I Don't Know James Rolfe

PHOTO-SENSITIVITY WARNING: occasional subtle flickering between 19:00 and 24:36
If ever there were a video I've made that required a companion essay or some kind of artist statement to go along with it I suppose it would be this one. It's a strange project that I've been working on for the better part of six months now, a process of trying to disentangle myself from myself. It's about a lot of different things, it's about James Rolfe but also not about him because we have so many versions of him and we can only react to those imperfect projections. He's been doing this for basically 20 years at this point, and out of that arise a million different ways to tell the story: AVGN is deeply influential, but what does that influence mean? I found myself fascinated with his creative fixations, the motifs and stories that he keeps coming back to, and felt like the only way to engage with that honestly was to expose all my own fixations, insecurities, and fears.
Written by Dan Olson and Nathan Landel
Music by Mike Rugnetta
Performed by Dan Olson
Camera by Dan Olson, Kara Artym, and Alex Mitchell
Crafts by Dan Olson, Kristi O. (‪@komakesthings‬), Tim Uruski, and Steve Olson
Executive Assistant Crystal Donovan
Crowdfunding: / foldablehuman
Twitter: / foldablehuman
00:00:00 - I Feel A Certain Kinship With James Rolfe Part 1
00:06:21 - Title Drop (He Said The Thing!)
00:07:19 - A Reintroduction is Necessary
00:16:27 - Even In Rejecting It They Learn Something About Themselves
00:19:00 - Don't Get Your Panties in a Wad
00:23:08 - A Crass Homunculus of Photons
00:28:53 - Book Bad
00:41:20 - I Keep Coming Back
00:44:53 - The Length of Time It Takes To Get To Some Waves
00:48:17 - I Feel A Certain Kinship With James Rolfe Part 0
00:52:58 - The Narrative of AVGN's Decline
00:54:55 - They Are In Fact Just Haters
01:04:08 - I Did The Thing Any Normal Person Would Do
01:10:25 - The Nerd In My Dreams
01:15:39 - Credits

[@WhisperingDeath]

This is a video about becoming middle aged.

[@viliamklein]

Biggest surprise of my life: having kids is fucking great. I went to the pool today. We're going to the bike park tomorrow. Might build some Lego later.

[@Pundit07]

@@viliamkleinyou sound like a great dad!

[@jamesderepentigny5446]

@@viliamklein who

[@dyldragon1]

​@@viliamkleinKing Shit

[@MarcDize]

yes

[@jenndoesstuff]

I really love that conclusion, honestly. To spend hours upon hours painfully dissecting why it is that you feel so critical of someone only to finally come to the conclusion that you just hate that they remind you of your own insecurities is honestly one of the more real human experiences out there.

[@L3benslage]

Ah. Thank you for that. I feel I don’t get most metaphors in films. And I had trouble understanding what it is Dan‘s trying to say whilst looking like a deranged Santa Claus. That’s sort of a weird insecure Filmmaker version of himself?

[@thatkidwiththehoodie]

“I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BOY, BECAUSE YOU’RE ME”

[@Politoed89]

i think if you need a perfect example of that, just look at the people who spend so much time documenting chris-chan. so many nerds (i say that as an objective descriptor rather than an insult) who are afraid that they're socially inept, or creepy towards women, or entitled towards their parents, or - in the past few years - trans people who are afraid they're "not really trans", or any other flaw they document and interpret. chris-chan was the one who openly represented the insecurities of so many people online, and so many of the things that had been socially conditioned out of us (sometimes rightfully so) were expressed right through our screen with no inhibition maybe there's a bit of chris-chan in all of us internet losers.

[@medsellr]

getting chased by a doll just like James's recent films is such a perfect touch

[@AoiLucine]

​@Politoed89, theres a video Rebecca Watson put out called the science of cringe. According to research, cringe comes from almost a projection of ourselves onto what the other person is doing, and thinking how it would affect our social standing. Its basically disgust based projection onto anothet persons actions. This sort of helped me start to reframe my understanding of cringe. To both be kinder to others and myself.

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

video game nerd trolls struggling to understand the basic concept that a man can be in love with his wife and have a happy family seems to be something that comes up a lot

[@mmfood3004]

That inability to connect would be sad if they weren't so abhorrent

[@redgreen2453]

@@mmfood3004 I always wonder if their abhorrent behavior is what leads to them being unable to connect with anyone or if them being unable to connect with anyone leads to their abhorrent behavior. In my experience I feel like it tends to be 50/50 with people but my experience is limited because I don’t tend to be able to connect with anyone

[@YukiDemonOfHell]

@@redgreen2453 it's probably a mixture of both, or a spiral of not really connecting to people leading to shitty behavior leading to not being able to connect with anyone leading to shitty behavior, and on and on and on. And sometimes people can find someone or something to connect with before it gets bad, or they maybe come to terms with not connecting with people, while others just become the worst shits imaginable.

[@TheWonkster]

The assertion some people make that James does not love his wife and children more than anything is absurd, it's blatantly obvious to anyone with an ounce of empathy or social awareness

[@piragintheevercorpulent1526]

The "truthers" are physically incapable of understanding that Rolfe genuinely likes being a husband and father and puts it first. They cannot understand marriage as anything other than the father always being correct and dominant 100% of the time and so any concessions being made is proof of horrible aberrations.

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Someone have an actual life outside of making KZbin videos? That's just crazy!/s

[@SonsOfMalice]

I told my boss I want more time with my family too, because I love them so much and he asked me to quit in that case.

[@hbomberguy]

I hate Wavelength. All it does is make you want to confess to your wife's murder

[@rawanalahmed8086]

Hey, is Dr. Harrison splimpy

[@serene1172]

Oh hey. Funny seeing you here. Hope things are going smoothly for you.

[@patriciogarciadamiano7469]

And where is your wife, banana man?

[@Sorrelhas]

CEO of F*cking Aquaman Real Estate LLC

[@PotionSmeller]

No way it's the small indie game youtuber who played Tactical Breach Wizard!

[@rgs8970]

"Do you think a depressed person could make this?" *pans to reveal 1/12 scale diorama of James Rolfe's nerd room

[@AnimatedTerror]

STAND IN THE PLACE THAT YOU L-

[@Lollero200q]

BIMMY 🅿️OWER

[@Leftistattheparty]

[@LeeJDo]

Ha! I saw this comment before the video got to that part…I still can’t believe that he actually made that diorama

[@snackerfork]

@@LeeJDo Same, I thought it was a joke and when the video panned to the literal, actual diorama I laughed so hard

[@historicalFeminist]

"maybe if i built it myself i would understand." oh THAT'S what the woodworking tweet was about.

[@vikingunicorn]

As somebody who was never into AVGN, I had no idea why the algorithm suggested this video to me. After finishing the video, I understand that it was likely because of the agitated arthouse atmosphere. Everything I know about James Rolfe, I learned from "I Don't Know James Rolfe."

[@jacewhite8540]

The atmosphere is great. Love the edit

[@vikingunicorn]

@@jacewhite8540 Agreed! I subbed to the channel about ⅓ in to the video because it was so well directed/edited!

[@Westhane]

Your last line there; that's a video someone should do.

[@inimitableminimalist]

i thought this was going to be about the dog from the muppet show =(

[@maynardburger]

"I had no interest in all in AVGN, but KZbin recommended an hour+ video about it to me and so I watched it anyways". lol

[@josepadilla-dv3ld]

My favorite part so far is definitely dan having to state the "controversial" opinion that a man loving his wife and kids and caring about them more than his KZbin channel is a normal rational human behavior.

[@bretsheeley4034]

It’s like having a toxic boss who doesn’t give a shit about your home life and thinks that your only point in existence is to work for them.

[@Gingrnut]

It’s an interesting dichotomy that’s going to keep happening as more first-gen KZbinrs essentially move on from the platform for good. Look at all the creators who announced they were quitting this year. Generationally, KZbin is beyond them now, and they’ve made the work they wanted to make, and had careers, and now they want to do something else, but to hungry internet audiences the idea of things ending or changing is completely anathema.

[@MPostma72]

I had a boss who disapproved of the fact that for me, my son came before my work. She had kids herself.

[@Mari-rg9ov]

As an outsider who doesn't know about this subject, I've seen comments blaming James for "not prioritizing his work" or "using his wife and kids as an excuse" like... isn't moving on in life because you have a family now and other things to think about the most natural thing in the world?

[@MiroslavMydlo]

No man, he owes you! He owes you the free entertainment we were getting from him for more than a decade. He owes us!!!

[@thatfrickenweeb]

Clickbait title: The Angry Angry Video Game Nerd Nerd

[@buzhichun]

this is perfect

[@WangleLine]

lmao

[@WetRatGaming]

pinned comment worthy

[@nymphmythic454]

✨Smart style✨

[@intensesqualor2268]

This was actually a joke that was done for the 200th episode

[@Hiireo]

AVGN will be forever embedded in my mind as the person who helped me learn English. Listening to him when he was ranting and starting to understand his words, and slowly starting to hear and comprehend fluent English speech was an experience, and I'm certain I would have delayed my own development, if I accidentally didn't stumble into his Simon's Quest video way back then.

[@user-hr1ko3zj7x]

a weirdly widespread experience in the post-soviet...

[@samanthaw.861]

You probably learned more swear words than you ever needed to know

[@MangusMangoman]

I have never seen criticism this harsh feel so deeply respectful.

[@Renacier]

"Remember that guy who used to make videos about editing and storytelling?" "Yeah, I think so. He made a bunch of videos about financial scams, right? What's he up to now?" "....He just keeps drilling holes in wood and bolting camera heads to them...."

[@diestormlie]

"Also, he stands around the local home depot yelling 'ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER!'"

[@evilshrimpy]

@@diestormlie no, that's just the usual Home Depot ambiance

[@DeRedBaronCT]

@@evilshrimpy I once had a job there, you are not wrong

[@Busto]

I had this very realization 10 minutes into the video. Dan went from teacher to artist over the course of this channel

[@bad1080]

yeah but he's doing it like a normal person would, so no worries

[@absolutfreak5012]

"That gets frustrating really fast, and when you get frustrated you get impulsive, and those impulses lead to half measure solutions, and those half measure solutions accumulate into a whole network of bespoke inefficiencies that you just live with because the process of unravelling them feels just so... big." This hit pretty hard.

[@Texelion3Dprints]

Somehow this applies to the whole world, our whole civilization is built like this. A mess built over a mess over another mess, and now it's too hard to fix things so we just roll for it until it crashes and burns.

[@mathaeis]

Yeah, this was the moment that I truly related to and man have I been trying to hard to overcome these things for so long.

[@TheRedCap30]

Programming in a nutshell lol

[@SuperGGnoRE]

@@TheRedCap30Speak for yourself...

[@hausdorffspace]

@@TheRedCap30 When I got to the bit where Dan was talking about that, I definitely did think of tech debt.

[@LDT2001]

This video is more of a burn on the cinemassacretruth subreddit than it is on james himself, and im all for it. The fact that an entire community collectively came against a guy for putting his family first is just insane to think about.

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Toxic fans are horrible everywhere.

[@eruu]

You thought we wouldn't notice, but the intro is being recorded on the shotgun mic just barely out of frame, despite Dan holding a mic the entire time. Just like James' studio tour.

[@billygoatguy3960]

Why do people even use those boom mics anymore? Doesn't that all have to be rerecorded in post on most professional film productions anyways?

[@thesidneychan]

​@@billygoatguy3960rerecording is expensive and takes time. It also takes away from live performance. Next would be that it's a backup audio source, a reference audio (to sync audio that was recorded separately, or as reference when it needs to be rerecorded). Or a dedicated sound mix guy could use the raw texture and detail from the boom to enhance the richness or bass. Something like that. I've never done proper audio mixing, but I'm sure having as much audio sources as possible is better than having only one.

[@hp67c]

@@thesidneychan I think he may have invented... two track recording? What's next, 24 tracks? www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LarryScully_BertWhyte_Interview_AUDIO_1169.pdf

[@adamsteelproducer]

@@billygoatguy3960quite simply, no. Those mics are good and wherever possible they want to keep that audio because re-recording is expensive and time consuming, and might never have the same vocal inflections / emotions as the original

[@lagg1e]

I had to restart the video to confirm that.

[@writinggoose6059]

"im a filmmaker! a filmmaker!!", i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a popular youtuber

[@i.b.640]

We had a secretary who did a bit of editorial Work once a week. She insisted she was an Editor and not a secretary. I thought it was so sad, because all of us were Editors , and she was just mid at it, but was an exceptional secretary and made the whole flee circus of an office actually functional. But as long as society will attatch social Status to the Job title and not just to how good at it you are, this will continue. Why not say I am BOTH a filmmaker and a youtuber, BOTH a secretary and an Editor.

[@i.b.640]

@@pocket83squared I take it as a compliment, that you would think I am an editor in English, even though this is not my native tongue and not the one I am working in :) Also: in my native tongue editing and correcting are two different things. Editing needs a sense of language and correcting a perfect grasp on grammar and orthography.

[@lancesmith8298]

Doug Walker, off in his own world, thinking he’s the next big thing on the platform and not Neil Breen

[@undeadMonk]

@@pocket83squared Speaking only for myself, I liked i.b.640's comments because they came across as humble and charismatic - sharing an anecdote from their personal life that didn't read as self-aggrandisement, and had true relevance to both the original comment and the video.Your first reply I would have liked after I scanned back up and noticed I hadn't - it was genuinely amusing - but after I read your second, in which you accuse another person of bot farming likes on their youtube comments (of all things to spend money buying bots for! Hilarious if true), it left a _slightly_ bad taste in my mouth. This is not to say your comments are heinous or in the wrong - they just don't read as genuinely as the other person's. From my limited perspective, it's only natural that they got as many likes as they did.

[@ProtomanButCallMeBlues]

@@i.b.640 the reminds me of my older brother, whom everyone calls "the lawyer" because he graduated from Law School, but he has never gone to court and admits he's terrified because he would always lose his mock trials (think Lionel Hutz from the Simpsons). He does legal stuff for some tech company, but he's never been straightforward other than when family bring it up he's like "I'm not THAT kind of Lawyer". But I think my parents just throw it around for themselves to brag on other parents like when their kids join the Marines.

[@mario7886]

Little-known American indie band Metalica playing for a crowd of 1.6 million people in Soviet Russia

[@RoboBoddicker]

I once saw a youtube comment on a Billy Joel video that was like 'Man, this guy is so underrated.'

[@MegaZeta]

@@RoboBoddicker the sweet spot you want to hit on KZbin is the triple space-warp overlap of "iconic", "underrated" and "am i the only one who"

[@crushycrawfishy1765]

@@RoboBoddicker Some people just have a "unique" sense of reality. Like, I once heard someone seriously argue that Pokemon, the global franchise, was underrated.

[@paulsutherland3813]

@@MegaZeta "who's still listening in 2024 with me" on a video with half a billion views

[@justcallmekai1554]

​@@MegaZetaDon't forget "who was here before Tiktok?"

[@kamilee4123]

When I heard the bit about complaining about technical exercises and having to take formal drawing and color theory classes, I realized exactly the kind of student James Rolfe was. I very recently graduated with a bachelor of arts in music and I ran into many people who complained about having to learn music theory and history, or slacked off private lessons. Hell I even took a color theory class as an elective my last semester and saw the same thing. It’s people who go to college to get better at one specific way of making art, and don’t really find other ideas or learning things technically very valuable. Lots of these people do eventually find something to take from these theory classes, and I don’t think young college students who are barely adults on their own for the first time are terrible people for being a little self centered. But it’s… telling when someone still seems to have that mindset 20 years later.

[@TeamSprocket]

Have you made art that resonated with hundreds of thousands of people? Less sneering, more reflection is my prescription.

[@sorenkair]

"Let he who is without cringe throw the first stone." Amen.

[@espurr6107]

My English is bad, could you explain it?

[@sorenkair]

@@espurr6107 it means that everyone does cringe things (just not on the internet for all to see), thus to make fun of him for being cringe is hypocritical.

[@pretzel1313]

​@@espurr6107it's a play on a well-known verse from the Bible. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". The word "sin" is replaced with the word "cringe" and the idea is "everyone is cringey, so you can't attack other people for being cringey without being a hypocrite".

[@nicholaswoollhead6830]

I'm on my way to a funeral. My friend who died, Kim Damgaard, was a video editor for the evening news here in Denmark throughout the 90s and early 00s. He drank and smoked himself to death when he became jobless. The reason for his joblessness was largely that he had refused to follow his field into the digital age, and while he had rudimentary editing skills in digital, he could not compete with the new editors coming out of the film schools. In some ways the version of AVGN you present here reminds me of the shortcomings of Kim. He refused to grow with the field that he himself had been such an integral part of. Kim meant a lot to me. He rented me my first room when I moved away from home, and let me find my legs as an adult in the big city in my own time and without punishing me when I still acted like a child. Last night as I was writing my goodbye letter for him I put his name into youtube on the off chance something might appear. And lo and behold someone has uploaded two of his concerts from some dingy bar to KZbin 10 years ago. Now he comes to me as wavelengths and photons on a screen. He isn't a humonculous though. He's my friend singing songs about life and death and playing the harmonica. I miss my friend. Thanks, dan, for giving me something to distract myself with.

[@eatatjoes6751]

Aw, sorry, man. I’ve felt that way too about my art and it hasn’t even found its legs yet.

[@elif6908]

May your friend be at peace now and my condolences to you, your friend’s family and all those who care about him.

[@AnnieRegret]

❤❤❤

[@LovecraftianToenail]

Thank you for sharing this story with us.

[@artdiaries2260]

May his memory be a blessing. My condolences

[@MeeraReads]

Did…. Did Dan just create a James Rolfe movie about James Rolfe? Centered around a cursed object?

[@hectormontecino7777]

ohhhhhh... You are so right, even finish with the doll. That's just masterful, is a critic, an episode of AVGN, a Rolfe's movie, an analysis, a introspection, a cautionary tale, and sometimes even a defense of Rolfe.

[@SSJFro]

🤯How to say "I'm a better filmmaker than you" without saying it

[@ekki1993]

@@SSJFro He tends to do the same thing he's talking about, like reviewing The Wall for Doug's video or a self-interview for the geocentrist video. And he generally does it better than the people he's talking about because... well, he's your favourite video essayist's favourite video essayist. I doubt he did it with ill intent here, though. The ending seems to find value in the style, even if the video is very critical of James Rolfe as a filmmaker. Dan probably saw something of himself in there.

[@mattcroft]

...goddamn it

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

The whole descent into madness vibe really didn't sink in until the end. But, it gives it re watch value. The second watch gives you insight into all of the foreshadowing work that was glossed over or taken for granted the first time. He hasn't stopped teaching. This is just the MasterClass.

[@8panthermodern2]

As someone with ADHD where every day is a struggle to manage the resulting executive disfunction, much of James's process is familiar to me. Figuring out the correct tool, planning the trip, understanding how to use the tool, can be an impossible task compared to just improvising something from objects in my direct field of vision.

[@teddy3k3]

My wife has severe ADHD just like this. If you can't find a resolution IN THAT MOMENT, the task just never gets done. This leads to ghetto rigs. Takes less than 2 minutes to make but gets the job done in that moment before the dopamine runs out.

[@melindatran6572]

I wish I knew how to make people understand executive dysfunction. “Why don’t you just do it?” is a frustrating question because 1) it implies that I’m making the concious decision to NOT do the thing and 2) IDK why either…my brain is just broken

[@ashkuigp]

This entire entrapment for camera head is screaming severe ADHD/Autism. And it is not a diss or criticism. I sincerely sympathize and respect his struggles and actually wish him best in finding ways to adjust and live best possible life!

[@clif_plays]

I can so much relate to this & also felt the signs of ADHD in James’s process (not to diagnose through the screen it’s just deeply familiar). I’m learning that so much of the way I operate has to do with my headspace in that moment & ability to just stop thinking about all I have to do, & to just start doing. This could be just fine, but The problem comes when I have to regulate it. My process atm is- when I have an idea, start doing it before thinking about it & it gets done. But when I start without thinking or planning, I continue until I finish without paying attention to any of my needs, & burn myself out. It feels truly like an impossible balancing act. It’s sort of heartbreaking to think that this behavior is often seen as failure, because even though I agree my results could be better with some forethought, I know there actually will be NO results the moment I start thinking about it.

[@rantingrodent416]

​@@melindatran6572 Here's a couple of metaphors to reach for: "It's like sleep paralysis, but instead of being motionless while my inner voice is screaming at me to move, I'm scrolling on my phone while my inner voice is screaming at me to move" "Imagine if trying to start many normal everyday tasks came with the same feeling in the pit of your stomach that stops you from jumping from a high place"

[@Dr.Quarex]

I am no fan of his, but honestly him writing a book as a way to put all of his youthful film projects to rest and make sure they were not forgotten is honestly very understandable, and somewhat heartwarming. When my mother died and I could finally start dealing with the infinite number of things she left behind, one of the ways I dealt with stuff that I knew absolutely had to be thrown out but that I wanted to remember was either to take a picture of it or to write a little bit about how important it was. I did the same thing when I would find a random receipt for some other chachki from a moment in time, I would write up my memories of it in a chronologically sorted Word document and then finally throw it out. Now, I obviously I'm not going to write an autobiography using all this material, but I guess if I had millions of people ostensibly interested in what I did I just might

[@3countylaugh]

And yet that sounds like a memoir about your mother might be lovely. Regular people can be super interesting. (or perhaps she wasn't regular and it would be differently lovely)

[@bpansky]

i "recently" felt compelled to photograph a bunch of stuff before throwing it out, too aaaaand, ya. wish i had backed up those camcorder tapes when i definitely could have without too much hassle

[@IamSpacedad]

I learned James Rolfe really loves his children/family more than anything in the world, and he shouldn't have to apologize for it.

[@jackkingsby116]

I went down a rabbit hole on cinemassacre truth trying to figure out where the hate is coming from and they banned me for "trolling" after I argued that they were acting like entitled babies for wanting him to divorce his wife.

[@ThePotatoMan04]

The trolls clearly dont have family they truly love so they dont understand it.

[@How_Is_This_A_Name]

​@@jackkingsby116 the reault of years of irony poisoning

[@themachine5647]

To those wondering out there what "toxic masculinity" means, one aspect of it is this sarcastic, disaffected, "never show emotions other than sardonic humor and anger" attitude largely held by young men on the internet. I can guarantee the people attacking James for loving his family do not have families of their own, they do not have wives or girlfriends or people in their life that they love or even respect. And I just always feel like if we could see the hateful people for what they are, pitiful and sad and young and scared, we would all feel a lot less hurt when they spit their nihilistic, entitled venom on the internet and undeserving people.

[@joearnold6881]

But… but… one of the people working for the kinda shitty company he teamed up with… was _fat!_ so there!

[@ginar2339]

I won’t lie, I came into this fully prepared to dislike/pity James Rolfe, but having finished it, there’s something comforting in this story about a guy who did have some big screw ups, didn’t achieve his huge artistic dreams, and has had to make compromises but still seems to be finding meaning and satisfaction in his life in other ways.

[@PoolNoodleGundam]

Legit. Yeah, he never reached the heights, and yet he seems content and fulfilled in spite of that. Reassuring is the word I'd use.

[@flockofdrones]

That's life

[@SpaceGhost1984]

That's certainly one takeaway. However, after having watched other videos on him, James Rolfe doesn't seem like he wants to do this character anymore, but must in order to keep his KZbin channel/livelihood afloat. Like an internet celebrity version of Alan Rickman's character in Galaxy Quest.

[@SanctuaryADO]

I don't know, I came away with the feeling that in a way he did achieve his dreams in a way. He had the opportunity to infinitely remake the pieces of contentt he created from his past that he loved and present it to an audience. Thats a luxury that very few people will ever get. It isn't everything that he probably wanted, but its something.

[@terminallyonline5296]

@@SanctuaryADO Exactly, his dreams changed. Dreams change with the people who dream them.

[@FullForce098]

Sorting by Newest on here was a mistake. Far too many people who have never seen Folding Ideas before with enough media literacy to fill 1/4th of an NES cartridge.

[@XanthinZarda]

Are we talking a UN Rom or something like a Black Box cartridge?

[@shamu3990]

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” - Pablo Picasso

[@mac4974]

Dan's straddling the look between "answer me my questions three" and "publish my manifesto or else"

[@ultrawhitebread]

The unholy fusion of Jack Black and Karl Marx.

[@Zr0Bites]

​@@ultrawhitebread*Dostoyevski

[@magnusengeseth5060]

@@Zr0Bites *Kaczynski

[@magicrainbowkitties1023]

​@@Zr0Bites Dostoyblinski?

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

He looks like David Letterman lol

[@caret_shell]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1434">23:54</a> "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get mad on camera?" Dan _still_ sounds too polite while doing this bit, proving that no matter how hard it is to get mad on camera, it's even harder for a Canadian.

[@valeriacaissa4552]

That was my thought as well "he isn't angry enough!".

[@sagecolvard9644]

I think the point of that is to exemplify exactly how good James is at it: Dan can't be nearly as convincing as the Nerd, even with the Nerd projected onto his face.

[@simongredal7577]

A little embarrassed to say it took me until that moment to realize this wasn't the usual video essay but so much more. With their faces melding together and Dan doing the same thing he describes James doing.

[@lyndonwesthaven6623]

The dad vibes are simply too strong in him. He's never angry, just disappointed

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

Dan doesn’t get “mad” on camera, but he is quite regularly _angry._ That boiling, seething kind of anger that is honestly way more intimidating then yelling and shouting. Usually for good reasons, though.

[@Novur]

Thank you for putting all this effort into an existential crisis so that when I need to, I can just rewatch this video instead dealing with the hassle having one of my own

[@swedishjazz9546]

This one was really beautifully shot and edited. As for the conclusion of reaching middle age and realizing your childhood passions didn't blossom into an outstanding career but stagnated or morphed into the more convenient, shallower version of itself that doesn't hold the candle to your hopes from years ago, and having to reconcile with the fact: hey. >:(

[@ZimMan2]

There's a profound beauty to the way James Rolfe appears to inspire existential crises in people while knowing that he himself, most likely, is just a guy living his life.

[@MasterOphSky]

I saw someone describe James Rolfe as complex, which was funny when you consider he's a pretty straightforward guy whose motives and priorities aren't disguised in the slightest, which is why conspiracy theories are simultaneously so easy to fabricate yet also make the fabricator look insane to an outsider.

[@thebadshave503]

I feel like that's kinda why he was chosen for the subject here, like Rolfe is so chill and lowkey despite his historical importance to the craft on KZbin that attempting to stare down his material for deep meaning is just going to dredge up more of yourself than him, hence the ending.

[@danmiltenberger5616]

@@thebadshave503 So Rolfe is like wavelength? It reveals more about us than the material itself

[@lancesmith8298]

@@danmiltenberger5616James Rolfe is also, coincidentally with the last big old god of KZbin on the channel, also The Wall

[@lancesmith8298]

He is the inverse of Tommy Tallarico, and that somehow makes investigating him even more of a koan

[@kneau]

I hope actual James watching this long enough to realize it's not a hit piece, and then watches the rest

[@ELSTERLING]

I hope even a third of the commenters do...

[@idontneedaname318]

It kind of is tho lmao?

[@1RandomToaster]

I hope James is spending time with the family he loves.

[@SmokeyChipOatley]

It kinda feels like watching a loved one struggle with a substance abuse problem. We want the best for them but we constantly see them sabotaging themselves and constantly making the same mistakes over and over. I will say as someone who’s had their own substance abuse issues, having a loved one care enough to be frustrated with you is 100X better than pushing them to the point that they no longer care enough to be angry anymore. This video comes from a place of love. It wouldn’t have been made otherwise.

[@ginkoflow7376]

This is absolutely a hit piece. A wonderful hit piece but made with a profound disdain undeniably don't be naive

[@MaxLSilver]

I am turning 50 this year and I feel some of this very deeply. I have been in the same career for almost twenty years and have almost that much more to go, and there is both a "could I do more" and a "am I stuck doing this because otherwise my family might starve" feeling that I, at least, am still working my way through, even when I know that my worries are mostly overblown. I also want to say, as it was unspoken by Dan but basically implied: I totally understand having a panic attack if you think you're going to be late picking up your kid from somewhere, particularly some public space that isn't school. You're worried about something happening, worried about your kid freaking out, any number of things. I haven't seen the original bit, but, yeah, that should have been edited out.

[@bartholen]

About being late to pick up your kid: one of my most vivid memories from my early life (I was 3) is when my mom was late to pick me up from kindergarten. Nothing happened, she was just late, but I can still recall the slowly setting feeling of unease, the familiar surroundings turning unfamiliar as all the other kids left and the yard got emptier and emptier, and wondering if she'd ever come. That kind of thing stays with you.

[@rainbowkenz]

oh god. I was holding it at bay, but your comment let in my existential angst again about having a career that's I'm good at but bored by but stuck in by practicality. So, thank you for that. Not that it's your fault. More, I feel you. Also, I second the challenge of suddenly realizing your late to pick up your kid from somewhere. After school care charged $5/minute for every minute late, which is fair enough, but trust me, the disapproval and embarrassment and concern for the kid's feelings were a lot more motivating than money.

[@KevinoftheCosmos]

There's not a single entertainer that owes us anything as an entertainer. Anyone who thinks so is just going to wind up angry and/or disappointed.

[@bararobberbaron859]

I am not sure I agree, IF they charged. If you sold me tickets to a comedy show I do feel I'm owed some jokes (not even asking for laughs as it may not be my humour, but I AM owed jokes). But in terms of them creating a new show or taking an 8 year break like Bo Burnham, yeah, in those aspects I'm owed absolutely nothing by entertainers.

[@FullForce098]

Well, "owes" is maybe not the right word, but keep in mind, fans are also customers, so you can't blow them off completely if you want to keep your career as an entertainer. But this shit? This is simply ridiculous.

[@Shenaldrac]

STRONG disagree. Did I pay money to be entertained? If so, I am owed entertainment. There is also of course the age old truism that time is money. Any time I spend on someone's film/game/book/tv show/interpretive dance/juggling act/whatever is time that could have been spent on something else. It's entirely reasonable for someone to be disappointed that someone isn't as entertaining as they were led to believe.

[@KevinoftheCosmos]

@@Shenaldrac well you don't disagree about being disappointed, clearly. You're disappointed. And angry enough to type that out.

[@Shenaldrac]

@@KevinoftheCosmos Why do you assume I'm angry? Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean I'm angry. This is a distressingly common sentiment online, that any who voice dissent must be enraged. It simply isn't true.

[@barbararobertson9505]

It's okay Dan. In 15 years someone else will be having an existential crisis over Keemstar. This is completely respectable by comparison.

[@aaronborok8398]

AVGN is infinitely better than Keemstar by any filmmaking metric.

[@HellecticMojo]

Keemstar is reprehensible garbage

[@Pundit07]

@@aaronborok8398 Make that any metric in general, not just filmmaking

[@lachlank.8270]

Ugh

[@Kiwi_J]

Nah

[@disgruntledcashier503]

The thumbnail for the Nostalgia Critic video is a picture of Doug. Because that's who the video is about. The thumbnail for I Don't Know James Rolfe is a picture of Dan Olson. Because that's who the video is about.

[@thegnarledpirate9198]

It sounds like you're calling him a loser.

[@LostSnowdrift]

indeed -- this video isn't called "james rolfe and the nerd", it is specifically **i** don't know james rolfe. the title is as much about olson as it is about rolfe.

[@Derek-kj9mt]

Weird how many aren't getting it. I suspect it has to do with the fact that, as Dan makes clear, James has become a mirror in which we see what we want to see - good, bad, competence, incompetence, brilliance, ignorance, diligence, laziness - and if we look closely enough, we'll see the judgments are just about ourselves.

[@DB-ku7vu]

@@thegnarledpirate9198 ... Did you watch the video?

[@heatherlee2047]

+++

[@iBenjamin1000]

man this is the most 'I have no idea what I'm watching' video I think I've seen in years and I have to say, you've put a lot of work into it.

[@KeeliaSilvis]

Seeing Dan this vulnerable & insecure while wearing his Lake Minnewanka hoodie is gut wrenching. In Search of a Flat Earth is one of my favorite Folding Ideas videos, and just one of my favorites, period. I rewatch it all the time when I need to calm down, practice empathy, or pull myself out of a depressive low. And the footage the shore disappearing under the curve?? So beautiful it gives me goosebumps even writing about it in this comment. So to hear him tell himself "You're not a filmmaker, either." while he's in *that* hoodie? It *hurts.* It says "You'll *never* live up to your own dreams," and that message resonates with me in a way I still haven't emotionally processed.

[@Palemagpie]

Its fascinating watching a man evolve into Slavoj Zizek in real time like he's some kinda Pokémon.

[@thomasl6412]

This is my favorite comment of this year, so far

[@lancesmith8298]

Hbomberguy is that awkward middle starter evolution

[@lordvermintide4441]

Alright alright I like the guy, this is some comparatively high brow subject matter for KZbin, but let's not pretend he has even one tenth the intellect of someone like Zizek.

[@ZergrushEddie]

Rolfe did an interview with Doug Walker. It wasn’t particularly interesting but one moment stuck out to me: when Rolfe was discussing his daughter. “We made a monkey, and now it talks to me.” Silly words, yes, but the look of completeness on the man’s face screamed depth. Yeah, the man is happy bein’ a father. The corporate nature of what was once a ‘kid’ making videos hurts as a fan, but if it means that Rolfe gets to chat with his talking monkey it is a small price to pay.

[@Deenyoro]

I met him at Too Many Games and told him I appreciated him prioritizing his family and he gave me a hug. Love this man, his old videos are still there. Not every new video is amazing but they still bring me joy.

[@ProfessorBoswell]

Also I get the feeling that he is someone who will encourage & make time for his kids' creativity and imagination. Best kind of parent

[@real1mem3s]

​@ProfessorBoswell For sure. Who knows, maybe his kids will enjoy filming videos too and we'll get the AVGKid with cameos from AVGN as a cranky old man showing his teenage kid all the bad games he's played before

[@chef541]

How about my horse prince ​@@Deenyoro

[@dangerousdays2052]

Wrong. James sold out. He didn't have to do the fans dirty just to have a daughter, he could have got a real job. End of story.

[@strategic_amber_reservoir]

Watching you watch him on your phone on my phone is quite an experience.

[@ghostnote1678]

It's been hilarious watching the about-face from the Reddit truthers. When this video was first posted and they thought it was just going to be 80 minutes of red meat from Rolfe's flayed carcass for them feast on, it was all "Awesome I love this guy" and "Dan's the Man", "Folding Ideas is great, can't wait to watch"... now look at them 😂 Exposing themselves to be exactly what Dan said they were.

[@TheEndKing]

Why, what did they do?

[@ghostnote1678]

@@TheEndKing Turned on him REAL quick. Making up nasty rumors about him, every manner of body-shaming, dismissing his critiques of their community, saying he cherry-picked quotes to make them look bad while at the same time saying shit that's just as repugnant, making post after post trying to attack him from every possible angle... complete "snowflakes" To be fair, there are a handful of them that are like 'Yeah, some of you are a problem and give us a bad name" or "yeah he's totally got us wrong, but you should watch his Doug Walker vid" but that's as deep as it gets.

[@bostonmarketfeministbookclub]

I love how Dan shows us directly how hard it is to act mad. I don't mean that as an insult, I totally agree and think it's clever

[@GuyNamedSean]

Yeah, you could really feel the moment where he hit that wall and wasn't comfortable with going further into the emotion.

[@AngelMercury]

This was an amazing section of the essay

[@simonvetter2420]

I don't know, I found it a bit unconvicing because what he was talking about wasn't really something I would ever imagine someone being *actually* angry about, while you can asolutely get angry about video games.

[@AstridFrost-rc7wf]

@@simonvetter2420 nah, I can understand someone becoming frustrated with their role in a relationship between audience and creator

[@billhicks8]

@@simonvetter2420 Maybe that's part of why it's good though. Getting mad about something on demand takes preparation. Dan doesn't quite get there with the topic, again showing why he isn't saying that what Rolfe does is easy, despite his criticism.

[@hughmilner7013]

"Is this the fruit of obsession? Is this where compulsion takes us? Are the damned and damnable all doomed to wander to Home Depot?" Truly, the madness that befalls us all.

[@Tonbizzle]

If I can find the right fixture I can make all my dreams come true... or at least let this nightmare end. Is it aisle 7?

[@PaulRudd1941]

​@Tonbizzle, sir, we please ask that mental breakdowns occur in the parking lot after the purchase. Buyers remorse?

[@hazyhazel21]

as a contractor who works for home depot i definitely consider myself both damned and damnable

[@dudere]

@@hazyhazel21Your do the lords work. Oof I am painting my house right now. I brought in a paint chip got get a match. The paint lady said the paint was not shiny at all. I had to wanted around the doors section for a while.

[@Neuvost]

the danned and dannedable

[@passionate_gamerotica]

gotta say dan makes me profoundly interested in a story i would never consider entertaining and i kind of like this flex of his filmmaking skills because it clearly matters to him so much

[@rainbowkenz]

The inbuilt misogyny (and misandry?) of "Man and Woman have children together, consensually and mutually and everything, but Man is our special artist boy so Woman should really shoulder every child-related burden forever to permit him to ONLY MAKE ART FOR US FOREVER UNINTERRUPTED or else she is harpy because children exist and require transport and care" is... a lot.

[@Roiworld21]

If there's one thing I got out of this video, it's that James Rolfe has 100% percent turned into a Dad. Anybody who says, "Fuck it" and just haphazardly backyard construct in a way that's easy and works for him has transformed himself into Dad mode. If anything, that just concludes that he might do this to other things around the house too which makes me happy for some reason lol. I'm sure his daughters will remember that fondly about him.

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

Man my dad built some truly mindboggling stuff. We had to deconstruct one of his monstrocities (a bookshelve/tv stand he'd been adding iterative weird upgrades to for two decades) when moving house, it was positively non-Euclidian. An Escher print of a cupboard, magnificent, imaginative, completely w r o n g in a Lovecraftian way...

[@desertels5119]

​@@jaspervanheycop9722 This is wonderfully vivid

[@pravkdey]

​@@jaspervanheycop9722 may God have mercy on us all

[@agraham9099]

i love that for him SO MUCH

[@kyleleehufnagel]

As a dad who has dug giant bulbs of decorative grasses out of landscaping beds with nothing but a breaking bar because my shovel handle broke; sometimes you do a task the “wrong way”because the real challenge is working up the motivation to even start a task. If I stopped because I didn’t have the right tool on hand there is no saying when I’d get around to getting the right tool, let alone circle back around to the project I was trying to accomplish to begin with.

[@mothersbasement]

“It’s like, what was he thinking?” *one hour and several wooden boards later* “Oh, It’s like… what was **I** thinking?”

[@Gaia_BentosZX5]

"How did I get stuck with this username?", an existential horror story of reviewers that owe a lot to the AVGN and Nostalgia Critic.

[@zeframmann1641]

@@Gaia_BentosZX5 Not gonna lie I sometimes miss the paper bag.

[@SlickJohnnysHouse]

Do you also make stands compulsively Geoff

[@draexian530]

I see what it's like, then.

[@ozoraidani]

When your fave anime youtuber watches your fave essay youtuber, you know he’s good! Where you gonna pop up next Geoff? Wendigoon? 👀

[@_CE53]

Didn't realize James had such underground music tastes. I have the same. Been listening to a little known artist, Tailor Swift.

[@FavoredLad]

I really don't know why this was recommended to me, as I haven't watched anything AVGN related in a long while and have kind of forgotten about James Rolfe altogether, but then I watched it and I really loved this. The shots, setup, narration, almost poetic use of sentences in some of the commentary - it all just resonated with me and I can honestly say that this project, video, documentary, or dare I say, film is one of very few on this site that I feel exposed me to something of value as opposed to just content that's meant to distract and monetize my time.

[@Zmaenlplibi]

Watch the rest of Dan's Stuff, it's all pretty great! I'd recommend "what happened to the flat earth".

[@knowmatter5503]

To quote noted musical historian Todd in the Shadows: “Metallica wasn’t just ‘big for a metal band’ they were BIG - I remember hearing ‘enter sandman’ playing at WALMART”

[@travisjordan3853]

The fact that 'Weird Al' Yankovic incorporated lyrics from their song "Enter Sandman" into his 1992 polka medley "Polka Your Eyes Out" shows that Metallica was definitely not an obscure band.

[@deparinge]

Yeah I also thought back to the St. Anger Trainwreckord. If you weren't there at the time you might be forgiven for thinking Metallica weren't that big back in the day and it's only because of a dedicated fanbase and sheer musical prowess that you'll hear songs like Nothing Else Matters on the radio nowadays but like...Enter Sandman reached number 16 on the Hot 100 and went platinum back when that actually meant something

[@pinkcupcake4717]

The little flash in my mind to Todd's video in the middle of this one was probably an unintended experience, but a great one nonetheless.

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

I thought of the same thing!

[@marocat4749]

I mean unforgiven is great. and personally nothing else matters their masterpiece.

[@TheCrumbum]

Just a weird footnote. The university James attended The University of the Arts, closed last week after just a weeks notice. Students, staff, and faculty all left out to dry. James did a nice tribute video in front of the steps of the main building. It’s not that relevant. But as an alumni of uarts as well I felt the need to share.

[@jamiepianist]

Did you enjoy the classes there, or did you find them dull like Rolfe did?

[@TheStanishStudios]

Oh shit, I’m in Philly and it’s definitely the talk of the town right now-such a uniquely weird shitshow!

[@Pundit07]

@@jamiepianist I mean, given that he was willing to do a tribute video for the university building, he clearly must have matured and found *some* sort of appreciation for what he learned there.

[@dangerousdays2052]

I have no sympathy for America's for-profit university system or anyone who gets hit with the rug pull.

[@TheCrumbum]

​@@jamiepianist I did a different program, I enjoyed it immensely, it was a unique wonderful place. Had its flaws for sure, lots of rough edges, Its philly its gritty, but the education I got there was great. James types are pretty common in an art school. It's art, egos are common. The most important thing you learn at a school like that is the fundamentals of visual art etc. It builds a foundation that will plug into everything you work on later, wither its film, design or painting. But if you find those tasks a waste of time, well, it will color your whole perspective of it, makes things seem dull and dumb. The rest of that type of education it is you getting back what you put into it. The Wavelength comparison probably works there.

[@Peippy1]

Excellent, I did not even know AVGN's name before clicking on this, and I still loved it. Folding Ideas always knocks it out of the park.

[@Packbat]

I think maybe I understand this now. Dan Olson thought he was like James Rolfe: a filmmaker - like, trained in film school filmmaker - who found himself making videos on KZbin for a living. Then, as he learned more about James Rolfe, he abruptly realized that the assumptions he made about what they shared, the film-industry and film-theory knowledge at the foundation of his own self-image as a filmmaker-KZbinr, were things he did not share with James Rolfe - that Rolfe's relationship to this body of knowledge was not his own. That James Rolfe was not what he thought a filmmaker was. And then, as Dan moved into the ending of the video, he began to find this connection again, find this commonality again, find the ways that he is like James Rolfe again. He could no longer see James Rolfe as a filmmaker-KZbinr, but he could see himself in James Rolfe... ...leading to the puppet-Rolfe reveal: if Rolfe is not a filmmaker, neither is Dan Olson. At the beginning, Folding Ideas and the Angry Videogame Nerd are the same. At the end, Folding Ideas and the Angry Videogame Nerd are the same.

[@ohno5559]

A truly Lovecraftian video. Dan sees a wretched artifact so vile, so entrancing in its obvious wrongness, that he is compelled to recreate it. The great work consumes him, he loses sleep, his beard grows long and unkempt, but still he maintains a single-minded devotion to his goal: create a replica of the artifact so perfect that it is capable of conferring the dark knowledge within.

[@ArbitraryConstant]

amazing comment

[@swiftlymurmurs]

Ironically a more interesting take on the story James keeps coming back to inexplicably about haunted objects trying to kill him. Hey James, maybe you weren't the main character but the haunted object all along.

[@BarackLesnar]

Avgn as information hazard

[@alistairbuckle3450]

@@swiftlymurmurs For he is... Bimmy. (The evil, morose, twin who replaced James in AVGN lore).

[@The5lacker]

@@swiftlymurmurs It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[@startingfromlevelone9510]

The insight about how a camera man acts as an instigator is something people really should reflect on more.

[@RevolutionaryLoser]

Worldstar!

[@theelectricant98]

A Rather Complicated Girl (1969)

[@theelectricant98]

Also Model Shop

[@Posiman]

It's a main concept behind Nathan Fielder's entire career.

[@EmeraldLavigne]

It's literally fucking physics.

[@itisalec]

Have to admit when he showed the pile of woodden stands he made i lost my shit

[@ajk6763]

Angrily ranting that you're stuck between 3 screens and that a jump is impossible to make is such a brilliant way to end it. The whole audience can tell that you're supposed to be able to make that jump, of course you can make that jump, and the creator is the only one who can't see it.

[@Churono]

I won't say that read doesn't have merit, but Flashback was being obtuse in that moment. The game expects you to do a really weird input so that your character jumps in a specific way that he'll only do a couple times in the game. Allegedly for copy protection, but the manual describes it poorly too.

[@The5lacker]

If there's one lesson I've taken away from this video, it's this: There's a difference between "Wanting to be a filmmaker" and "Wanting to make a film", or more generally, "Wanting to be an artist" and "Wanting to make art." If you want to *be* an Artist, then the art is just a means to an end. And if you don't feel like you've made it to where you want to be, if you don't feel like an "artist", it'll get stuck. You'll focus on making your "art" until it's perfect, until *it* makes *you* an *artist.* But if you want to make art, then once the art is done, you can go and... make more art. Or not. You can go do non-art things, and it won't matter, because the art you wanted to make... was made. I think, too often, we get hung up on what we want to "Be" as opposed to what we want to "Do", and not just about art. It's the difference between "Being a good person" and "Doing good things." The difference between "Being smart" and "Learning." I dunno, it's just something that got caught in my craw at the end there. "You aren't a filmmaker either." Like, I get it, but that voice isn't really ever... productive, at least it hasn't been in my life. There's nothing wrong with not being a filmmaker.

[@ZoetropeTony]

This is really well said, and I appreciate it as someone who often wonders whether I want to be an artist more so than I want to make art

[@yksoba]

Now this has me asking myself: Do i make art because i want to make art, or because I want it to make me?

[@plootyluvsturtle9843]

Totally agree

[@pocket83squared]

Great point. Idealization. There are hats we covet from an early age: for child me, there was _LEGO_ Space, because I was going to be a scientist. Once I finally landed in a Lab job, I quickly realized I hated it. I wanted to be, not do. Sci-fi is just that. I'll add on the side that much of our politics ends up being less about what we really think, and more about what we want to think we think. Also, our appearance is _so_ much affectation! It's hard to keep a top-down view of one's own life; we end up getting stuck staring into some barely-important corner. For perspective, means and ends are so important to consider weighed against one another, and sometimes together. In a genre that's personally closer to this Carpenter from birth, there are lots of 'Woodworker' videographers out here who have pretty tools, and who love to proselytize about safety & procedure, but I think they want to _be_ the thing far more than they really want to _do_ the thing. Ever notice how many how-to videos will demonstrate, in real-time, a presenter's first time with the subject matter? The path ends up being much different from a distant perspective.

[@alexbistagne1713]

I love this contrast of being vs doing. Thanks for the comment.

[@Sharatan737]

One must imagine the Nerd happy.

[@wanderslostify]

This is it. Other people can assess the value and sincerity of an artist's work. An artist just does it. They don't make art that falls short, or less art than they could. They simply make the art they make.

[@JohnSilverHawkins]

This is one of the best shoutouts to Camus I have seen.

[@unknown6390]

Holy shit that's genius 😂

[@FullForce098]

It's interesting you mentioned Penny Arcade early on because if you've been following them over the years, through the comics and the blog posts, you've watched the two go through all this growth as they've become parents and true adults. To my knowledge, there isn't this type of fandom complaining about the shift in energy and topics, it's mostly just long term fans that have grown with it. It's genuinely kind of fascinating in the long view because there's this linear progression over 2 decades of consistent thrice weekly updates you can follow along, jumping in and out at any point in the timeline, to see where they were at this point or another.

[@Duiker36]

On his Patreon, a few months ago, Dan actually did a small dive into a beef between Mike Krahulik and Harlan Ellison.

[@idk-kn6nw]

Honestly watching this I don’t know whether to feel reassured or absolutely terrified. As a “musician”, I feel a growing dissonance between the self-recognition of my own mediocrity and the fact that despite that, it is still a central pillar to my identity to both myself and those who know me. Like its so weird studying music in college, realizing I only really scraped by through absorbing the most surface-level principles, never really even trying to make a career out of it, yet still placing extreme personal importance on a now hobby which is still miles away from ever producing a single focused and complete work. I feel like Rolfe lays out the sort of “blue pill” best possible outcome for us dedicated underachievers. He’s the filmmaking equivalent of your local one-man cover band who gets a gig every night and never fails to get the whole bar roaring to his meticulously arranged looper pedal rendition of Lose Yourself by Eminem. It is creatively basic and stagnant for sure but you cannot deny his success or the fact that the level of effort and charisma is at the very least a good step above the medium’s ridiculously low floor. Like James with AVGN, its hard to imagine bar cover guy setting aside a low maintenance, 2 hour a day, financially viable formula to produce an original studio album if anything even remotely already brings him a sense of fulfillment and purpose. To be honest still being somewhat young this video just motivates me to commit harder to learning and improving in my medium, while helping me accept the fact that there really is nothing wrong with childhood ambitions giving way to the realities of adult life.

[@lordvermintide4441]

For sure. Similar situation here, but kinda from an opposite perspective. Played music for over a decade at this point, I've put out a few EPs and a couple albums over the years. I never had the ambition to make it professional, it always was a hobby and I was pretty realistic about that from the start, since the "dream" seemed unrealistic. For a long time I felt bad about my own lack of ambition, my own negativity, my upbringing in a working class family and background, like all those things stamped the "dream" out of me before I ever started; what if I actually could have made a success of it if it wasn't for me always telling myself I couldn't? You never get anywhere if you don't try, and I never tried. Maybe I should have, like those more optimistic and hopeful people I see on social media. But at the end of the day I just didn't want to put in the effort, I wanted to do it for fun and not bring the stress of money into it, and actually, that's okay. I chose a more "sensible" path of just getting a regular job and playing gigs at the weekends, but frankly I'm glad I did. I still had a lot of fun and have a set of life experiences that most people don't as a result of it. It brought meaning and purpose to me regardless if my "real" career was bull and repetitive, while I still had the advantage of having a reliable income, I had a car and my own place, unlike any of my struggling "professional" musician friends. It's all just about priorities, doing what suits you best to lead a lifestyle you want to live. Rolfe clearly has his priorities figured out.

[@Bokatisha1234]

I used to live in the same town as James, and worked at a popular café. He'd come by occasionally in the middle of biking by and get a breakfast burrito and a drip coffee and I never got up the courage to tell him I liked his work before I moved. It always felt so weird seeing this guy my siblings and I were obsessed with, years later, sweaty in the middle of exercise, just trying to get a burrito. I never wanted to bother him. In that moment he was just a guy and I think he deserved that moment to just be some guy buying a burrito.

[@GraphiteShores]

You are both a hero for letting him be and also I am kind of glad that he was working out. Good for him.

[@catwithorb]

Thanks for sharing this story, it made me smile.

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

This illustrates why his very uncommon decision to stay “offline” was such a good one. He can just… exist. His existence has not been tied up in a constant need to perform and entertain others.

[@teddy3k3]

I love this story. I read it last night and came back to reread it.

[@TheReliquarian]

I think that's something that a lot of people don't consider about fame and mundanity - at some time or another we're all just some guy buying a burrito. With our modern world of social media, parasocial relationships and hero worship, we forget that this other person we look up to or idolize, or maybe even hate-watch, isn't some paragon child of the Muses or a bilious, hateful villain who makes things you dislike just to slight you personally; sometimes you take on a project that you really feel stands out and Says Something - sometimes you do a job because the light bill's due. I hope for both James and Dan that they create and produce more projects that they can be proud of than not, and that they can buy a burrito now and again.

[@Strawberry92fs]

From the moment I saw the camera rig, I understood intuitively why he did it. He had screws and wood on hand. to do it properly he'd have to waste a shooting day going to home depot, buying a bolt, making sure he had the right bits to drill the hole, and the counter sink. take it all home, and then do the fix. vs doing the fix in like 15 minutes and then it's "good enough:" forever

[@doctorwholover1012]

Yep. It's the same understanding I have of my dad's desk setup where he drops pens behind his monitor, which then roll down and back to the keyboard due to the way his desk is built into the wall and his massive monitor with no space for a pen pot anywhere within sight 😂 hes 70+ years old and doesn't give a shit anymore, if he needs a pen, he wants to grab it immediately and drop it without thought, so we end up with the monitor-based Pen-alanche 🤷‍♀️ it works for him and he's the only one who uses the desk, and it's not like you can't find a pen if you need one so 😂

[@Tomyb15]

But it still leaves that strange taste in your mouth. It feels like a perpetual afterthought despite it being his main "job" and primary way of actually making content as a film maker (at least, content that will get a decent audience). Why won't he make time in his schedule for a mostly one-time thing that has importance to his life. Even if he prioritizes his family and other activities, it's hard to argue that he can't just dedicate a bit of time to what's basically his only job that pays for his bills and his family's. It feels as if he hates or dreads even thinking about it and avgn related things. It's sad.

[@ricardoalbertoguevarapozos4550]

it would prob take him 1 or 2 hours to do everything, and i'm adding more time just for the trip to home depot. it's one hole u know it's not rocket science

[@HellecticMojo]

@@Tomyb15It's basically what happens when you do a multi team project on your own. None of his associates are actually proficient in ANY element of film making and none of them critically think enough on a project to form a tight control. He's in a perpetual DIY cycle because at no point did anyone enforce a need for strict planning.

[@AllisterCaine]

​@@ricardoalbertoguevarapozos4550yeah, in my head the projects all fall together in ten minutes but reality taught me different. If an improvised solution does the job, i wont leave my house for the gold plated version that takes the whole day. In the end my workshop is a mashup and doesnt even have a proper cozy wood floor so screw it.

[@thetokutickler]

It's kinda sad that it took AVGN's 20th Anniversary special a whole month to break 1 million views while this broke 1 million in only 3 days.

[@Pundit07]

On the bright side, at least this video wasn’t a hit piece like so many people mistakenly assume, but rather a thoughtful self-reflection and honest assessment.

[@glyph_official]

On my third re-watch and I am starting to wonder why Foldy wasn't the cursed object

[@clb734]

Surely this video is exclusively a video essay on AVGN and not at all a masterfully done commentary on the nature of internet content and Dan's relationship with his own craft. That would be crazy.

[@jst56strong]

You win my favorite comment 🎉 +2 internet points

[@ChrisKChandler]

Nah, Dan hates metaphors.

[@mattcelder]

I don't know Dan Olson

[@BassLiberators]

Hahaha unless.......

[@Tw0DrunkGuys]

Don't be silly, metaphors aren't real, subtext isn't real, all the beautifully framed shots and theming were just coincidence.

[@MelonTarge123]

This is amazing. A story of Dan using Wavelength to condemn the man only to realize that AVGN is Wavelength and that what he hates isn't the man but the reminder of his own insecurities. It is a hard and painful thing to realize that your anger comes from within and not without, to grapple with this realization like this is moving. Dan is the best doing it.

[@Lollero200q]

This 👆

[@sybo59]

@@Lollero200qCould this be cutesy, pretentious nonsense?

[@ItWasSaucerShaped]

i don't get a sense from the section of the video where we see the original intent, the 'narrative of AVGN' video that was originally being shot, that Dan ever set out to condemn Rolfe. i think it was the opposite, given that that part of the video at no point offers a harsh critique of Rolfe's work (unlike the rest of the video) - that Dan intended to defend AVGN and Rolfe, particularly against the hate watchers / reddit fascists we can only guess at why that video didn't make the cut to get published (my own guess is it just wasn't that interesting; didn't have much to say beyond, 'the internet has been mean to AVGN and i don't like it'), but it seems clear enough that Dan took that work and, rather than discarding it outright (probably because there IS value in saying out loud, 'it is okay to choose the life you want to lead instead of leading the one strangers think you should'), probed the matter of why he felt compelled to offer a defense why the sense of kinship with a homunculus made of wavelengths and photons?

[@shimemiller5952]

Genuinely thank you for wording it, I kinda struggle interpreting stuff like this sometimes

[@Lollero200q]

@@sybo59 your mom is

[@skalitstudio2208]

The Truthers part was seriously disturbing. There are subreddits like that? Really? What are these people doing with their time? Blows my mind😮

[@misteryA555]

Thank you for pointing out that sometimes it's the fans who change and not the creator, because I have seen so many people talk about how ____ used to be better and I'm like "Dude, they are exactly the same what are you even TALKING about?". It's like people can't even comprehend their tastes can change

[@DanJackson1977]

I guarantee you 98% of the people shitposting this video never got that far to understand that.

[@austinfletchermusic]

Let he who is without cringe throw the first stone indeed, Dan. This might be your most brutally honest video, about both James and yourself.

[@sylviapage61]

I agree, it gave me actual chills

[@culwin]

Everyone should embrace their cringe. Just not too much.

[@kingmanic]

They're both KZbin essayist with an audience.

[@sdgdhpmbp]

​@@culwinWhat's too much? Cause I'm basically one with my cringe.

[@thatkidwiththehoodie]

@@sdgdhpmbpI am one with the cringe and the cringe is with me. I am one with the cringe and the cringe is with me. I am o

[@Stathol]

Dan boggling at why Kyle would build a mere 8-foot wide replica of the AVGN set while hovering over his 8-inch wide replica of the replica of the AVGN set is just *chef's kiss*

[@krlosz1996]

A replica of a replica, reaching concerning levels of simulacra

[@SchneiderHB]

well but he didn't build it as a _room_, so he can actually do all the filiming inside

[@megamcee]

This is your "Inside". Incredible production.

[@EricAndrewGrimaldi]

Dunno if you read the comments, but wanted to say that the projector shot in A Crass Homunculus of Photons is great.

[@skylerclyne6542]

“This thing ruined my life in the way that only the inexplicable decisions of strangers can” not even five minutes in and we’re already bearing witness to some all time bangers. Thanks, Dan.

[@NaimHrustanovic]

It's crazy because I had a conversation with two friends about this exact phenomenon tonight, where a strangers behavior bewildered me to the point of momentary obsession (not of the stranger but of the act itself). And then I get a new quote from Dan with which to perfectly summarize it.

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

It's like walking through the door into a philosophy lecture only to run into the entirely glass door two metres past it

[@tinywhale3954]

1:52 for anyone wondering

[@Minihood31770]

I mean, that's all internet popularity isn't it? It's not all ruining your life, obviously. But the inexplicable decisions of strangers to watch your stuff on the internet does also cause issues that ruin your life in only that way that it does.

[@ajbakercmsu]

"If it hadn't been for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college."

[@potatolord6853]

I appreciate the contributions of the grainy voice effects to the tone and subject matter of the video, but I’m chuckling at the mental image of someone picking up an audio diary in Bioshock and having the speaker eloquently confess their confusion over James Rolfe for an hour and change.

[@B-019]

I need this Bioshock mod ASAP.

[@LimeyLassen]

Better yet, in Control

[@wasprider7239]

I went from earnest self reflection to cackling laughter from the last comment to yours. Shit that's a funny mental picture 🤣

[@michaeldunkerton3805]

I used to have this earworm where I imagined AVGN delivering the "I want to take the ears off" monologue. Give it a try in your head...it fits perfectly.

[@EnvyOmicron]

@@michaeldunkerton3805 I hate that you're right, I can totally imagine it

[@II00I00]

the world is sliding steadily into fire, but at least we get to experience the golden age of video essays

[@rommix0]

> the world is sliding steadily into fire always has been since the dawn of time. that's nothing new.

[@II00I00]

@@rommix0 do you imagine a graph of that to be a flat line?

[@rommix0]

@@II00I00 That's not how ebb and flows work. They are never flat.

[@piragintheevercorpulent1526]

​@@rommix0Just because it's reoccurring doesn't mean i can't still be bothered about it. It's like Mondays! They happen literally every week and they still suck!

[@II00I00]

@@rommix0 so sometimes the world is sliding into fire, and sometimes it's less sliding into fire. and sometimes, when a brand new extinction-level threat is introduced and at the same time there's a global resurgence of fascism, it's sliding extra hard

[@robertspoor84]

What a finely crafted and indulgent way to send a simple message of self reflection. Like some kind of ornate silver Victorian mirror that should have never existed without the obsessive craftsmanship of its maker.

[@jackgladney]

I think it’s kind of interesting that James Rolfe will never see or even know about this video and will instead just have a nice day going to the park with his kids where he has fun and later kisses his wife and makes dinner, happy and entirely unburdened.

[@vizjim2]

I love this image.

[@hv1225]

Muh kids.

[@RyansAnecdotes]

I wouldnt assume that. James is still active on Twitter. There's a good chance he'll run across it. However It's debatable if he'll ever comment on it or publicly acknowledge it in any way.

[@HanabiraKage]

@@RyansAnecdotes It'd be funny if he became as obsessed with Dan as Dan is obsessed with him. There's not a snowball's chance in hell of it happening, but it's a funny thought.

[@RyansAnecdotes]

@@HanabiraKage Yeah, imagine if James made a response video in a similar style of him obsessing over Dan. That'd be golden.

[@goldstarsupreme]

The sock puppet guy was cute but missed opportunity to bring back Foldy who is DEFINITELY still in one piece and hasn't rotten away after years of unuse because he's a puppet made of paper.

[@scottwatrous]

The Rerturn of Foldy will be a day of triumph.

[@marocat4749]

Its foldys angry father :(

[@BenBebbington]

Foldy lies asleep neath the hill. He will awaken when the channel's need is at its highest.

[@joewaid]

I find it kind of ironic that someone would make a request for Foldy when this video is about examining a creator whose entire career has been a stagnant rehash of the same artistic visions they've had since childhood. While Foldy isn't that old, and the channel is still Folding Ideas, to me the character of Foldy is a relic of an era where for his own reasons, Dan didn't shoot the essay narration with himself speaking. It is scrappy and cute, but a far cry from the artistic direction and attention to filmmaking his newer videos have. Sorry I don't know what came over me, but I guess I really appreciate how far this channel has come from the work of Dan and the crew.

[@Ahnkitomi]

@@joewaid they made a very obvious joke that really explicitly played on the theme of nostalgia and gimmicks past their time. i find it somewhat ironic that you 'found it ironic' and chose to imply that OP missed the point of the video, a position which requires you to frame "DEFINITELY still in one piece and rotten away after years of unuse" as a wholly unironic, deadly serious statement. I'm on the spectrum and I got it.

[@Kfied]

This is a certified masterpiece!

[@ashleydonniehanson8953]

Your video essays somehow manage to help me sleep or help me be super productive. I don't know how you manage to be both a sedative and stimulant. I will say, if I fall asleep to a video, I need to rewatch it the next day.

[@robinbirb]

"It ruined my life in the way that only the inexplicable decisions of strangers can." I felt that.

[@sca8217]

Is it weird that I chanced upon this comment at the exact same time as that exact line was being spoken by Dan while playing the video?

[@robinbirb]

@@sca8217 Amazing.

[@el_fucko]

@@sca8217 The longer the video, the weirder it is. This one's 76 minutes, not too shabby imo.

[@ProgressivePoliticsNetwork]

Watching this as 37 years old should carry a warning label

[@CoffeeCynic]

Try at 43. Existential dread.

[@Moonbeam143]

I'm 38. This does feel like a punch in the gut, doesn't it? You have so many dreams of who you might be when you're younger, and what your life might be when you're older, but it turns out that you're already in a dream, because you're asleep to who you are as a person right now, and sometimes a wake up is good for you.

[@XanthinZarda]

In the choir of millions, only a few voices rise above the noise. As long as we do the best for ourselves and to those we care for, we shall at the very least, be remembered by someone.

[@lydiai.3658]

I just turned 36 so it was close but it missed me

[@JetstreamGW]

I'm 40. Aging is better than the alternative, cowards! :P Accept it! Accept your life, warts and all!

[@maelstrom9960]

I mean I'm kind of a theatre director who wishes she was kind of a KZbinr, so the grass is always grass?!

[@maelstrom9960]

Truly though this was beautiful and twisty 💜

[@squibble08]

"kind of a theatre director" im intrigued! sounds very cool!

[@warlordofbritannia]

I’ve long appreciated James Rolfe the decent, under-spoken, private human being for the very fact that he’s not here to be another character. He’s an entity entirely separate from the AVGN, connected only by the unlikely coincidence that James Rolfe plays the AVGN, and there’s never been any attempt to conflate misconception. What undoubtedly helps this distinction is the simple fact that the AVGN is not a heightened caricature of James Rolfe, a mistake that long dogged the Doug Walker/Nostalgia Critic duo.

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

James is a film nerd who became famous by accident, now people expect him to continue to be someone he never really was in the first place.

[@ragsdale710]

It's his job is the thing. He can stop anytime and do any other job but he picked it

[@monotech20.14]

its not just a KZbin channel. Its is JOB, how James makes a living to provide for that family he loves. So you would think James would not treat it as a hobby.

[@zapman6528]

@@monotech20.14i kinda understand his criticisms from this point of view, however this is the approach that made him popular in the first place, and so I feel that it would take a huge decline in viewership in order for him to justify a change. Pretty much every AVGN breaks a million views easily, right? So I could see from his point of view, if his wallet isnt affected then those complaining must be the minority. I casually watch AVGN, even if the episode isnt particularly interesting or I dont laugh, its ok because its of little significance to me. Its like, “ah, this one was alright. Probably wasnt feelin this game.” Because it often feels like the game itself sets the tone for the episode. Maybe what they need is to pick games that are conducive to his style, and move onto other generations of systems.

[@LeslieMorris]

I imagine his kids are at the age where he's socialing at other parents' houses. While other people his age have complex and challenging careers, upskilling and always learning and growing while he's swearing on the internet. There's something deeply unappealing about that past a certain age, but it seems to give him a life where he can spend as much time with his kids as possible. So he does it.

[@kevindole1284]

​@@monotech20.14but he probably doesn't really like it anymore and despite the toxic fandom it's probably much less of a hassle than a straight job that he doesn't like. In addition to being possibly more lucrative. So why not just half ass it and enjoy what matters?

[@kixaru4747]

The fact that you ended the video the same way Rolfe ends all his movies (running from a cursed doll) was peak poetry, another fantastic video

[@bitnev]

Also like This is America video (in the beggining you can spot the name on the mixtape).

[@tentativegazer]

@@bitnev I also thought of that music video, wish I caught that detail in the beginning though lol

[@voltcorp]

@@bitnev what I loved the most about the conclusion is how it ties up nicely with all the evidence throughout that Dan is indeed a great filmmaker

[@monkmichel9477]

I thought the last scene was a karma police reference, but maybe I'm overthinking it lul

[@Iinneus]

It's great because the introduction of the doll is so insanely subtle. I wasn't thinking about it at all, but once the conclusion was there, I felt like a fool for not realizing that all the pieces had been in place for a while. It's like being got by a chess master's play.

[@FullForce098]

It took me too long to realize the felt on the AVGN doll was supposed to be his mouth and not a big bushy mustache.

[@stevedaguy9639]

Mike rugnetta in the credits of things is always a wild jumpscare to me lmfao

[@dewa1808]

is he from PBS Idea Channel? i genuinely dont know that Mike can play guitar too.

[@stevedaguy9639]

@@dewa1808 He's mainly a musician nowadays (I think). I only wish he lives with complete happiness so seeing him making awesome tracks for shit is always a pleasant surprise

[@m.streicher8286]

Glad to see my favorite bit from the wall video return "you can't critique this media without leaving some of yourself in that critique"

[@josephgouthro3932]

Dan lining himself up with a projection of James while describing James, is my favorite part.

[@DirkMcThermot]

That part is a great demonstration of utilizing a unique aspect of the medium to enhance the point the essay is making. I listened to most of this video but I’m glad that I caught it.

[@SmartSmears]

I need to rewatch the video because once you get it the whole thing gets recontextualised. I just know there was a point where I went "come to think of it, I don't really know Dan Olsen either."

[@TheRogueWolf]

I paused during that section to go get something to drink, and when I came back I just stared at the frame for half a minute because my brain just couldn't quite parse it.

[@MxChloeB42]

@@SmartSmears Yeah, even the first time watching it I couldn't help but notice the moments when the glasses of Dan and the glasses of James in the projection kept blending together. Even before I knew the thesis of the video I could tell that that scene was conveying the similarities between the two, I just didn't know how much so.

[@mercilpb]

Dan was on some absolutely sicko shit in this one

[@Kapi.23]

I've been a fan of James Rolfe since more than a decade ago, when i was going thru some serious dark times in my life. I was studying by night after a corporate day job, so i barely had any time (i left for work at 8 and returned home around 11-midnight everyday). So watching his videos were both a way of getting more familiar with spoken english and preparing to sleep while i eat something before the cycle repeats itself. I remember James saying in a video that he went to Special Ed, which in the eighties was kinda a big deal and a major hurdle in your life. Probably in this day and age he might be diagnosed with something like ASD, so i was always had find him a very succesfull guy despite his shortcomings. When the movie came in, i watched in on a sunday night after a long week, and i fell asleep in the middle of it. Later i had to give it another shot and i barely made it. But it was ok that the movie was bad. I never understood why people were being so critic and rightdown cruel to a guy who just kept them entertained for years. As we grow old, my friends started having kids, and what once were weekly reunions of binging, doing stupid shit, and passing out at parties, became ocassional gatherings, maybe 3 times a year, with little to no alcohol, because we all have to drive back home after the evening. It was so relatable when he spoke to the camera and said "i love spending time with my kids". I even like MOST of the screenwave guys, because at the end of the day, we're just trying to pay our bills and keep a roof over our heads. My talent is IT and data engineering, so it's much more boring and i could ever produce anything remarkable and fun to share with others. So quoting in reverse Hbomberguy in the plagiarism video, i find people with creative talents much more valuable, i can hop from a number of companies doing the exact same job and everyone will be all right with it, while people always expecto to be surprised with everything new a "content producer" puts out. Thank you for many hours of entertainment James, and you deserve to be happy.

[@ThisOldBlog]

This video is art that works best when you have seen both Dan and James' history and are likewise (not) a filmmaker. I want recommend this to people, but I think it was made only for me. Thanks Dan.

[@klungusxyz]

I feel like if I watch this video again, different things are going to happen the second time.

[@culwin]

If you enter the secret code, Dan makes it past the 2nd level.

[@TheReliquarian]

They will, and it's all in your head.

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

Great premise for a short horror film right there

[@MateusAuri]

If you watch it again, the Flashback SNES cart is revealed to be haunted, then it comes out of the screen and chases you

[@animosity9197]

One of the worst things about getting older, growing up, or just changing as a person through the passage of time and events, is that inevitably some things you used to really like and find very important turn out to be kind of bad. This is a classically common experience with children's media, but honestly, it happens with everything. You're just no longer the target audience for that thing, sometimes because you have more experience with what it was ripping off, sometimes because there are better versions of it, and sometimes because you learn enough about the world that you don't relate to that thing in the same way. I'm glad James Rolfe really enjoys being a father. Good for him and good for his kids.

[@astcastle]

Y’know what’s crazy? That is the literal impetus for Rolfe’s best-known contemporary, The Nostalgia Critic; an adult confronting the fact that the things they loved as a child don’t mean the same things to them anymore, and just being furious about it. Time is a circle without a beginning.

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

@@astcastle With apologies if this is a lampshade I'm misinterpreting,, friend I have good and / or bad news for you about Folding Ideas and the Nostalgia Critic

[@InfectedEnnui]

that's one of the reasons good childhood media is so important. chronicles of narnia have aged like fine wine for me

[@isaacm.9476]

@@InfectedEnnuiThis is hilarious to me not because I think you're, like, *wrong*, or should feel differently, but Chronicles of Narnia is one of those things I remember from childhood that has aged, for me, particularly poorly

[@Kane0123]

Yep. The content you loved doesn’t change over time as you do… it’s an mp4 already uploaded. Saw Kali Muscle and Twinmuscleworkout recently… I liked their content back in the day, no reason for me to judge it with my current personality. It will remain good content - for the me of 15years ago.

[@StealthBoyElite]

The dedication to film craft when you grow a full beard, shave it all down and then grow it again for the final chapters, is next level.

[@char1211]

Sorry to burst your bubble but the video isn't filmed chronologically, he only had to grow his beard out once

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

This guy plans out productions like young James Rolfe

[@StealthBoyElite]

@@char1211 that was the joke.

[@char1211]

@@StealthBoyElite Oh my bad! I interpreted the tone as completely sincere, sorry

[@crushycrawfishy1765]

@@StealthBoyElite Jokes usually are funny and have a punchline and set up. You just made a statement. There is no joke, my guy, you just got a fact wrong and tried to cover it up.

[@MiraBoo]

Ending the video with you being chased by “an inanimate object that is either cursed-or-alive or cursed-and-alive” is lowkey brilliant.