I don't like the modern cartoon community (vent/rant)
Jul 13, 2024 22:46:43 GMT
Happy Brian, extremewreck2000, and 2 more like this
Post by toonimal on Jul 13, 2024 22:46:43 GMT
(Note: If you're expecting me to call others "cringe", this is not the post for you. I hate cringe culture and people who judge others personally):
I believe that everyone is entitled to their own subjective opinion, and that taste is only a subjective matter.
I also believe that constructive criticism is a valuable tool that helps us understand and inspire other perspectives than our own of art, and can not only improve one's later works, but other people's works as well. Of course not everyone needs to pertain to one's criticisms, and that's respectable as well.
The majority of the cartoon community no longer believes in this. They believe that literally any piece of media criticized by a large group of people is "overhated", and insult them for disliking art that they enjoy. For having different taste. I see this constantly on several cartoon related subreddits.
I say "no longer believes this" because I actually do remember a time when this community would literally emphasize how important it was, and statistically impossible, for everyone to agree with each other, and how that was okay. It was considered okay to dislike something, and give reasons as to why.
Yes, there were some people who would act up over criticism of shows/movies they liked, along with using the excuse that "it's a kids movie/show [so therefore it is excused from criticism]" even back then too. I personally think that people who use that excuse are basically admitting that they think the show/movie they're talking about it bad, without blatantly stating it.
But it was heavily emphasized in the cartoon community that kids media is still art. It's art that has value, and is worked by a team of adults getting paid to put effort into their works. It's not just some easy quick buck, people actually have to write something entertaining.
That's not the case anymore. It's now "Teen Titans Go, modern SpongeBob, Fanboy and Chum Chum, Breadwinners, Sanjay and Craig, Planet Sheen, etc. are all overhated and are actually good shows made just for kids, and anyone who dislikes them, regardless of the reason, is wrong and you are a joyless asshole manbaby if you disagree."
I also keep seeing the phrase "it's not that deep" frequently used in response to really detailed criticisms or interpretations, even when it literally is. Art discusses deep topics all of the time even in old kids shows. Either that or I see people say they don't want to read a really long post, and comment anyway (usually that they don't want to read the whole post, or make try to rebuttal using a point that was already mentioned in the post). Why is being illiterate a flex now?
It boggles my mind that people started insulting others who disliked the Paramount+ Knuckles show because it hardly featured Knuckles and had human characters they didn't like. It also surprises me that people insulted others for not liking that the Mario movie, and telling them that they're "out of touch" for expecting a story out of a theatrical adaptation. Imagine if the LEGO movie was literally just a compilation of live action people building legos in a non-thematic/fantasy sense like the actual movie, or was one of those generic straight to dvd Lego films. It wouldn't have had the same impact at all.
I want to emphasize that it's okay to like any of the shows/movies I mentioned. I'm just tired of people acting like their opinions are objectionably correct, and feeling invalidated just because others have different taste. No one is telling you that you CAN'T like modern SpongeBob. Call me a "SpongeBoomer" if you want.
I want to emphasize that it's okay to like any of the shows/movies I mentioned. I'm just tired of people acting like their opinions are objectionably correct, and feeling invalidated just because others have different taste. No one is telling you that you CAN'T like modern SpongeBob. Call me a "SpongeBoomer" if you want.
On a side note, and this is something that I know not all of you are going to agree with me on, but I'm also really tired of people in fandom spaces acting so puritan about NSFW fan art. Doesn't matter if it's on DeviantArt, Rule34, AO3, some weird YouTube video, etc. I don't care what the character canonically is, or who the ship is, you cannot stop people from drawing/writing.
Something I especially don't think people realize is that some of the people who make this art are mentally ill, and/or using art as an expression for their trauma when words aren't enough. A lot of the people who view that art are the same, and find it cathartic.
I would be against the use of AI, heavily realistic depictions (to the point where it could have been traced/scanned by actual footage), or artwork based on real people (Shadman disgusts me for this).
But other than that, I don't consider these people part of the "toxic" side of the fanbase because most of them are not harming others.
I will however agree that YouTube Kids is a serious problem that exposes this kind of content to children. What I don't understand though is why people think the solution to this problem is making YouTube "a safer place for kids". I just don't think YouTube, and a lot of other social media sites should be targeted at children in general. They didn't used to be at all. Even with all of the videos related to kid shows. I miss those days because there was so much more creativity.
I also wish parents and would parent and set parental controls instead of just handing their child an iPad where they can download Twitter and find hateful/inappropriate content. In cases like that, it's not just the app's fault.
With this all being said, I feel like a lot of people don't understand media literacy either. I know this is becoming a tired argument now, but it does annoy me how whenever a cartoon decides to discuss a really uncomfortable subject, in a way that's antagonized or not even a form of endorsement, people react like it's immoral to like them. Some of examples I can think of are Masquerade from Hazbin Hotel and Bethic Twinstinct from Rick and Morty. I'm not going to go into detail about them here because there are sensitive/NSFW topics discussed in them. But to me, telling people they're wrong for watching this is like saying Joker (2019) is dangerous and shouldn't exist because it's "too dark".
... Wait a minute, there WERE people who said that.
(Edit: I was also seeing people say that Nickelodeon should never allow artists to let something like Behind Closed Doors to ever happen again. This goes back to my point about people not understanding art and people expressing themselves in a harmless cathartic way).
(Edit: I was also seeing people say that Nickelodeon should never allow artists to let something like Behind Closed Doors to ever happen again. This goes back to my point about people not understanding art and people expressing themselves in a harmless cathartic way).
As much as I think California has horrible problems, I am glad more of their educational system is going to be diving into media literacy. There seriously needs to be some change. I think it's getting to a point where the actual cartoon industry has a lot of this mentality as well. Never in my life did I expect the "It's a kids movie" statement to become so normalized within this community itself. It's also disgusting to me, and honestly kind of seems bigoted, that Disney wants to make multiple sequels/adaptations and avoid "personal biographies" after films like Soul and Turning Red released.
If you're someone who thinks that media is "too woke" (aka a gay/trans person existing or women, poc, etc. existing/discussion), you're part of this problem too in my opinion.
I just don't feel like I fit in with this community at all anymore. I feel kind of old-school I guess. It doesn't surprise me that PieGuyRulz stopped making videos because of people being too hostile online.
Edit: I posted about this on this forum specifically because I know many on here are passionate about animation, older animation in particular, and likely come from a different period of time like I remember (A lot of y'all are searching for an old Mario jumpscare video from 2007 that I vividly remember seeing back then, which is awesome lol). I'm not sure if anyone here will understand what I'm talking about, or strongly disagree with me, but here goes. I know it was kind of a ramble.
I just don't feel like I fit in with this community at all anymore. I feel kind of old-school I guess. It doesn't surprise me that PieGuyRulz stopped making videos because of people being too hostile online.
Edit: I posted about this on this forum specifically because I know many on here are passionate about animation, older animation in particular, and likely come from a different period of time like I remember (A lot of y'all are searching for an old Mario jumpscare video from 2007 that I vividly remember seeing back then, which is awesome lol). I'm not sure if anyone here will understand what I'm talking about, or strongly disagree with me, but here goes. I know it was kind of a ramble.