Media Literacy is Dead! (Helldivers, Avatar, Metal Gear Rising and more)

Media Literacy is dead... But why?
Well, let me rant about it for about 20 minutes...
Chapters
0:00 - The start
0:42 - What is Media Literacy?
3:19 - Misunderstanding Media and Misinformation
11:28 - Misusing Media Literacy
18:08 - So now what?
22:16 - End Credits
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[@Fbispook]

My favorite part of mgrr is when Armstrong says “check the internet lately” and raiden has to delete 6,000 porn browsers individually

[@PlebNC]

Raiden: "Doktor, turn off my pop-up blocker!" 1000 pop-ups display immediately.

[@franciscoreza8295]

It's not even a Tab, it's a 6.000 different browser

[@solidskullz5736]

“Media literacy” has been reduced to another buzzword that basically means “my interpretation/headcanon is the morally correct one” and now it’s just being thrown away by the most obnoxious people ever

[@ARStudios2000]

I did notice the ones who are most likely to throw it around are the ones to absolutely fail to use it properly or what it even means. Even the word itself sounds made up, we already had a word for it: Critical Thinking.

[@lunacurtis780]

No, it hasn't, it's come from Teachers.

[@azariyelvarro6271]

On the other hand, and just wanna get it out of the way that I'm not accusing you of anything, just pointing out a quirk of wording.... buuuuut... having “my interpretation/headcanon is the morally correct one” is also a falsely applied shield of a critique used by folks who legitimately lack media literacy and want to handwave away integral morals/thematic of the work in question that they'd otherwise disagree with as being 'made up'. Biggest on that comes to mind are folks who say that viewing Warhammer 40000 as a satirical setting is just one personal interpretation, when the parent company explicitly says 'no, this setting is satire, authoritarianism and prejudice is bad, if you're using the setting as escapism to indulge in those things then kindly take a hike'. That's part and parcel of why discourse online is so fucked. Jackasses exist on every side of most all issues, and are well versed in using the sentiments of their opposite numbers as shields. After all, some people really do just fail that hard at media literacy, then persona corrects them, then they use 'lol interpretation lmao' to deflect away from their own shittery. It's a caustic intellectual feedback loop that's been going on for decades now. Hopefully something'll break it in the future but, till then, this shit is going to keep annoying the hell out of anyone with a working brain.

[@thepillowhead2453]

@@azariyelvarro6271 based

[@firstnamelastname7244]

​@@azariyelvarro6271the virgin "uses warhammer to fulfil their fantasies of serving a fascist regieme" vs the chad "uses warhammer to fulfil their fantasies of serving a dark god and plunging the world into chaos"

[@TheTrueRandomGamer]

Not dead. Just absent from 99.99% of the internet.

[@mercenarygundam1487]

If you see someone use words like Sigma, Beta, Woke, Based, Cringe, Virgin or Chad/Gigachad unironically (or in the case of the Greek letters, not in it's original context) Then you can already tell that they are the sort of people that lack Media Literacy. Change my mind.

[@valutaatoaofunknownelement197]

​@@mercenarygundam1487I'd argue an except for based and cringe, since those at least serve as simple descriptors when you need them to.

[@mercenarygundam1487]

@valutaatoaofunknownelement197 Okay, Based and Cringe AT LEAST has SOME uses as it conveys a basic concept.

[@monkey_blu]

In ecology terms, that's basically what "extinct" constitutes.

[@Devilsblight86]

​@@mercenarygundam1487 Don't forget Chud. I've seen that flung around even it the person being called that is not right-wing. Plus, manbaby or pick-me.

[@flags5765]

Maybe the true media literacy was the friends we made along the way

[@FF-tp7qs]

Actual friends? Or just "allies"?

[@flags5765]

@@FF-tp7qs what

[@CalibreFluxer]

DEMOCRACY

[@KostisPlayz]

Was the true friends we screwed along the way*

[@tacoenthusiast7006]

GOC SWEEEP

[@TuShan18]

I’ve seen a few people try to argue that the automatons in Helldivers are the good guys because they are trying to stand up against a fascist government. Dude, I don’t think killing unarmed civilians trying to run away constitutes as heroic. Please look at Helldivers like most people look at warhammer 40k. We’re all terrible people in our own special way. Please enjoy it.

[@ThatAnnoyingBird]

I know absolutely nothing about 40K, and even I know that anyone who says "My faction is morally correct" or "the least evil of them all" lose any and all right to speak about anything.

[@xsoultillerx]

​@@ThatAnnoyingBird i consider the imperium the good guys of 40K because they're the marketable fridge men 99.9% of the franchise is literally built around.

[@tio_john]

@@ThatAnnoyingBird in 40K i go by a simple logic humans want to protect humans, most of the time, so i choose the human faction aka The Emperium

[@simplysmiley4670]

And then there's problems when someone doesn't enjoy it yet has it shoved down their throat at every corner because it's "the popular big thing". And then when someone cares about the lore sees all the media surrounding it also gets to see people who unironically agree with the horrid lore stuff.

[@tio_john]

@@simplysmiley4670 agreeing with it in universe or out of it becauif it's in universe it's totaly ok to do so since you choose a faction. Maybe you're refering to a small portion of people that want that to be reality? if so these are normal for every kind of fiction like the mf that wanted to live in pandora from avatar we aways will have people that want their faavorite fiction to be reality. like me i would love if we were the Old Republic era from Star Wars just because i want to have a duel with someone😂. it's silly but a lot of people don't like the mundane life.

[@Tnu1138]

the "deaf kid in Hell" seems like criticizing The Good Place for having good or well meaning people in Hell when the entire point of The Good Place is that the entire system is horribly broken and needs to be fixed by Team Cockroach.

[@ChetManley1]

Wan't that kid an imp, and therefore born in hell? And besides, just because you're blind doesn't mean you can do no harm.

[@OwlBreaker]

I would argue it's even worse when taken in consideration of being tied to the same world as Hasbin Hotel - because there's no set rules for getting into Heaven, and those in Heaven don't even have an enforced code of conduct except making everyone higher than you believe you're acting in their interests, anyone who can be perceived as not deserving Heaven can end up in Hell.

[@sdbzfan1]

@@ChetManley1 there is no harm its the same as the point Adam makes, the moment you get to heaven you are good regardless of how scum you are, likewise good people can be in hell whether they were born there or just made one mistake and are now there forever

[@Petrico94]

Are deaf people above sin? I agree the point is probably just a bunch of people put into hell in a broken system, but were people upset a kid couldn't do something that got them tried as an adult and happens to use sign language?

[@OwlBreaker]

​@@Petrico94 Could they have done something? Certainly. Does that implication have impact towards the original argument?

[@TheTolnoc]

I find a lot of people scream to the heavens about 'Media Literacy' as a cover for the fact that 90% of their beliefs were taken from a celebrity twitter account.

[@manboy4720]

man, you're so correct. i'm going to say exactly what you said to everyone else! this is my opinion now!

[@googleisevil8958]

I think it's worse than that. They follow people and listen to tweets with large followings. Because if all these people say/think this is has to be true right?

[@kev95]

Sadly true.

[@DarkJstrike57]

To quote a famous mythbuster whose quote fits here "I reject your reality and substitute one of my own"

[@GS8641.]

12:14 I would add that Helldivers 2 has, in my opinion, one of the best and most hilarious communities in the online gaming universe, with Team Fortress 2 and Deep Rock Galactic. a game where you can hug a friend or play rock-paper-scissors while throwing a 500Kg bomb on a mutant bug army with democratic punchlines on the side is easily top tier

[@Squiggles01]

Rock and Stone!!

[@vitaliitomas8121]

Pootis pencer here

[@tio_john]

soon i'm gonna play it the PC is coming.

[@tacticalkitty2727]

rock and stone!

[@DANBAN119]

Yeah, it's popular now and is attracting all those annoying toxic and snobby types, but after awhile the fanbase will filter those people out, like eating a really good meal, getting a stomach ache, and taking a satisfying shit afterwards.

[@brayenmorrison3199]

"He did it boys... he did it... he said the thing." *fanfare plays*

[@themeddite2935]

The Helldivers I see two people People who see the satire and wanna seem smarter than they are and point out the satire while not understanding it People who know the satire and play along with it cause its fun. They fully understand the Satire.

[@sciencey2858]

Three people, actually. People who see the satire and wanna seem smart by pointing out the satire. People who know it is satire and play along with it cause it's fun. People who unironic believe Helldivers is not satire.

[@Mangakamen]

Four people actually: People who see the satire and wanna seem smart by pointing out the satire. People who know it is satire and play along with it cause it's fun. People who unironic believe Helldivers is not satire. People who unironically preach that those who believe Helldivers is not a Satire is a great number of people.

[@thepillowhead2453]

Five people, actually: People who see the satire and wanna seem smart by pointing out the satire. People who know it is satire and play along with it cause it's fun. People who unironic believe Helldivers is not satire. People who unironically preach that those who believe Helldivers is not a Satire is a great number of people. People who do not care about the setting and just want to shoot things.

[@ThatAnnoyingBird]

Six people, actually: People who don't know nor care about the satire, and just see a good time with the bros in the ODST bug-shooter game.

[@manboy4720]

Seven people, actually. People who see the satire and wanna seem smart by pointing out the satire. People who know it is satire and play along with it cause it's fun. People who unironic believe Helldivers is not satire. People who unironically preach that those who believe Helldivers is not a Satire is a great number of people. People who do not care about the setting and just want to shoot things. People who don't know nor care about the satire, and just see a good time with the bros in the ODST bug-shooter game. People who aren't people and are actually Automatons wearing human skin, trying to sow chaos into democracy.

[@mattwo7]

"I love humans. Always seeing patterns in things that aren't there." - Eighth Doctor

[@cjhedrick6418]

That reddit post at the beginning reminded me of a strange experience I had the other week. I watched a couple react to the Monty Python sketch, "The Ministry of Silly Walks." They genuinely didn't understand what the joke was or why people would find it funny, like there was a deeper meaning than "Wouldn't it be funny if there was a government body devoted to silly walks."

[@panthekirb7561]

Roughly 1 in 6 people are genuinely too dumb for this kind of thing.

[@Fetchdafish]

The funny thing about that is you can easily ascribe a deeper meaning to that skit. Governments are infamous for wasting money and time on things people find silly.

[@mrosskne]

That's kind of the point, it wouldn't be funny, just stupid, for the same reason the joke is stupid and forgettable.

[@mwelite1706]

So the coffin of Andy and leyley. People thought it Endorsed something bad, when it was used to show how bad the characters are.

[@Dimumouto]

It gets funnier; from what I've seen of that fandom (granted, a small portion of it via Bird App), the gore, murder, cannibalism, and manipulative natures of the main characters is perfectly fine, but incest is what crosses the line. Like what?

[@mwelite1706]

@@Dimumouto oh yeah.

[@tio_john]

@@Dimumouto rev says desu coverd it. if you want to see what hapened without going into that sesspool of x

[@wariowahwah580]

⁠@@Dimumoutoi actually saw a meme where one person sees the game and is like “incest and murder is obviously bad and these people are bad” and then someone offscreen sees it and is like “wow incest is awesome” lmao

[@Orange_Swirl]

​@@DimumoutoEven the game makes fun of this idea 💀 Then again, Ashley is mentally insane so maybe I'm the one with a problem.

[@mackthisarrowhearth295]

"You are . (Implying anything else you are, do or say is invalid or explicitly bad)" This is why we cannot have deep discussions most of the time. Labeling acts as a trench in opinion and media war. It gets nowhere. "Woke", "Nerd", "Extremist", "Media illiterate", we have so much labels and buzz words, it is impossible to get to the context or actual arguments.

[@Cynwale]

" "Woke", "Nerd", "Extremist", "Media illiterate", we have so much labels and buzz words, it is impossible to get to the context or actual arguments." I'm interested, like a lot! Tell me, why do people say the word "Woke"?

[@j.i.nthenobody54]

@@Cynwale”woke” usually refers to leftist politics and groups like LGBTQ or POC. It’s essentially putting social issues into your media. I don’t why they complain, since movies have been doing this shit forever, but fuck it we ball

[@arkdirfe]

@@Cynwale As far as I remember, "woke" used to be a positive self-label, basically you're awake and realize the reality, while everyone else is content sleeping. Or something along those lines, it quickly became negative because frequently, the people who called themselves "woke" were anything but what they thought they were. Nowadays it has two main use cases, the first is to describe political hypercorrectness and virtue signalling (such as token representations of minorities in media to rake in more money), the second one is pretty similar, but is used to shut down someone's argument by trying to associate the one making the argument with the first usage, basically what's described in the post above.

[@Cynwale]

@@arkdirfe Damn, didn't expect a correct opinion. I may have underestimated Humanity again.

[@arkdirfe]

@@Cynwale Happy to assist.

[@Doc-Glock]

It's somewhat amusing (and very frustrating) how many of the issues brought up in this video can be linked to Twitter. Not to say that Twitter is solely responsible for these problems, but that one platform has a major hand in it.

[@Mangakamen]

I mean you're not wrong, twitter's one of two places where intellectual honesty can go to die - The other being Reddit.

[@kevintanza6968]

Most problems online would be solved by ignoring Twitter.

[@Doc-Glock]

​@@kevintanza6968Outside of artists that I want to see new posts from (by going to their own pages), I go out of my own way to not engage with the rest of Twitter. It's been at least two years since I used my own timeline outside of that. What I hate is how some others in groups I frequent will parrot the dumb talking points they read on Twitter ("""ironically""" or not) and pretend that said things represent what all people of a particular group think or are even worth any discussion at all. It's like a constant case of Secondhand Stupid that you can't get away from.

[@ghoulbuster1]

Twitter encourages rage baiting, it gets you views. Reddit is designed for midwits, and doesn't allow intelligence to be posted.

[@fluffynator6222]

​@@Mangakamen Reddit doesn't conpare tbh. Bad Twitter experiences are basically a given by just using the App. Meanwhile on Reddit I can just spent an hour browsing the top post of the past month on some tame topic while at the doctors or whatever.

[@pawnhearts8785]

The controversy about the deaf imp kid in Helluva Boss might be the dumbest and most forced controversy ever to add to the most wholesome scene in the entire show.

[@PlebNC]

Especially as it also helps the plot by highlighting that the performer (I forget his name) does it to bring joy to others, especially disabled people like himself, as oppose to Mammon who does it all purely for money, setting up the conflict the performer has later in the episode.

[@barrybend7189]

You know what is a massive lack of media literacy...... Moviebob thinking that the Covenant from Halo are the good guys. Yes that happened.

[@volt42re]

Because human bad. Right guys?

[@barrybend7189]

@@volt42re nope diversity.

[@ghoulbuster1]

@@barrybend7189 LOL do lefties really?

[@barrybend7189]

@@ghoulbuster1 i think just Bob but I don't know about everyone else.

[@AmyCherryLMAO]

​@@ghoulbuster1do righties really think the enclave from fallout and warhammer imperium are the good guys?

[@kingbash6466]

"Media literacy" people talking about stuff like Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 are some of most obnoxious and smug folks you'll ever talk to. They genuinely think you're an idiot that doesn't get the "brilliant satire" because you don't treat them like subjects for video essays 24/7.

[@kevintanza6968]

I think it's that. It's the attitude of talking down to people as if they are morons because they don't have the "video essay" mindset. I see it all the time with people overanalyzing simple anime like My Hero Academia or Jujutsu Kaisen. When in reality they are very simple (and at times, poorly written) stories.

[@kaliyuga14surfer88]

the director of startroopers didn't even finish the original material's book and he states to hate nationalism and patriotism. i think he is an idiot that made a bad adaptation trying to make fun of cool things and i disagree with his work's final message. i disagree with helldivers' central message too.

[@garibaldibritann1240]

And then we have Helldivers 2 being called "woke" just because it featured interracial couple in uts opening so yeah 2 sides of the same dirty coin

[@lordquaz7154]

People need to understand that just because there is a deeper meaning to something dose not constitute it being the only important part. I watched starship troopers when I was 5 and I did so because "Guys with guns shot at bugs". As an adult I understand the deeper meaning, but the anti-fashist theaming is not the only thing in that film. Helldivers is eaven easier to separate from it's theaming. It's a DnD Borderlands. You don't need more than that. I like the satire and I love how funny the trailers are, but this is first and foremost a game. We can discuss politics later, right we got bugs to kill!

[@lordquaz7154]

​@@kaliyuga14surfer88You can disagree with a message but that is entirely a matter of preference. I have read the Starship Troopers book cover to cover and vehemently disagree with the ultra nationalist propaganda in it. I like the film and Helldivers because they make fun of that ultra nationalist mind set. I also genuinely dislike Robert Heinlein as an author. His two other books that I have read, Stranger in a strange land and All you Zombies are some of the most badly written science fiction novels I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

[@guanglaikangyi6054]

Something that really annoys me is people who use an author's political affiliation as some sort of gotcha. I can like media even though I don't agree with its messages, you know? It's like these people only know how to live in echo chambers.

[@kevintanza6968]

I strongly disagree with Alan Moore's political ideology but I have enjoyed his work.

[@tinygrove7623]

true, i love when fight club comes up and someone says “you know the creator of fight club is gay right?” as if that’s some insane own that completely destroys ones worldview, i always just answers “so? who cares, do you think gay people can’t make good art?” they live in echo chambers where they talk about these opposing extremist views so they expect the sexual orientation of someone to determine my thoughts on them and their creations.

[@volt42re]

@@tinygrove7623I feel like it’s also because Fight Club is one of those movies people on the far-right love to twist into their own thing, so anyone mentioning the message of the film gets that response because they’re seen as one of those far-right people.

[@yosukehanamura3507]

If there's a clear political viewpoint, it's most likely intended by the creators

[@marvalice3455]

Propaganda changes the way you look at the world even when you know it's propaganda. If you don't believe me just look at the opd 20th century leftists who used to be against any war no matter what. The ones that are still atound overwhelmingly think we need to support war against someone. Because they have been subverted by propaganda. So you really should be cautious about what you consume

[@crestofhonor2349]

I'm surprised the whole Sokka cross dressing argument has been brought up at all in relation to this would be called woke. Cross dressing in cartoons and media has been a thing since the 1930s. It's nothing new nor is it shocking. Bug Bunny has done it tons of times. I'm certain many people don't actually watch a lot of stuff because it's not new so it's not surprising now or back then. Politics is absolutely the most toxic thing when it comes to this and I hate it whenever people try to bring it into something as it immediately makes people emotional and make poor decisions just so they aren't siding with whatever they see as the "wrong" side

[@Mangakamen]

Yeah, I even had some people say "People would complain about crossdressing" ignoring the context of each instance.

[@snakesareamazing]

I've seen some people say that crossdressing in old cartoons is different from crossdressing in modern cartoons, because back then you were supposed to laugh at that and nowadays they want to "brainwash children" or whatever. But that's a stupid argument and it's mostly just used by the really extreme people

[@crestofhonor2349]

@@snakesareamazing a lot of it now is still used for humor so it’s really not that different. I think people are thinking too much into it

[@snakesareamazing]

@@crestofhonor2349 Yeah I agree

[@Saltedroastedcaramel]

​@@snakesareamazing The problem with crossdressing now is that it's conflated with gender politics. A good example of this is Bridget from Guilty Gear.

[@risktorise2103]

It's no shame to not have an opinion about something. You can be ill informed and not educated in certain topics. It's okay to be on a fence. If you don't understand just don't say anything. It's weird how being neutral treated as shameful behaviour these days.

[@mislavkrznaric1635]

It's because of people's fanatical tribalism urging them to give potential "recruits" an ultimatum. "Either you're with me or against me, you can't be in the middle" type of shit

[@easolinas1233]

It's because some people see you as an enemy if you're not on their side, even if you've chosen not to have a "side." It means you're rejecting them and what they believe even more effectively than you would by belonging to their enemy's side.

[@yujiandou4658]

My dad is like that, "if you are not with me you are against me" and "you have to pick a side, or you will be alone."

[@volt42re]

@@yujiandou4658Ironically, it makes the people who aren’t choosing a side even less alone, because they’re determined to find their own place and eventually find each other.

[@volt42re]

@@easolinas1233”Do not mistake my neutrality for passivity. I have seen the evil you present, and I will fight it. I have seen the evil they present, and I will fight it. I will fight both at the same time if I have to.” - A wise bagel some random KZbin commenter ate one morning

[@Zelnyair]

I find that South Park is a massive victim of media illiteracy. People go on all the damn time about "South Park has clever satire" or "South Park has sharp writing" or how it skewered this celebrity, or had a point to say on this topic, and so on. These are all true, but that's only half the show. Most people I see who talk about South Park ignore how it's stuffed full of bodily fluid gags, lots of crude jokes in general and jokes that are trying to be vulgar, crass and offensive to make you wince, as well as how so many of its jokes are literally in plain sight and in your face. In that sense, I feel South Park is rather glossed over or misrepresented because people don't seem to want or like admitting that it's full of crude jokes that, let's be honest, are just there because it's what Trey Parker and Matt Stone think are funny. So that's my two cents- South Park discourse is extremely frustrating because too many people try to assess the satire or how it handled a topic, in a vacuum.

[@JerardKal]

Tbf, I find it impressive that South Park has both which is all the more interesting about it where it has low bar humor but can still make decent points and satire and criticism of things in the world. I mean, there’s an episode all about getting high on feline urine. Not exactly high brow, but it’s funny.

[@k-onlegacy]

Right? It's a long running show that's had different eras for pete's sake

[@lyricalvarez7919]

The death of media literacy has been a highly contended topic for a while. And I think that’s a good thing.

[@steveweast475]

Just a symptom of the death of critical thinking

[@AJadedLizard]

Why does this sound like one of those click-baity leftist news articles Firefox recommends me randomly?

[@Jebsucks]

​@@AJadedLizardbecause that's absolutely the kind of melodramatic headline those rags always use. Convincing people the sky is falling and they need to learn more is always the #1 way to get clicks. You should probably disable that recommendation thing in Firefox settings, it's just bloat if you ain't reading. Customizing those settings is generally key to a good experience with Firefox anyway.

[@deltaxeno7807]

@@steveweast475 Basically.

[@easiestcc6451]

"Media Literacy" for me has been another term on the internet thats almost exclusively been used to smugly attack people. But then again, most people i've seen that used that term were on Reddit, sooooo.....

[@tekdaystar345]

second comment on the Helldivers bit. People we're saying this because when the developers tweeted that they don't actually endorse fascism moonlighting as democracy and that it is satire, a bunch of sweaty, bean scented gamers lost their minds at the devs for saying that out loud.

[@kaliyuga14surfer88]

of course a sweet baby inc consultant will not endorse fascism in a socially progressive political climate, hell they can't even joke about it.

[@LegendofKal]

Well, it's Twitter, after all. Nothing but easily triggered snowflakes nowadays.

[@tekdaystar345]

@@LegendofKal except it was conservatives doing it. like Heels Vs Babyface, you know, the "FUCKING PRONOUNS" guy if you're like me and only know him from that.

[@destroyerofturtles5024]

@@tekdaystar345I love that he still hasn’t lived that down.

[@tekdaystar345]

@@destroyerofturtles5024 he never will

[@alexanderwsm6296]

The problem with "Media Literacy" is that it's an inherently misleading term. When people talk about literacy, they usually mean the ability to read and write. And how do you read and write? - Using letters. And then combining letters into words. And then recalling (or looking up) the meaning of those words. If you see the letter "C", then the letter "A", then the letter "T", you can understand that it's the word "cat" and thus realize this word means certain feline animal. When you analyze a movie or a game, that's a completely different process. It's not reading a word letter by letter but more like a Rorschach Test, where you see some complex shapes and try to find some associations, hoping that those associations are the same as the creator had. But in reality associations and ideas that the movie/game invokes in you can be completely different from those that creators had, or from other people's associations and ideas. For example, in X-men Magneto was just a general bad guy, who wanted mutants to take over the world. Yet when people saw him juxtaposed with Xavier, they made associations with MLK and Malcolm X, even if that was never authorial intent. However, it did fit so well that later X-Men comic writers went exactly that route, shaping Xavier's and Magneto's backstories.

[@majoratwili7312]

Oh so the Hazbin/Helluva fandom? I enjoy both series but Jesus FUCKING Christ the fandom is THE very embodiment of "Tell me you don't know shit about your series without telling me you don't know shit about your series." 'Oh Alastor is a fraud because he lost to Adam!' No! No he fucking isn't! He literally stood absolutely zero chance against Adam! He only got to fuck with Adam for a solid minute because Adam wasn't taking him seriously! Alastor is STRONG, yes. But he is not Charlie and Lilith strong. He isn't Asmodeus or Beelzebub or Mammon strong. He isn't even STOLAS strong. And Adam is more than likely on the same level as Charlie and Lilith! And then there's the Helluva Boss side... "Bee isn't Beelzebub! She's Beelzebub's daughter!" "Beelzebub is overdesigned! I hate it!" For starters, every single credit says "QUEEN Bee-lzebub". And then, YES! She IS overdesigned! That's the point! She's the sin of GLUTTONY! As in she's all about overindulgence! Being overdesigned FITS!

[@Spino-hx2mr]

Vivzie's designs suffer from overdesign across the board. I didn't fully understand what the term meant and how to prevent it, thought maybe the Transformers movies were a possible example even though I'd like the mechanical parts moving around when they'd transform. That was until Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. There's LOTS that could be dropped out and it'd still improve most of the Character appearances by a longshot.

[@SirLuckySlime]

Honestly I hate Vivziepop's fandom(s). They refuse reasoning or any opinion that isn't in full support of her. They reject even the most polite of criticisms. They disregard literally ANYTHING they don't like, and then wonder why they get push back--claiming that "people are just haters." Don't even get me started on how blindly they follow biased youtubers like Ayy Lmao. God, they're insufferable.

[@kevintanza6968]

Great video, Kamen. At the end, "media literacy" is a term that has become a buzzword for Americans in the last two years who want to sound smarter than they are. As a Latin American, I can safely say it's usually people over there who have this weird obsession with overanalyzing everything in stories and always, for some weird reason, to add sociopolitical elements that the story didn't mention. A good example is Luffy's Gear 5 in One Piece. Most people have tried to use a comment in chapter 1 of the manga or an Skypiea panel to claim that Oda "had it all planned". When in an interview for the 25th anniversary of the series, Oda said he did it on a whim. That he simply wanted Luffy to have cartoon powers. And yet you will get long Twitter threads or 30 minutes video essays overanalyzing the transformation. People need to get over themselves. The truth is that most people would be better off just saying "I like this, I don't like this, and it's fine if you don't share my opinion". Not everyone is cut out to be a critic of fiction and saying "media literacy" doesn't make you sound smarter. By this point, it's a walking meme.

[@kevintanza6968]

By the way, to add more on One Piece. People using that series as "a celebration of communism" have no real clue of what they are talking about. Why am I saying this? Because the politics in that series boil down to "Luffy punches bad guy really hard". There are no nuances or complexity beyond the World Government doing evil stuff because they are evil. It's a childish understanding of politics.

[@steveweast475]

Good point, I always feel this way when watching any poorly written and biased commentary video/channel. You have the right to share your opinion, but it is a damn bad one.

[@kaliyuga14surfer88]

i hate the one piece people most on their need to extract meaning and ideological comparisons where there isn't any.

[@kneeofjustice9619]

It’s the way we Americans are sadly. We need to squeeze and agenda out if every space we can find.

[@aureliodeprimus8018]

I know that Oda writes basically "from Arc to Arc", but i still find it hilarious how things work out in the end and how a lot of earlier scenes basically get new context in hindsight.

[@kasi4363]

I don't have an issue with someone enjoying a game on a surface level but I get upset when people claim a piece of art is saying something when it isn't. There is also the case of people just not owning up to their opinions on the media they consume.

[@AJadedLizard]

I personally get annoyed with people colonizing media and trying to gatekeep its fans away from it. I ran into some people who insisted people outside the left weren't allowed to like ATLA. Grow up.

[@Zetact_]

I think a great example of how stupid a lot of the discourse about "media literacy" can be summed up with Watchmen's Rorschach. A lot of people will say, "Because Alan Moore claimed that Rorschach is supposed to be the worst and a totally horrible person you aren't allowed to like him." Yet if you look at people who actually read/watch the story, they look at Rorschach's actions and say, "He's actually the most noble character in this entire story and I like him even if I can recognize his flaws." And the idea of Moore themeing the character around a RORSCHACH TEST makes the implication that every reader is "supposed" to hate the character utterly ridiculous. While Death of the Author isn't a perfect stance to hold when interpreting media, I do think that it's something to keep in mind. Basically my opinion is that you can use the author's intent to elucidate what they were trying to get at when making a specific story, but it's important to not let it determine the actual content of the story itself. If the author writes a character who is intended to be funny and likeable, but they're actually just obnoxious, you can easily understand, "The author wanted this character to be charismatic, but FAILED at doing so." You don't have to say, "This character is actually hilarious because that's what the writer wanted them to be." A lot of the people who claim others "lack media literacy" and have the mentality that "author intent" supersedes what is actually present in the media, and that even if someone can make an interpretation that goes against that intent it's "wrong".

[@kevintanza6968]

Even if Moore wanted Rorschach to be the worst, he had Ozymandias wanting to take the lives of millions without hesitation or guilt. Rorschach is obviously not a good person and is extremely flawed, but his actions were morally just in this scenario. Furthermore, it's hilarious how this was Moore's "social commentary" of how to deal with the nuclear crisis of the 80s, which involved genocide. And regardless of political leanings, the crisis in real-life didn't lead to the deaths of millions. Sometimes the author tries something and it doesn't work. Sometimes you write a funny scene and is bland. Sometimes you want to write an emotional scene and most readers don't feel anything.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@kevintanza6968Ozymandias did question if he made the right call at the end of the novel, even tried to explain himself to Dr. Manhattan right before he leaves.

[@kneeofjustice9619]

I’m pretty use people who claim others lack media literacy are the ones who go against what the author says

[@puncherofbread]

It's really interesting that you bring that up because Rorshach being an awful person kinda flew by me in the first parts of reading. He's so casual about his bigotry that it almost didn't register with me especially since I knew his whole thing was vengeance and whatnot. It wasn't until I was rereading some pages and looking at what he was saying that it hit me just how angry this guy was. But even after that I still found him to be a surprisingly likable character because of how honest he could be. He's one of the many reasons why Watchmen is one of the best examinations ever written about superheroes and what makes them.

[@kevintanza6968]

@@thomasraines1396 you're right. I forgot that. I stand corrected.

[@imatiu]

It's not so much lacking media literacy as it is lacking critical thinking. Both aren't the same thing, even if they are considered the same by some people.

[@mosesmm5473]

Loved the video and I agree that sometimes, people are just stubborn. But at times, it could be because they're embarrassed to say they like or dislike something without needing a pretty darn reason when, well they can just like or dislike it. Plenty of people I know are like that with stuff I like and vice versa. I can imagine you have friends that just don't like Persona, doesn't mean you cut them out or call them 'dim-witted fools who can't recognise art'.

[@kevintanza6968]

I remember I had a discussion online with someone saying that "ecchi, harem, and hentai anime shouldn't exist". Mind you, I don't like any of that stuff, but I said to the guy that those genres clearly have an audience, so let them enjoy it. His argument was that "there is no message in those series". Dude, people watch them to have fun. Not everything needs THE MESSAGE. Things are simply not made for everyone. It's like me liking heavy metal and not liking rap music. There are people out there who enjoy rap. It's just not for me.

[@chillinchum]

​@@kevintanza6968As it happens, you and them would be very surprised to learn of the messaging that exists even in porn. Often, it's nearly non existent, or at least superficial, but sometimes..... Even when a work of porn has a particular popular kink featured, you can ask the question "what it is about this kink?" And if you dare ask you can get an answer that delves into all sorts of social and societal stuff, ussually the dark stuff. I would almost call it a safe bet to think a lot of hentai these days is trying to address japan's demographic crisis. Anytime there's an enforcement of something to do with sex, it's not just about it being a nonplot device to allow there to be a no consent fantasy. They always, always explicitly say it's about birthing more kids. I wish I was shitting you, but I'm not.

[@isauldron4337]

Lack of media literacy is thinking yamato from one piece is trans when intro card says kaido's daughter self proclaimed oden yamato's Edit: one piece english official translation is awful If you are having doubts still Think about this If Yamato was meant to be trans why would Oda say kaido's daughter in her intro card Because she isn't trans

[@Mangakamen]

Oh boy, that's gonna stir a hornet's nest.

[@josesosa3337]

Yep. Yamamoto was also featured on a woman of one piece color spread, by Oda himself.

[@323starlight]

Didn't Kaido once refer to Yamato as his 'son' once?

[@josesosa3337]

@@323starlight yep. It somewhat makes the whole situation confusing. Unless Oda makes a grander statement.

[@kevintanza6968]

@@josesosa3337 drawing her with a group of female characters in One Piece, where the focus was on celebrating his female characters. That's the statement.

[@kaleviHekonen9527]

Anti-capitalism is when evil company in video-game.

[@sarafontanini7051]

the FUCK are you talking about?

[@InfiniteDeckhand]

Not always, but the correlation is pretty on the nose regardless.

[@kaliyuga14surfer88]

every. single. time. lmao

[@volt42re]

Somehow, people see cartoonishly evil corporations in video games and think “that’s just like real life! what a profound message, capitalism is horrible.” as if the companies aren’t made to be cartoonisly evil because it’s fun. They’re so desperate for something to back up their argument that they’ll shoot themselves in the foot by using these, once again, cartoonishly evil fictional companies as evidence.

[@ghoulbuster1]

Capitalism is when the government does things.

[@aquapendulum]

Political ideologues selectively choosing the parts of a piece of media that fit their ideas and ignore the parts that contradict their ideas? Golly, why would anybody do that on the Internet? /s

[@dspace4514]

I feel like every time we take a step forward, we also take five steps back as a society.

[@Touma134]

Naruto is a huge example of people just reading what they want to or just not thinking. "Naruto was an underdog in terms of power until later" ignores how much the early series hammers home how boundless his potential is. The first few chapters has him pulling 100 shadow clones out his butt even though a jonin like kakashi can only manage a few. Showing that if people give him proper encouragement and reciprocation he'll get far. That's one example of many which shows you the real point of his character beyond the rather lame and generic shonen underdog trope. Skipping later on you have Tobirama just being a racist even though there is much more to it than that and is much more interesting things to draw from his character. Outside of the memes which are funny. Nowadays there is almost a pride in caring about a story surface level. That as long as it's cool and fun that's all that matters and reading too deep is cringe and not cool. I prefer that to the less innocent trend of just reading leftism into everything by the ideologically possessed. Ironically one of the people who understands Naruto is a leftist but he can actually separate the politics from media where it doesn't apply.

[@imnotabotiswear3276]

Who would that person be?

[@volt42re]

The best thing in the real world to compare Naruto to is the struggle of gifted kids in a society that wasn’t made to accommodate them.

[@seg162]

Naruto's "being an underdog" didn't have to do so much with his aptitude as a ninja (that was a part of it), but much more so with the fact that he was despised by his community for reasons he didn't understand. He was a troublemaker because if he couldn't attract ire, he was usually just being shunned. His first motivation for aiming to be Hokage (exposited from the beginning) was that the Hokage is the most notable position in the Leaf Village, and becoming that would mean (to him) that people would _have_ to acknowledge him. Understanding that makes Uruka's protecting him in episode/chapter 1 all the more poignant-- he actively chooses to acknowledge Naruto, to care about him, despite the fact that Uruka's parents were killed by the Kurama inside Naruto and it'd be expected for him, most of all, to shun and hate Naruto. General discussion about Naruto, as far as I've seen, _completely_ misses this. It is hardly ever talked about. I still can't get over Plague of Gripes' Naruto video advancing this numbskullery (especially since he admitted he didn't know anything about Naruto at the start, meaning he was just regurgitating another's opinion for fun).

[@1BadAssArchAngelvs14]

@@seg162 Naruto is in fact his own prodigy in his own unique way it was a red flag in the beginning arcs that Naruto would get more value and a power boost out of his massive chakra reserves. while his son Boruto is the polar opposite Boruto having small chakra reserves but while having jutsu versatility,but no power to back it up with.

[@legendarycryptid2629]

11:23 Mainly because Scrappy honestly wasn't that bad. Considering how well he did in 13 Ghosts (mainly because of Flim-Flam taking in all the dislike), all he needed was a setting that worked for his character going forward. Considering Flim-Flam himself got a great update and turned himself around in Curse of the 13th Ghost, Scrappy could've come back too... but for some reason, we couldn't get both Scrappies going through a rescue from the heap.

[@ansemthetrueseekerofdarkne2730]

I will never get the hate for Scrappy and Flim-Flam, they are nowhere near Jar Jar or Admiral Holdo.

[@vincenttorrijos9680]

A prevailing issue with the use of subtlety as a storytelling tactic is that the more subtle it is, the more people aren't going to get it. Here i am proven wrong, as Armstrong literally beats you over the head with how absurd his political ideology is, and people still see it as a representation of a group they don't like

[@DracoMaverick]

Preaching to the choir, Manga. All these issues are why I had to get off my Twitter account because of all the venom spitting over such subjects.

[@kevintanza6968]

Leaving Twitter is the best you can do. People there are so stupid and mentally ill.

[@tio_john]

same brother best decicion i made in my life... well until i found a job and saved enouth money to buy a gamer setup that's the current highlight of my life.

[@k0metz590]

The best way to summarize all of this is "thinking is too hard" People would rather simplify aspects of their life or the things they watch than actually think about it. Like that idea of Walter White and Heinsenberg being different personalities when in reality Walter was always a bad person with good qualities or Scott Pilgrim being a groomer when he actually just wanted a girl to say that he was cool 'cause he is kind of a loser

[@GingeryGinger]

It’s important to note that “media illiteracy” is ONLY a ‘problem’ when people express uninformed views as criticism that’s objectively wrong. Simplifying things is actually the smartest thing you can do 99.99% of the time. A wise man once told me, being complicated doesn’t make you accurate, it makes you less discerning.

[@15098D]

I can see where some of the people in the Helldivers community are coming from. Warhammer 40k in particular still has a small sect of the fanbase who analyze the franchise as a fascist power trip. Case in point, the guy who showed up to a tournament in Nazi regalia

[@Mangakamen]

Yeah, but as you said, it's a small sect. And it sure as hell shouldn't be used to paint a wide brushstroke of the entire fanbase, should it?

[@PlebNC]

Was it literally a Nazi uniform or was it an attempt at a kriegcorp uniform?

[@flamestoyershadowkill6400]

Question is was the guy a troll or and actual nazi

[@ghoulbuster1]

Giga chad shows up with full SS uniform

[@SorarikoMotone]

@@flamestoyershadowkill6400 he was apparently, as was his whole team, at least according to spanish articles and spanish speakers i've found, as he was wearing a combination of symbols that only neo-nazi use, but not only that - the organizers were basically okay-ing him and his team (they couldnt remove him because its ok to parade like a nazi unless you do crime, basically), and spanish hobby shops (as in, the ones involved in 40k) actually pander to these kinds of people very often. like, as in "do you wanna know how to paint gas chambers" pandering. So idk if something even was done about it, besides Games Workshop calling out this bs afterwards, because a lot of articles back in the day say TO did basically nothing.

[@xsoultillerx]

the funniest thing about armstrong is that he isn't really conservative. his whole speech to raiden leans more towards ayn rand objectivism or more accurately what people think objectivism is. at the end of the day art IS subjective and it's all ultimately up to interpretation.

[@bcd32dok36]

I thought it was Darwinism.

[@juliocesar899]

I think a lot of people understand the Ayn Rand inspiration, it's just that Rand was a really right wing person, being part of the republican party and all, and because Objectivism is a really individualist view, with is a extremely poignant factor in the right wing ideology as oppose to the colectivist ideals of the left

[@Ismael-tv3dx]

@@bcd32dok36both work. The cross section of Ayn rand’s politics and Social Darwinism is just a circle.

[@ghoulbuster1]

Armstrong is the opposite of a conservative, he wanted to change everything.

[@juliocesar899]

@@ghoulbuster1 He's more of a reactionary

[@TheGreatVoicemancer]

Personally I am a person who is media illiterate, Im not smart and I find it difficult to do deep analysis of media, but I've been trying to learn how to become more media literate.

[@tootbender6935]

That's the reason I'm one of the few young artists who hasn't made any OCs with stories about them... I'm just too stupid to write a good story, I can't analyze what makes a story good or bad.

[@alexanderfailoni1716]

Media literacy to me is a term used by tourist when they're not able to get the community or developers to do what they want them to do.

[@ondururagittandeska2004]

I'm greatful that Blitzwing did cause my reddit account to finally be banned especially how discussions have been on that site recently. Critical thinking hasn't been well since 2009. I've heard Persona 3 being called the angsty emo game of the series when the journey of the MC is the opposite. The original's opening song is called "Burn my dread" about burning away fear and angst also the enemies of the game are causing Apathy syndrome that makes their victims depressed.

[@DMZZ_DZDM]

The idea that anyone could think Fugo, the character who is famously very angry with severe and violent anger issues, the "calm and cool guy", is so hilarious i had to stop and laugh for a solid minute

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

"YoU Do nOt uNdErStAnD mUh nUaNcEd SaTiRe" -An Arts Major flunky who unironically missed the point

[@themightychespin5700]

Thank you SO much for this video, Manga

[@christophercarey165]

The thing with helldivers is that if you’re playing with friends you could role play as the helldivers and go along with the whole bots and bugs are a threat to our existence thing and not take it seriously. It’s fun to play along with the themes in games and I think that’s one of the reasons the game is successful.

[@americankid7782]

“The satire of Helldivers 2 is exactly Subtle” Somebody shoot me now.

[@tuvyamaeir4684]

Took a media literacy course in high school ten years ago. It came down to "this type of media exists, and the teacher occasionally called video games a dangerous form of it even when all evidence to the contrary was presented". Which is still a more applicable definition than what people do nowadays.

[@Nonn0n]

This reminds me how a lot of people jumped on the don’t get into fate series because it is confusing. You can jump into any parts of the series because each one is built to give you supplemental info about the holy grail war in that branch. You can explore the rest afterwards. Nasu is one guy with multiple leaders on each project, some will be great and some are weak, the point is to just try to get in. It was frustrating seeing people dog on FGO players (yes the gacha is broken) for starting up.

[@MewGirlZ]

Getting into the Fate series is almost like getting into superhero comics at this point (think big ones like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, or the Xmen). Where do you start and what timelines do you follow? People will give you lots of answers. Pick any. It'll all lead to the waifu-bait gacha game anyway.

[@ghoulbuster1]

People read fate? Most people just goon to the characters lmao

[@commisaryarreck3974]

​@@MewGirlZ The gacha is awful The story for FGO is damn good. Babylon, Solomon, and especially the lostbelts are so good man As for where to start with Fate, start with Zero, then any path for Stay night (unlimited bladeworks, heavens feel, standard) from there you should understand enough to watch anything I strongly recommend El-Malloi case files. But I'm a sucker for Gray and Reines. But you can watch or play Extra, Apocrapha There's some adaptations for FGO singularities. I believe that's just Camelot, Babylonia and Solomon tho. And they skip over some very VERY important information in Solomon regarding Fou

[@Just_Lars]

"Media Literacy" is one of those terms from social sciences that just got taken because it sounded fancy and intelligent, only to then be hollwoed out of its original meaning. It doesn't mean someone "doesn't understand". It doesn't mean one point is any more valid or "More correct" than another. I agree with the points you make, but want to further provide some context. So I guess here we go I guess. Media Literacy can be boild down to the term "critical thinking", yes. But it is more than that. And yes, I simplify a lot here for the sake of my own sanity, but: having Media Literacy means in the best case, that you are enabled to analyze a piece of media (literally any media that is) for what the author's intended message was or is. I can't stress enough how important that task is, especially in such a politically heated climate we have now. Let's take any newspaper. When reviewing it, you can deduct the stance the writer of a given article might have from the way said article is written. Choice of words, what information you get presented and which not, the context those informations get framed in, the whole tone and even the format of an article can tell a lot about the agenda a medium has. And I mean agenda as a strictly neutral term, because ANYONE has one. To inform the public is in itself an agenda, for example. This is, in the broadest sense, Media Literacy. To be able to critically review media. But Media Literacy isn't just something that is godsend, something that anyone just has. It requires you to know context. To learn stuff about a given topic, so you have something you can compare the information presented to you to. Which is...not easy in a time, where some people don't even seem to be able to agree on which color the sky has.

[@dragonlanceproductions6298]

This video is really well put, and while I don't agree with every point. I do think this video needs to be spread around. The loudest voices on the internet will always be trigger happy, and it will always be useful to have concise ways of identifying times when this happens.

[@koichidignitythief7429]

Having some intersting converstions from sharing this.

[@IsabellaMathew]

to quote Screwtape Letter- “Arguments, political gossip, and obsessing on the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control. Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind of charity or inner peace from further developing. Ensure the the patient continues to believe that the problem is "out there" in the "broken system" rather than recognizing there is a problem with himself.”

[@Cynwale]

Good argument, however it simply isn't true, at least not anymore, at least not to everyone. If the problem is in myself, does that mean that if I "cure" the problem in me suddenly all the Corrupt Politicians will disappear? That all French will stop isolating themselves? That Freemasons will let go of the power? That Islam will finally leave my country? That Leftists will finally recognize our lives matter and our culture doesn't have to be burned down? No? Then you can stop quoting people, there's a war out here, and the people are not ready to fight it.

[@Shylunar64]

Fascinating point of view. Me I just like playing or watching media and do my best to analyze if I can. Also new end artwork. Oh my God you can grind meat on it.

[@RaspyCh]

As a personal 4 fan, I know too well that media literacy is dead

[@EnigmaBarry]

Another fantastic video MangaKamen!

[@ethanodell8044]

“You lack media literacy” is the new way of saying “you get no bitches”

[@dooggo-1402]

The difference is that saying "You have no media literacy" guarantees the sayers no bitches.

[@xianxiaemperor1438]

At this point, we need a Game or Popular Fictional Novel JUST based on accurately* exploring* media literacy

[@Cornin33]

As a film and media studies/production student I’m very thankful you made this video man.

[@Sillytrooper1337]

The metal gear part reminds me of how Fahrenheit 451 being anti capitalism and anti communism when it what about anti authoritarism (Cold War era) might be wrong

[@vossboss220]

Media literacy is now a term used by dudes who verbosely speak like they're trying to reach the word count for a college essay

[@kevintanza6968]

Which is hilarious because actually smart people can use simple language to express their ideas.

[@rafaelduarte2730]

Very cool video, I will proceed to take your word as gospel and reproduce it around the internet

[@dimondsi]

It always makes me sad to hear someone dissing a series for what its not and not for what it is. You don't need to make shit up to justify why you dislike a thing I think persona 5 is style over substance, but making shit up about it to make a point is just poor form

[@magnum-lr3xf]

I love being early for these videos

[@adams0123]

The points about ‘forced representation’ make me think about how some ‘fans’ of X men are avoiding watching X-men 97 because of the themes of racism.

[@thatperson1009]

Isn’t that like on of the key themes of X-Men..?

[@adams0123]

@@thatperson1009 exactly

[@Saltedroastedcaramel]

​@@thatperson1009 That's a misconception.

[@ghoulbuster1]

They aren't fans then.

[@Exoskel2]

For me, you lack media literacy when you don't like what I like

[@kevintanza6968]

That's basically it on Twitter 😂

[@seg162]

Indeed, you lack media literacy when you don't like what I like.

[@hitskwaad]

Bro said he was gonna waste time and he DELIVERED 🔥🔥🔥

[@robertromanul2212]

The Starship Troopers book by Robert E. Heinlein was not a satirical work. The movie adaptation directed by Paul Verhoven was intended to be a satirical work, but it was still an adaptation, hence the controversial legacy of the franchise. Helldivers is just a game that uses the setting. Senator Armstrong from MGR:R is not a conservative, he is a Social Darwinist, based on the beliefs expressed in his fight scene speech.

[@Mangakamen]

Tell that to the people who keep going that "oh, conservatives like him so that must make him a conservative!"

[@robertromanul2212]

@@Mangakamen Yeah, I think a lot of people, not just conservatives, agree with his criticisms of the world. I do too, and I consider myself conservative, but I just couldn't unironically approve of what he says he wants instead.

[@Mangakamen]

Bad guys can have good points, and still be wrong with how they act on those correct points. That's the mark of a good character since it makes people stop and think that "hey, he's got a good point".

[@amirgarcia547]

The term “media literacy” is a bit of a double-edged sword tbh: it can either be used to genuinely refer to people who misinterpret or miss the point entirely of the story, like a subset of P4 players regarding Kanji and Naoto’s characters, or just be used as an argument to tear down someone else’s perspective just because you disagree with it. I’ve seen plenty of both sides on Twitter nowadays, AKA the place where any and all media literacy goes to die, and it’s a shame to see a term with actual legitimacy behind it become more of a buzzword as time goes on due to being improperly used

[@Nyghtking]

I've never played Helldivers, but from the little i've seen it feels like the satire at least in part was obvious, like I can clearly see nationalism going on there, there might also be some other things going on but the message "sacrifice yourself for the good of the nation" seems like a big theme of the game.

[@Troselingasher]

As someone who did play it, I can tell you the theme of the game is "Have fun shooting bugs and robots". The satire is the optional lore, but the game is a purely co-op objective based horde shooter and asks for nothing beyond that of the player

[@implozia1360]

I had NO IDEA they had that moment in Helluva Boss, I always wanted to learn sign language, genuinely appreciate taking hella hard stuff to animate, massively jump up cost and skill treshold, just to make THIS! Why do you think we see badly animated intruments? Because either they don't have animators to know enough to do this highly specific motion, moreso to an actual tune of something, or the budget or time. But a signed language?! Even crazier! Truly hate people take this away from people like myself who would love this!

[@brainstormsurge154]

I don't think I've even heard of this term "media literacy" until today or maybe I heard it and didn't notice it. What even is literacy? Well, when it comes to books it's just reading comprehension. It's basically, "I can read this sentence and know what the words means." If it was applied to media then it would mean, "Well I saw them shoot that other guy and he fell down and seems to be dead." You then have interpretation and analysis which are both separate from literacy. An example, "I saw the guy get shot but he fell out the window and seems to be a primary protagonist/antagonist and he fell in the water and they can't see the dead body. Most likely they aren't dead and will come back based on previous media I've consumed. Unless they plan to change convention and do a deconstruction or subversion. Either way I'm expecting an outcome." Based on your video and my own basic comprehension it's clear the term "media literacy" should never have been used by either you or anyone as it's clearly been abused and needs to be taken away by The Semantics Protection Agency and find it a better home. No, rather terms like media analysis, media interpretation or media critique/review are far better and fortunately are used and useful to use to convey their meaning. It certainly conveys that things are more an opinion.

[@ondururagittandeska2004]

5:15 SKULL! I see Manga Kamen you are a Half-boiled detective

[@nashzahm]

Since you brought up the Star Wars sequels i have a good example of this. I for one don't like them and have had people say im wrong for it, i was discussing why Luke Skywalker was done poorly in TLJ and while i was criticizing the writing and comparing it to writing for the same character in the past, and the other guys only argument was: "Its been 30 years, you just don't like it because you don't like the women in the movie". Sometimes even if you make a good point, you can't argue with some people.

[@williamschnarr7961]

Lol I like the idea of you having an intro with Life Is Strange, like your rants on it are such a part of the channel that it's grown to be something we love in spite of how it grew out of something terrible

[@supersmashseandx1991]

A great example of this i found in a pizza tower videos comment section where someone made a comment about how pizzahead (main antag) was a great representation of how bigfer businesses will prey on smaller ones as easy targets and there was a huge argument about it in the replies

[@epsiloncore9772]

While Im at it. I understsnd the Satire. I also don't care and I think it actually gets in the way of enjoying the game. It introduces unnecessary ludo narrative dissonance. Am I supposed to feel bad for the bots when I drop a 500kg bomb on them? But arent I supposed to be excited about dropping that marker where I need it to go? It results in a narrative telling you to feel one way. While the gameplay is telling you to feel another way. Or maybe. Its extra genius. Because when boots hit the ground. None of the politics matter. It doesnt matter what politics are occuring behind the scenes. You're in the fight and the enemy don't give a shit what your personal politics are they will turn you into a red paste regardless. You cannot parley with the bots or the bugs. Because they want you dead regardless of whether you're sympathetic to them or not. The game's name is "Hell Divers" Not "Super Earth". And even if your Hell Diver knows that their government is totalitarian. You tell me how much say the average soldier has in the government they serve? Exactly. The hero is your individual Hell Diver and his many many MANY buddies onboard the Super Destroyer. NOT the Federation of Super Earth.

[@SorarikoMotone]

you can understand all that and still go "haha, i pew pew pew". nobody really says you cant - the problem are the people who deny that the game is clearly political and/or clearly satire. you can understand something is a satire and simply roleplay in it, but also call out when people carry the act beyond roleplay.

[@sneezingrobo]

HOLY MOLY. okay I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I was just lurking before because that's what I do best, but I have to say it, dude. You absolutely cooked with this video. I know, it's shocking that a person who agrees with your opinions on these topics would be praising your opinions, but I just couldn't contain myself this time, because I have seen very few people out there who hold these stances and you're like an oasis in this wasteland. I just hope you don't disappear when I take my meds.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

"Noooo YOU just diddnt interpret it MY way!!!"

[@Helljumper425]

I like that you cut in Maximus throwing the nuka cola machine for the "Misinformation" cut. It's one of my favorite moments he has in the Fallout show. Just had to put that out there while I could. EDIT: Now that I've finished the whole video, the Helldivers part of it really hit close to home for me considering the number of people that were trying to make this boogeyman out of some body of the playerbase that was some media illiterate cryptofascist. This was all some time after another round of Starship Troopers debate regarding Verhoeven's movie and Heinlein's book, where essentially the "media literacists" were beaten down by an ongoing wave of memes and people that put forth a bunch of memes that otherwise made these people look foolish. There was proper discussion where it was to be had, there are people in both camps that spoke up with some relatively understandable arguments, but at the end of it all I got the sense there was dissatisfaction--as there ever will be in any twitter space argument--that the "enemy" wasn't totally annihilated and that the next step would be to rush to claim the next big thing. Queue Helldivers 2 and what looked like a preemptive attempt to gain a foot hold in the culture, with people hyperintellectualizing over some of the most blatant world building beats of the game. Yes, of course. We know. The bugs are actually a fuel source. We know Element 710 is "OIL" when spelled out upside down. We understand the illegal broadcasts show the truth about Super Earth physically moving bugs to planets (since they aren't in fact capable of interstellar spore colonization as Super Earth's Ministry of truth claims they are) as an excuse to invade said planet. Like, how much do we really need to engage with the satire of the game to get the joke?

[@Mangakamen]

Same

[@user-og8jy1ib7f]

that clip of extracredits videos on orcs made laugh especially since YT keeps trying to recommend me his videos and channel

[@philltheotherguy1868]

When they actually talk about video games it’s pretty good

[@ericlee4177]

My problem is the people shouting about media literacy are guilty of the exact same thing. These people cry about Starship Troopers and humans in Warhammer being fascist but the problem is they're the best option so it kind of kills any discussion of "but how can you support them" talk. Yet these same people will praise Wakanda an isolationist traditionalist nationalist ethno state that has a monarchy meaning it is the elites who are born into privilege have all the power and it's only through their benevolence that the people are treated well. I would argue that creators don't have media literacy or proper writing abilities when the people you aren't supposed to like become popular, i.e. Miguel O'Hara, Ken, Ron Swanson, Floch, Rorschach and more.

[@kevintanza6968]

Wakanda used their technology to improve themselves and let the rest of Africa to rot with slavery and dictatorships xD And then have the gall of depicting themselves as the good guys.

[@tio_john]

i say this all the time to those idiots, like exactly that, in a univers where you have humans that are brutal but they are united and have aliens tat want you dead, or worse, you go with humanity obviusly. also the point on wakanda was perfectly said.

[@faustoelorteguimiguez7643]

we were supposed to hate Miguel O'hara? serious question.

[@ericlee4177]

We weren't supposed to root for him is what I should mean.

[@kingofhearts3185]

While I know parts of the AoT community will back Eren being a necessary evil, I've only ever seen people treat Floch as campy and love to hate him. Never seen someone unironically like and agree with him.

[@sahilhossian8212]

Lore of Media Literacy is Dead! (Helldivers, Avatar, Metal Gear Rising and more) momentum 100

[@zachstarattack7320]

I have always noticed that my media literacy is horrible and I need a KZbin video essay to explain it. it is ironic that im here

[@mastername5373]

I see people saying Media Literacy is dead or lower than ever, but I can't think of another time period where Media Literacy was higher than it is now.

[@dustinnabil798]

Yeah, i have a hard time believing media literacy is higher 100 years ago or even 10 years ago.

[@legoworld246]

My take is that it's a bit of a survivorship bias situation. People perceive media literacy to be at an all time low *because* awareness of media literacy is at an all time high.

[@someguycalledgoober155]

There weas a guy in the RWBY fandom who had a post saying that Media Literacy was dead, and that people should watch RWBY because it was good. This guy was *easily* barely media literate himself. Main example, he called the "Relics", the main McGuffin of the show having their name repeated several times in the show, "The Artifacts". Called Ironwood a "Conversative" Dictator, putting emphasis on conversative. Ignores when critics point out basic facts, not really great uses of writing, etc. However, the quote about Media Literacy did affect me. I decided to try to improve my own, trying to watch more movies, tv shows, play more games, read more... Last one is difficult for me, but have to keep going. I personally at some point want to make media for the enjoyment of people, I don't think I could do it as a full time thing but just enough to try to make people happy. If I want to get to that point, I need practice and understanding of the subjects I'm doing. The best way to combat media illiteracy, is to try to be more media literate yourself, learning the skills, and respecting others. Try not to get too wrapped up in arguments online.

[@Saltedroastedcaramel]

I feel like you're also part of the so call media literacy problem. For one the relics are MacGuffins and while I can't call Ironwood a "conservative" dictator, the crwby does have issues inserting politics into the story, albeit very poorly. If I'm not mistaken, Vol 7 was just a terrible rant about the 2016 election and Crwby didn't like how fans sided with Ironwood after that volume.

[@someguycalledgoober155]

@@Saltedroastedcaramel Yeah, it was.

[@seg162]

Don't worry about "media literacy", worry about understanding what you're consuming and making the most you can out of that consumption.

[@joshuahecht6866]

It feels like Butters’ story of Skeletor vs Terminator despite there being no movie about it. South Park hit it to the punch.

[@Captions-Eric]

ive had so many misses in my reading of media. god i need a refresh and a reminder focus

[@79bigcat]

Since media always leaves part up to interpretation, there is a kind of Rorschach Test to them. People will see what they want to see; for example, the old "the curtains are f---ing blue" meme. Ironically, one could see the discourse around Helldivers 2 as the exact thing it's satirizing. Blindly shouting buzzwords while acting in complete contrast to them. Fighting a cause for people who will never care except for the result.

[@Cynwale]

Which side fight for a cause that will never care? Tell me, because my instinct is telling me you are going to say b*llshit.

[@illumialter8755]

if media literacy is currently dead, then it's never been alive.

[@InfiniteDeckhand]

r/Im14andthisisdeep.

[@Orange_Swirl]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

[@obamnaprismus]

I knew I was in for a ride when Kuze's theme started playing. God, I love Pledge of Demon, has to be the best theme in the Yakuza series

[@Boomblox5896]

On the other hand, is there such a thing as Media Over-Literacy? For instance when somebody tries to extrapolate meaning from a piece of media where there actually isn't any, like interpreting a translation error as an originally-intended character trait that got "covered up" in other releases.

[@chillinchum]

Absolutely.

[@77wolfblade]

Solution spend less time on Twitter and Reddit. A lot of the time it's just not worth the energy just enjoy life and play games.

[@Cheerful_Bliss]

The Fuugo thing always gets me every time

[@celuiquirevient]

I remember watching the cosmonaut video and being completely taken aback with the fugo calm and cool guy: you mean the guy who's introduced to us by stabbing his comrade with a fork and using an enraged stand ?

[@Plantster15]

He said the thing