Why canāt we just enjoy media anymore?
(Mention of SA, Rape and grooming)
Iāve had this thought for a few months now, and itās really only gotten more prevalent with recent things I found myself in, as well as the new odyssey movie.
And really, it just boils down to the fact that everyone wants to have the most moral opinion and interests when thatās not what art or media is about.
I recently read a book and hated it, my first reaction was about how I didnāt understand how this was a popular book that everyone seemed to love. I didnāt like the writing, I didnāt like the characters, I didnāt like how the women were portrayed and it had several plot holes. than I reread one of my favorite books and searched it up to try and find a fandom only to find many critiquing it with things that to me made no sense. And I kinda just had the obvious realization of confirmation bias. I can go on about my own criticism of what I love without claiming it to be bad or not worth your time but if I donāt like the media from the start I will just say itās bad even if I have the exact same things I dislike.
So why would I get so angry at someone else critiquing that book when I had the exact same reaction to one I didnāt like?
That kinda transitions into my thoughts on the odessey movie, Iāve watched multiple of the other movies, I love epic the musical, read several of the books etc. yet I donāt want to watch the new movie because of personal opinions I have, (not saying I wonāt ever watch it but Iāll wait) But everyone else seems to have such a black and white opinion on it, either they love it or hate it. Those who donāt like it even trying to find reasons why itās problematic to enjoy it. Such as how the women arenāt as much in the focus as they should, or the lack of representation for Greek people in a GREEK mythology movie. Honestly, as much as I agree with the criticism, I think people are taking it a little far with saying itās all terrible. Again, I have not watched it but many seems to still enjoy it for what it is.
A few months back I also watched a few video essays on both Killing stalking as well as the boyfriendās comic and honestly.. there is nothing wrong with either with full context? Killing stalking was never a romance, itās a psychological horror that just so happens to have MLM characters. Boyfriends got hate for being cringe
I donāt think youāre a bad person for liking any of those yet the internet acts like you shouldnāt because they donāt like it.. itās ridiculous and funny if you ask me.
You could also say that about Heartstopper which I personally have enjoyed since it came out. (I could also talk about the internets hatred for queer media, specifically MLM thatās not too sexual or WLW in general. Which influence both boyfriends and Heartstopper to be seen as cringe but makes heated rivalry so popular.. but I donāt think thatās impossible to come across online so I wonāt cover it yet)
Then thereās stuff such as booktok which I too have made criticism of in the past, and honestly I still donāt like it. But I do admit thatās because itās not my type of thing. so much of the hatred is very obviously rooted in misogyny whether I like to admit it or not. I donāt like the romanization of rape, SA or grooming as a victim of the last one myself, but I do also know that a lot of victims seek comfort in those storyās too. (Iām not getting into the Nazi romance thing here, I could make a whole post over how thatās a different conversation)
Do I think youāre a bad person for criticizing media? Absolutely not. In fact I think more people should now that media literacy is pretty much dying.
However I wish more people saw criticism more as just that rather than claiming someone else is immoral for enjoying the media. I also think people should stop being so defensive over their favorite media, admittedly that includes myself too
I also do feel like stating that I wish people were more open to taboo subjects as well, things thatās not perfect or unproblematic. In my opinion thatās a HUGE part of art. If you donāt like but a lot of people do, maybe try to see it from a different perspective or realize itās not always romantazising but just realism from a terrible world
This also isnāt hate towards anyone, again.. Iāve definitely done this a bunch too but I feel like the negativity is part of why fandom is less fun now. And maybe we should focus equally on the positives of whatever media itās about considering how much time the author or creator spent on it.
This is long enough, but this also absolutely include the coffin of andy and leyley, I am not a huge fan of it and I havenāt watched a play through since the first chapter, but to my knowledge itās not romantazising or condoning the actions in it.
To wrap it up, my main thing here is how you should just be able to enjoy what you enjoy whether someone else donāt like it, but also being able to handle that not all media is perfect or meant to be perfect. There is a lot more I could say about but again, itās long enough.
Iād love to hear other peoples opinions on this, even with other things related to it such as AI in these spaces, the reality affects reality debate or other games, books or movies thatās hated no reason or for something little or if you have an experience of this yourself
