pagemelt patreon

Hot takes 😈 (kinda)

🕑 Added 2024-06-03 18:16:40 +0000 UTC

Comments

Eli

Fourth wing’s success was crazy bc they started printing “as seen on tiktok” on all of RY’s backlist months before fourth wing was anywhere near release like they knew they had a plan and that it would work

stummyhort

Love the thoughtfulness of your content, as always. It's tough to cultivate those deep and meaningful 500-level discussions on the internet when the major platforms are designed for 101s. Your commitment to depth in your discussions has subtly but profoundly changed the way I think about books! It was/is bizarre to see RWRB gain such a large mainstream audience with the movie release. It breaks my heart because I feel like they really could've done the source justice with a limited series as opposed to a movie (now movies???). Oh well. At least they sourced Hollywood's finest eye candy LMAO

Charlotte Jean

I absolutely love your takes because you have an excellent way of discussing things critically while not ignoring nuance. 11/10. Bravo. Also, the Sean King/Freydis comparison! Absolutely hit. That situation broke my brain and the fact that they’re just pretending like it’s not a thing… wiiiiild.

JJ

Thoughtful and thought provoking takes as always!! And this video lasted exactly as long as it took me to make dinner, which is bonus greatness for me. I would listen to you talk about literally anything, but I'd especially love to hear your thoughts on mm hockey romance if that's something you're interested in talking about here!

Ronan Porter

love hearing your thoughts. just commenting to agree with you on RWRB, alex just felt like a different person. tried to experience the movie as a completely separate Thing with mixed results, also not sure if i'll give the sequel ago. also just all felt so BEIGE - so amazon movie.

Mel Thomas

Ooh, this is really interesting. I don’t have any good answers for you, but I’m gonna be thinking about this (seeing as it’s very relevant to my livelihood lmaooo). Re: critics adopting an authoritative tone—it’s interesting you mention this, because turning that quality UP is common advice when writing nonfiction. So I wonder if that’s a problem of average YouTube audience discernment too. Which is STILL a creator problem, because we need to make content for the audience we have. I actually find myself baking in little “but I’m not an expert” and “but don’t take my word for it” asides into my content, which would drive my college professors nuts, but I AM honestly worried that more impressionable people might mistake me as an authority figure, and I’m sure I’m not the only creator who feels that way.

alliwag

love me some discourse at a safe distance 💚

Gabie

I unfollowed him for exactly that reason. Once I realized that his account was less "guy tells a funny story" and more "shit-stirrer accent," it was time to cleanse him from my feed. TBH I'd prefer to not interact with someone seemingly completely allergic to real sincerity. Earnestness rules actually!

h

Kinda re: the andrew stuff, I’m typically sceptical, and frankly uninterested, in takes on romance/fanfic from people who have no connection to these things. Which is, like not great because, in theory, yeah outsiders of community can have new, interesting insight…but they never do. Romance has been the butt of the joke for way too long. It’s like you said, it turns what could be a 500-level seminar course into a Romance 101 where you’re having to defend everything against a devil’s advocate. Also, *I* am patiently frothing at the mouth for any of these videos, but if getting a sponsorship for the next video is a big goal, then the enshitification of bookktok might be the best one for that. Loved your hottest of takes!! Amazing, deliberate work as always :)

Gabie

tbh I think that's a really good description of why I never finished the first season...that being said, I might watch for Tom Bombadil.

Samantha Rose Meyer

Would love to hear more thoughts on the idea of “killing the cop in your head” re: social media grandstanding for clout. I find abolitionist lenses really helpful for understanding my feelings and reactions to this sort of thing, especially within book/writing communities, but I find it hard to articulate this process without worrying that I’m coming across as excusing/defending genuinely bad behavior.

Shah of Ruz

Not that I'm asking for a take-down of Jenny N. specifically but it brings up the question of form and genre hah

Shah of Ruz

Re: Jenny Nicholson videos, I realize the bulk of my enjoyment comes as an outsider to the fandoms/phenomena she discusses. So it has been interesting to see more reactions to the Star Wars Hotel vid from other Disney/theme park enthusiasts this time around. One very compelling point (critique may be too strong a word) is that the Youtube style tends toward the authoritative because (a) algorithmic top performers necessarily draw in uninitiated audiences, (b) marshalling visual evidence gives the impression of comprehensively covering the topic, and (c) it's just so damn long. A long video without a publicly available transcript is more of a pain to fact-check or refute than text (podcasts have the same reputation). You touched on some of this on the topic of BookToker Andr3w. And TikTok/short-form is probably more accessible to argumentative back-and-forths (stitch drama). But as a video creator, what do you think of the boundaries or inherent dynamics of the form? Essentially, is the video essay a form of gish gallop?

Brette

Loved this - I too am interested in dissecting media, and media communication and maybe that is why I am drawn to your content because it always feels incredibly thoughtful. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on book tok, because I never STFU about tik tok content, parasocial relationships, and this need to be ‘positive’ all the time lol. But from a person who does not make content, I really value anyone who is doing legitimate critique (of all media whether it is about journalism, or books, or music) because nothing kills me more than trying to figure out if something is worth spending money on, and then only being able to find advertisements of a product. There is definitely a need for paid/professional critics (or at least earnest ones). And while it might not be so easy to find in this media landscape, I am looking forward to more of your long form content in the future.

Muireann McGlynn

I would love a video about the enshitification of book tok! It'd be quite a big bang debut probably for similar reasons to why the Jenny Nicholson video was surprisingly controversial

Joey Shilling

love all of this!! as a dedicated lord of the rings fan, i had a similar experience with rings of power in particular of just...accepting that the people who made it had a fully different experience of tolkien's world than i. also on the fence about if i will engage in the second season for the same reasons. anyway, all your content is excellent, excited for whats coming :)

Muireann McGlynn

I'm a Jenny patron I love her stuff and have been waiting for the star wars Hotel video for a few years now. The video was everything I hoped for, really insightful analysis not only into the hotel itself but the whole Disney influencer ecosystem. No wonder it ruffled feathers!

Katherine Montgomery

I really agree with you about ARC access and the crossover with theme park access. I’m constantly frustrated with access restriction leading to only positivity-washed, clean cut reviews. Critique being replaced with marketing only leads to watering down the base project in the worst ways!

feedthewriter

I'm a big fan of the airing of grievances, myself.

feedthewriter

Put me down for that hat too, please

Mel Thomas

Yessss hive mind 🐝

simon_meowell

when you started talking about the ARC industrial complex I immediately thought JENNY NICHOLSON'S STAR WARS VIDEO in all caps in my head

Bailey

BEAUTIFUL gowns

Shelby

I'd buy that hat!

Rae

I think I would like the red, white, and royal blue movie better if I hadn't read the book

Mel Thomas

put it on my tombstone 😩

Mel Thomas

Yeah I know exactly what you mean about the accent—like he's trying to talk like Deadpool or something. And I think you're probably right about the shit-stirring, although it's hard for me to understand what he's getting out of it, since he doesn't seem to be angling to be a full-time creator. You couldn't waterboard those jokes he makes outta me.

Emily Anne Tkaczibson

💫 "cursed with opinions" 💫

Mel Thomas

thank you Tim!! 🥰

Haley Stewart

"spoiled boy prince" made me scream.

Mel Thomas

VERY WISE

T.X. Watson

Yeah you definitely got it!

Mel Thomas

Omg hi I didn't even know you were here, I'm so happy!!! I hope I wasn't too off with the wording, you literally posted the video I'm talking about years ago and I couldn't find it, but I think about it CONSTANTLY

T.X. Watson

I can't believe you cited me 🥺 I'm gonna cry

Ryan Berger

I find it difficult to take this Andrew guy at face value because at no point in my awareness of him have I ever felt like he was saying something where the intent was to communicate his honest perspective but instead do something that was gonna cattle prod the algorithm in some way. There's an entire tone of voice/delivery that goes hand in glove with that kind of "commentary" or opinion. It's the shit-stirrer accent. So I agree I'm not even looking at what he says I'm just disturbed by his behavior. Also FWIW I never even clocked that he was a "part" of Booktok I thought he was an entirely different genre of account: the ones with 1 million followers. They all kinda act the same.

Roe

Puts “I’m a mess but trying my best” on a hat

Umber

As always, appreciate your thoughtful analysis/hot takes! And thankful for your breakdown on some of these controversies that I either missed or didn't get a good picture on

Tim Blackett

Love it. Again, I really appreciate how thoughtful you are in everything you’re consuming. Makes me wanna slow down a bit with the things I’m reading/watching.

Evie

My new stance towards adaptations is that it's nice to get some pretty visuals but I no longer expect any adaptation to be what I want it to be (except the new interview with the vampire).