This video essay nails why I abandoned Western media back in 2016. As someone on Reddit put it "with all of the irony, all of the self-deprecating jokes we get, the victim ends up being us, the audience, for ever having any expectations and ever being invested in the first place." #kdrama 🎥 - ThreadSky

daebakpodcast.bsky.social • 54 days ago

This video essay nails why I abandoned Western media back in 2016. As someone on Reddit put it "with all of the irony, all of the self-deprecating jokes we get, the victim ends up being us, the audience, for ever having any expectations and ever being invested in the first place." #kdrama 🎥

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jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

I more or less agree with the premise of the video essay, but the examples he’s using are from blockbuster franchises, which, to put it crudely, are often set up to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The films that engage the part of us that seeks sincerity are not usually these types of film.

jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

But it’s true that for every film like Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight there are about 10 or 20 self-aware, wise cracking, emotionally barren irony-fests. I think in this respect Hollywood has a lot to learn from Korean & Chinese film & drama - because it’s true, they take human emotion seriously.

ciele.bsky.social•54 days ago

My son regales me constantly with updates on new movies/sequels. He gets @ 10 words into the *plot* & my eyes glaze over

You're right: Western dramas of late are geared to the lowest common denominator of intellectual\emotional depth/fast ROI

My litmus test? Top the emotional IQ of Nirvana in Fire

daebakpodcast.bsky.social•54 days ago

I don't know, sometimes it's the dumbest films that are the most sincere, they are operating from gut level emotions. Sometimes unpleasant emotions. But they aren't ironically distanced from them.

jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

I get what you’re saying - but I wouldn’t go to the Fast & Furious franchise for sincere emotions 🙂 - ditto Batman, Star Wars, Marvel etc. Flight, fright & freeze reactions for sure, seasoned with sentimentality; but not deep tenderness, grief or pity that even the commonest kdramas & cdramas offer.

thelifeofrose.bsky.social•54 days ago

You felt that way even with watching Andor?

jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

Andor is one of the Star Wars spin-offs that I’ve heard good things about, but I haven’t seen it. I liked the first season of the Mandalorian. The relationship with the baby Yoda was super-cute!

jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

Btw, I’m not denying that there aren’t moments in these franchise movies that express sincerity - in the original Star Wars it was too sad that Luke only connected with his father after he’d been fatally wounded. But the originals had the benefit of freshness, which the sequels lacked.

onekdramamomma.bsky.social•54 days ago

And Rogue One. That movie slayed me. All the FEELS.

thelifeofrose.bsky.social•54 days ago

Omg I'm still not over that, remember leaving the cinema in an emotional mess. Loved it, lol.

Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel. There's good & bad, just as with anything. But I wouldn't say they didn't know how to do emotions. There's a reason people get so involved in the fandom. Including me, lol

daebakpodcast.bsky.social•54 days ago

I'm not arguing that those franchises serve sincerity as well as Kdramas, absolutely not. Just that sincerity can be found in janky franchises when they are not marred by a constant wink nudge at the camera. Look at The Matrix.

jamesdmac.bsky.social•54 days ago

When you talk about the Matrix are you suggesting that it was undermined by the newer sequels, or that the original expressed sincerity well? I remember when I first watched the original I came away in a daze. It was enlightening! But as I recall it didn’t convey human feeling or warmth. More shock.

daebakpodcast.bsky.social•54 days ago

We may be operating from a different definition of sincerity. At no point did the Matrix undermine the emotional moments of connection between Neo and Morpheus. Whether you found it resonant or not, the narrative eye didn't treat it as an ironic joke or a meta wink at the camera.

ciele.bsky.social•54 days ago

👆👆👆👆👆👆

metallimbs.bsky.social•54 days ago

lol... It's so obvious the people who agree with this take are not the intended audience... Which is fine. I'm just saying...

neetrgriffin.bsky.social•54 days ago

Another thing is the nihilism. So much western media is about protagonists wallowing in despair and misery and trying to justify being bad people to other people around them.

daebakpodcast.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes and inviting the audience to get off on the protagonist's bad behavior. It makes me ill.

doxiefan.bsky.social•54 days ago

which is why WandaVision was such a big hit, as it put the heart that was lacking back into a Marvel project. We get a lot of bang bang shoot them up and action, but the sincerity was missing. Fallout, The Last of Us, Severance are other very good series that did well as a result.

nunchibbap.bsky.social•54 days ago

WandaVision is the last MCU thing I watched.
But I am sorta looking forward to the upcoming Fantastic Four..

doxiefan.bsky.social•54 days ago

Agatha All Along was good.

devgard.sjlua.dev•49 days ago

I agree, it felt like a show and not an extended movie

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