Can we just stop with the rants now?
No, I mean it.
I am fully aware of the irony here and yes, this will seem like a rant to anyone reading it because it is. That in and of itself isn't my point. Everyone has the option to talk about things and get upset; being upset at something that is simply a part of life isn't my issue (and is so ironic as to almost make my eyes twist in their sockets).
No, what I would like is to have rants stop making so damned much money and to be considered as a viable business past the greats who can do it really really well. See, I *like* Yahtzee because he's pretty much always got a point and while his particular style has a lot of venom in it, it's never the POINT. He pulls off irony well and does it with style rather than just being ANGRYFAEC. Contrarywise, shows like Extra Credits can do JUST as much exposition and make valid points while being very likable and not needing to either swear or use rage-induced inflection to make those points. MovieBob has also done a fantastic job of staying mostly unbiased, though he tends to view comic-related media through VERY rose-tinted glasses.
However, for every two or three really outstanding, intellectual and thought-provoking artists like Yahtzee and the EC crew, there's at least ten other yahoos with not a whole lot to say and saying it like complete douchebags.
Like Jimquisition. I didn't even have to leave Escapist Magazine to offer a counter.
Granted, I could hate him because he wears sunglasses indoors, joining the ranks of other notable douchebags like Bono and Chris Metzen, the head writer for WoW. But that's really too easy. I could hate him because he's British. It's really hard not to considering he conforms to that damnable stereotype of being obnoxious and arrogant. I could hate him because he actively *makes* himself that stereotype as his whole act. I won't.
I'll hate him simply because he's wrong.
His style of ranting notwithstanding, most of what he talks about is just flatout wrongheaded. He lauds the Call of Duty games as genre-redefining and a shining example of how to make real-life things into games. He says that a majority of the CoD gamers are nice people he knows. He also says that the best way to make Sonic a lovable icon again is to make him an idiot to the point of being ironically stupid: a character so timelocked in the nineties that all his acts make him the subject of eyerolls by his friends and for the most part, should be an idiot unless the game says he can be a hero.
I hate him because he thinks he's right and anyone who disagrees 'simply doesn't get his act.'
I hate him because he's being paid to act ignorant and arrogant.
I hate him because that means he can put less effort into his shows than 90% of the other reviewers do on the Escapist.(seriously, go watch one and only one of his episodes...they're laughably pathetic in their effort). And if he's called out on anything, his fans tear people apart for not getting his edgy style of ranting.
I HATE THAT HE CALLS HIMSELF A RANTER AND GETS PAID FOR BEING ANGRY.
Is it too much to ask to have standards? To be better than just abject anger? Yahtzee isn't always angry. He's sarcastic, sure, but pure anger doesn't always sell and he knows it. Hell, even the other reviewers I watch tend to be better when they aren't going into raegfacetiem. You know the Angry Video Game Nerd? He's actually much better to watch when he *isn't* being the Nerd character. Linkara's History of Power Rangers is a phenomenal review done thoughtfully and exceptionally deep. The EC crew is always fantastic because they are NEVER angry. At most, one could call them miffed, but you'll never ever hear the main speaker raise his voice because it doesn't work for them.
They *do* deserve their pay. They work hard for what they earn. Slackers and arrogant, pigheaded ranters who have nothing to say and wish to say it as loud as possible are only one thing in my and, hopefully, your mind.
Trolls.
Trolls are usually always wrong.
Trolls will defend their strawman fallacies to their dying day.
Trolls relish in being snarky and arrogant.
Trolls never want to work hard for anything.
Trolls are always hurtful people.
Trolls always make me upset because they give the alien overlords I know are coming every reason to just nuke the planet and be done with Earth because doing so would prevent the contagion of trollishness from polluting the cosmos.
I understand that this was nothing more than ranting. But I hardly expect anyone to read it and I don't expect to be paid for my efforts. I talk here because I enjoy writing and because here, I feel safe. I can talk because I am not immersed in my own personal hubris.
But I would be really really happy if we as a culture could stop rewarding failures and incompetant boobs like Jim Sterling with shows on major media outlets. I would be ecstatic if we would have higher standards for shows. I would be okay with keeping bad media down and encouraging more thought.
*small sigh* I know it's not likely to happen because the almighty dollar outweighs my opinion by a long goddamned factor, but at least I can hold out hopes that this would be a nice thing to have. Maybe even believe I'm not alone in believing it.
| Viewed: |
21 times |
| Added: |
12 years, 9 months ago
29 Jul 2011 04:05 CEST
|
|
|
