apart work anyway. If you say something is "bad" people get mad at you and act like you're the problem because "it's for fun". I'm sorry but nothing about Media today is fun. It's the illusion of fun. It's the rose tinted beer goggles of fun. People think it's fun because it it's not fun, they have nothing left.
The video was saying that writing hasn't gotten worse. Did you watch it? You are right though. You can't criticize the quality of something without people acting like you are personally attacking them or telling them they can't enjoy what they like. It's annoying.
About the subject of media getting worse, in the case of books specifically, is how common it is for a genuinely good novel to be ignored or get low sales meanwhile a mid to straight up bad novel suddenly becomes another "New York Best Seller" This causes newer writers to have no main incentive to put some effort in their work and/or rely heavily on a good editor It happens with other kinds of media as well, but i always felt this is way more common with books
I don't want to watch media with gay people and strong and independent women being the focus. Since it's clear, more and more movies and tv shows are focusing on that and the politics around the subject. I stopped watching movies and tv shows. Nobody is going to shove something down my throat that I don't want. it's that simple.
I like the editing and the pacing but I feel like your point could be better argued and some of it feels like coping. You can think writing has gotten worse without being right-wing, you know.
True, but it is typically used and talked about as a right wing grift to get people to act against inclusivity and human rights. Something which isnt often addressed in other videos that I thought my perspective could add to the discussion.
@@GrimmWitchands only season 1, after that its feels like a sitcom as writers cant really change status quo, so it dosent really feel like characters action have any actual impact
rush hour doesthat humor right thou, the joke clearly is in chris being wrong and jackie chan being really competent, and chris really getting around (what didnt age well is jackie chans politics) Also it can get liked more, like the prequels that, ogh god is it wooden dialogue, making the , oh god has it issues but good actors and the story isnt bad and good critique. Plus i dont think that was in mind, but the hanny dialogue makes it memey as hell, and good fun flawed.
I'm black and I didn't like spider verse though I mostly thought the movie was boring due to the fact that Miles never really has a motivation for being a hero and the villains were boring
I agree I’ve heard people say Ben 10 x men kim possible mulan static shock or boondocks were and I’m like no it wasn’t like if u think this u need to branch out bro
Yes, it’s a proven fact that people are getting worse at telling stories. It’s common sense to say that once people stop reading as much as they use to then writing stories will suffer. Also Visually consuming stories is completely different from reading stories. the brain doesn’t learn as much by watching. Watching movies to learn how to tell stories leaves out part of the interaction that the brain needs. The methods of learning has changed and therefore that changes the storytelling. Writers also don’t have lived human experiences as we once did nor do modern writers study the old masters of literature. In other words writers are getting dumber. This video was all over the place and repeats itself. I watched the whole thing but got bored because of the various repeating the same points over and over and the various mash up of thoughts.. when trying to make a solid point, it’s always better to be keep it simple/be concise and straight to the point.
It's a 'proven fact' and yet you've not listed more than an opinion. It's 'common sense' until you think about the fact that 'common sense' is not always 'truth'. We learn about stories in a multitude of different ways compared to how we did before. Not just movies, but TV shows, comic books, video games, and beyond. On top of that, we also review and reflect on those stories a lot more, and general audiences will deconstruct and critique a story more than they did before. One aspect of learning is repetition. Not everything you read about is fully understood until it is reviewed and pondered. Not everything is comprehended the first time you watch it. Sometimes things need to be put in a different way or seen from a different angle. Another proven fact (Which I discuss in another video) is that human beings have become a lot better at deciding what we do and do not want to engage with. There is a wide breadth of content and most people will simply swipe away or click off. And yet you chose to engage fully with my video, so thanks for that.
@@ScritRighter yes to find this proven fact, all one with critical thinking skills has to do is look at modern cinema, modern storytelling in literature, modern animation, modern comic books. Stories written by modern writers have turned to garbage and aren’t memorable or meaningful. It all feels empty. That’s why readers , moviegoers keep complaining and turns to the nostalgia of past materials. Old material is selling more now
@@resistancepublishing What does 'Modern ' mean to you? You're painting all of these things with a massively broad brush. What year are things not considered to be 'modern'?
@@resistancepublishing So this includes: All of the Tarantino Filmography, Every Stephen King novel after Langoliers Game of Thrones(Including the books), The LOTR movies, Avatar The Last Airbender, The Joker, Attack on Titan, Batman The Animated Series, Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Smiling Friends, EVA, Fight Club, Good Will Hunting, Silence of the Lambs American Psycho, Inglorious Basterds, The Pursuit of Happyness, Parasite, Freiren, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop...
Love to see the generically named channels with paragraph long comments trying to shoot down the video and the points made. Also love that said accounts only have comments on this one channel, have no subscribers, and had been made only after this video was published. This world is full of fun little coincidences.
Huh, didn’t realize video essays is a male leaning demographic-female video essay enjoyer
You're part of the 22% on my channel
07
i thought it was a trans people thing lol 🤭
Neather did I.
Great video. I really appreaciated split between good writting and metacommentary and acknowledgment that we can learn about stories from diffrent places. I think still that we are valid to see lowering of the standarts in the places once writting them. Like Disney or any particular company/director/gamedev/ect. Even if we still can find fantastic stories in other places it still can stink a little.
I'm not sure how anyone would argue that popular fiction hasn't gotten worse. Or at least isn't as open to new ideas as it used to be.
There are a lot of reasons why people think that. I don't think so, however. The problem isn't the writers; it's the higher-ups not letting the writers write and the artists make art. But that's not the case for everything, and there are tons of new and very original TV shows and movies, but nobody seems to care. There are tons of new shows, comics, and movies, but those do poorly when compared to the stuff that works, and that's what big companies look at. They don't care if a show or movie is good; if it gets people watching and buying merch, it's good in their eyes. It's a shame.
@@ONEPEAKFRFRI feel like it's both
Define 'Popular Media'.
@@ScritRightersmart response
Fanfics are PICK in modern writing. Sometimes I read the most profound character studies and world building out there in random fics.
For publishing you just need to have enough money, but to write 2000 letters in Naruto fanfic? You need talent, skill and dedication.
...or boredom and no life, face it fanfiction is and always has been trash.
Objectively, saying fanfiction is cringe is like saying fan art is cringe, as both exist for the sake of a fans dedication and general enjoyment for a piece of media. I myself am not a fan of a majority of fanfiction works that consist of the general fanfiction tropes, but to assume all fanfiction is cringe, is just a gross generalization of fanfiction as a whole.
I haven't finished the video, but personally, I think we aren't less skilled at writing; it's an amalgamation of many things such as capitalism/toy selling, lack of media literacy, fear of doing something new, fear of being "woke," trying too hard to be "different," big companies not letting their artists be artists, and capitalism again.
I think at the end of the day, it's not all bad, and there are tons of great stories. It's just that hating on things that already exist is apparently more fun than going out and seeing new things.
Honestly we could use a wee bit more fear of being woke.
That littlt bit is the difference between stuff like Static-Shock and the Endless mediocre Pandering
Pushing for equality and what have you is awesome... but this preachy agenda bullshit has to go
They should fear being woke but aren't at all. Just look at Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy lol. They don't care about how much money they're burning as along they're isolated from the major consequences
I AM someone who gets easily influenced by random youtubers too! But I do wholeheartedly agree that writing didn't get worse, it just got more visible. And usually it leads to seeing a lot of bad written media, because everyone nowadays wants to create a story, but it doesn't come with experience, so most writers are amateurs.
One thing to keep in mind though, is that most great writers have made at least 2 bad stories before their first great story. This math applied to every single writer there is will naturally result in a lot of bad stories, it's been present forever, but now it just got more visible since pretty much everything happens on the internet.
I had a period in my life where I would regularly watch videos about how x thing is "woke" and has bad writing, and I grew out of it after making a few realizations. The main realization, though, is that "wokeness" isn't what's making the writing bad, but rather, like you and other commenters have said, a symptom of how corporations would rather create a shallow product that draws attention through performative progressivism for profit than something with artistic value. Even if you stripped the "wokeness" from these stories, bad stories will still be bad. Because progressivism isn't the weakest link, it's the crutch corporations use so they don't have to hire actual artists to make their stuff. I say crutch because they only ever use it as a selling point and not something inherent to the work, they know that progressivism is more profitable and that reactionaries will do some of the marketing for them by complaining about it, so they think they can get away with shallow writing because they think that being performative makes up for it. The problem at its core is that corporations don't care about artists, and if we want good stories and good representation, the solution is to support artists and their projects. Because artists understand art, diversity, and authenticity better than any executive ever will.
i feel as though “The Boys” isn’t an inherently bad show. i think that there are parts which are definitely confusing for sure. some things that just randomly happen that are weird. i mean the very first main event is A-Train running into Hughie’s girlfriend. and how that changes him as a person. i feel as thought “The Boys” is a character study. i don’t think that the writing has gotten worse, because it relies on shock factor in all aspects. it shows the damage characters have done and the weird things that super hero’s will do BECAUSE of the fact that they are super, the fact that they are above everything that they need a higher dose of dopamine so they inflict pain, or use different types of drugs or do different types of things. season 4 is most certainly weird, but NONE of the show makes sense unless you watch it from the beginning. you have to see homelander become who he is to the point where he wants destruction on “humans” people he believes is lesser than him, even though he is a human, just with super powers. he goes through a character arc of caring for a woman who is using him, until he realizes she’s using him and he tries to get rid of that. from the start of his life in a lab, he was built to be Homelander so his sense of self worth IS Homelander, the fact that we never see him without his cape or suit, is a representation of that. they build on the fact of his self worth and how he needs validation from a figure in his life, may that be a father figure like Edgar, or a Mother figure like Firecracker. they all have a role to show you how violent and hysterical he is. how people fear him, how he fears himself and will break down into a multi personality episode and talk to himself. or how he gets mad and angry at other superhumans even though he says he cares for the superhuman race, and that he hates humans, if a superhuman isn’t going with his plan, or on his side, he will try to kill them, it shows his ego and how he thinks no matter what people should be with them, or get lost. that’s all. i personally think it’s a good show, the writing certainly has gotten weirder, but that’s because they have the budget i feel, and that now they can really show out with really weird scenes and bring that shock factor they wanted so badly back.
I belive what lacks is boredom in the industry.
Copying each other and stuff doesn't help but boredom is something I rarely see now, its the fuel of imagination and creativity and maybe the internet and social media has in some way stopped that boredom, which is both good for those with time and bad for those that get distracted from their ideas on more quick and effective ways of satiating that boredom.
I read a lot of self published stories and I accepted that what I'm reading is written by amateurs that are learning the writing process. If the writing is ok it's fine. If there is endless boring useless descriptions I can skip them and continue to read the interesting story if there is one.
My order of preferences when I read a story : good writing+interesting story+ interesting characters > ok writing+Interesting story+interesting characters > good writting+boring story+ok characters (= not reading the full story)
In media it's the same. If it's not perfect but I enjoy it's good for me (It don't need to be memorable forevermore)
I wouldn't say storytelling has declined. It's just that terrible writing has become the norm for Hollywood. There are really good weiters out there, but they never get the spotlight they deserve.
"Woke" isn't necessarily the problem, it's more of a symptom of the problem. I define it as a shoehorned left-wing message that sticks out like a sore thumb and takes you out of the story. The studios who make this stuff aren't concerned with art. Like you said, they're concerned with the big bucks and want to peddle their worldviews smack-dab in the middle of already mediocre slop
"I define it as a shoehorned left-wing message that sticks out like a sore thumb and takes you out of the story."
That is *literally* the definition of woke my guy, your problem is that you think it's synonymous with "progressivism" as a whole. You're using the same logic as someone that equates all forms of leftism to communism.
@@SaberSin-mu4kt Woke means being socially conscious and aware of the nuances of socioeconomic status. Stop spreading your stupid interpretation of a word you did not define.
We need to stop legitimizing the bigotted definition of woke. A shoehorned message is a shoehorned message. People who complain about that message being too woke are bigotted imbeciles who don't want to see other people represented in media. If the issue was the shoehorned message, they would say that. But, those people conveniently fail to criticize shoehorned messages that support their perspective because they don't actually care about the quality of the writing, they're crying about not being the only subset of human being in media.
@@SaberSin-mu4kt hate to break it to you but that isn't the definition of woke. the original definition meant having knowledge on the oppression minorities face, particularly in the black community as that is where the term originated. it became twisted into a buzzword for "minority in media bad!!!" by "anti-sjw" channels and right wing politicians and influencers like ben shapiro. what's being described in ops comment isn't "woke", it's performative progressivism. no actual leftist would consider shows like magic guardian spice or velma "woke" because they aren't, just pretending to be
Both of you are correct tho
So if there is one thing I feel we have to address is that I believe sometimes we overrate the creator and when one problem with a story happens we freak out. I cannot deny I met subreddits such as JJK and Chainsaw Man, where both fanbases have the We Are So Over Meme and wanting both creators to cook. Could we just admit they're not always the best creators all the time. Anyone can make mistakes and we should understand even the famous creatora can make messy mistakes?
Look I enjoy both stories (Though I'm more of a CSM fan than JJK) but I feel we have to recognize not every story will be perfect. I cannot deny ever since Gojo was defeated, everyone is starting to crap on Gege and some even threatening his life on Twitter. Or the CSM fans reaction to say the chapter of 167 and feeling its too inappropriate and wanting to drop off.
Look guys could we please not threaten these creators because its their stories. Yes do I feel some creators may not accept criticisms (Looking at you Viziepop and Thomas Astruc). Yes. But can we understand that these creators are human too? We cannot simply believe every piece of medium is always Peak Fiction. Maybe we shouldn't obssess over a piece if it isn't our magnum opus. At the end of the day, threatening the creators is not criticism its endangerment. It's why I feel we have to understand the creators but also tread carefully between or tastes and media literacy.
13:25 forget 2 seasons, most Netflix shows hope they should they make it A season
I love your videos man keep up the good work
man, i cannot believe the recent things and memes regarding the new season of The Boys... this all feels like the writers are just fucking with us lmfao
Ok. 2 minutes in. A peer who analyzes storytelling and writing like myself? AND you called out the 'dudebro' critics 💀 Subscribed
Not trying to be rude but you really should have revised your script. The video comes off as an unfocused vent session rather than a methodical takedown of the idea that writing has gotten worse.
We go from the claim that because different mediums are so prevalent now that means people are just hyperfocused on bad stuff from one or the other, to race jokes bad, to hey Miles is cool, to the difference between meta critique and objective critique but it's all feelings anyway, each peppered with analysis of stories people complain about and you admit you haven’t watched.
The presentation comes off as really farcical. It feels like you didn't investigate any one medium with enough depth to conclude whether or not its gotten worse.
In your opinion, what sort of investigation and research should I have done to prove that writing is not worse than it was before?
Should I have tracked down studies? Should I have listed some statistics? How would those things assist in proving a point I never had any intention of forcing upon the viewer in the first place?
I see this video as more of a thought experiment than me trying to convince or talk down to an audience. Yes, I do disagree with points made in the general discussion, but I also think it would be disingenuous to structure this video as if I have some sort of hidden truth to reveal to everyone. The only thing I reveal is my opinion and subjective view of the topic. Something which pretty much everyone does when discussing this topic, but almost no one likes to admit to. I can't 'prove' writing is not worse because I cannot prove a negative. The claim is that writing is worse because of XYZ reasons, and my rebuttal is to bring up examples and counterarguments from a wide variety of angles.
But fair's fair, I could certainly try to rewrite my scripts beyond a rough draft, or do more research. At the moment, though, this is sort of just a hobby for me, and this channel isn't something I spend even 10% of my week on. I like just writing some thoughts and such down and making a video about it. Gives me plenty of opportunities to remake and redo those topics as I either learn more about them, or change my mind.
Finding good stories is so hard nowadays. I keep wanting things like breaking bad, attack on titan, things that are considered a masterpiece in their mediums and I doubt I will ever find something similar let alone as good as those stories :(
4:04, you just described the live action yuyu hakusho lol (still pretty good for a live action anime)
This is not art, this is business
It seems like art isn't really a thing anymore all we have is what company's think will make money
Dumb excuse. Art and commerce had been successfully combined in the past time and time again.
“Being half-Italian, it is my birthright to openly and passionately argue about meaningless topics. Hand gestures and all.”
As a fellow half Italian, I felt that in my soul
To be honest, I think wokeism is a problem that highlights mediocrity.
That said, not because wokeism is bad.
Wokeism gave us Hades, Black Panther, Isaac from Castlevania , Baldurs Gate 3, and got people to look at previously unknown villains like Black Manta.
The problem lies in consulting firms bullying their way into projects and almost like clockwork, using their journalistic pull to have hit pieces written on games that do not comply.
That is to say : when people of an ideology say that you have to make something in accordance with this ideology or suffer, we have a problem.
The thing is: right wingers are now trying to do the same thing.
Slam everything they don’t like as “DEI” or “Woke” and attempt to have it cancelled.
I want to live in a world with Hades 2 AND Stellar Blade.
Not one or the other.
What does Stellar Blade have to do with woke. Also, Wokeism as a word sound kind of stupid.
You clearly do not know what the definition of "woke" means
Wait how is black panther a good example? That movies suc7s very hard, blade is good.
@@friedchicken4735yeah
@@friedchicken4735 I actually do. It's a new hegemony of marginalized groups. Support them, pull them up, help them, and the goal being removing straightness whiteness from the center of things.
But, what makes it so suffocating is how it is enforced commercially.
So what we ended up getting was a mini reign of terror online where people were afraid to invoke the ire of the mob and face the "guillotine" (cancellation).
Fantastic vid, wonderfully insightful, and good pacing.
i was watching this in hopes of expanding my writing style for a future project which is a fan webcomic based off homestuck. i watched the video only thinking about it in contrast in contrast with my idea. that single goddamn frame at 14:16 made me yell, spill all my water, choke on it and throw some of it left from my mouth on my floor. unironically. i thought i was gonna die. its insane.
A very insightful watch. This is my first time coming across your channel. As a Black woman, I find your disdain for revisionist media deeply saddening. It comes across as dismissing the stories and perspectives of marginalized communities, many of whom have been historically overlooked or misrepresented. Your platform reaches a diverse audience, including people of color who see revisionist media as a crucial step towards broader representation and understanding. You say they should be analyzed as products of their time, which I agree. However it is also important to acknowledge that it is still the reality of some of these groups even today as racism still exists in our society. By outright rejecting such narratives, it may seem that you are unwilling to acknowledge and validate the complex histories and experiences of those outside the dominant culture. This stance can appear not only hurtful but also ignorant, as it overlooks the importance of inclusive storytelling in fostering empathy and social progress. Even I as a black person is uncomfortable with the casual racism in Rush hour perpetrated by a black character as this often contributes to the minimization of racism across minority groups. I urge you to consider the impact of your words as a white man and the value of diverse narratives in enriching our collective understanding. Otherwise, I did enjoy most the ideas conveyed in this video😊
There are many confounding elements in any judgment of which media eras where "good" or "bad," from nostalgia, selective memory, or even just one's tiredness with the trends of a given era. If I were, however, to pinpoint a failing in modern media, it is that writers seem to be inspired by other fiction rather than experiences with other human beings in the real world. Also, modern screenwriting advice, both professionally distributed and here on youtube, emphasizes the technical aspects of writing like plot construction, efficiency and logical consistency over any of the qualities that actually make films worth watching, like humanity, empathy, purpose or even just a desire to portray a beautiful sunrise or the inner workings of an airplane. We have become obsessed with turning the art of storytelling into something technical, something knowable, when that has never been what makes movies, books, comics, or games worthwhile.
I feel like the study of 'writing' has always been more about structure and technical skills over storytelling. And that the best storytellers/authors are people who were specialists in fields outside of writing or who had life experience beyond writing in academia. It's not really all that different from today aside from the fact that more people are exposed to it.
My own personal philosophy is to put storytelling before technical skill when writing fiction. Also that inspiration comes from everywhere and everyone. We are exposed to more media, but that does not mean we are not also experiencing life and storing it away to be used in our stories.
On top of that, research and fundamental understanding of certain subjects is much more readily available to us when we want to portray something accurately.
If I wanted to write about a pilot, I would either have to read a lot of books on piloting a plane and interview pilots to accurately depict its nuances. These days, I can find those first hand accounts and experiences faster and easier than before. While people experience less things in person, our experience and knowledge is more accessible and fast than it ever has been. We no longer NEED to be experts to write something accurate and inspired by something (Though it would still help).
We might also say that it's still inferior to first hand experience being reused for a story, but I would argue it's also superior to people who would do no research at all and make things up based on their assumptions.
@@ScritRighter I am more directing my issues toward the point that people who get into narrative media seem to be passionate about media rather than being passionate about a real world subject. This might be bigger in the anime field, but I remember a lot of older works involving the world outside of Japan, having more discussion of IRL pursuits, and involving people from many backgrounds. New works, on the other hand, seem to mostly exist in relation to the history and tropes of their medium, or of a specific genre, while centering very particular, dominantly otaku, concerns and characters. The same issue is growing around superheroes in American media, but when we get past that my ability to comment gets significantly more limited. So, in a sense, it is not the abilities that are limited, it is the mindset, assumed audience, and sense of direction.
@@jpickens189 i think those stories built from experiences still exist to the same degree, but it is easier(and sometimes more popular) to create a derivitive of a genre or story than to break new ground and serve a niche which might not exist yet.
Great video, friend👏 I initially expected your take to just boil down to "Those who complain about wokeness are bigots" but i was wrong. Your takes are very balanced and objective. You call out those of us who spend too much time being critical of media and those in media who are too antagonistic over constructive criticism. As a Nigerian, I do enjoy seeing diversity in western media but i, like most people hate wokeness mainly due to how it's all about lazy pandering and tokenism that ruins genuine diversity. As you correctly point out, most of us just want good stories with great writing and characterization. I mean, there's a reason tge Spiderverse movies,
(As you show), pre-Kelvin Star Trek and anime are so popular right now, especially among us anti-woke folks. They all have diversity, use social issues/themes in their plots but are well written and not focused on pushing toxic identity politics or antagonism towards audiences. Respect to you for your balanced takes.
I don’t think modern shows are actually doing anything different politically compared to shows 20/30 years ago. As someone living in the present, you are more aware of things that are commenting on the present than things commenting on the past, something that at the time was radical and intentionally political no longer seems it. This can be annoying, sure, but it’s not really new.
An equivalent of you living in the 90s would feel like Stark Trek next gen is pandering and pushing liberal propaganda, and in 20 years, there’s gonna be a version of you lamenting that the show you think is woke trash now was actually based and it’s the current all trans girl Star Trek show thats the problem.
Just had this on while cooking, but I had to double take when i heard Towering Cloud in Summer start playing. I love the story and soundtrack of Ryukishi's Umineko.
For a second, i thought this was going to be existential dread that all of it is bad. Good thing that's not the case 😅.
Great video!
Spite and pettiness have become a major problem in entertainment. its just hate, hate, and more hate. The companies hate the fans, the fans hate the companies, Left hates the right, the right hates the left, old fans hate new fans, new fans hate old fans. its a never-ending cycle of anger, that just leaving everyone just mad... Velma was a petty fuck yo to old Scooby fans. Mr. Birchum a fuck you to democrats. Politics and spite is what ruining entertainment.
“Click the video in the corner of the video”
Bruh where’s the video?
27:37 what is this scene from and what is the context, for this dead hornet
I've been binging all of your videos to try to get better at writing stuff myself and you definitely have a ton of valuable insight. Though I'm wondering what the name of the song at 0:09 is
4:15 Literally every single Duwang Johnson movie ever.
Most of the best films and shows of all time have came out 2010 and beyond, if someone disagrees give me a list of older stuff that is better than the best modern ones.
23:49 Hey Future Scrit might just be onto something!-
Lmao good video.
The problem is not the "woke" but when it's unnecessarily imposed in a story to appeal to a wider audience
regarding nocturne the show is pretty flawed, then again the original 4 seasons(especially the latter 2) are also very flawed, but god dam I never want to see dracula's handsome mug again except for maybe a minor cameo, dracula's story has ended and bringing him back just for the sake was one of my biggest fears I had for nocturne and I'm glad it's trying to be its own thing rather then relying on the previous seasons
I'm a fiction writer, self-published, and Media is getting worse, not only because writers don't have time to write, people don't have the attention span, or skills to take apart work anyway. If you say something is "bad" people get mad at you and act like you're the problem because "it's for fun". I'm sorry but nothing about Media today is fun. It's the illusion of fun. It's the rose tinted beer goggles of fun. People think it's fun because it it's not fun, they have nothing left.
The video was saying that writing hasn't gotten worse. Did you watch it? You are right though. You can't criticize the quality of something without people acting like you are personally attacking them or telling them they can't enjoy what they like. It's annoying.
@@kyrus4989
I'm saying it's gotten worse, it absolutely has. People who have no media literacy skills don't like when you point it out.
People have always been insecure about criticism, that isn’t anything new
@@HansHammertime
Yeah but it's become to the point where they confuse the shows they watch with a personality.
About the subject of media getting worse, in the case of books specifically, is how common it is for a genuinely good novel to be ignored or get low sales meanwhile a mid to straight up bad novel suddenly becomes another "New York Best Seller"
This causes newer writers to have no main incentive to put some effort in their work and/or rely heavily on a good editor
It happens with other kinds of media as well, but i always felt this is way more common with books
Interesting perspective
But I do think most current writters are less talented overall
Ignoring politics, it feels that a lot of current stories have gotten more juvenile and less "authentic".
I don't want to watch media with gay people and strong and independent women being the focus. Since it's clear, more and more movies and tv shows are focusing on that and the politics around the subject. I stopped watching movies and tv shows. Nobody is going to shove something down my throat that I don't want. it's that simple.
I like the editing and the pacing but I feel like your point could be better argued and some of it feels like coping. You can think writing has gotten worse without being right-wing, you know.
True, but it is typically used and talked about as a right wing grift to get people to act against inclusivity and human rights. Something which isnt often addressed in other videos that I thought my perspective could add to the discussion.
@@ScritRighter fair enough
My guy said its corporate greed and not wokeness implying they arent the same thing
He's a contrarion
Define wokeness
They aren't
Isn’t it a good thing if the cultural climate makes generally helpful and progressive messages profitable?
Writing is not worse, the bar to entry has just become smaller, and people have become far too loud
yea sure
but what is your opinion on the boys?
Haven't watched it, but I read a bit of the comic. Comic was painfully mid, but it had some decent moments and fun ideas.
@ScritRighter the series is waaaaaaay better, give it a shot
@@GrimmWitchands only season 1, after that its feels like a sitcom as writers cant really change status quo, so it dosent really feel like characters action have any actual impact
@@rolik2592 let him watch the show and have him form his own opinions
@@fordgt5383 what are u mentally handicapped?
rush hour doesthat humor right thou, the joke clearly is in chris being wrong and jackie chan being really competent, and chris really getting around
(what didnt age well is jackie chans politics)
Also it can get liked more, like the prequels that, ogh god is it wooden dialogue, making the , oh god has it issues but good actors and the story isnt bad and good critique. Plus i dont think that was in mind, but the hanny dialogue makes it memey as hell, and good fun flawed.
holy shit heartful cry
@@365reale what does that mean?
@@ONEPEAKFRFR song in 9:45-13:20 lol
umineko music ?
I'm black and I didn't like spider verse though I mostly thought the movie was boring due to the fact that Miles never really has a motivation for being a hero and the villains were boring
Fair critique tbh. But I would say Mile's motivation is a mix of guilt and a sense of personal responsibility for becoming Spider-Man.
I like the video
Listen to The Kingmaker Histories
Support for the algo
Acknowledging my supporters to form a parasocial bond for the algo.
yay, nuance.
I agree I’ve heard people say Ben 10 x men kim possible mulan static shock or boondocks were and I’m like no it wasn’t like if u think this u need to branch out bro
Yes, it’s a proven fact that people are getting worse at telling stories. It’s common sense to say that once people stop reading as much as they use to then writing stories will suffer. Also Visually consuming stories is completely different from reading stories. the brain doesn’t learn as much by watching. Watching movies to learn how to tell stories leaves out part of the interaction that the brain needs. The methods of learning has changed and therefore that changes the storytelling. Writers also don’t have lived human experiences as we once did nor do modern writers study the old masters of literature. In other words writers are getting dumber.
This video was all over the place and repeats itself. I watched the whole thing but got bored because of the various repeating the same points over and over and the various mash up of thoughts.. when trying to make a solid point, it’s always better to be keep it simple/be concise and straight to the point.
It's a 'proven fact' and yet you've not listed more than an opinion. It's 'common sense' until you think about the fact that 'common sense' is not always 'truth'.
We learn about stories in a multitude of different ways compared to how we did before. Not just movies, but TV shows, comic books, video games, and beyond. On top of that, we also review and reflect on those stories a lot more, and general audiences will deconstruct and critique a story more than they did before.
One aspect of learning is repetition. Not everything you read about is fully understood until it is reviewed and pondered. Not everything is comprehended the first time you watch it. Sometimes things need to be put in a different way or seen from a different angle.
Another proven fact (Which I discuss in another video) is that human beings have become a lot better at deciding what we do and do not want to engage with. There is a wide breadth of content and most people will simply swipe away or click off.
And yet you chose to engage fully with my video, so thanks for that.
@@ScritRighter yes to find this proven fact, all one with critical thinking skills has to do is look at modern cinema, modern storytelling in literature, modern animation, modern comic books. Stories written by modern writers have turned to garbage and aren’t memorable or meaningful. It all feels empty. That’s why readers , moviegoers keep complaining and turns to the nostalgia of past materials. Old material is selling more now
@@resistancepublishing What does 'Modern ' mean to you? You're painting all of these things with a massively broad brush. What year are things not considered to be 'modern'?
@@ScritRighter modern meaning anything from 1990 till present day.
@@resistancepublishing So this includes: All of the Tarantino Filmography, Every Stephen King novel after Langoliers Game of Thrones(Including the books), The LOTR movies, Avatar The Last Airbender, The Joker, Attack on Titan, Batman The Animated Series, Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Smiling Friends, EVA, Fight Club, Good Will Hunting, Silence of the Lambs American Psycho, Inglorious Basterds, The Pursuit of Happyness, Parasite, Freiren, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop...
Marvel movies and shows are 90% good. Not sure why people keep dunking on them.
Love to see the generically named channels with paragraph long comments trying to shoot down the video and the points made. Also love that said accounts only have comments on this one channel, have no subscribers, and had been made only after this video was published.
This world is full of fun little coincidences.
I'm creating so many new people from thin air. Am I a god?
Hi Mr algorithm
Howdy, it's me. Al Gore Etham
The Boys S4 is so bad. They stopped any attempts at good writing
I mean if you didn’t watch it
The boys s4 is so- 😴😴 we get it you don't want Frenchie to be gay and you don't like how starlight has changed physically
Late capitalism babyyyyyyyyy
mn
@@ratangarimella8667 ?
cf
@@ratangarimella8667 ?
Attack on Titan and Jojo parts 1-7 have such horrible prose that Hamlet would blush.
JJBA doesn't suffer from it besides it just being awkward and unusual
why does youtube keep showing me these low view terrible videos
You love to hate me 😌
OMG U USED A CLIP FROM .HACK//SIGNNN!!! I fucking love .hack//sign. ur videos are great btw.