Against Progress: The Village, Walter Benjamin, and Neoliberal Communities

[@MimiMortmain]

Ngl I saw your tweet about the philosophy of history and as a history nerd I came straight here 😅 I’m loving your analysis. The delivery, the visuals, the discussion of communities, the sources you bring… *chef’s kiss You made me think of W James Booth’s Communities of Memory, which is all about how communities imagine the past and use that to form their political identity. The only thing I would add is in your intro you ask what would happen if you looked at the present world and find it so horrifying that you retreat into the past. Benjamin was writing during WWII when earlier notions of the progress of history were being disrupted by the wars and destruction that progress itself had apparently brought to the world. In a way, he was reckoning with that by reconceptualising how the mechanics of history function and redefining history as the chaotic mess that he was seeing before him 🤭 Maybe that adds another layer to people wanting to retreat into a past world where things were apparently simpler?

[@maxteeth]

absolutely, and i think what’s sort of haunting about benjamin’s philosophy of history is how much we can, in current times, see echos of that context he was writing in-not just the fascist regime coming to power, but also the passivity and complicity of supposed allies. and, even now, we see people having that same impulse to say they wish we could just go back to before, say, the Trump presidency, as if that would also magically uproot the seeds of hatred and nationalism in the US. i wish i could have talked more about benjamin and how, as a jewish leftist, he was profoundly impacted by the war-i mean, it literally killed him-but to be honest i was a little worried youtube would get mad at me for talking about naziism straight away. in retrospect, that feels a bit cowardly! will definitely have to check out booth's book! thank you for watching, i'm very glad to hear you enjoyed it :)

[@MimiMortmain]

@@maxteeth you’re absolutely right about how it relates to the present day 😰 and don’t feel cowardly for not including it! it’s a quick aside in an already solid video!

[@user-mb9nm7bq5e]

The algorithm sent your Elle woods video to me. I was so godamn impressed...watched the hitch video...:impressed. NOw I’m subbing and binging your content. Fresh ideas on old subjects, and perfect humor!

[@maxteeth]

thank you! i know the legally blonde video is getting the most attention right now but i'm really glad that some people are then going and checking out my other stuff too!

[@doral07]

I literally had the same situation

[@nanitaylor8073]

Same 😂

[@doral07]

"For whom was the past less horrible" Hell of a line. Incredible work overall, I especially loved part 3. I kept pausing and reflecting

[@SinnoTalksStories]

The intro was INSANE. Hooked on every word.

[@MimiMortmain]

yessss I’m here for this appreciation for the philosophy of history 🤩

[@Afterthoughts]

I'd never really considered that so many of our communities are opt-in/opt-out based on what WE need. I'm going to have to think more about that.

[@maxteeth]

yeah, reading the book really made me realize how often we use the word "community" to describe very different things, most of which are very individual-centered. like, people sometimes use "the LGBT community" as a blanket term for all gay and trans people, even those who may not have knowingly or meaningfully interacted with other gay or trans people. and there’s nothing wrong with using that term or feeling like a part of something, but i think it’s interesting that it’s a "community" defined not by social proximity but by the individual’s identity.

[@everausten]

I hadn't thought about this movie in ages, and definitely not this deeply. Really interesting information about intentional ghettoisation, and how disability is treated in this narrative and throughout Shyamalan's catalogue ✨💛✨

[@maxteeth]

i’d love to look at some more m night shyamalan movies, i really do love his work despite the ~problematique~ elements

[@FDSignifire]

Yo... so glad I clicked on ur comment. Bout to binge

[@maxteeth]

ahh thank you for checking out my stuff! i love your videos, honestly it’s an honor

[@665nachbarderbestie]

This was so good. I remember watching the village for the first time feeling so, so uncomfortable by the way the story treated Noah. Growing up in a super fundamentalist church, all the talking points of the elders were very familiar and made me so angry I had to stop the movie for a bit to just calm myself down. Thank you for this great essay and for making me laugh at the end.

[@jenniferch3ck]

I love your final note on "exploding" the timeline. I feel like a lot of time travel and time loop stories involve just that; the characters have to change drastically in order to break free from the cage of time. A cool thought!

[@VenusinCalico]

Really interesting observations how the village parallels the outside world in dealing with the other & disability. (Assimilate or be destroyed!, powerful stuff.) I didn't even remember Edward mentioning money; another layer to show the community isn't exactly paving a better way than the outside world. Edward believes money can turn good men evil, so he did a superficial fix and eliminated money. It's like... he eliminated having to confront the symbol on a regular basis, but he didn't face the fear, get to the root and really fix it (eg how could money could be a force for good? What truly brings out evil in men?), so a shadow of the problems came with him anyway. Just as other echoes of real world problems showed up in the village. (Also, it's interesting he was only able to create/keep the village by having money to buy land.) Paving a truly different way is hard. If it's relevant to future videos, I'd love to hear more of your observations about disability - or grief, the other, death, illness, community, individualism, etc... You've a gift for talking about difficult things that society prefers to shutter away or ignore rather than face & change, and you word it beautifully. This video was a treat to watch - thank you!

[@maxteeth]

thank you for the kind words. i will absolutely try to explore these things more in future videos. this was probably my favorite essay to write so far. Edward’s feelings about greed and money actually kind of make me think of those real-life rich men who insist that to save humanity from the environmental disasters that result from over-consumption, we need to go colonize space (presumably to cause the same problems up there while leaving everyone else left on earth worse off).

[@ma840z]

I genuinely love your videos, just stumbled upon them and I almost watched them all. I love how you're so naturally aware of the many fractals of nature and how you eloquently, factually and charismatically boil down their interplay with each other, how you are so unassumingly one of the few people in media to have a horizon wide enough to tackle topics like the impact of neoliberalism from a bunch of logically, not politically, prioritised perspectives. I'm excited for future content!

[@EclecticDD]

I never noticed that they were vegetarians, but I suppose it goes with their attempt that their community is as peaceful as possible.

[@DrPantsMusic]

Just discovered your channel. Excellent work. Thank you.

[@LillyTheLonelySock]

I really enjoyed this. Your analysis was very similar to my own. To me, the elders are very conservative in their reactionary nature, fear and shunning of outsiders, and idealization of the past. I see this especially in their failure to care for the less fortunate and disabled to the point of willingness to sacrifice them altogether to maintain their way of life. They failed to see that when people in need can be helped and society refuses to help them, they lash out in anger and hatred. They either harm others in an attempt to survive their terrible circumstances - such as poor people hurting someone to rob them - or they simply hurt those who refused them help out of revenge. The elders don't realize that when a society is willing to sacrifice certain members, society creates monsters. In Covington Woods the elders created monsters figuratively and literally. I also think of it like a microcosm of society, as you described. Another way I see it is as a false paradise, similar to the Garden of Eden. Both appeared peaceful, and something was forbidden - Noah even gave red berries to Ivy, in a sense giving her a forbidden fruit. Like the serpent, Noah knows the creators lied about the danger of the forbidden, leading the woman to discover they were in fact trapped in a state of ignorance and dependance. Anyways, I hope I was able to explain my interpretation alright - it's hard typing this on my phone with my thumbs. I really hope you will continue to post more video essays like this. I'd love to see more!

[@sharpduds]

What's is a painful thought for me is that if I were given the opportunity, knowing all that I know of the pain and misery of the past, to go into a setting like The Village, I would be seriously tempted. Perhaps that is why it is so dangerous

[@maxteeth]

yeah, it is a very tempting impulse. i think it’s easy for our view of the past to skew positive, because we mainly know about it through those who not only survived it, but thrived in it. but obviously, those systems were not sustainable, because they eventually developed into where we are now. and it’s scary to imagine a future that is completely unknown, but i think there can be a lot of hope there too.

[@blacknoisyblue]

Just found your channel, your videos are fantastic, I'm binging them! Can't wait for your channel to blow up ✨

[@AKilahVamp]

My bad, but it's been soooo long since I've seen this movie that part of your analysis went over my head because I'm adhd so I really had forgotten A WHOLE LIKE 70% of this movie🤷🏿‍♀️! I just remembered that I liked it and even still do, regardless of what people say. But as far as your analysis, It is PHENOMENAL! I found your page thru another KZbinr F.D Signifier and I'm really glad he recommended you!😁NEW SUBBIE***

[@maxteeth]

I love FD’s stuff!! so grateful that he gave me a shoutout, and thank you so much for subscribing! ☺️

[@AKilahVamp]

teeth don't thank me, your content is great!☺️

[@vnikyt]

Love your analysis of this film. It’s nuanced, insightful, and well-paced. I do agree that M. Knight’s portrayal of disabled people is stomach-churning and dude needs to do better. Another thing that’s always bothered me about this film is how Noah got no redemption and died horribly, scared and alone, not knowing why all of everything was happening. Even Ivy ended up showing her utter disgust with him; that attack was so unnecessary, especially when it’s directed at a man who’s portrayed as having the mind of a 5-year-old! Though I find M.Knight’s abrupt turn from child mind to psycho super jarring, Noah truly didn’t understand what he had done or why he did it. Not sure his stabbing of Joaquin was a conscious severing of Ivy’s tether to the societal structure that alienates him, but I think he’s arguably M. Knight’s most tragic (and most senselessly tragic) character. He really was disposable, living and dying without dignity. Not comfortable with your disabled people = minorities interpretation, though. With Noah in the mix, it infantilizes people of color, while we’re still villainized as the reason for “crazy fucking white people” deciding to form a cult in the middle of Walkerland. But the rest of the parallels, including POC probably being the reason for the group’s withdrawal from society, are spot on. Looking forward to watching the rest of your reviews. Keep up the good work!

[@maxteeth]

yes, it’s really frustrating that writing disabled people like this is a recurring theme for m. night. if it were just one movie i could probably brush it off as a gaffe but with how much he does it, it feels like he has some warped ideas about disability, which is unfortunate because i mostly enjoy his movies otherwise. i definitely didn’t intend to suggest that disability and race are the same so i regret my probably clumsy wording in transitioning between talking about the two. i think the connection there is just that nationalism permits an impossibly narrow view of humanity that is exclusionary toward both people of different races and people with disabilities. of course, these are two separate (albeit intersecting) issues. ultimately i think my point was just that all people, regardless of race or disability (or gender, sexual orientation, etc. etc.) deserve to be treated with dignity, and fascism (or whatever you want to call the village) can never accomplish that. but i can see how using noah to demonstrate this muddies the water a bit, because in this story he actually does present a violent threat for no apparent reason. thank you for the thoughtful comment, i appreciate the feedback!

[@vnikyt]

@@maxteeth and thank you for your illuminating and nuanced reply! I definitely understand where you're coming from and appreciate your taking the time to further explain it

[@yasmin9986]

I love your video essays

[@joeydewiel1180]

Loved the essay. I wonder if many theorists conflate security too much with sociality, or individualism too much with freedom. I’m disabled, and, as you draw out of this film, I don’t find security in conformism, I couldn’t find freedom in individualism either. There’s much I can’t do freely without social support. And I think, while the traditional Right seeks security in conformity, I think they also seek security through individualism (the loner, libertarian preppers, say; or homeschooling; castle doctrine, doorbell cams, etc).

[@kikikrazed]

you are so galaxy brained for this

[@maxteeth]

in my mind there is a straight line from the frankfurt school to m night shyamalan

[@radfem28]

Here before it gets viral ❤️ Great essay

[@MythicalCrypto]

Nice analysis

[@maxteeth]

thanks for watching! :)

[@bb-ih9hg]

An incredible essay. I just found your channel and I subbed so fast. Can't wait for more. 💘✨

[@BrettBallanger]

This is a great chanel. I'm really enjoying these videos.

[@ThunderTaker1215]

This isn’t relevant to the video (which was lovely, of course) but did anyone think about the possible inbreeding when they watched the movie, or like why didn’t they just live like the Amish? The extreme secretive way of life, with the monsters and the folklore just seemed like overkill to me.

[@izzyliberti]

holy shit Max you've done it again

[@dropedan]

Came for the essay, stayed for the mutual dislike of the Avatar live action. Great video, there were so many details I've never noticed about this movie...

[@maxteeth]

thanks for watching! it's hard being an m. night fan knowing what he did to ATLA lol

[@kyneticfilms]

Goddamn I love this channel

[@serenity6831]

Brilliant work!

[@gabbyvanti]

your videos are always so interesting!!

[@maxteeth]

thank you for checking them out! i’m kind of floored that people like listening to me ramble about movies!

[@gamesandculture]

This got blocked??! I was halfway in. So sad.

[@maxteeth]

yeah unfortunately :( hopefully it will get resolved as it falls under fair use

[@FlorianFullStop]

quite an interesting watch

[@grumpyotter]

I am someone who desperately craves a Village. To me, it is the freedom from capitalism, but the irony is that it took big-time capitalism to make it possible. Nevermind.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

Tribute to the algorithm Also subbing

[@euodiaclitterhouse4726]

Damn this shit is deep

[@maxteeth]

thank you for watching!

[@maxteeth]

ahaha did you reply to this? i can see part of it in my notifs but i think youtube is censoring the mode of your bf's passion for adorno. very happy to introduce him to benjamin (and klee) though!

[@euodiaclitterhouse4726]

@@maxteeth Haha! Long story short, my birthday present is the print at the beginning of the video; Also wanted to make sure we are using the correct pronouns for you so wanted to ask unless you're not comfortable sharing

[@maxteeth]

@@euodiaclitterhouse4726 youtube keeps eating my replies :[ but that is very sweet of your bf, it's a wonderful piece! and happy birthday! i use they/them pronouns!

[@euodiaclitterhouse4726]

@@maxteeth Thanks! Maybe we'll get another video from you soon and it will be an excellent gift for all of the subscribers. But take your time. Nothing worse than when youtubers start to blow up and the quality drops off for the sake of aethetic or trend or whatever. You have that good shit so don't change

[@omegamusic3055]

Excelent analysis

[@internetcouch]

hey you're right and i like u good video~

[@nkozi]

Holy shit dude.

[@gf-official]

holy SHIT max

[@Cheskaz]

Algorithm

[@brewskimckilgore6796]

so for the record and before you blow up: how communist are you? thanks for the takes tho comrade i cant wait for more om nom

[@maxteeth]

i'm a marxist! 100% communist

[@brewskimckilgore6796]

@@maxteeth i knew it. i feel like neoliberal is almost like a dogwhistle of ours

[@oftinuvielskin9020]

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