I think that the real truth is that both "kids media has nothing deep or complex to say unlike adult media bcs kids are too dumb to understand all that so it's wasted on them and adults are actively making themselves stupider by only consuming it and nothing else" and "adult media has nothing deep or complex to say unlike kid's media bcs the average adult is too stupid to care about anything other than sex and violence and everyone who consumes adult media exclusively is making themselves stupider" are batshit sentences that have no place in serious media analysis. Both of these are so ridiculous it's legit hard for me to take anyone who says either seriously bcs tf are you talking about??
Everything has something to say. Everything is political, especially the stuff that claims to not be or that you think lacks it. If you wanna be able to truly analyze media throughly you need to be able to break down the political themes in Captain Underpants just as thoroughly as you do the ones in Moonlight, writing off any kind of art as inherently meaningless is just wrong and shows you don't have the media literacy and comprehension you claim gives you the right to that high horse you're up on.
You don't have to like certain genres, you're under no obligation to become a serious media critic, but when you claim that you dislike them bcs they have nothing to say you've taken your subjective dislike of a genre and let it destroy your ability to analyze it. It has things to say, you just don't like it enough to pay attention to them. And if you do want to expand your media literacy you also need to be able to genuinely meet any media that you hate where it is and pay attention and break down what it is or isn't saying and also what you do and don't like. It's just as important to analyze stuff you hate, how else can you understand yourself fully?
Dislike isn't the same as mediocrity, you don't like The Hunger Games or FullMetal Alchmest or Steven Universe, but you do not get to pretend your dislike means they're devoid of meaning.
Also it's kinda shitty to tell the adults trying to send good and important messages to kids that their efforts are wasted because of the genre they chose? Is it not an important skill to introduce kids to complex topics in an accessible way? It's just as crap as looking at movies like Sinners or Everything Everywhere All At Once and saying they're vapid due to their embrace of vulgarity? Weird take!!
FMA is where I first saw how the military enables and benefits from colonialism and authoritarianism and it handles it better than fucking Star Trek at times.
In This Corner of the World is an anime explicitly for adults--saw a few people saying all anime is made for dumb teenagers and that could not be further than the truth watch In This Corner of the World right now I am not asking--that handles grief and subjugation and war as well as Steven Universe.
Gravity Falls is just as good at handling conspiracy theories as the X-Files.
The Hunger Games and A Bug's life are as politically educational as Knives Out and The Matrix.
I would consider both House of Leaves and Princess Tutu valuable deconstructions of the nature of a story itself.
And One Piece, which is made for teenage boys, is so political it's had to get your head around it sometimes.
Hazbin Hotel, as much as everyone loves to hate it(and "learn to actually analyze stuff even if you hate it" includes Hazbin, "I think Vivziepop is a bitch" is not a salient critique of the actual story in front of you) is intended for adults it seems to mostly speak to teens has the same core message of The Good Place who share a similar one with Steven Universe and The Iron Giant.
Fucking Panty and Stocking explores what it means to be a proud vulgar, slutty woman in a world that demands the opposite of you just like so many other pieces of kid's media explore what it means to be proud of your differences instead of loathing them.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame shows the reality of religious extremists and how they misuse their power to oppress others as well as Les Mis and yes funny comparison but they are still so similar despite being for completely different audiences the author's message is there in both recognizable, which one is saying nothing??
None of these claims are meritless.
And tbh, all kinds of media are currently dealing with capitalism decided having something to say is stupid and being under 18 means you couldn't handle a complex concept to save your life so instead it's better to churn out sanatized slop that is designed to say nothing but still speaks so loud. New kids media seems vapid? Have you fucking seen an adult prestige tv show lately? This shit is just as poorly written and devoid of purpose (even though that does imbue them with meaning in the form of "we wanted to make money" or "haha funny concept go brrr like Andrew Wier might not have intended Project Hail Mary to say anything but that doesn't mean it didn't) like the Percy Jackson show is as badly written as The Game of Thrones and Stranger Things' finales. Being slop intentionally filled with the worst themes disguised as no meaning is not unique to kid's media. It's all of it. All of it.
Anyway my weed hit and I forgot how to waords so I go bed hopes this makes sense <3 peace and love on planet fandom okay? promose??
