Why are video essays like this?

[Zemus]

Video essays are to knowledge what prostitution is to love; close enough on the surface but, to the non-sucker, not exactly the same thing.

 

[retronerdgamer]

Video essays are to knowledge what prostitution is to love; close enough on the surface but, to the non-sucker, not exactly the same thing.

Im sorry but this reply is WILD lool

 

[Ikagura]

Im sorry but this reply is WILD lool

Savage but true.

 

[Yousef]

To add to the list of video easiests I like, I believe Wes is excellent. Most of hid reviews/essays hardly go over the 20 minute mark and they have very little time wasted, shares development facts, a unique perspective, funny jokes throughout and generally fair and solid critiques.

Mega Man X Retrospectives

My review and retrospective series on the Mega Man X games

youtube.com

 

[retronerdgamer]

To add to the list of video easiests I like, I believe Wes is excellent. Most of hid reviews/essays hardly go over the 20 minute mark and they have very little time wasted, shares development facts, a unique perspective, funny jokes throughout and generally fair and solid critiques.

Mega Man X Retrospectives

My review and retrospective series on the Mega Man X games

youtube.com

That's the thing, you can do an essay without taking hours to do so. lol
Unless it's like on a show/anime like Naruto with around 700 episodes or whatever. Then I can kinda see it?

 

[Insomnia_ig]

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

Sometimes people just like talking about their favorite thing for hours. I mean if they didn't enjoy what they were talking about the video essay wouldn't exist in the first place

 

[Yousef]

That's the thing, you can do an essay without taking hours to do so. lol
Unless it's like on a show/anime like Naruto with around 700 episodes or whatever. Then I can kinda see it?

Exactly! I had a lot of fun watching Wes. Tons of relatable jokes especially since I knew Megaman memes.

 

[retronerdgamer]

Exactly! I had a lot of fun watching Wes. Tons of relatable jokes especially since I knew Megaman memes.

I need to watch em. I love Megaman. Also great pic btw I love Ace Attorney

 

[Yousef]

I need to watch em. I love Megaman. Also great pic btw I love Ace Attorney

Haha thanks!

 

[hembruh]

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.

I will never have an excuse to tell this story elsewhere so I'll post it here. I woke up one day last month thinking it would be funny to talk exclusively in a Duke Nukem voice talking like that to my wife. I did this for an hour and a half until she went to work. so later in the day I ended up at one of those gas stations that's essentially a booth behind bulletproof glass you walk up to and ask for what you want and the person inside gets it and puts it through a little window. this dude in front of me was taking forever because he was basically just standing there hitting on the visually uncomfortable girl in the window for like 10 minutes straight.

now we are standing outside, I was cold as hell, it was raining on us, and I just wanted my gas, cigarettes, hot dog, peanuts and a pepsi. I didn't realize I was still in Duke Nukem mode, and without realizing it I blurted out in the Duke impression "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR..., CHRISTMAS?" and the guy turned around to see me, a guy who looks like jesus in glasses standing there. by this point I realized what I had just done but figured I probably aught to own it, so he kept staring at me and I said "LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? WHY DON'T YOU TRY TAKING A PICTURE, IT'LL LAST LONGER" and the guy just turned around, paid and then went to his car and left. when I got to the window the woman was hysterically laughing and thanked me for getting rid of him and I told her really I'm just cold and wet and didn't want to stand out here any longer and explained I was talking like that as a joke to my girl earlier and didn't even mean to do that it just came out. that guy probably went to work or wherever he was going and told people some freak at the gas station came at him talking in one liners like an 80s action movie in a fake deep voice while he was in line for gas lol

the moral of the story is I can't do a Duke Nukem impression, instead it's like a mindset you can't turn off once it starts hahaha.

 

[Ikagura]

Sometimes people just like talking about their favorite thing for hours. I mean if they didn't enjoy what they were talking about the video essay wouldn't exist in the first place

I would still argue that talking verbally about something you're passionate about to one or several persons is absolutely not the same as reading a script about a subject aimed at thousands if not potentially millions on people around the world.

 

[Zeph]

I used to watch a lot of long-form essay videos back in 2018 - 2019 but after a certain point, I realized that people who make essay video tends to ramble a lot in their videos when they can just get straight to what their point is in less than 10 or 20 minutes. Of course there are exceptions to this, but I rarely watch them in their entirety in one sitting.

 

[Ikagura]

I used to watch a lot of long-form essay videos back in 2018 - 2019 but after a certain point, I realized that people who make essay video tends to ramble a lot in their videos when they can just get straight to what their point is in less than 10 or 20 minutes. Of course there are exceptions to this, but I rarely watch them in their entirety in one sitting.

Same thing for me, the lockdown helped around 2020 but I slowly got frustrated over the idea that they're spending too much time talking about subjects other than the main one for half the video.

This is why a good essay/script/redaction should always keep focus or else it's a failed one.

 

[Astolfo2001]

Remember when internet video reviews were mostly just a random Joe Schmoe comedically raging over and making snarky remarks on a piece of media? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

 

[Zeph]

Remember when internet video reviews were mostly just a random Joe Schmoe comedically raging over and making snarky remarks on a piece of media? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

The corporatization and monetization of the internet was a mistake. Turning making videos on the internet from a niche hobby into a full-time job and career. Thank God for all the YouTube channels that keep the spirit of 2007 alive.

 

[fmsynthetic]

Remember when internet video reviews were mostly just a random Joe Schmoe comedically raging over and making snarky remarks on a piece of media? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I think that grown men screaming about children's toys is equally as embarrassing as grown men attempting to write literary criticism about them

 

[Ikagura]

I think that grown men screaming about children's toys is equally as embarrassing as grown men attempting to write literary criticism about them

I think some were still playing characters but most failed AVGN clones didn't understand that detail.

 

[Kannibal]

I mostly find it annoying when the "video essay" basically walks us through the plot so that they can explain why the headline subject was significant. I've noticed that the ones done by experts in analytical, or even hypothetical fields, have videos under an hour long. This just shows you who's trying too hard and who has narrowed down their point of view in consumable essays.

 

[gokusmacksmyds]

I mostly find it annoying when the "video essay" basically walks us through the plot so that they can explain why the headline subject was significant. I've noticed that the ones done by experts in analytical, or even hypothetical fields, have videos under an hour long. This just shows you who's trying too hard and who has narrowed down their point of view in consumable essays.

Even worse when it's literally just a re-telling of the game's story stretched out over a few hours.
99% of longform "analysis" videos are this and as such should be disregarded

 

[BassForever]

I'll still take a 80% recap of a movie/game/etc with 20% analysis/opinion sprinkled in over videos that are 99.9% recap, especially when it's done by an ai voice. That said I agree with the general complaint, and point the finger at Doug Walker aka Nostalgia Critic who I feel tainted an entire generation for how video reviews were supposed to be made.

 

[Ikagura]

I mostly find it annoying when the "video essay" basically walks us through the plot so that they can explain why the headline subject was significant. I've noticed that the ones done by experts in analytical, or even hypothetical fields, have videos under an hour long. This just shows you who's trying too hard and who has narrowed down their point of view in consumable essays.

I think that usually scholars in universities when they're presenting something often assume that they already know the basis.

Well, on Youtube you cannot be sure if everyone knows but then why watching an essay on something you never watched? A summary is fine for refreshing memories but an essay should never spend too much time explaining the thing it's talking about... It's like having an archaeological essay that has the entire History of Mesopotamia in the first part when you're talking about its latest king.

Real experts know what they're talking about and are confident that the people they're talking to also understand easily what they're telling.

I'll still take a 80% recap of a movie/game/etc with 20% analysis/opinion sprinkled in over videos that are 99.9% recap, especially when it's done by an ai voice. That said I agree with the general complaint, and point the finger at Doug Walker aka Nostalgia Critic who I feel tainted an entire generation for how video reviews were supposed to be made.

Yes, if an essay is more about recapping then it's merely a recap with almost 0 creation.

 

[Gorse]

but then why watching an essay on something you never watched?

Because, simply put, a large amount of the audience (perhaps the majority) hasn’t actually played the game (or watched the movie or whatever) and never will. They need that base-level context to understand the video, and, once that’s out of the way, they judge the reviewer moreso than the material being discussed.

 

[Ikagura]

Because, simply put, a large amount of the audience (perhaps the majority) hasn’t actually played the game (or watched the movie or whatever) and never will. They need that base-level context to understand the video, and, once that’s out of the way, they judge the reviewer moreso than the material being discussed.

Eh, I think anyone can look at a let's play or review before tackling the essay.

Many books assume you have some base knowledge (or at least have a small glossary) not to have to explain everything each time...

 

[Zero_Kirby77]

I think most of the criticisms I have were relayed in this thread. Glad I'm not the only one noticing. Honestly, I can't watch 99% of this kind of content because most of it is the same thing rehashed over and over again- inorganically made nonsense used to fuel the algorithm sprinkled with the author's milquetoast and borderline irrelevant takes. Most of it can be summed up in less than five minutes, and (for the content that is actually worthwhile) is actually better presented in a piece written on a personal blog, but unfortunately reading isn't very popular nowadays. Worst of all, they rarely ever link their sources in the description of their videos. I can only stand to watch more obscure channels doing this stuff, usually because the videos actually are out of genuine interest in a topic, they present new information that isn't just tidbits stolen from forum posts, often the topics that they do make a video about are 'new' and relatively unknown, the titles and thumbnail and the little gimmicks they do in their videos are sincere and authentic, and if they do have an opinion on something, they bring it about in the least pretentious way possible (and usually it's in comedic good hearted fashion) without pretending they are some sort of expert (and if they are they have humility) and keep it to a minimum.

I understand why this content (and others like it such as those boorish commentary videos) is made though. It's generally low-effort and a quick way to get views. People love these videos because it gives them an oppurtunity to discuss something in the comment section with others, and it's considered good background noise when doing something else. But to me, again, I can't stand this type of content. It's a brazen reminder of how commercialized Youtube has become where everything is about garnering views and making income. To make a comparison, it's like the essay/documentary version of OnlyFans, or more specifically, prostitution as our friend Zemus made mention of:

Video essays are to knowledge what prostitution is to love; close enough on the surface but, to the non-sucker, not exactly the same thing.

My comparison is slightly different though but on a similar tone: You have to sell your soul in order to please the pimpish algorithm so you can cash in on that sweet revenue.