TikTok Film "Reviews" Are AWFUL...and Profitable

[@ZelcherProductions]

Just for the record, cuz I didn't mention it in the video when I really should have, when I use clips/videos from other KZbinrs it doesn't mean that they also endorse my opinion. Seems obvious but just in case I wanted to mention that. Links: www.patreon.com/zelcher twitter.com/zelcher20 letterboxd.com/zelcher20/ discord.gg/WzfVejAY8D

[@PastelOddity]

Media literacy is at an all time low while media consumption and creation is at an all time high, and it’s tragic, because there are such fascinating and important conversations we need to have around media and what it means as a reflection of humanity; but no, people want movies to be apolitical and overt.

[@teapotcutie]

This reminds me a lot of how, coming from someone who's LGBT, I've had a lot of people recommend me popular movies with characters who are LGBT and saying it's good... but refuse to tell me anything else. Like they wouldn't tell me the genre, the negatives, etc. I even had someone do so without warning me about a police brutality scene in it. While I do appreciate LGBT rep, I don't like the way a lot of popular reviews/discussions for LGBT media is Must Consume Don't Think Too Hard especially in the context of representation. It is literally just synopsises for the Next Big Thing and feels like nothing is being said.

[@aledandrian]

The reason why MovieTok people and trashy, mostly right wing “critics” alike talk almost exclusively about the plots and characters of the movies is because that’s by far the easiest parts to critique, like all they have to do is either gush about character moments and story beats they liked or comb obsessively for plot holes and inconsistent writing while ignoring the role other aspects of filmmaking play in helping the average viewer put those things into perspective

[@tokumillennium5162]

Short-form content and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race

[@WaterDrinker666]

I think people need to stop equating being pointless cruel to the people who worked on film with being “mean” to the film itself. Of course you shouldn’t personally attack a writer or director or actor of a movie you didn’t like, but people seem to be confusing that with being critical of the writing, direction, and performances themselves

[@iamthetable8131]

The Mother 3 soundtrack being so prominent in here is such a good touch, I love that game ❤️

[@MishKoz]

I think part of this is the fact that a lot of people only ever learn to write essays where your only goal is to summarize what you've read rather than present an argument. And while that's kinda fine in high school, but when the goal is to provide commentary on a piece of media, it's equivalent to saying nothing. The thing is, I can kind of see the perspective of the people making these reviews. It can be genuinely hard to write a convincing argument as to why a movie/game/show is good beyond "I liked it" or "I had fun." It's a lot easier to pick apart why something is bad because it takes less effort and research to explain that something is nonsensical, or unfunny. There's also the fact that it's undeniable that we see way too much negativity online. Not just in terms of entertainment but just... everything. So I can understand people not wanting to contribute to that, and just making feel-good positive reviews. But you end up with these nothing-burgers that are all over your social media feed. Also I super agree about YMS. He's honestly one of the smartest youtubers and one of the few who can put together a solid point without any holes in it when he's criticizing something, but also (mostly) remains fair while doing so.

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

No discussion of film tiktok would be complete without talking about the people who call those who don't like superhero moves "film bros" who only watch obscure eastern european arthouse films. (which is kind of weird because as far as I know the term "film bro" originally referred to guys who never shut up about fight club or taxi driver etc)

[@allyli1718]

It’s fascinating because I think we’re genuinely in an era of lack of media literacy due to overconsumption. We have too many avenues of easy entertainment, like attention sludge content of family guy clips overlayed on Reddit TTS compilations. People then feel like they just don’t have the patience for analysis or “movie snobbery.” I want to talk about this through the lens of Fanfiction. Me as a person, I only watch/read things that I feel will completely obsess me, that will reward my effort of reading/watching with interesting insights or funny characters or cathartic endings! And then I spend the next few months completely reading everybody else’s takes on those insights, characters, and endings through Fanfiction! It’s so fascinating the way Fanfiction sort of acts as a review of a book or movie. You see tons of fix-it fics that rewrite the ending? Either most people didn’t enjoy the ending or the ending is good but tragic in some way! You see a bunch of fics of just a couple characters reacting to different scenarios? Then you’ll probably figure that those characters are really well characterized and have a fun dynamic together! I actually find a lot of the media I become obsessed with through reading Fanfiction for shows I’ve never heard of before because it serves as proof that it’s interesting enough to make someone else obsessed enough to write something, and the stuff they write about can indicate whether it’s something I’d be interested in. Thus, it’s easy for me to comment on other people’s Fanfiction. Fanfiction is a labor of love that doesn’t care for money or capitalistic consumption, and therefore it lives and dies on community engagement rather than money. Which means comments are the lifeblood of works and authors, it’s what keeps them going, it’s what feeds their obsession. I write great comments that authors love because I truly understand where their work is coming from, what elements they’re obsessed with, and am obsessed enough to think about their work analytically to tell them exactly and specifically what I loved about it. However, that is not everyone who reads Fanfiction. MORE and MORE people are just reading to see self indulgent wish fulfillment stuff over and over again, like marvel movies. So they don’t have much to say beyond “this was great! Loved it!” Which is nice, but also so vague that it starts to feel like faint praise. If it’s good, how come you can’t really say what you liked about it? I put so much effort into writing poetic prose, but nobody is talking about it? Was it actually bad? And Fanfiction authors have been noticing a rise of these low-effort, MovieTok ass comments over the years. And I think it’s because the way Fanfiction is shared nowadays online has been infected by the social media mindset of engagement and consumption. Instead of thinking about a painting, you like an image on Instagram and continue scrolling. Instead of surviving off of one really good song or book or art piece until you can buy the next one, you can just go online and scroll and be picky for whatever entertainment you want. This fast paced consumption is perfect for making money off the attention economy, but terrible for artists who aren’t making stuff for mass appeal. Rather than taking the time to connect with the author and tell them your thoughts, you just scroll onto the next fic that makes you feel that dopamine. And it’s fascinating to me how this capitalistic Algorithm Algorithm Algorithm mindset has had a tangible effect, even on artists who aren’t big corporations and who don’t rely on money, like Fanfiction authors. Another interesting thing I see with the lens of Fanfiction on this video is the idea of “positive or negative” reviews. I find this fascinating because there are definitely two types of reviews that are distinct and being conflated by Tiktokers and critics. In Fanfiction, the authors are writing for fun and therefore don’t want to see negative reviews. They’re not making a product, so it’s not really a reader’s place to make negative criticism of an author’s work. After all, if a comment is really shitty, they might just choose to stop posting their work, since they’re writing it for themselves and not for money. This mirrors the idea of “positive only” reviews that Tiktokers prefer, and yet Authors do NOT want MoveTok add reviews. Their reviews are the equivalent of the “this was great! Loved it!” comments, which proves that it can be really positive and still be a bad comment. There’s more to positive beyond just talking about plot and saying vaguely nice things. Like I said, my comments are beautiful hot takes all about specific lines or techniques or moments or characters that I liked about a work! Another thing is that there are some authors who do welcome criticism. However, even in these cases, I wouldn’t recommend just harshly saying all the bad things about a work because it’s criticism, not a review! Compliment sandwiches are great here in a way that is dumb in a review because we do want to think about how the author will receive our criticism. As Quin Curio, another KZbinr I love, put it, critique is useless if it’s not made with the recipient in mind. How likely are you to listen to the advice of a friend vs the advice of a hater? And when I hear these MovieTok reviewers talk about “negativity,” all I hear is them conflating “reviews” with “critique.” To them, negative reviews are bad because they aren’t made with the director or artist in mind. The negativity is useless hating, cramping people’s styles. But the truth is that reviews are NOT for artists, the reviews are for an audience that is choosing what to watch or read. We can argue over whether reviews are bad for creativity and whether or not they’re a result of the capitalistic system that separates the art and the audience from the artist, aka the difference between a community valuing discussions about their labors of love or artists valuing getting the most money out of their labor. But either way, I find it insane that these people can’t seem to tell the difference

[@ArcTrooperRod-269]

Also, Movide summarize are starting to become a Plague *I mean, sure, it can be harmless & sometimes can help people to discover new obscure films, but most of the times is used as a replacement to watch the Movies & that's sad, because experiencing films should be more than just a 10 min Summarize*

[@Ozymandias067]

Great video as you always do. I didn't expect it to be this bad on Tik Tok, but what should I have expected.

[@TheKillerqueen40]

Toxic positivity is just as bad as toxic negativity. Pretending everything is sunshine and rainbows is just as reductive and unproductive as its polar opposite. Both buy into the idea that things can only be "good" or "bad" without leaving room for actual nuance. And by not allowing for nuances, it doesn't allow the artform to grow, it causes stagnation. Without proper constructive criticism and nuanced critiques, people in the industry aren't challenged to do and be more as artists. When everything is positive, why would they change when what they're doing is great and has "no flaws"? And when everything is negative, why should they try harder when everyone just tells them they're always doing it wrong no matter what they do?

[@gracie852]

Amazing video as always!! I really appreciate your analysis and you really hit the nail on the head with the review fatigue I feel on tiktok and even KZbin at times.

[@magicalmysteryperson]

"Compliment Sandwich".... wait..... are tiktok film reviewers taking critique note from CHOPPED JUDGING PANELS??

[@mandobrownie]

What's kind of sad about this all is that it's hard to see this kind of thing going away. Media literacy is just not part of any level of education, college/university included, and the media landscape will continue to incentivize marketing type "reviews" over critical reviews. And of the critical reviewers left, they're part of the dying institution of magazines and newspapers. Letterboxd and (parts of) youtube and tiktok seem to be the only refuge. Kind of sad to see genuine movie criticism go from mainstream to academic and niche so quickly while being replaced with commerical marketing. Definitely not the first time that's happened.

[@GOODYGOODGOOD789]

Kind of like literally everything else about Tiktok.

[@woonggiyoutube]

love your channel dude keep up the good work

[@allyli1718]

You know, this is my call to action. BE A HATER. And not the stupid Critical Drinker type hater. I mean BECOME OBSESSED with a movie or tv for a couple months until it becomes a part of your heart and soul, and then use that intimate knowledge to perfectly articulate the point of that movie to you. That is the love of being a hater, it is loving something so much that you are upset when it stumbles, that you think about how it might’ve gone had it been perfect! Now this might only be the neurodivergent in me, but THAT is how I enjoy things. I physically cannot watch a movie if it doesn’t call to me in that way, which is why I live and die for good film reviewers! They tell me the movies that won’t make me want to pick my skin off from boredom or dopamine starvation and warn me about the movies that will. I cannot sit through the bad parts of a book or movie without the reassurance that the rest of it will reward me with an interesting insight or a cathartic ending or a gut bursting laughter. And it’s not about snobbery or perfection or film techniques to me! I don’t remember who said it, but someone once that good critics are the consistent ones! Why the consistent ones? Well those are the ones that you can reliably use to understand how you might respond to the movie. You can always disagree with a film critic and still call them a good critic because they’re great at explaining their takes! And because your consistent disagreements means you can trust that you’ll either always like the movies they hate or hate the movies they like. That’s CJ the X for me, they perfectly describe how certain parts of a media resonated with their life and what it taught them, and they’re possibly one of my favorite reviewers on this platform! It’s all about hearing a hot take worded so perfectly it completely changed your entire view of a work-THAT’s what I live for. So, film techniques and stuff are useful for figuring out how to consistently say “this movie is for me” in a way that’s specific and actually useful. I, for one, don’t care about cinematography or editing at all, again it’s not about film snobbery to me, but it’s useful language to describe the aesthetic of a movie or the type of writing it has or the level of thought/effort put into it. If someone can tell me all about a cool tracking shot in the middle of a movie and how it was impossible to do except through intense planning on the director’s part, I’ll know that this movie has a lot of thought and effort put into it, that it might be worth becoming ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with.

[@PastelOddity]

11:03 - Don’t worry, the only person we bully is you

[@elthongonzalez6345]

Keep us the great work! Love the videos.

[@LonkinPork]

"I'm not a 'reviewer,' I'm a 'film recommender.'" bro what elSE IS A REVIEW *_FOR??_* THEY GIVE YOU THEIR OPINION ON WHETHER SOMETHING IS GOOD OR NOT, SO YOU CAN MAKE A MORE INFORMED DECISION AS TO WHETHER YOU WANT TO WATCH IT

[@AnimeChibi2b]

it's not really the same

[@LonkinPork]

Depends how finely you think you can split a semantic hair.

[@regenerations67]

I feel like this is slowly also affecting youtube in there shorts, with the exact same problem, at some point I feel like this is going to become the norm on all platforms and all that can really be done at that point is too just accept it, and have it be apart of the critic culture.

[@MichaelBorek-l5q]

your stuff is excellent; thoughtful and transparent. please keep it up. and thank you! the world needs thinkers

[@LonkinPork]

At least when *_I_* write a review of a movie that adds nothing to the conversation, it's a pithy one-liner joke review on Letterboxd. As a great man once said, professionals have standards.

[@sunsetlonercinema]

I am a film critic on TikTok, and I actually make an effort to deliver well thought out, intelligent reviews. There was a time where my channel was growing, but then somewhere around the summer of 2022 it halted. I started to find other people doing film content on the platform, a number of them who have become notable, and I realize that “intelligent film content” is not marketable for the platform. They want simple, short form, mindless content that can entertain a generation that doesn’t like to think very much. That’s why guys like cinema, Joe, or where they are. If you watch cinema Joe’s content, it’s not very deep. This guy is literally catering to people who don’t actually watch many movies and getting them interested in movies.I think KZbin is a much better platform for aspiring film critics. Lot of what is being stated in this video is very valid.

[@allyli1718]

Oh I love the useful idiot comparison! Like it’s alright to be dumb, but when you leverage your dumbness to profit for corporations, even during a strike, you really don’t have any high ground to stand on.

[@SergiReyner]

I had to pause the video to laugh for a while, after you said you were surprised that tiktok "critics" treat movies like content.

[@TheBoringTiger]

16:00 hmm suspicious

[@redacted_vombat5742]

Tiktok was a mistake

[@mlufii]

this guy kinda looks like dollar store shunji iwai

[@janmalawski4339]

Kimba?

[@scout9329]

Good video, my only complaint is the use of Dunkey, because I think he’s a pretty bad reviewer (not just because he makes fun of things I like). He’s like a Schrödingers douche in the sense of when he makes a review that’s positive and well liked then it’s considered an actual review, vs when he reviews things he dislikes it’s considered a joke. Also he actively goes out of his way to make the things he’s criticizing even worse. And also I’m not forgiving him for just flat out putting spoilers for Xenoblade 3 (a game I want to play) in his review with no context or warning whatsoever.

[@ZelcherProductions]

I disagree

[@aledandrian]

Don’t watch a review of something if you don’t want spoilers

[@ZelcherProductions]

@aledandrian the Xenoblade 3 video wasn’t even a review. It was just a funny highlight video of him playing the full game which should make people even less likely to click the video if they wanted to avoid spoilers.

[@aledandrian]

@@ZelcherProductions lol even dumber then

[@amogusman69]

First

[@ishmaelruys7239]

🙃 P r o m o S M