A scathing but understandable sentiment. It's the same epiphany I had about two years ago when it occurred to me that the "culture war" I was watching unfold was a dead end; a battle of unattriting attrition, where the same cabal of lunatics on both sides hurl polemics at one another for an ever dwindling audience of sycophants in an endless loop. No amount of bitching about Kathleen Kennedy will dislodge her from the furherbunker she's nestled in at Disney. Conversely, no amount of wailing and gnashing teeth over Matt Walsh will get him to stop doing what he's doing for the other side. I think my breaking point with it all was when the HeelvsBabyface guy had his infamous meltdown over pronouns in Bethesda's last turd of a space game. It was just so puerile that I lost whatever small ounce of fondness I still had for that scene on YouTube. They claim they want things to go "back to normal", idealizing the early 2000's and 90's as some halycon golden age where media was the best it had ever been (and, to be fair, it was better than what we have now, but hardly a golden age), but I realized that A) if they truly want for anything, it was to go back to mindlessly consooming media without any thought or challenge, a kind of "return to the Matrix" thing, and B) most of them don't WANT the culture war to end. It's all they have - if it were to ever truly end, they'd have nothing left to offer anyone. They'd be tantamount to a stateless people. It occurred to me just the other day that's why the vitriol over the new Snow White has been so over the top and profuse - it's just another mediocre Disney live-action remake that no one wanted and no one asked for, but they've turned it into this fucking boogeyman of colossal proportions. I will say that Rachel Zeigler's inability to keep her foot out of their mouth gave them plenty of ammuntion, but at the same time, the controversy around this movie is so bloated and artificial it's painfully clear that it's all been ginned up by exactly one side of the "culture war" (read: the anti-wokesters) for the sake of perpetuating their own grift. If there's anything they truly romanticize, it's GamerGate, and if they want to return to anything, they want to return to that time of inchoate political rage. I can only assume that was the only time most of them felt important.
Personally, I'm still going to write about some of these aspects of the culture war because, frankly, I find it kind of fascinating in the way I do wrestling; I don't care about what happens in the ring, it's the business behind the scenes and the personalities behind the characters that I find more fascinating. The drama around "Star Wars: PeePee PooPoo" is infinitely less interesting than the inner-politicking within Disney and the larger industry. That's really all I'm interested in at this point, not the "woke" versus the "non-woke" mock-battles being waged by uppity Little Lord Fauntleroys on Youtube.
This is all to say that I respect your decision and sympathize entirely. I look forward to seeing where you go in the future.
This was a great post, and it touched on many things I’ve pondered. The M-She-U types and Matt Walshes of the world are not going to do jack when it comes to bringing great entertainment to the masses. Personally, I’ve been highlighting some great modern movies on my socials, like The Father or Bad Times at the El Royale, because not everything sucks—that mindset is poison. Also, I’ve been thinking about pivoting from writing advice-type posts to talking more about my stories and characters: what they’re about, why I care about them, and why others should too.
Excellent picks, too! Been meaning to catch up on some of these. And the change-up too be worth a shot, and you could even turn those into a kind of writing advice post; this is how I do things, this is what I've learned from my own work, etc. I think we just have to accept that there's only so much that's been done for the past 10 years and that you have to think beyond the old paradigm. Change takes time, but 10 years of shrieking at a monolith like the withering Hollywood system with very little to show for is just not wise at this point. I get that people can only see what works, but the fact of the matter is that what works NOW is not going to work in a few years from now. And unfortunately, most starting out in video or essays here or on YouTube can only play the myopic trend game.
I love this article; you really expressed it better than I could why I'm tired of the stupid "culture war" (a better term would be political war, but w/e). It's like every piece of media is now a theater for the politics, and I'm sick of it, especially from the self-righteous dissident right-wing types who make fun of Matt Walsh but then engage is the same kind of thing that he does, just from a different angle.
Also, add in Frieren to the list of stupid things people argue over on the Internet.
I've been exiling myself from Twitter in the last few weeks, and boy does it help me focus. EMJ has been banging the "stop scrolling, and start reading" drum, and I'm trying my best to follow his advice. It's why I wish Substack wouldn't have their Notes feature be such an intimate part of the experience, but thankfully it's easier to step away with Substack than with Twitter (I'm convinced that site is lotus-eater machine).
I don't like to put my opinions on to social media precisely because I'm concerned about these people eating me to death. You can think what you want, but if you start interfering with other peoples' lives, you have no morality.
Well said, young man. You've seen the reality hiding in the heart of the fog.
I've not been especially focused on talking about these sorts of things because frankly, and not unlike yourself, I find it woefully uninteresting. There is little of value to be had in that discourse now. If we're being truly honest, there's been little of value to be had in it for many years at this point, and a large reason for that is the simple fact that it so rarely comes with any attempts to seek out or highlight new artistic endeavors that are worthwhile. Instead we're left with the largest pity party I've ever seen in my life, all formed up of two supposedly separate poles that spend the majority of their time circle jerking as they bemoan the opposition, so called.
It's all just ineffectual, emotionally charged drivel. And the worst part about it isn't the fact that it's annoying, it's the fact that it's simply dull.
A scathing but understandable sentiment. It's the same epiphany I had about two years ago when it occurred to me that the "culture war" I was watching unfold was a dead end; a battle of unattriting attrition, where the same cabal of lunatics on both sides hurl polemics at one another for an ever dwindling audience of sycophants in an endless loop. No amount of bitching about Kathleen Kennedy will dislodge her from the furherbunker she's nestled in at Disney. Conversely, no amount of wailing and gnashing teeth over Matt Walsh will get him to stop doing what he's doing for the other side. I think my breaking point with it all was when the HeelvsBabyface guy had his infamous meltdown over pronouns in Bethesda's last turd of a space game. It was just so puerile that I lost whatever small ounce of fondness I still had for that scene on YouTube. They claim they want things to go "back to normal", idealizing the early 2000's and 90's as some halycon golden age where media was the best it had ever been (and, to be fair, it was better than what we have now, but hardly a golden age), but I realized that A) if they truly want for anything, it was to go back to mindlessly consooming media without any thought or challenge, a kind of "return to the Matrix" thing, and B) most of them don't WANT the culture war to end. It's all they have - if it were to ever truly end, they'd have nothing left to offer anyone. They'd be tantamount to a stateless people. It occurred to me just the other day that's why the vitriol over the new Snow White has been so over the top and profuse - it's just another mediocre Disney live-action remake that no one wanted and no one asked for, but they've turned it into this fucking boogeyman of colossal proportions. I will say that Rachel Zeigler's inability to keep her foot out of their mouth gave them plenty of ammuntion, but at the same time, the controversy around this movie is so bloated and artificial it's painfully clear that it's all been ginned up by exactly one side of the "culture war" (read: the anti-wokesters) for the sake of perpetuating their own grift. If there's anything they truly romanticize, it's GamerGate, and if they want to return to anything, they want to return to that time of inchoate political rage. I can only assume that was the only time most of them felt important.
Personally, I'm still going to write about some of these aspects of the culture war because, frankly, I find it kind of fascinating in the way I do wrestling; I don't care about what happens in the ring, it's the business behind the scenes and the personalities behind the characters that I find more fascinating. The drama around "Star Wars: PeePee PooPoo" is infinitely less interesting than the inner-politicking within Disney and the larger industry. That's really all I'm interested in at this point, not the "woke" versus the "non-woke" mock-battles being waged by uppity Little Lord Fauntleroys on Youtube.
This is all to say that I respect your decision and sympathize entirely. I look forward to seeing where you go in the future.
This was a great post, and it touched on many things I’ve pondered. The M-She-U types and Matt Walshes of the world are not going to do jack when it comes to bringing great entertainment to the masses. Personally, I’ve been highlighting some great modern movies on my socials, like The Father or Bad Times at the El Royale, because not everything sucks—that mindset is poison. Also, I’ve been thinking about pivoting from writing advice-type posts to talking more about my stories and characters: what they’re about, why I care about them, and why others should too.
Excellent picks, too! Been meaning to catch up on some of these. And the change-up too be worth a shot, and you could even turn those into a kind of writing advice post; this is how I do things, this is what I've learned from my own work, etc. I think we just have to accept that there's only so much that's been done for the past 10 years and that you have to think beyond the old paradigm. Change takes time, but 10 years of shrieking at a monolith like the withering Hollywood system with very little to show for is just not wise at this point. I get that people can only see what works, but the fact of the matter is that what works NOW is not going to work in a few years from now. And unfortunately, most starting out in video or essays here or on YouTube can only play the myopic trend game.
lol, Matt Walsh Is Jewish.
I love this article; you really expressed it better than I could why I'm tired of the stupid "culture war" (a better term would be political war, but w/e). It's like every piece of media is now a theater for the politics, and I'm sick of it, especially from the self-righteous dissident right-wing types who make fun of Matt Walsh but then engage is the same kind of thing that he does, just from a different angle.
Just burn it down, I say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxytyRy-O1k
Also, add in Frieren to the list of stupid things people argue over on the Internet.
I've been exiling myself from Twitter in the last few weeks, and boy does it help me focus. EMJ has been banging the "stop scrolling, and start reading" drum, and I'm trying my best to follow his advice. It's why I wish Substack wouldn't have their Notes feature be such an intimate part of the experience, but thankfully it's easier to step away with Substack than with Twitter (I'm convinced that site is lotus-eater machine).
I don't like to put my opinions on to social media precisely because I'm concerned about these people eating me to death. You can think what you want, but if you start interfering with other peoples' lives, you have no morality.
Well said, young man. You've seen the reality hiding in the heart of the fog.
I've not been especially focused on talking about these sorts of things because frankly, and not unlike yourself, I find it woefully uninteresting. There is little of value to be had in that discourse now. If we're being truly honest, there's been little of value to be had in it for many years at this point, and a large reason for that is the simple fact that it so rarely comes with any attempts to seek out or highlight new artistic endeavors that are worthwhile. Instead we're left with the largest pity party I've ever seen in my life, all formed up of two supposedly separate poles that spend the majority of their time circle jerking as they bemoan the opposition, so called.
It's all just ineffectual, emotionally charged drivel. And the worst part about it isn't the fact that it's annoying, it's the fact that it's simply dull.
Yep, I feel the same
Cucking out is Cucking Out. The fact of the matter is, you've only been paying attention to the Jewish COMPED Right.