Why are video essays like this?

[Waffles]

I lost all faith in video essaying after HBomberguy started making them longer, but not better. His essay on RWBY was phenomenal, but the ones that followed were painful.

 

[ThirdEidolon]

I noticed that in these last years there was a trend of long, deep analytic videos talking about the underlying sub-text of various media (from cartoons to movies while going through video games) as well as making a commentary about how "xxxx is an underrated masterpiece" for anything that didn't meet a certain popularity from people.

I also have seen how many videos online also had long intros that defines the origins or even explain the medium as if it acted as if nobody knew what it was about (we could still search about it online beforehand) so that they get quite stale and I wish they could get to the point (I don't need a history lesson about something if it's barely relevant to the main subject).

I'd also argue that many videos are also making famous quotes or engaging with a higher level of vocabulary to sound more intellectual or credible to its public rather than being more specific with technical terms.

I can understand that essays aren't meant to be short and that at school they expect you to reach a certain minimum amount of words to have at least some substance but when your video is 3 hours long it clearly shows that there is some padding to make it seemingly complete.

I wouldn't be anti-intellectualistic about people online (any form of art can get some fruitful analysis) but I also feel that these people think they're still doing a school assignment and forgot that sometimes simplicity can still be effective.

Here's a simple meme I remember seeing that perfectly represents what I'm saying:
View attachment 3419

the problem is now people want to shame you for enjoying certain "problematic media" and they believe people give a shit about their opinions, because main character syndrome.

the other fact is that people now look at old media through modern lenses, without understanding cultural context, or even trying to appreciate circumstances then, and forcing it into their own limited worldviews.

TL: DR
People are media illiterate, because they lack the context of the time and think they know everything.

 

[Ikagura]

the problem is now people want to shame you for enjoying certain "problematic media" and they believe people give a shit about their opinions, because main character syndrome.

That annoys me the most when you like something (and talk about it to others who also enjoy it) and a random person from nowhere comes up, acting like a smart*ss by telling you how the author wasn't a good person (while implying that if you like or talk good about the art form you condone/support them without the idea that you can separate the art/artist from the person) just to make themselves feel better while shaming you and other fans of said thing.

the other fact is that people now look at old media through modern lenses, without understanding cultural context, or even trying to appreciate circumstances then, and forcing it into their own limited worldviews.

Absolutely, trying to ignore the context of creation of a product to criticise its lack of modern idea is just bad faith, even something made today that is meant to be inclusive and tolerant-orientated could be seen as something that no longer is in the future.

TL: DR
People are media illiterate, because they lack the context of the time and think they know everything.

Media literacy is such a conflicting subject mostly because the first to claim that they have it end up proving they don't. Know-it-all people had always existed but the Internet just gave them a much bigger viewing range and they are the first to act almighty towards others because "they don't consume the product right".

If you dare telling some that you enjoy MGS not for the political themes around nuclear weaponry and war as an industry but for the stealth gameplay you'll probably get heavily criticised by some of them.

 

[RageBurner]

I was reading through the thread and there's just so much truth here. I'm very happy to be part of a community that is able to think and analyze instead of resorting to finger pointing and spirited yelling.

The historical context should be the starting point of any serious analysis or discussion. It's very common for essayers to attack easy targets, say Duke Nukem for instance:

if one discards the benefit of the time period, it's easy to spout things like "dated ", "crass", "misogynistic " to appear to be on the high road and gain validation, but that's disingenuous.

Everything is a product of its time and exists very much within those constraints.

 

[ATenderLad]

I was reading through the thread and there's just so much truth here. I'm very happy to be part of a community that is able to think and analyze instead of resorting to finger pointing and spirited yelling.

The historical context should be the starting point of any serious analysis or discussion. It's very common for essayers to attack easy targets, say Duke Nukem for instance:

if one discards the benefit of the time period, it's easy to spout things like "dated ", "crass", "misogynistic " to appear to be on the high road and gain validation, but that's disingenuous.

Everything is a product of its time and exists very much within those constraints.

I agree with the sentiment, (and none of this is a personal criticism of you, Rageburner) but I want to push back on the example and add a caveat. Duke Nukem *was* a crass, misogynistic title in many respects, and intentionally so. (The most generous thing I can say is that they were going for parody, but without a satirical edge it's just having their stripper cake and eating it too.) Lots of things are made to be retrograde, when placed in context.

My most personal example being my beloved James Bond series. I love those movies, but the early films in particular were made during the Swinging 60's, and were absolutely a push back to Women's Lib and the attitudes of the time. One fun example is Bond hates The Beatles, in Goldfinger, while the harshest is probably Bond raping a lesbian till she's straight, in the same movie.

I'll quit there, I think I reference movies on this video game website too often as it is. I just want to emphasize that things like feminism and liberation politics weren't invented on Youtube, your parents, grandparents, and all of our ancestors had brains and talked and acted on these things, and we shouldn't pretend they all passively accepted the world around them.

Getting older brings the gift of learning that most of the worlds struggles aren't new, it's all been the same fights.

 

[RageBurner]

I agree with the sentiment, (and none of this is a personal criticism of you, Rageburner) but I want to push back on the example and add a caveat. Duke Nukem *was* a crass, misogynistic title in many respects, and intentionally so. (The most generous thing I can say is that they were going for parody, but without a satirical edge it's just having their stripper cake and eating it too.) Lots of things are made to be retrograde, when placed in context.

My most personal example being my beloved James Bond series. I love those movies, but the early films in particular were made during the Swinging 60's, and were absolutely a push back to Women's Lib and the attitudes of the time. One fun example is Bond hates The Beatles, in Goldfinger, while the harshest is probably Bond raping a lesbian till she's straight, in the same movie.

I'll quit there, I think I reference movies on this video game website too often as it is. I just want to emphasize that things like feminism and liberation politics weren't invented on Youtube, your parents, grandparents, and all of our ancestors had brains and talked and acted on these things, and we shouldn't pretend they all passively accepted the world around them.

Getting older brings the gift of learning that most of the worlds struggles aren't new, it's all been the same fights.

You know, you're right, Duke was like that by design, actually, I needed to scratch a little deeper there. I do think a satirical take on 80s and 90s bombastic action flicks was the overall intent.

You're spot on in your line of thinking, there; the struggles are very old, even if the people getting in the ring are new.

 

[Ikagura]

I was reading through the thread and there's just so much truth here. I'm very happy to be part of a community that is able to think and analyze instead of resorting to finger pointing and spirited yelling.

The historical context should be the starting point of any serious analysis or discussion. It's very common for essayers to attack easy targets, say Duke Nukem for instance:

if one discards the benefit of the time period, it's easy to spout things like "dated ", "crass", "misogynistic " to appear to be on the high road and gain validation, but that's disingenuous.

Everything is a product of its time and exists very much within those constraints.

I'd argue that while Duke is a macho (in the strict sense) his Duke3D incarnation was actually much more nuanced than the flanderized version we got in Forever. He was video game Johnny Bravo in a way.

I still prefer characters such as Caleb and Doomguy myself.

Then you have some people having weird takes like calling Mario or Link sexist because they both save a damsel in distress (although Zelda herself became much more independent and strong in the later games).

Yes, they want to make themselves look better without making actual efforts (as usual on the net in the last decade).

Yes, even something actually progressive for its time could be deemed outdated (like Star Trek).

My most personal example being my beloved James Bond series. I love those movies, but the early films in particular were made during the Swinging 60's, and were absolutely a push back to Women's Lib and the attitudes of the time. One fun example is Bond hates The Beatles, in Goldfinger, while the harshest is probably Bond raping a lesbian till she's straight, in the same movie.

I do appreciate the books but I keep that mindset of its epoch.

The movies got "softer" with the Moore era (which was also much more comedic).

Brosnan's first movie, Goldeneye, had M calling him a "sexist, misogynistic dinosaur from the Cold War era" perhaps as an apology for the franchise having some backward views on things.

 

[RageBurner]

I'm going to ruffle feathers, but I don't like the Sean Connery phase of Bond movies.

 

[BomingWaffle]

I noticed that in these last years there was a trend of long, deep analytic videos talking about the underlying sub-text of various media (from cartoons to movies while going through video games) as well as making a commentary about how "xxxx is an underrated masterpiece" for anything that didn't meet a certain popularity from people.

I also have seen how many videos online also had long intros that defines the origins or even explain the medium as if it acted as if nobody knew what it was about (we could still search about it online beforehand) so that they get quite stale and I wish they could get to the point (I don't need a history lesson about something if it's barely relevant to the main subject).

I'd also argue that many videos are also making famous quotes or engaging with a higher level of vocabulary to sound more intellectual or credible to its public rather than being more specific with technical terms.

I can understand that essays aren't meant to be short and that at school they expect you to reach a certain minimum amount of words to have at least some substance but when your video is 3 hours long it clearly shows that there is some padding to make it seemingly complete.

I wouldn't be anti-intellectualistic about people online (any form of art can get some fruitful analysis) but I also feel that these people think they're still doing a school assignment and forgot that sometimes simplicity can still be effective.

Here's a simple meme I remember seeing that perfectly represents what I'm saying:
View attachment 3419

I feel a simple easy answer is it is a form of trend hopping and we kind of at the stage where it might die down a bit due to how similar they becoming. Not that I think it will go away, I think it will change overtime just like Let's Plays.

Copying a formula is usually the best way to go about things when if you want to be successful in a trend.

I'm starting to see a lot of people having the same criticism you have so that's why I think they gonna change their game at some point.

It might not be an interesting answer but that's how I usually view such of a phenomenon.

 

[ATenderLad]

Yes, even something actually progressive for its time could be deemed outdated (like Star Trek).

Ironically, Star Trek wasn't always progressive, different writers had their own priorities for the episodes they wrote. The final episode of the original series was, like James Bond, a shot fired at women's liberation. A bitter ex body swaps with Kirk to prove she could be in command, only to snap under the pressure of the job and "prove" that women can't hack it. The episode also implies that Starfleet has no female commanders, which went unchanged until the movies, years later. (It's also just, really, dogshit TV. That's pretty typical of season three of TOS though.)

The episode was likely a reaction to the growing presence of women in the workplace in America, and not a positive one. Like my previous post, this isn't about imposing a modern narrative, this is just looking at history and placing a work in the context it was made.

Not saying Youtuber's or whoever don't speak off the cuff about things they didn't really investigate, but we can learn and parse out the intended messaging of art no matter when it came out.

Brosnan's first movie, Goldeneye, had M calling him a "sexist, misogynistic dinosaur from the Cold War era" perhaps as an apology for the franchise having some backward views on things.

Oh for sure, Goldeneye was definitely out to establish what the role of James Bond was in the then-modern world, particularly without the Soviet Union as a villain. (It's also so, so damn good, nearly my favorite in the series.)

 

[retronerdgamer]

A friend sent me a 6 hour long video essay about Ocarina of Time praising that it's worth the time.

Screw that, ain't nobody got time for that!

What happened to the 30 min to 1 hr long reviews/videos? And that is not to say that I can't watch longform content, far from it. I don't even own tiktok or watch many Youtube shorts but I think there's a difference between a meaningful amount of time and one made for padding or rambling.

 

[Ikagura]

A friend sent me a 6 hour long video essay about Ocarina of Time praising that it's worth the time.

I understand how revolutionary OoT is for gaming but I'd rather tell someone to actually play the game than seeing a video that is as long as a trilogy of 2H movies.

What happened to the 30 min to 1 hr long reviews/videos? And that is not to say that I can't watch longform content, far from it. I don't even own tiktok or watch many Youtube shorts but I think there's a difference between a meaningful amount of time and one made for padding or rambling.

Agreed, back then people made great less than half an hour long review that were great summaries of how games were and people were fine with it.

Paradoxically the "TikTokifisation" of social networks is also an issue but in the reverse way.

 

[Yousef]

For anyone curious cybershell and Matthewmatosis are both excellent examples of content creators who only make 30-40 minute long essays

 

[Ikagura]

For anyone curious cybershell and Matthewmatosis are both excellent examples of content creators who only make 30-40 minute long essays.

I kinda like Cybershell (even if he had a big hiatus).

I never saw them as proper essays but more like reviews.

 

[retronerdgamer]

For anyone curious cybershell and Matthewmatosis are both excellent examples of content creators who only make 30-40 minute long essays

I'll keep them in mind!

I understand how revolutionary OoT is for gaming but I'd rather tell someone to actually play the game than seeing a video that is as long as a trilogy of 2H movies.


Agreed, back then people made great less than half an hour long review that were great summaries of how games were and people were fine with it.

Paradoxically the "TikTokifisation" of social networks is also an issue but in the reverse way.

I remember seeing a chick that did a 2ish hr video on how Fire Emblem Engage is bad and I agreed with some points in terms of story like it isn't as good as Three Houses for sure but gameplay is stellar and I even like the characters a lot. But then she started rambling about random crap and I just got tired of it an hour or so in. I think the problem is people don't know how to get to the point lmao or just want that sweet money from revenue...

 

[Yousef]

I kinda like Cybershell (even if he had a big hiatus).

I never saw them as proper essays but more like reviews.

That’s a good point.

 

[Ikagura]

I remember seeing a chick that did a 2ish hr video on how Fire Emblem Engage is bad and I agreed with some points in terms of story like it isn't as good as Three Houses for sure but gameplay is stellar and I even like the characters a lot. But then she started rambling about random crap and I just got tired of it an hour or so in. I think the problem is people don't know how to get to the point lmao or just want that sweet money from revenue...

Digressing is another of my pet's peeve about essayists, they are trying to make a point then get lost with another subject, they derailed so hard we even forgot what was the main subject of the video.

 

[chrismas]

Never did torture myself with many video essays (maybe Fungo's Silent Hill Retrospective from years n years ago counts?), but having encountered a few "essayists" on SNS, they've always come across as being more interested in themselves than whatever subject is at hand.

 

[Ikagura]

Never did torture myself with many video essays (maybe Fungo's Silent Hill Retrospective from years n years ago counts?), but having encountered a few "essayists" on SNS, they've always come across as being more interested in themselves than whatever subject is at hand.

So you're telling it could be a form of narcissism? I know that SNS also make people craving more recognition and likes (like in Instagram with pretty pictures).

That's an usual mechanic but this is getting a bit out of hand. The new meta is making shorts so I feel that essays will soon fade out.

 

[ATenderLad]

I'm going to ruffle feathers, but I don't like the Sean Connery phase of Bond movies.

You know, I actually know more people who like the Roger Moore movies over the rest, it's funny. Connery *is* my favorite, but that's probably nostalgia and watching them with my old man talking.

 

[Ikagura]

You know, I actually know more people who like the Roger Moore movies over the rest, it's funny. Connery *is* my favorite, but that's probably nostalgia and watching them with my old man talking.

I really like Connery as an actor though.

But my favourite JB is still Timothy Dalton.

We're digressing quite a bit there haha!

 

[BomingWaffle]

A friend sent me a 6 hour long video essay about Ocarina of Time praising that it's worth the time.

Screw that, ain't nobody got time for that!

What happened to the 30 min to 1 hr long reviews/videos? And that is not to say that I can't watch longform content, far from it. I don't even own tiktok or watch many Youtube shorts but I think there's a difference between a meaningful amount of time and one made for padding or rambling.

I think that stuff works great for leaving on the background leading to so many long ones. Probably great when working or sleeping or whatever.

I cliped the part in this live stream where someone explained why they made their video so long if u wanna hear from someone who does this:

 

[Ikagura]

I think that stuff works great for leaving on the background leading to so many long ones. Probably great when working or sleeping or whatever.

I cliped the part in this live stream where someone explained why they made their video so long if u wanna hear from someone who does this:

I noticed how playlists for multi-parts let's plays are from a bygone era where videos couldn't get too long (because of space constraints and Youtube limited time at some point) whereas gameplay videos are nowadays several hours longplays (with some slight editing to prevent grinding) which is why they're being pushed nowadays when you search a game name (unless they're boss rushes).

Even non commented videos are getting more popular whereas let's plays with voices are deemed annoying or uninteresting from someone who just wants to know where to go next.

Youtube are bad at showing you the playlist when you click on a single video and even then playlists cannot display the full title when the name of the game is shown first on mobile.

It would be better to make podcasts but then again they are also more niche and seen as outdated compared to a fully fledged illustrated video with actual gameplay and cinematics being shown.

 

[Yousef]

I noticed how playlists for multi-parts let's plays are from a bygone era where videos couldn't get too long (because of space constraints and Youtube limited time at some point) whereas gameplay videos are nowadays several hours longplays (with some slight editing to prevent grinding) which is why they're being pushed nowadays when you search a game name (unless they're boss rushes).

Even non commented videos are getting more popular whereas let's plays with voices are deemed annoying or uninteresting from someone who just wants to know where to go next.

Youtube are bad at showing you the playlist when you click on a single video and even then playlists cannot display the full title when the name of the game is shown first on mobile.

It would be better to make podcasts but then again they are also more niche and seen as outdated compared to a fully fledged illustrated video with actual gameplay and cinematics being shown.

The persona 5 Royal 100% full game walkthrough video is 111 hours long
Nor super relevant to anything said here just thought its funny to point out

 

[Somnia]

People want to talk about things that interest them and in a world where hobbies have been super monetized and all of these websites have such aggressive algorithms, it results in a lot of content creators reusing the same handful of content structures that are known to work algorithmically. They're titles that have a higher chance of grabbing people, that's really all it is.

I do agree that a lot of longform content can be shrunk down though. I love hbomberguy but so many of his videos about games could be cut in half and literally nothing would be lost because he would just spend so much time repeating the same thing over and over. He's definitely improved, but my god even when I agree with videos like Fallout 3 or Bloodborne they are agonizing to sit through.