YouTube and the Death of Media Literacy

[@zoe_bee]

Thanks to Milanote for sponsoring this video! Sign up for free and start your next creative project: milanote.com/zoebee (Fun fact: I say "media literacy" 104 times in the video.)

[@Enjoyurble]

1:06:53 Because you asked nicely.

[@Levitatingmarsipan]

How are like all my fav KZbinrs friends 😭

[@Ratabulous]

@@Levitatingmarsipanshe ré we❤❤

[@Skimmy404]

If only I had time to spare to actually sit through this video again to verify how many times you actually say it ;P

[@Enjoyurble]

@@Levitatingmarsipan KZbin encourages creators with similar audiences to collaborate with each other to increase viewership and appease the algorithm. Welcome to Media Literacy 101😉

[@jays.6843]

I always think about my grandmother finishing Breaking Bad and saying "wow, Walter did all that for his family".

[@MrSaverio97]

Loooooool

[@GreatWhiteElf]

😬

[@vaporeonice3146]

One of those “interpretations that’s directly contradicted by the text”…

[@jazzfox143]

Walter: i did it because i liked it Granny: wow he did it for his family😚

[@Vanity0666]

She thought she was watching Fast and Furious damn

[@clockworkmenagerie]

One of the best lessons I've ever seen on media literacy wasn't in an English class or in a university context. Instead, it was in an A-Level (16-18) maths class. The lesson, split over several periods was approximately as follows: In the first period, students were each given a toy vehicle of some variety. They then competed taking turns trying to get their vehicle to reach a particular spot along a runway made of the tables. The students were engaged in the competition, but were also tasked with recording the data. Some of the vehicles seemed to do better, some worse. When a student suggested that the vehicles weren't fair, a couple of rounds everyone used the vehicle that had the best record up to that point. In the second period, the students analysed the data, trying to evaluate what was the best vehicle, best player, the variance etc. Basic statistics. The third period, however, was the kicker. Each student was given a secret message, along the lines of "You're being given £5000 to write an article about how awesome the person in third place was" or "The race is sponsored by [person in last]'s parents, write an article to encourage them to continue sponsoring the race." Each of them was asked to use statistics and words to give a specific world view, each asked to twist the statistics to fit a message other than the obvious. And when the students got to see what they had each done, when they saw others twist words and numbers to suit a particular story, it seemed like a lightbulb moment for all of them. Getting taught to manipulate the truth to serve a story, and taught an acorn of literacy to spot such manipulation from others. They made, they saw the original truth, and then they made and saw the lies. Even though no statistics were allowed to be counterfactual, they saw the creation of lies in service of stories.

[@EnvyOmicron]

holy shit that's brilliant

[@geoff5623]

Something similar in one of my first year university English courses. We were given the assignment to research and write an essay on a food supplement (vitamin, mineral, phytonutrient, etc. Mine was lycopene), with a thesis either supporting or opposing its efficacy. Nominally, it was to get us familiar with finding, reading, and citing academic sources. And then after we handed those essays in, we had to write another essay arguing the *opposing* thesis (we also had to write in a slightly different style - the first essay was for an academic audience, the second science communication for a general public audience). After having read and formulated a supported argument in the first essay, it was painful to be selective from the same sources to support an opposite argument. But it was a good exercise in being able to critically analyse the other direction - whether articles are accurately representing their source info.

[@madeline569]

That's just about regular literacy, but yes. It's funny that that's how all academic papers are written. They're all heavily biased and flawed, and academia & our knowledge/scientific beliefs themself are built upon it.

[@mrosskne]

there isn't any truth about a fictional work. it is entirely subjective experience.

[@HeatherOrdover-CraftLit]

I. Love. This. Comment. Thank you! Though I don’t know if “lies” is the right term. Rhetoric has to take into account audience and purpose. The teacher’s assignments made the Aiden’s recognize those two things -giving everyone a fighting chance to see it in the wild. Everyone had to tell a different “story” to their audience, backed up with known/agreed upon facts. Kind of like Lawyers have to do when going to trial -figure out the story you want the evidence to tell. It’s one of the reasons why Discovery sharing is so important-everyone knows which facts the prosecuting attorney is going to use. It’sIt’s the compelling use of those facts that wins trials.

[@dsgamecube]

You know what's even cooler and smarter than knowing lots of things? Knowing *why* and *how* you know those things. Citing sources makes your knowledge more useful. So double kudos to Scott!

[@kristina_eb]

the "Walter White is a hero" example is especially wild because Breaking Bad is EXACTLY what I think about when I think of poor media literacy.

[@Carewolf]

It can go full circle. We use to say people that saw the protagonists of Starship Troopers as heroes, had poor media literacy. Now many of them perfectly literate, they are just unironically fascist.

[@lmcdms]

​@@Carewolfwell if they view starship troopers as pro facist they are explicitly wrong, having a bias doesnt mean an incorrect media take becomes correct

[@kristina_eb]

@@lmcdms maybe (i think this gets close to death of the author discourse), but i do think they're right that, if they come to that conclusion, its not because of poor media literacy its because they're biased

[@yeetusyourmeetus]

@@lmcdms they don't care. it's a conscious, intentional ignoring of satire to focus on the aesthetics instead.

[@drmathochist06]

@@lmcdms Cf. @acollieralso's recent video: "if your satire fails you just made the thing."

[@elliotkaplan3742]

One of my favorite genres of video essay is "commentary on the movie/show everyone was taking about 3 months ago". They always start with a self deprecating comment on "it's this even relevant?", and then go on to actually say something interesting.

[@Mors]

Goes to show that good research and interesting commentary takes time.

[@86fifty]

I absolutely love those. It's a double-positive - they get to spend more time really thinking and polishing their work, and I get to remind myself of the head-space of being in that fandom again. Even better if I was never IN that fandom, then I get a much clearer overview than I would have if I'd been in the trenches at the time!

[@chads.1726]

I avoid trending topics almost instainctually at this point. If I never see an iceberg or a "entire history of this very long work with an expansive catalogue of content fully explained in 7 minutes" (one of the worst and most offensive genres of KZbin I know of)

[@mrosskne]

no video essay has ever said anything interesting.

[@themexyeti]

Twilight by Contrapoints was this to the eleventh power LMAO

[@oboretaiwritingch.2077]

As a writer, I feel that being media literate is one thing, what actually worries more is how little people take the message in. Like environmental, anti-capitalist themes in medias is dime a dozen, many of our biggest medias even have that exact messages, to the extent many people say they're sick of hearing these stories, but here we are, still living in the world where way too many people are apathetic to taking any actions to actually prevent our world from falling into the dystopian wasteland they see on screen. They *GOT* the message, they just won't do anything about it.

[@AleksoLaĈevalo999]

One very important thing to understand about media literacy that it is, among other things an ability to understand what does the author means. It does not, by any means means the willingness to agree with the author. For example "Birth of a Nation" is a movie with strong themes and warnings against the dangers posed by black people. And yet, majority of people after watching would simply not agree with the themes. That doesn't mean that people are "not getting it", just they they don't agree with the movie. If people are sick of hearing a theme it might be because they think it's incorrect and wrong.

[@oboretaiwritingch.2077]

@@AleksoLaĈevalo999 Hard disagree. Again going back to environmentalist, anti-capitalist themes appearing everywhere from Avatar to FF7 to Pokemon. Most people who consume these medias agree with these messages, they acknowledge that climate change is a real thing, fueled by human greed, but it doesn't mean they're gonna do anything about it.

[@cobalt_blue5758]

Or the amount of people who will straight up say things like "I wish media wasn't WOKE nowadays, unlike my favorite media back in the day like (insert incredibly anti-capitalist media made before ~2016)"

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@oboretaiwritingch.2077 Batman villains in a nutshell

[@zyzyx4157]

⁠@@cobalt_blue5758woke just means liberal brainrot, not anti capitalist

[@digdoug5125]

Ill never forget after I showed my parents the movie Whiplash their main takeaway was that it was admirable and inspiring to watch Miles Teller lose his sense of self worth and give up everything he held dear in the pursuit of the approval of an authority figure and success in his chosen field. To me that movie is a tragedy, not a Rocky Film.

[@theultrak641]

The scene where he earns his teachers respect by taking the lead is pretty triumphant when you excuse the undertones of abuse. If nothing else, it’s the moment the main character comes out on top of his problem, and story structure suggests that’s the time the audience should clap. I’d cut a little leeway to the casual viewers of whiplash finding the movie oddly inspiring

[@jensanruby6739]

As a somewhat media literate drummer who recently watched whiplash I was horrified by my response. The second the movie was over I got out my practice pad to play along to some old jazz tunes, which was bizarre because I was fully aware the film was telling me that the desire to perfect and practice will eat you alive and expose you to abuse. While I did practice that night I did so on easiesh tracks that I am familiar with instead of pushing into new jazz territory. I still think I had the wrong response but it was very exposing to learn that the toxic need to perfect the craft is already in me. But yeah, I guess there isnt an easy answer to this.

[@dvillines26]

I don't think their take is wrong. It's not right, either. It's a valid take according to their values, and you seem to be assuming it's objectively a wrong and foolish take, which is a dangerous thing to do, and doesn't make you as media literate as you might think. Now, your thoughts and mine on that film are pretty much the same, but you need to remember there's not one valid take and that the values people bring to a piece of media matter.

[@kruks]

I don't think the intent of good media literacy is to have ubiquitous takes on said media. There is room for interpretation and personal bias. It's inarguable that Miles' obsession isn't _healthy_ , but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't empathize with the sacrifices made, however unhealthy. The real Charlie Parker had a heroin addiction, was an alcoholic, attempted suicide twice, and died at 34. He also invented bebop and influenced jazz inextricably. It's not just the principle characters of Whiplash that idolize him.

[@overthemoo]

To everyone thinking the OP believed their parents’ take on the movie was “wrong,” I’m not so sure that is what they were saying. It seemed to me that they more unnerved by their parents’ interpretation, rather than confounded or something. How one views the world around them can be exemplified through their understanding of a film. Look at the guys who worship the main character in American Psycho - their view of him isn’t necessarily incorrect but it is most definitely disturbing.

[@AG_KEMPER]

I'm so paranoid about what my nieces and nephews (5mo to almost 6yo) watch and read. Their parents are always making fun of me because of it. However, they are constantly shocked by what their kids are saying and believing. I always tell them, "You let them watch things they do not have the ability to properly process!" They've been making fun of me less about it and are now actually listening to me.

[@moratolca]

ohhh man, al least they're starting to pay attention 😬 sometimes it's so hard for parents to realize they're being negligent

[@AG_KEMPER]

@moratolca I had to take a media literacy course in undergrad when I was considering being a journalism minor (I settled on philosophy after my second semester LOL). In that course, we went over how children perceive media at each developmental stage. Mind you, I took this course 10 years ago, so things might have changed a little. That said, I was able to explain to them why letting their preschool-aged children watch PG/PG-13 rated movies without discussing the content with them during or afterwards was not conducive to developing good media literacy. Honestly, the worst thing that has happened in the past 15-20 years regarding children's media is that increasingly fewer films and shows aimed at children are rated G. In many parents' minds, PG is the new G - it is not meant to be! PG means "PARENTAL GUIDANCE", which is not always practiced. As a result, much of children's media has mean-spirited jokes and actions that are not then addressed in the content itself in a way that many young children can understand. That's why parents of younger children are meant to guide them during or after consuming the content to realize that what was said/done is not an okay thing because it's hurtful to say/do to someone else.

[@PhotonBeast]

Right? Like, kids are both amazingly smarter than we tend to give them credit for - being able to understand things we might not realize - while also lacking the mental development and social context to internalize what that knowledge may mean (or to avoid internalizing it in the case of negative things). Talking about and through the media (and other things!) they engage with is super important. After all, when grown adults can fall into rabbit holes with all their grown up experiences and knowledge, what chance does a child have without a guide, mentor, teacher?

[@MCArt25]

Reading is different from watching, though. You can acquire images you can't properly process, but if you read something, you can't imagine what doesn't already exist inside of your brain.

[@DiamondKingStudios]

@@AG_KEMPERTo be fair, a lot of PG-rates films released now would have probably been rated G twenty or more years ago. My idea is to introduce a “Y” rating to the MPA like they have with television. This will allow G-rated films to focus on content that people of all ages would enjoy, not so much the very young.

[@jamesthemuchless]

Zoe Bee telling me to "slow the f*** down" while i listen to her at 1.5 speed was... unsettling.

[@chenthelegend3110]

Haha I do that too, just don’t have the time lol

[@cainvarner]

i was on 2x speed 🫣

[@mozsab]

Only 1.5x? Rookie…

[@modernghost0]

my 2x brainrot is sobbing

[@styk0n]

I skipped that part of the video, I just wanted the conclusion

[@KrazyKaiser]

Oh thank God, a real video essay from an actually educated person on the topic. I saw a video recently where the thesis statement was "Media literacy just means paying attention really good" and I went insane.

[@TechnicolorOutlier]

I've been avoiding so many videos on media literacy from randos, when I saw zoey made one I immediately jumped in. She never disappoints

[@madeline569]

So they were just regular illiterate...nice 😂

[@KrazyKaiser]

@madeline569 the video is called "illiterate media literacy" if you are curious, but it's definitely a cognitohazard so be careful.

[@mrosskne]

"thank god, a video from someone who agrees with me"

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

"Paying attention" is the fucking floor of media literacy! That's a hell of a thesis statement. That's baby's first step toward media literacy.

[@brendankendall41]

I think Alex nailed it when describing why some people leave KZbin comments. Whenever I leave comments on KZbin videos, especially from large KZbinrs, I'm usually not expecting *any* meaningful engagement or change from the creator; I'm really only talking to the other people in the comment section. It's like a town square dedicated to whatever topic was covered in the video Also, there are days where I feel like I'm absolutely drowning in the misinformation, flawed thinking, bigotry, etc., that is all around me, and I feel an almost desperate need to reach out and find other people who feel the way I do. I know it can be a dangerous thing to seek confirmation, but there are so many forces in society trying to gaslight me into thinking this late-stage capitalist hell is actually good, or actually bad for entirely made-up reasons, that I feel I'll go mad if I don't see anyone else like me.

[@megamillion5852]

I really felt this. One such topic that's been hanging on my mind lately is how many gamers have become convinced that overt bigotry is somehow the solution to the problems facing the industry. Because sure, some people are just hateful enough to be like that...but some too would recoil if they only knew all the ways in which they were wrong. I always feel like saying something wherever I find conspiracism draped as protection of the medium, but I also know that I can't change the mind of every single person who happens to fall into that camp. Anyway, thanks for feeling the need to send this out to the world. It has meant much to this stranger.

[@schaukelpferd99]

That's exactly how I feel a lot of the time.

[@Authentistic-ism]

I honestly forget that some creators do read their own comments. I operate on a default assumption they'll never see it because so many creators never get to all the comments. So my comments are usually "for" the other commenters past or future. Kimchi's spot on. It's audience chatter amongst ourselves a lot of the time.

[@MrGksarathy]

Agreed. This is like 90% of the reason I leave longer comments.

[@headphonesaxolotl]

@@megamillion5852 I don't understand the "gamers are convinced bigotry is the solution to everything" comment. If you're talking about SBI and those other "DEI companies," disliking those is not the same as being bigoted.

[@NerdSyncProductions]

After taking a few days to reflect on this video I can confirm that it’s extremely good Zoe!!

[@Rubberman202]

10:29 - "That's like saying you think critical thinking is bad, actually, right?" ...Basically. A lot of people on Twitter/X are AGGRESSIVELY anti-intellectual, but I think there's even more going on here than just that. There was this article back in 2013 where Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were interviewed about the show, and the interviewer was asking if there was any way to infer what would happen in future seasons of the show based on what was happening now, to which they both (allegedly) sneered and Benioff infamously said "Themes are for eighth-grade book reports”. It feels more and more like thinking deeply about media is frowned upon, even by the people creating the media.

[@defies4626]

You're generally on to something. There is a genuine effort to cultivate a culture of anti-thinking and anti-intellectualism. In fact, it's something we've seen before, many times. It's a sign of the capital class realizing that they're losing grip and trending towards fascism.

[@CyanRooper]

These are the same show runners that steamrolled what used to be the best show on TV just to make a Star Wars movie. And they ruined GoT so badly that they never got the chance to make that Star Wars movie that they wanted to make so badly.

[@randomname9723]

And then we can see the moment they had to rely on their own 'skill' and 'creativity' what happened? Unfortunately a lot of people with this view are not mind bogglingly incompetent and competently make media that is easy, passive consumption.

[@digster2344]

The anti-intellectual "movement" on twitter has likely also become much more severe since Musk's takeover. Which makes sense, obviously because of his political views, but also simply because he's rich. People won't question the actions of the rich if they don't know how.

[@AussieGriffin]

@@randomname9723 Those people made bingable Netflix, re-running cable TV, and daytime soap operas. To use a metaphore, no two people have the same ceiling, yet they they all have the same basement (and often the same rats). The hind end of people's brains needs the rest to shut it up! However if your media can convice the rest of your brain to go with the hind end? You have entertainment crack! A.G.

[@jvdos]

My middle school English teacher stressed the importance of media literacy a lot. She made us read fiction like Fahrenheit 451 an analyze the book until we gathered as much meaning as we could, not just from the text but by comparing it to other stories.. And also by comparing it to the real world- which was very relevant as we live in Florida. I know this *sounds* like what every teacher does, but she was just SO good at it. And she even has a poster in her room with a list books that were "Banned", and why you should read them. She is the kind of teacher that makes me wish they got more appreciation. 📚😔 Edit: ive added more context in the replies if you want to know more about this teacher.

[@msjkramey]

My high school librarian was awesome. We'd celebrate "Banned Book Month" every year and she always had the posters up of formerly banned books with the reason why they were banned, when they were banned, and when they were allowed back in

[@Chris-ks4sw]

That book was boring AF. Important message and meaningful but it was such a bore.

[@DiamondKingStudios]

I hope they still let her teach.

[@yessum15]

​@@Chris-ks4swThe real entertainment is in watching progressives completely misunderstand the book and use it to champion the notion of diversity & free speech when it is actually a conservative screed on the value of bigotry and the importance of marginalizing minorities.

[@miguelbastidas5918]

​@@yessum15 0/10 bait try again

[@marinacroy1338]

An important part of media literacy that I never see talked about is understanding bias. I first learned about it in my journalism 101 class. Everyone has bias. Every person, reporter, author, and director is biased. Even the fictional characters have bias lol. Understanding and recognizing biases within the media you consume is really really important.

[@PrettyTranslatorSarahMoon]

the media literacy as a consumer vs a creator really resonated with me. as a translator of media, I feel like I have to wear both hats. I have to consider authorial intent, but then I myself as a translator also have intent. then I also have to consider how fans are going to engage with it and where I might need to be extra-careful in my wording choices--it's complicated.

[@poe.and.theholograms]

requited Destiel is canon in Spanish.

[@ZomboidMania]

I imagine it would be, you must always be thinking about what word in this other language expresses the exact same tone and messages as it does in it's original language, that sounds extremely difficult, just an example I can think of right now, maybe I'm wrong but from what I've seen people talk in a higher pitch when speaking Spanish for example, and so changing "Hi" to "Hola" might subtly change the tone based on how a Spanish speaking person might read it, I'm not sure if that's actually a problem you've encountered, I I don't have a literature degree lol

[@kaseywahl]

I formerly taught High School English at a boarding school in Beijing, China. I was charged with teaching English Reading, Writing, and ESL courses to my class of 15 with the end goal of equipping them with the tools they would need to succeed when they finished their diplomas in the US. Media Literacy and critical thinking were part of the curriculum. In Beijing, it felt like a completely insurmountable task. I felt like I was always being ripped apart from two sides--the Beijing side that blocked access to almost all research and literary resources that I knew my students would need access to when they got to the US. The other side was from the US side, during which anti-China rhetoric was constantly being spoken from the White House at the time. I don't think I've ever been charged with a more difficult task, especially since I had to not only prepare my lesson plans, but I always felt I had to have an airtight defense for the subject matter I was teaching and the reason it needed to be included in my curriculum. I'm not exaggerating when I say I don't think I could have lasted much longer in that job. It was emotionally and intellectually destructive.

[@nopeitsnotmewhywouldyouaskthat]

Thanks for your efforts; some aspects of your work as you've described it speak directly to work and situations I know well; others I'm sure I can't properly imagine. It sounds like many people are now grateful you lasted as long as you did, and I'm glad you're now out of it and left the work in the hands of another, earnest, well-meaning professional. Thank you. Be well.

[@wishful-thinkings]

Surprised to find this comment here because it resonates pretty deeply with my experience as a 1st gen Chinese-American. I'm actually planning to learn more Chinese so I can work/study in China myself and explore those dynamics first-hand.

[@BAGELMENSK]

Crazy to be caught in a geopolitical rock and a hard place like that. Hope it made you a stronger person.

[@kaseywahl]

@@wishful-thinkings Do it. China is an absolutely amazing place. It challenged me in many ways. Learning Mandarin was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. Were it not for covid ending my time there prematurely, I was planning on working there for much longer. Sometimes life has other plans, though.

[@cleo6316]

Hey I come from China and thank you for your efforts. I won't be here posting without all the teachers that taught me how to navigate... well English.

[@TeethToothman]

As a human with a _very_ intense book obsession, apps like Blinkist have always been horrifying to me. Not only that but I have a hard time imagining even just a normal person finding it useful. Every time I see an ad for them it feels like I'm in some dystopian reality and the next ad is going to be for a pill that gives you the feeling of being satisfied with a piece of art you've just finished.

[@shanarose3251]

For some reason, as you were talking about media literacy, the most interesting comparison I could think about is- and hear me out on this one- metas in online games. For example, people try to wrap their heads around what the 'best' characters in a game are based on evidence, much like people try to find the most dominant story that a book is trying to convey. Even if the developers never intended for a character to be broken or to be played in a certain way, somehow people's analysis and evidence will catch up to a certain character becoming broken and certain styles of play being preferred, much like certain interpretations of stories become predominant. Metas in games tend to shift a lot over time (even in games that aren't updated), new information and evidence makes a certain overlooked playstyle rise up out of nothing, etc. In addition, if you've ever been involved in an active community of an online game, people say things without evidence *all the time*. The final cherry on top is that despite all of this talk of the dominant meta in games, people still play the characters or playstyles that appeal to them on a personal level regardless of meta, and there are videos that constantly talk about "finding the main [character] that you enjoy playing the most". To conclude: damn, the Great Gatsby meta goes crazy.

[@zoe_bee]

This is genuinely really fascinating - I really like this framework!

[@LucasHS23]

You could also extend this to meta slaves, people who uncritically follow the meta ignoring the context for why a meta strategy or character is good. They are often also the people who are first to become angry or toxic when someone isn't following the meta, regardless of viability.

[@MC-lm7de]

I wonder what the literary analysis version would be for that guy who used a pokemon nobody else used competitively, and then did it so well that everyone had to plan around that specific strategy in future competitions. Maybe an adaptation or response to the source material that almost everyone comes to accept as true/canon?

[@kirby1024]

​@@MC-lm7de I think the literary equivalent is... the essayist! Someone who is able to view a piece of media with an alternative lens, and can communicate what that lens offers eloquently to a wider audience!

[@seanmurphy3430]

@@MC-lm7de ...MatPat? A big part of Game Theory et. al. was taking fringe interpretations that were typically weird and counterintuitive - off-meta, you could say - and making a serious argument for them, presenting evidence and making inferences to reach an unusual conclusion. And because he was such a popular KZbinr, those interpretations often became relatively mainstream; they'd still be considered memes by most, but they were part of the discussion.

[@tobydandelion]

A middle school science teacher I liked a lot was super eagar to teach us media literacy. He used to show conspiracy theory documentaries and debunk them point by point, I wish I could remember his name. He was wonderful.

[@CrowsofAcheron]

Sounds like the best way to do it.

[@Anton15243]

​@@CrowsofAcheron It has its benefits, but I'd be wary of relying on it too much. Remember how the atheist KZbin community started as a debunking of pseudoscientific religious beliefs, but then morphed into a "takedown culture" which then turned its attention towards activists and minorities to make fun of

[@deusex9731]

@@Anton15243 but at that point they werent critical anymore. They just made fun of things and people based on 99 percent strawmans. just because someone fell into a (self created) pipeline of hate, doesnt mean the initial thought process has an issue

[@CrowsofAcheron]

@@Anton15243 My point was that it is very difficult to talk about media literacy in general. You always need examples.

[@mrosskne]

thank god he saved you from thinking for yourself! ideas are scary!

[@danielbarrera8391]

I feel like a big problem is there is also a need for emotional intelligence. I mean, when there are complex issues it can bring up personal biases that a lot of us might have and this can be upsetting. And the issue with that is: we don't know why it upsets us or why we shouldn't stick to our biases if it does. A lot of debates I see online in forums about issues ends up with a lot of ad hominems/personal remarks which to me says a lot. But it's equally important for people being attacked - whether its in good faith or not - to know how to respond or how to find healthy debate. Honestly, a lot of complex issues require exposing some biases we may have and it's emotionally uncomfortable. But it is more so uncomfortable if people (I am) are afraid of being exposed as "haha stupid face [insert relevant insult]!". I mean, most of us leave discussions like that with a sense of "So I must be right!" , depending on what the issue is. Or it just causes us to seek out echo chambers for some solace and assurance. And admittedly I do that too.

[@aztektheultimatewoman]

I was going to write a comment about the pronunciation of “panacea” in the video, but when I checked the sources, I discovered that the creator of this video had already noted their mispronunciation in a helpful and honest manner, so I will instead say that this video is fantastic. 👍

[@jotsgame]

I love that piece of writing that you made as it accidentaly aligned with the question that zoe mede at the end of the wideo. There is something special about unintentional content that is elevated to an art status by coincidence.

[@OneDollarWilliam]

Until I saw this comment I was assuming that Zoe's pronunciation was the correct one and I was wrong. An important reminder that even people we respect can be make mistakes, and if something feels off it's important to verify.

[@existentialcrisisactor]

Social media comments are difficult because with the knee jerk reaction of responding is what I've been calling "high speed information rage." It's similar to road rage, but instead of our person being threatened, it's our ideas.

[@M0ONCommander]

and one could argue our person and ideas are one in the same. the ideas being mind-dependent, and the mind being unable to come about to inform notions of the world unless there's a world to be experienced. so when someone presents notions contrary or in opposition to the ones we have, they stem informed from an experiential account contrary to ours. so when one engages with the intention to express one's contentions, it can often come across that one is contending with the experiential account of the person. it's difficult to engage, thus, in online spaces unless one has disposition to recognize the limitations of the mind. and it's from there that many philosophers find the main gripe with this. Most are not so much attached to the rationality of ideas - on whether they are sound or unspund, logical or illogical self-defeating propositions - but to the experiential account of their self which thereby compels one's sentiments to grant them rationalistic validity.

[@trail_mix24]

I've been getting around that by typing out a comment, rereading it, and deleting it. I'm so tired of engaging in dumb comment wars

[@iantaakalla8180]

Perhaps because of this the phrase “Information Superhighway” can be used again. Not to emphasize that information is flying at high speed, but that interpretation and lashing out is flying at high speeds on the roads of information.

[@markzuckerbread1865]

As a STEM major, I find content like yours extremely helpful given that I have little to no humanities background, thank you for putting the effort into making this :))

[@Authentistic-ism]

Cat walks into frame just as Zoe begins to speculate about how to make the perfect video essay..... The cat knows. The cat demonstrates. Cats learned media literacy the moment they took over teh itnerwebs. I have a mental association to click Like anytime someone's cat walks into frame if I didn't already.

[@poe.and.theholograms]

human can haz algorithm-favorable monetization?

[@saltypineapple8371]

funnily enough, one of my professors low key uses her cat to get our attention during her lectures. i say lowkey because the cat will just wonder into the frame willingly (because she has a habit of wanting attention when the professor is busy) and my professor just doesnt stop her.

[@Mors]

Cat was going in for the “purr-fect” visual pun! (I would like to apologise to all my English teachers who bestowed me with undeserved confidence by saying I was funny)

[@AndreiTraieste]

Cat

[@KSignalEingang]

The comedy radio show "Ask Dr Science" was once asked to explain why cats like to sit on whatever you're reading. Dr. S's explanation was that all cats are the reincarnated spirits of dead intellectuals, and they disapprove of this trash; you should try getting some better books. So what I'm saying is that what you're saying is absolutely backed up by Science.

[@iammrbeat]

This is another phenomenal video. I define media literacy as understanding the media we consume at a deeper level. I do disagree with you friends. I think it's a crisis that most of us suck at media literacy. The uniqueness of being bombarded with information constantly is a new trend that our brains did not evolve to handle. The solution is all of us being taught media literacy as children. Not just one day. Not just one unit. Not just one school year. I believe that learning media literacy should be a main goal of every year of education. It's up there with reading, speaking and writing. If we can read, speak, and write at a deeper level, we also MUST be able to consume media at a deeper level. I was tempted to comment right after watching this video last night, but I reflected and came back to comment this morning. Oh, and to answer your question, I am commenting on this video strictly to promote my KZbin channel. :)

[@dominictemple]

Mrbeat’s channel is also very good, can recommend

[@geraldfreibrun3041]

Do you think on an archetypal level that social media is akin to when the printing press came out.

[@alexj-t2331]

@@geraldfreibrun3041no I think the printing press helped generations gain access to more knowledge that wasn’t funnled through the words of their pastors and leaders

[@Rubbly]

It was interesting watching this video after watching "Why We Are So Divided" You touch on media literacy a bit in there so it must be something in the water!

[@iantaakalla8180]

@@alexj-t2331 Yeah, I would not say social media is an instrument of truth or knowledge expansion. While it can be that, it is clear that because we are prone to the exact opposite, it is an instrument of lies, disinformation, division, and enforced peace. It is also an instrument of lacking whatever. Social media is more equivalent to, let’s say, a billion conspiracy theories tweaked so you can believe what fits your beliefs if, let’s say, you find harming autistic people by not vaccinating them too distasteful, or if you find discriminating by race especially heinous, or if you believe that wall across borders do not mean anything.

[@spooky-soap]

I like Alex’s perspective on comments, I only ever look at comments/comment myself to engage further with ideas in the video with fellow viewers and get more people’s perspectives on the topic

[@TheVibes101]

That's wild how Scott came up with such an intelligent answer entirely on his own, very cool and smart. One of the video essay moments of all time. Media literacy is so awesome.

[@duffykhalsa8281]

I agree that Scott nailed it and so did the book he ghost-wrote. The real media literacy was the friends we made along the way to learning to distinguish between plot and story.

[@mrosskne]

​@@duffykhalsa8281fiction is made entirely of subjective experience and there is no truth about a work.

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@@mrosskne but people (especially modern fans and audiences) treat fiction as absolute truth and objective experience and need fiction to reflect and agree with their truth and experiences all the time for it to be considered objectively good.

[@LolaSebastian]

Thanks for having me, Zoe ❤ this is the very video essay i’ve been dreaming of in this space, and I’m so glad it was you making it!!

[@zoe_bee]

Thank YOU for being a part of it, and thank you so much for your constant support 💜💜💜

[@lolaarcana]

The classic 'You can never please everyone all of the time'. Also, I remember a key fact that someone told me to bear in mind = you can never change someone else's behaviour, only your own, and hope this makes them decide to change themselves.

[@roramdin]

lili alexandre cameo in the new zoebee vid.... essay bros we are so back

[@zoe_bee]

we SO back 😤

[@Gustoberg]

we are Sobek! The god of the nile and fertility!!

[@transsexual_computer_faery]

sheer celebrity power

[@B-MC]

I planned to write a thesis on "What is a classic?" which evolved into "what is the criteria for a classic?" to "oh a classic has literary merit... how do we define the merit? They improve literacy? How do we know that has happened?" So this was absolutely necessary viewing for me. For the same reason you did: I am hell bent on the necessity of strong communication ... because I fear being misunderstood above all else.

[@poe.and.theholograms]

Zoe made a video about that too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3vdaYevjpeAZ6c

[@B-MC]

@@poe.and.theholograms Thanks, added to my Newest videos (I hate the way Watch Later functions so made my own playlist)

[@AleksoLaĈevalo999]

So I shall crowdfund you mine definition of a classic - a classic is a media from the past that was very popular and very influential on the culture and other media made after it. It doesn't matter if the work was actually good or if it does improve the readers literacy or if it does cultivate any virtues in reader. Also my definition of media literacy is "basically the thing that is thought at English class".

[@Zythryl]

If you’re still interested in the topic of communication-or, rather, miscommunication-I’ll recommend to you the works of David Foster Wallace, and especially Infinite Jest. That particular book is exceptionally long, but you won’t need to read all of it, not even most of it, to see how well it portrays and comments on failure to communicate and it’s consequences. It also does this by being comedic. One of my favorite short stories in it, to give you a taste, is there’s this woman who has a man made heart as a prosthetic, which she carries around externally, connected by wires and tubes, in her purse. I think she’s in New York, when some decrepit person goes and yanks away her purse to steal it, running away with it. So the woman chases after her, and she shouts “HELP! SHE STOLE MY HEART! STOP HER-SHE STOLE MY HEART! MY HEART!” and then the passerby’s are described as looking at one another, grinning, and shaking their heads, because they each and all simply figure that it’s some confounded, new wacky romantic relationship gone awry. As such, easily ignorable. The woman dies. Wild, insane little stories like this, you’ll find in Infinite Jest. Just to recommend.

[@B-MC]

@@Zythryl wow, holy crap, yeah (I've heard of Infinite Jest so I'll put it on a mental list)

[@TheAbradr]

Know this, media literacy, literacy, understanding, is a never ending learning experience. It is never useless

[@Halokon]

You saying “slow the fuck down” had more effect than you could possibly ever know, thank you!

[@mc.ivanov]

This is the answer for sooo many problems

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@mc.ivanov my fave redditor reaction

[@wumbothewombat1280]

I appreciate you including Alex’ disagreement with you!! It takes courage and intelligence to not just accept criticism or disagreement, but to own it and acknowledge it on your platform. I really respect that, and I hope to have the same mindset as you.

[@Makvandar]

I've always understood media literacy to mean ones ability to fully and holistically interpret media, a good way to think of it is one's ability to digest food, how effective are you at processing every nutrient every piece of what you have consumed? Not just the obvious - but the intentions, the goals and desires the influences etc of that piece of media. What it intends to express or say, it's goal or objective in being expressed how it wishes to effect you, it's desired outcome and what influenced it's creation.

[@baefarm]

Media literacy itself isn’t new or in a crisis, it’s the fact that our livelihoods and economic status quos relies on media at this very moment. Media literacy isn’t new it just has a bigger effect on our lives than it ever has before and so much more than we could have ever imagined.

[@geraldfreibrun3041]

Can't wait till we can start talking about political literacy.

[@dvillines26]

people didn't NEED to be media literate so much. it is a skill that is needed now. the crisis isn't that media literacy is 'dead', but that it's a luxury skill held by a small fraction of the population when it is something every single human needs to have at this point.

[@digster2344]

​@dvillines26 It's a shame that it's even considered "luxury", you'd think that's the kind of thing school is for. But instead, the modern school system is doing the exact opposite, both intentionally and unintentionally. You've got higher ups essentially brainwashing students into thinking the status quo is inevitable and invincible, but when students are called to critically analyse media, they see it as "boring", and don't care to learn

[@Kassidar]

>Finishes watching EEAAO "So do you think they're going to make a sequel to explain what happened?" Girl, if you watched the whole thing and didn't get what happened then nothing in any amount of sequels is going to help you.

[@existential_horror5045]

they straight up tell you what's happening in the movie. there are some movies that need outside explanation for sure but EEAAO is NOT one of them lmao. love that movie but it is not subtle

[@Rodq]

Whats EEAAO?

[@3v1lp1ngv1n]

I read this before i got to that part in the video and i was so confused because for me EEAAO means a nonsense animated cat music video on youtube

[@TheAlexR96]

​@@3v1lp1ngv1nglad I'm not alone! It's stuck in my head now.

[@lkeke35]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tehlulzpare]

When I was in a first year journalism class, almost a decade ago, my professor on say 3(newswriting class), the teacher threw up a few pictures of 9/11. Namely, the reaction of those watching the events from a distance. They looked blase, weirdly out of place in the photos. Some of my younger peers were horrified. This was not all that long ago for us, and it still could cause deep emotions. I think it was me or another student, I don’t remember specifically, said “they are in shock.” Prof doesn’t necessarily look “happy”, but he says “that’s exactly it. Some of the people pictured lost people that day, and had a feeling before it was confirmed. Your job is to both ask questions, but also to explain context, or at least to give people that context.” I know media literacy often is used in regards to “fiction”, but the same problem affects journalism, and it’s why I never ended up pursuing the field. That same year, in the same school, we took both media ethics telling us to not alter photos, and then had photoshop immediately after. Our front pages were covered by massive advertising. News, simply put, isn’t held to a standard of impartiality anymore. It’s to feed a revenue stream, or to forward an agenda. That is not to say you can ever eradicate bias. But you should attempt to both acknowledge it, and address it. Our parents may have warned us about “not trusting anything on the internet”, but they took the news as gospel truth. But as news became less reliable, almost everyone believed it would never lie. This….has had knock on effects. People now prefer beliefs over facts, and across every political opinion, people don’t seem to google the news to find the facts….only the agenda that most suits them. I’m a lefty, but I’m aware of just how much we’ve lost the plot.

[@BerenElendilAPGaming]

As someone who tends right, I absolutely agree. We (as a broader society) don't want to question biases anymore, and with so much "content" out there nowadays, what stops us from only listening to the messages that confirm what we believe? I want to write a science fiction novel about a world after AGI and automation, where major corporations essentially automated themselves into bankruptcy, no one had any money to buy their products, and humanity had to return to subsistence farming to survive. The world recovers (slowly but surely), and the automated supply lines become so sophisticated, sustaining themselves in absence of the corporations that built them, that they create vast, alien landscapes devoted to all manner of production. The main character establishes contact with one of these factories, and -- by offering some raw materials -- humanity can benefit from our "lost Digital Age technology" once again. And do it better this time. People may call it anti-capitalist or environmentalist, I call it a triumph of human survival and ingenuity. We're the same species that lived here thousands of years ago, and we'll be here a while longer.

[@thanatoast]

37:59 This point is also very relevant to the AI """art""" discussion. Often the people that champion AI as a way of creating content don't view someone creating art as a form of personal expression, but rather as an inefficient form of content creation. It's content to be consumed. So long as it's easy to digest, who cares if a robot made it by mashing tropes together like lego pieces? Intent and themes don't matter because an AI cannot consider those things while creating.

[@misharatkevich9808]

No, what AI art actually proves is that Roland Barthes was right about death of the author. Except this time we're talking about an Author that was never Born to begin with. And regardless of not having intent, there _is_ one theme AI excels at -- the theme of not quite making sense. Carefully curated examples of "the more you look at it, the worse it gets" can be uncanny in ways that most likely no human would ever intend. "Surreal horror at your fingertips" should not be dismissed that easily!

[@mistermoo7602]

@@misharatkevich9808 But it's all the same though. It all looks the same. Boring.

[@uniraffesaur]

Your point about media junk food is so spot on. I find this applies on a larger scale, as well, because so much of our media is designed to be attention grabbing and incite some kind of opinion or reaction to drive engagement. It farms easy dopamine in the brain, and eventually, you’re never bored, but you’re never satisfied, either. And on top of that, it makes it that much harder to engage in the activities that ARE more mentally/emotionally fulfilling, but require more time and effort, because your brain is so used to the easy dopamine hit that it’s like “why spend time and effort when I can keep hitting dopamine button for free”. So it’s a self-feeding cycle of being unfulfilled by the “junk” content and consuming it endlessly because it’s become the only form of fun you have the patience to consume anymore.

[@saraa.4295]

I agree..but junk food media is not new... There were always simple entertaunment from slapstick Theater to back in the medial times where they sent the blind to kill a piglet with clubs.. It's just that now everything is in overdrive..

[@darkstarr984]

Thank you. I do have pretty strong literacy in consuming media but I’m growing enormously in creating media because I’ve always tried to layer too many things, then I finally decided “I can make all the things I want, and then just include the things I would read into, in something I watch or read, and it will be okay. Other people don’t need to understand my allegories or how these things are intended to connect.”

[@zumazuma568]

I feel this "we should want to fill in the gaps on our own" so bad... So many modern blockbusters where I feel like I can't catch my breath. There are no scenes longer than half a minute where people don't talk. When they do talk, I never get to discover things on my own: I'm always included in the dialogues. The dialogues are for my benefit, they leave nothing to imagination, or even to be discovered later. Every time I watch a movie and I'm not sure what's happening for a few minutes, it's like a breath of fresh air.

[@DeliciousMashedButtons]

That whole section filled me with joy. I love gaming, RPGs especially, but they have the same problem. Things get visually explained, then the camera turns to the characters who start flat-out explaining what was just shown. Like holy shit, I know those gems hold people's souls and are used for power. I just went through a whole ass factory showing how people are converted into them. Why is there an additional 5 minute explanation about it?

[@Amy3422]

This is something I crave in any media that I plan to care about for more than a minute. It's a great motive to seek out different genres, different mediums, art from different cultures & time periods. Anything to defamiliarize a bit, so that my engagement is genuine.

[@Henrque123]

Yes! Entertainment fears subtle information like it's radioactive. Any scene where the meaning is in the details, unspoken or vague, is a diamond. Almost everything now is spoken, focused, clear and explained extensively. From movies to games and even music...

[@ArchmageIlmryn]

At first I thought I disagreed with that take, but then I realized I agreed, I do want those gaps in media, I just want them to be deliberate. I.e. if something is unexplained, there should be an explanation that fits but is deliberately withheld, not just the author going "idk I have no idea".

[@zumazuma568]

@@ArchmageIlmryn ah, yes, of course. Not legitimate plotholes, I meant just normal information, that's not a mystery either way. I was rewatching Alien, and the first couple of minutes it's just scenes of the ship. Nothing else. Then they wake up, start talking, and there's not a single word about who they are, what they're doing... They're talking about coffee. They say "mother wants to talk to you", without explaining that mother is the ship computer, and I kept thinking how, if it was shot today, these first few blessed minutes would be a huge exposition dump.

[@JonathanGreenstone]

Thank you for... just... you know... being here. As a person. As a creator. I really appreciate it.

[@Jzombi301]

god every single video of yours i watch makes me wish i could subscribe to you 100 more times. you are probably one of the best and my favorite video essayists on KZbin. there are honestly very few that i would put on the same level as you. please keep doing what you’re doing and teaching people about complex topics in very intelligent ways

[@loganiushere]

I am watching a video essay on media analysis, made by an English teacher, while avoiding working on media analysis for my English class.

[@birdbird5337]

I like how your comment doesn't make it clear whether you're a student or the teacher

[@kingflumph5968]

I'm a teacher too! And I squirm inside a little when I hear people say the old "it's just not that deep bro" or the proverbial "the curtains are just blue." Part because I'm just sad that people are denying themselves enjoyment and knowledge by refusing to think intentionally about stuff. Part because saying "it's not that deep" is very much a tool of supremacists to protect power by discouraging you from looking closely at them. I just really, like you and your colleagues say, want people to ask questions, do the sometimes hard thinking work, and consider the story as well as the plot (which I also love!). Great essay! Always love your content!

[@PhotonBeast]

"Not that deep" et al feels - in some vague way I can't yet place my finger on - adjacent to some of the discussion around LLMs like ChatGPT. Specifically, usecases like using ChatGPT to write a letter to your mom. The LLM might write a perfectly fine grammatically correct letter that ends of "I love you, mom." That would be a superficially valid thing. But the value of a letter, of the words "I love you, mom" are not the words themselves - they aren't original in the slightest, you might have said them thousands of times before so they're not new. The value is in the act of writing them yourself - that YOU wrote it. The value is in the negative space between words and between the actions involved. So with media, yes, a curtain may be blue. But someone chose to make it blue. And someone chose to put that curtain into the scene. And so on and so forth.

[@Chris-ks4sw]

Teachers tend to overdo it though and make you write 15 pages for something you could explain in 2-3 paragraphs. They prioritize length over conciseness.

[@kingflumph5968]

@@Chris-ks4sw Some teachers give thoughtless assignments because they haven't thought about it themselves, or because their superiors demand thoughtless assignments from them, which is unfortunate! Though I will say I've never asked for anything close to 15 pages from my high schoolers, haha. But the "could explain in 2-3 paragraphs" I think is part of what we should interrogate too. You could describe an elephant by saying "it's a big mammal with big ears and tusks that's very smart." That's an accurate and reasonable answer, but it's also nowhere close to everything interesting that you could say about elephants. I think we should be inviting ourselves to scratch a little more and say a little more than feels like "enough" sometimes.

[@PhotonBeast]

@@Chris-ks4sw Perhaps; though depending on the situation, the intent may be to try and engage in a deeper discussion. on a student's thoughts and ideas. Unfortunately, essays aren't great for that while teachers don't have time to have 30 minute conversations with every student in class. I'm not sure there's a solution, as even explaining the desire to want to know a student's thoughts, even shifting it so that length isn't required, at the end of the day, there's only so much time. Plus, conciseness or verboseness aren't necessarily good or bad. I think there's the argument to make that excessive conciseness or conciseness in some situations is undesirable or harmful. I think there's the potential to confuse or conflate conciseness with clarity. Being concise is not always the same thing as being clear - a concise answer may infact be more unclear.

[@linux_steely]

@@PhotonBeast I think you're confusing concise with brevity. Concise definition: clear and succinct. I agree with what you meant. Also, I think verbosity is great when trying to understand things better, but only when all parties are aware and agree, and to "increase" the gravity of what's being said. "all parties are aware and agree" is the part that falls apart in schools because, as you said, "at the end of the day, there's only so much time".

[@elijah5421]

I am in college rn taking an American controversies class and got the topic of "media literacy and fake news" and have been really struggling with it. This video randomly showed up in my feed and helped me understand it better in some way, so this came to me at the right moment. Thank you for making this

[@mozata6838]

That confession about Dark Knight was super funny but also connects really well to your earlier point about commentors feeling the need to have an opinion immediately. Some thoughts and conclusions just take time to develop. We're not computers who can delineate everything in the proper order, sometimes it takes slow-ass human time for your brain to fire the right synapses and come to an greater understanding.

[@dstrctd]

Your EEAAO story reminds me of when my wife and I went to see Black Swan in the cinema. A woman a few rows behind us was talking constantly, and when she was shushed by someone nearby, she loudly said “I am a professional dancer! I will talk if I want to!”. I often think about that and whether she is also a professional spiraller into madness.

[@MeldaRavaniel]

Lol that's such a weird response! Other than dancers in the movie, what's that got to do with being disruptive? That reminds me about a dumb interaction with an acquaintance in college. It has nothing to do with media literacy, but Imma tell you anyways because commenting public square 😅. I had asked a third person if those fluorescent yellow-green peppers on their sandwich were pickled banana peppers. Acquaintance said "no, those are jalapeños." "...mmm, i don't think so. Jalapeños are a darker green, or red, even when they're pickled," i said (in a non-judgemental way, cuz I was just curious about the food). She said, "They're definitely jalapeños. I would know. I'm Mexican." I had already not really liked her before that, so I just said, "okay whatever," and resolved to avoid her in the future. I didn't know being Mexican meant you came preloaded with pepper-dar. I'm Hispanic, but with German features/coloring, so I suspect she thought I'm some gringa who doesn't know peppers. They were 100% banana peppers (or pepperoncini). I would know, I've made pickled jalapeños and cuz the sandwich was from Subway. 😤 It was so not worth having an argument over, though. But apparently worth taking up space in my brain, cuz I think about it on a semi-regular basis and get newly annoyed. 😮‍💨

[@dstrctd]

⁠​⁠@@MeldaRavanielI intended my story to be an indirect answer to Zoe’s call to action anyway: I am unlikely to respond to a call to action, I have never once “hit the bell” (KZbin doesn’t even have notification permission on my phone anyway). I am currently a KZbin member of 2 channels I am not even subscribed to. (One through gift memberships, TBF) I strongly agree with Alex’s point that comments are not really “to” the creator. I relate hard to your story though, because my anxiety often makes me use indirect language even for things that if I were to step back and self-evaluate, are topics where I am the expert in the room. Which then leaves me needing to find ways to say “‘No, the uncertainty in my statement was leaving room for me to be slightly wrong, not for you to assert something totally different which I know for a fact to be completely wrong.”

[@emilyrln]

She definitely wasn't a professional movie watcher 💀

[@paulhammond6978]

That sort of makes it sound like if felt to that person like the only reason to watch Black Swan would be to pick up tips on how to be a better ballet dancer.

[@LuckyStars881]

Great video as always Zoe! You're seriously in my top three video essayists on KZbin! I leave comments for a few reasons: * Sometimes it's an emotional reaction that feels good to express. * Sometimes I feel my background knowledge is relevant, so I'll add my perspective, input, or opinion. * Sometimes it just feels good to contribute to a conversation. The community building element I suppose.

[@SurveyBM]

So, Zoe Bee...I was doing laundry whilst watching your video essay, and I've reached the outro section. So although I generally never comment on videos...hi! I'd just like to say that your work does have value and meaning (at least to me). Firstly, your humility, ability to value truth over ego, is something I look up to. Secondly, your transparency about your thought process has honestly taught me so much and I really value how it has impacted my own work. I was failing English and procrastinating on YT when I stumbled upon your channel. To me, your content is like a bridge. It fills in the gaps between my understanding and frustrations about English. You taught me that being frustrated is okay, or even a good thing. You also taught me about subjects of interest to me from a perspective I could trust and enjoy (sources and all). I really liked your video on Parental Rights and Plagiarism in particular. I think this video might be a new favorite too! Also a little side rant- I run a media production club at my school, and it was interesting to see how media literacy ties into that. It isn't just "Media literacy" that's broad, the word "Media" itself is broad in definition. Seriously. I spent hours trying to pinpoint what the word "Media" meant to me before I realized "Media Production" was a much more simpler term to focus on. So I'm guessing "Media literacy" is like the opposite! Basically, to see you tackle this huge subject was amazing. Like, damn! You went over and beyond to dig deep and form some sort of conclusion about this thing we call Media Literacy. So props to you! Really! Comments have intent, right (something I learned from this video)? Well, mine is that: I hope you'll be prouder of your work and see the value of your video essays, because I really look up to you! :D

[@drtaverner]

I love "Slave Leia" from _Return of the Jedi._ This image of the scantily-clad slave-girl who will be given as a "reward" to the rescuing hero was a common and well-known trope. In almost every other Sci-Fi / Fantasy context going back we know how this plays out. Consider John Normon's _Gor_ series, various "Ming the Merciless" type villians, or even ancient Dragons with their captive princesses. All of the symbols are there on the face, including a Jedi Knight with his sword to slay the evil Monster who imprisons the Princess. Yet we know Leia. A Leader of the Rebellion who had to augment her own rescue from the Death Star. Leia, who knew the Storm Troopers let them go and thdt the _Millenium Falcon_ was being tracked even though Han believed it impossible. Leia, last to leave Hoth until her people were safely away. Leia, who exhibited latent force powers and even tried to bluff Jabba by disguising as a bounty hunter. We know Leia, yet every visual cue, every symbol, tells us that she's the archetypal slave-girl of common media. Without knowing this trope, the scene loses much of its impact. I've seen people get angry about it just being an excuse to put a beautiful woman in a sexualized, submissive position. Leia is presented this way so as to _seem_ powerless, and speak to well-known existing Visual Language. The observant will notice that she doesn't over-play her hand when she sees Luke. This was always the plan, though the audience doesn't know it yet. Unlike the hundreds of skimpy Bikini Slave-girls before her, Leia murders her captor and plays out her role in rescuing Han Solo. Nothing in the OT was done by accident. Even the Ewoks were a commentary on how Colonial Systems underestimate indigenous populatione. This is especially relevant as people claimed Slave-Leia was no different than Naked Kamir in _The Acolyte,_ existing only for audience titilation. But they couldn't be any more different in intent or in the visual languages of the times in which they were made. Media presents us symbols and languages, which we use to tell our stories. The cowboy with the White Hat means something. It's not just a stylistic choice. All Storm Troopers wearing identical armour and flying in identical cockpits speaks to faceless beurocracy and the uniformity of facism. Follow orders, do not question. It creates a richer story, it creates subtext, it creates real meaning.

[@xilj4002]

She was put in that costume to show off her sexy female form. Was there really good symbolism and redirecting tropes and empowerment? Yes. But the actress wanted cool costumes, wanted to show her femininity. The creators wanted to show off her body in a cool and sexy costume. The artists creating the costume wanted memorable visuals and beauty. It's a movie, you have to take the whole cast&crew&more into account, there's no single answer. You can't ignore the hordes of thirsty men salivating over the process of getting that scene just because at other points other, better sounding things were also put into it It's a bit like the Star Trek skirt uniform debate. It's pointless if we don't consider Roddenberry, Nichols, their relationship, the cultural context, the gay lead costumer and his relationship with the actresses, and budget and fabric availability. Star Wars has similarly complicated creation webs behind the slave Leia costume

[@silentdrew7636]

​@@xilj4002your not entirely wrong, but you have missed an important piece of context: the original trilogy came out during the Thatcher administration. That was what people thought female empowerment was at the time, something that Star Trek would copy without question.

[@xilj4002]

@@silentdrew7636 Excuse me, are you saying that Star Trek (1966) copied Star Wars (1983) without question? The Star Wars that was admittedly inspired by Star Trek? The Star Trek that had costume skirts shortened to the dismay of costumer Theiss because actress and human rights icon Nichelle Nichols requested more empowering costumes aka shorter skirts? What am I misunderstanding?

[@drtaverner]

@@silentdrew7636 Yeah, I think the puritanical politics of the time had an influence as well. The slave killing their enslavers, the rich and powerful being seen as fat slugs, etc... is very topical symbolism for that time.

[@andrearaimondi882]

I love your essays and the way you are happy to look at what you may be doing wrong even when you don’t like the answers you’re getting

[@KelniusTV]

I tend to leave comments either: 1. To make a joke, because puns. 2. Because something is particularly wrong, and I want to disagree. 3. Because something is particularly right, and I want to agree. 4. Because I read a particular comment that caused me to respond in one of those first three ways.

[@teslashark]

That's 6

[@cuineform3708]

5. To answer a Creators question(s).

[@georgemosidze1794]

6. The creator used a song or a source for something that I can't find on my own and this is my last resort

[@nin0f]

Another good reason is to express your own opinion on something without necessarily disagreeing or agreeing with the original statement (which is something, I believe, I did right now)

[@nelimawanjala7504]

The issue about death of the author vs consideration of the context and the intentions of the author is such a tight rope walk. Understanding where the author ends and where your own analysis as a reader starts is sometimes impossible. Yet this is such an important ingredient to how we perceive art and media in general. Thanks a lot for putting it out there.

[@symonnemadalena]

This was a great deep dive into media literacy, I do still believe it's at an all time low just from seeing people really not checking their sources or using critical thinking. HOWEVER, I personally think media literacy is a muscle we need to consistently stretch and work on. You don't just one day become media literate one day, it's something everyone needs to work at. I'm also fairly surprised my good pal Marshall McLuhan didn't make an appearance here, his quote "the medium is the message" is one I really take to heart, and is something I really didn't understand fully until recently. Good stuff!

[@katyasmakingstuff]

I remember having a conversation with a family member and I mentioned Contrapoints and how much I liked her videos, saying that she's a basically a philosopher on KZbin (I was repeating what Adam Conover said when he was introducing her in a interview he did with her). This family member then immediately says "you know, you shouldn't believe everything that you see on the internet. There are many (r-slur)s that are on the internet saying whatever they want, if you want a more diverse and informed opinion, you should look to multiple sources." I told him "well that is another source for you to look at!" In trying to present himself as a media literate person, he actually does the complete opposite and immediately assumes something that wasn't even there (the idea that Contrapoints is like Tim Pool, spewing what ever she saw in some news article without doing research). He should've asked "why do you think that she is credible?" and then I would have explained. My god, the irony... This reaction makes complete sense though, he told me that I was living in the "matrix" because I was mad at him for taking too long to get ready, making us almost miss our flight, as well as a myriad of other weird things he's said to me. Then he wonders why he can't connect with me at all...

[@transsexual_computer_faery]

i mean she is literally a philosopher, so yesssssss

[@fire_aspect_5142]

I love the realization of harvey dent's character arc because i think something we are all too apt to forget is that even people with very good media literacy skills can totally fail at analyzing very obvious things from time to time. For instance, my favorite book series is The Locked Tomb, my favorite author is Ursula K Le Guin, my favorite movie is I Saw the TV Glow, i think i'm at least decent at media literacy, but the other year I was doing a play in which I was the main character called Proof. And it's a very good play, it's a very moving play, and by the end of the run of it I did, as the main character no less, I was really diving into even the smaller themes and metaphors that ran throughout it, really picking it apart for all its worth. And it was only during the very last performance that I realized, on stage, that the title of the play was a reference not only to the mathematical proof in the play, but also the main character's struggle to prove her sanity. This is, simply put, a very easy thing to see. There's literally a scene where the main character says that people can't fully believe she's sane because there's no *proof*, and at that point, as Zoe says, it's not subtext, it's just text. it's not a hidden theme at all, in fact it might be the easiest thing to pick up on in the whole play, which I'd been working on for six months at this point, and on the last night I ever performed it I finally realized this. I told my director after the show and we had a good laugh about how idiotic i had been in going into background metaphors and themes in particular word choices all while failing to realize what the goddamn title referred to. I bring this up because I think that it's really important to note that screwing up and missing the obvious in a piece of art, even for those very well-versed in media literacy, is completely understandable. It's a very human experience, i think, and something i do quite often, to completely miss the most obvious conclusions one can make, and something i hope more people can see, because often, it's quite a good thing to laugh about after the fact.

[@ElchiKing]

You know, when you are a character in a play, you sometimes don't see the grand schemes of things as you are focussed on getting your scenes "just right", managing props, costume changes, lighting, position, interaction with other characters etc. I once was playing in a light comedy, and until the dress rehearsal, no actor actually found the play funny in any way. However, after hearing some laughter from the test audience, it finally started to make sense...

[@Toothnut_Hamsterfolder]

I really enjoyed this! Please do more of this kind of long, collaborative, thorough thing with these fellow KZbinrs!

[@andrewphilos]

*listening to this video on the bus at 2x speed* Zoe: "Slow the F*ck Down." 😅

[@papergabriel6358]

1.75× speed

[@astrellon1]

I did not do well in English in high school, which was basically just a media literacy subject. I can attribute that to mostly to how it was taught. I love watching media analysis videos now and looking for meaning in media, along with understanding the context in how media is made. The main things that I think were done poorly in high school were: 1: It was all media about adults, middle adults dealing with middle age problems. I as a teenager had no frame of reference, plus most of those problems weren't even things that were relevant to my parents. 2: It was mostly about fictional media, there was a handful of classes about looking at newspapers but they were brief and didn't go into much detail. 3: Reading screenplays instead of watching them! 4: We got the whole 'blue curtains' thing and how with the right evidence you can argue for anything you want. But we weren't told why, it was very much decreed that blue curtains means depression, but nothing to back that up. It's like saying you can create a sentence using whatever letters you want, but not being given the rules about how sentences work. We got lots of examples about what different things meant but nothing about why it means that. I was basically told to make arguments for whatever I wanted, but when I attempted I was just told I didn't have evidence, and my rebuttable that the teacher didn't have evidence for what they were saying didn't go over well either. Anyway English was my least favourite subject in school and that's a real shame because as an adult I think it's very important. I know getting most of my information about any topic just from KZbin video essays is probably not ideal but compared to what I feel like I learned in high school I feel like I've learned a lot more.

[@SnakebitSTI]

I think number 4 is the big one, and it was the pattern most of my English teachers fell into. They declared what the correct interpretation was and gave some supporting evidence, but it was very shallow. Stuff like saying "blue represents sadness", but not being able to explain why or how they knew that. Deliberately or not, they were teaching cargo cult analysis - what the aesthetics of media analysis look like without the substance.

[@leaczinkota1979]

I disagree that it's about that but not everything's deep. Like when I say, my eyes are hazel they just are.

[@carlocousins9714]

I'm always inspired to actually do my Uni assignments when I watch your content!

[@lkeke35]

I agree that most people have always been like this. I'm 55, and I've spent nearly my entire life being around people who never question the media they consume. I was pretty much the only person in my environment who watched media the way I did, or rather, no one else expressed any interest in doing it that way. Even today I still get asked the question, on my blog, of how I come up with the things I write about film, and I came to the conclusion that I just think differently than non-nerds. My thing now is to teach my niece and nephew to form the habit of thinking about and questioning the media they just watched. I think that social media heavily encourages people to have opinions on everything, even when they are being loud and wrong. These are not the kind of people who haver ever given any real thought to their opinions before either but they see everyone else doing it! For such people, its more important to start a discussion (for the engagement), or participate in a discussion, than think things through.

[@ruthspanos2532]

I am of a similar age, and I agree with you. In the past there was very little opportunity for most people to share their thoughts about media beyond chatting with friends. Certainly people have more access to a variety of media sources which are curated to be as incendiary as possible…but people in the past were just as shallow and easily manipulated.

[@xmachina99]

This video is so unbelievably well timed. I got a new job recently that involves teaching media literacy to teens and have spent the last two weeks researching all these same nebulous definitions and concepts. It's nice to feel less alone navigating this maze of a topic!

[@Macwizzard]

Another engaging, good, useful video. Thank you so very much! The simple, plain solution is usually not the best and the same is the case for media literacy.

[@as4180]

I'm heavily involved in various fandoms, but i usually don't stick around or actively participate bc a lot of fandom drama stems from poor media literacy. Oddly enough, I've noticed that horror fandoms seem to be better on average with media literacy. It reminded me of the horizontal vs vertical morality thing, which probably plays a part imo the fnaf kids in particular are surprisingly media literate. i think the ARG nature of the storytelling served as an unintentional media literacy lesson 5:07 also thank you for saying this! i think a lot of mistrust for humanities can come from being told your feelings are wrong. I remember i used to think i hated English bc i was always told me readings were incorrect even when i had evidence

[@shadow_of_the_spirit]

it's a small way to let me feel like I'm heard. i grew up in a cult like group and often had to find the right way to respond to avoid getting harmed. I often lurked afraid of my parents or someone I knew seeing what i did and breaking the mask i crafted. Now i practice after spending 20+ years of silence learning to speak my voice and idea without fear. To learn to speak what's on my mind and what i think is important even if people might not like it. I hoped this provided a small but meaning full data point for your studies.

[@colonelweird]

I love this comment so much!!

[@FlipzMCL]

Oh hey, similar hat! I never really considered how my upbringing might be a factor in how I interact with comment sections and other online spaces, so kudos for bringing me a new perspective for self-reflection!

[@chiaracoetzee]

I was reluctant to click on this video because there's been a lot of shallow and mean-spirited criticism of media literacy out there, but this was by far the best essay on the topic I've ever seen. Criticizing the academic treatment, taking responsibility for your own lapses in literacy and reading intent in your comment section, bringing in real new media experts with real experience, these are all courageous moves and I am seriously impressed.

[@otherperson]

I have small critiques of the prequel and worldbuilding comment at around 31:00 which are that a) not all fictional worlds need to feel magical and b) we can derive pleasure, both as creators and as consumers from filling in every gap, especially if that is done in a way that does not sacrifice narrative complexity. Not every story needs a prequel, but some prequels can be not only enjoyable and complicated and *different* from their source material, but can also recontextualize the piece of media from which it is jumping off. For example, one of the incredible things about The Lord of the Rings at its release was Tolkien's ability to create the impression of depth in the narrative, a feeling of great age across middle earth and its characters. I don't think this is sacrificed when we read The Children of Húrin or The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales. I also don't think this is sacrificed when we learn of the different iterations of Tolkien's world and stories. Tolkien was a completionist, and if he were still alive today, he probably would still be tweaking and filling in gaps. Another example is ancient myth, and for my purposes ancient Greek Myth. Sure, the iliad stands on its own and we don't need anything more beyond it to recognize it as an excellent work of literature, but just as Tolkien, the Ancient Greeks gave its heroes extensive genealogies, described their origins, reworked and remodeled myth over and over, and filled pretty much every gap there was to fill from the titans to the fall of Troy. The problem isn't prequels or completion in worldbuilding, its the inability to tell new stories by cowardly corporations, and the consumerist nature of these worldbuilding projects. They aren't designed to tell good, new and unique stories, they don't really expand or deepen the lore of a world. They sit on top of it and weigh it down, retcon our favorite quirks, belabor tired tropes.

[@Arauto_Kagnos]

I came here to say something similar, but I won't bother because this comment already did it so well!

[@headphonesaxolotl]

People like to complain about sequelitis, but specifically things that do not need a sequel. I mean, if there's a big fictional universe like Star Wars or Sonic the Hedgehog, you can tell a lot of different stories with it, branch out, try new ideas to avoid it getting so stale. Especially for franchises that tell essentially a continuous story like, say, Mario- it doesn't need to have an ending point, as long as it keeps things fresh. Maybe this is why prequels and spinoffs are so popular- it can expand a world we're familiar with without an unnecessary sequel (because in something like Undertale, for example, there's no need for one) by specifically filling out the world more- highlighting different characters, showing the past of the world, etc.

[@fishs.failureson5114]

Yeah, as someone who is working on several different writing projects at the moment (and I have plans to write prequels for at least a couple of them), I have to agree with you.

[@trollbreeder2534]

I love worldbuilding for the sake of it. Worldbuilding is just fun! And if you can't make a traditional story out of the world you built, you could even transform the worldbuilding itself into a story or fiction or media: an in-universe history book, a fictive encyclopedia, a language learning course for a conlang, a playlist on how to perform magic rituals, random artifacts and historical items, a character's blog or webpage, gossip magazines gushing endlessly over our lady the Empress' new and old relationships, the unique possibilities are boundless!

[@graysonllewellyn8734]

So, I'm gonna comment before the video and speak on the thumbnail, then edit more in after. I have never had an English teacher tell me "No, your interpretation is wrong." In my life. I graduated in 2008. Now, I HAVE had teachers tell me to try a little harder. To connect existing plot points. To keep them in mind. Because they were trying to teach me to think about more than just surface level, in-the-moment observations that lacked the relevant context present throughout the rest of the book. I am thankful for that and I consider THAT to be a large part of what media literacy is. The ability to take things, in the context of their entire.... well.... yeah, context. To NOT just say "the curtains are blue because he said they were, stop pretending everything is #deep" and instead say "Is that relevant? It might not be, but I wonder..." To be more emotionally and critically open to possibility. The key word here is "Possibility", not "Fact".

[@leaczinkota1979]

But not everything's deep, jeez

[@shepalderson]

I loved this video. Media literacy is something I’ve been trying to help influence my family and some friends to learn more about and to question what they feel they “know”.

[@bryangustafson2748]

I'm a theater kid and respond well to prompts. Leave something that I perceive as a prompt and I'll try to go "pick me, I know the answer!" in the comments section.

[@PhotonBeast]

Prompt: It was a dark and stormy comment section. The howl of internet discourse rattled the dirty glass in my dingy office. I took a swig from my KZbin subscription page only to realize it was empty, filled with nothing but aged videos, the bottom stained with essays I'd watched a thousand times. And then she walked in - a video essay with long insightful observations that made grown men weep. I knew in that moment she was trouble and that'd I'd listen to her conclusion.

[@Vanity0666]

​@@PhotonBeast"If pee is stored in the balls where does poop come from?"

[@ajplays-gamesandmusic4568]

@@Vanity0666The Poop Chute.

[@nevtheskid4579]

@@PhotonBeast I removed my booted feet, still damp from the rain outside, from my desk and sat up a little straighter, taking a drag on my cigar, the cherry lighting up my dimly-lit office. She took a confident stance in front of me and began to speak, telling me about the importance of media literacy. I was impressed by her insightful commentary, all too rare in this dark forest of an internet. She offered me a job, to critique media fairly and allow myself to maintain doxastic openness, and I thought to myself, "how could I refuse such an insightful and intelligent young lady?" She walked out the door, and my office felt darker as a result, returning to the dim, dying light of what little meaningful content was left without her. Tobacco smoke began to fill my office, working to further darken my position within the darkness of a dying online world. I supposed then that it was time to get to work.

[@Wise_That]

I do believe the "crisis" is more acute nowadays, as there are more and more outlets for media and they diverge more and more, "reading between the lines, of a given piece to identify the message has become more and more important. When there were only 2 local newspapers and a dozen local journalists (or authors), it was easier to place their writing in a context and understand the personality of the author. I knew which journalists were prone to exaggeration, which ones had a tendency towards X philosophy or a tendency to downplay Y. Nowadays, it's WAY more possible to stumble across a piece by someone I do not know and will never interact with ever again. There's also WAY more dark money out there that is aiming to nudge me. RE Comments, Alex nailed it. I like to leave comments when I feel I can add something that OTHER people that enjoyed the video might like to see as additional info. That CAN include the creator, but doesn't necessarily, I'm likely to be YES, ANDing the work.

[@aGnomadic]

Perhaps it merely seems more prevalent now because it has become much more visible. We must also acknowledge the proliferation of bots and engagement farming leading to false positives.

[@ernststravoblofeld]

I think the majority of people have little or no curiosity about how anything works. You can apply this to anything from media to automobile mechanics. Most people don't have any clue how the technology, social order, or economic systems around them function and are ok with it, if not proud.

[@Lunareon]

Thank you for the awesome video! I love collabs! I personally see the media literacy crisis connect to the ongoing literacy crisis. If literacy is the ability to mindfully consume and produce text, media literacy is just an extension of that across all forms of media: visual, sound, motion etc. I agree that it's not a question of bad individual choices, but rather the consequence of a system, which incentivizes making those bad choices in order to profit from people making them.

[@gloriathomas2188]

I admit over time I noticed that I use the comments to gauge what I should expect from the video and decide what kind of benefit I'm gonna get before I watch the video. And when this goes unchecked sometimes I notice that I form an opinion before even watching the video. Also growing up in internet culture the comment section is kind of another community on its own. It's what I think related to the parasocial nature of KZbin/social media.

[@sneakjokerwalters2841]

yep, before getting halfway through I already knew that zoe would ask why people comment since there were many comments answering that. and elsewhere I'm basically reading the meta discussion/the cultural sense of the commenters, rather than focusing on the video's message.

[@enfisu586]

Media literacy is a problem of time and energy. When people get home from school or hard work, many are mentally and physically exhausted. They just want to turn their brains off and rest, while being entertained. They don't have the mental energy to engage in taxing deep thought. Recognizing this, companies pump out mindless schlock. Then, in a feedback loop, people get so used to consuming media that has no depth and spoonfeeds its messaging that when they encounter media that requires insight, it sails right over their heads.

[@mitcharendt2253]

"For a lot of people, life is just one hard kick in the urethra,when you get home from a long day of getting kicked in the urethra, you just want to watch a show about good, likable people who love each other, where you know, no matter what happens, at the end of 30 minutes, everything’s gonna turn out OK". ---'Rafael bob-Waksberg

[@jordanetherington1922]

I never got that cause, and this is just me, media like that makes me feel less comfortable, like they are trying to trick me or something

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

But people trained in critical thinking don't need taxing deep thought, the misinformation usually has gaping flaws that stand out.... Most education systems were built to make factory workers and haven't been updated to train folks for modern life.

[@VashdaCrash]

I think you're right, if you have a skill well trained you don't need to make an effort to use it. Then it might seem easy and look down upon people who don't have it, but that's another story.@@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV

[@alexjames7144]

No, sorry but for most of the people with this issue it doesn't matter how long you give them or how many times they watch the same thing they'll still have only utterly brain-dead takes on it. I've met people who will tell me all about their favourite film that they've watched a dozen times and yet still don't grasp even the most basic ideas that the film is putting forward. It's not that everyone is good at it and just needs more time, it's literally a skill issue. And on some level let's be honest it comes down to intelligence to a significant degree.

[@RiotBode]

I don't usually answer creators' questions (with some exceptions I'll explain). I completely avoid commenting on videos I don't want the creator(s) to be supported, I think the material effect of my actions are more important than other possible effects (didactic, emotional, etc). I often comment to answer other people's comments and start/continue a discussion. I never comment just for the sake of being rude. I also comment when I enjoy the video a lot because I know it helps the creator (that's mainly why I'm commenting right now, so you can take this as a compliment), which includes answering possible questions the creator has addressed the audience. With that said, great video, you should try and trust yourself more, you're clearly educated and skillful on the topics you chose to present.

[@zumazuma568]

I think you're my favorite video essayist. I like the slow pace, the calm, friendly voice, no aggression, the bisexual lighting, relatively long-term topics...

[@kor6514]

Bisexual lighting 😭

[@HesTheDummyNotMe]

In this video, Zoe says “Media Literacy ⁉️”

[@zoe_bee]

⁉️

[@batcnr4884]

alex is totally right with the town square analogy , i often comment seeing the comment section as a forum for whatever topic the vid is about

[@Goose-San]

Those interrobang earrings are ADORABLE edit: why are you people replying to me? Go away, look at the earrings.

[@jerilynb3547]

Right? I want to pay attention but all I can think about is cute earrings.

[@Gettomix222]

They are not interrobangs tho

[@welcome2wyzard]

​@@Gettomix222Both earrings make one interrobang.

[@TorvicIsSanta]

@@Gettomix222’interrobang earrings’ refers to the pair, not the individuals

[@lizshiptonauthor]

@@welcome2wyzard actually, @Gettomix222 is right. The way these are being worn, they are a "banginterro."

[@PosiWritesStories]

Hi! Thanks for the shoutout. This was a phenomenal video. The whole media literacy issue is something I've been struggling trying to understand for ages, so your deep dive is more than welcome.

[@zoe_bee]

Of course! I've been really enjoying your work!

[@benbriggsmusic]

This format was amazing!! Please keep interviewing other creators as much as you like, I loved it

[@TootieVirus]

Alex hit the nail on the head re: comments. Most of the time I don’t even expect the creator to view my comment. I am adding something for other watchers and commenters to consider because I think it’s relevant to the subject matter and adds important context.

[@A-Saxy-Bard]

Elias Krell's article "The New Queer and Old Racism" surprisingly touches on some issues mentioned here. Partly talking about the long history of racism and sexism in concepts of literacy, as well as the idea about sitting back and taking time to reflect and listen to what something is saying. Krell also argues that to critique a text is the most respect you can show it because it means bringing your lived experience in dialogue with the piece of media. Great video

[@samcassidy2441]

Loved this video. Despite it being longer than your usual output, the narrative structure, framed as your own personal journey into this topic, kept it compelling from start to finish. The interviews were fun. And for what it's worth, I'm one of those people for whom this arrived at just the right time.

[@ElchiKing]

Ok, I need to pause the video in the middle to start this comment, because otherwise I forget everything. 1) When you talk about the definition of media literacy (and in particular the factor of "easy" vs. "thorough"), I had to think of my math students who struggle with definitions and proofs and look for "easy" algorithms to solve their homework problems: While these algorithms definitely exist and are heavily advertised especially by online tutors, they are often times detrimental to understanding, in particular to understanding that you sometimes need to sit down and work on a problem for a long time to finally make progress and understand the connections. 2) In your anecdote about "you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain", I was reminded of two things: a) For everyone and everything there is one point at which they first understand it. Instead of being embarrassed to get it "late", we should be proud to finally get it. Some things are just hidden in plain sight, much like I often can't find my glasses right in front of me. b) Sometimes, simply knowing and reproducing the "correct" answer is not sufficient because it requires an internal process to _actually_ connect the dots. I often times have the experience of looking something up and they say "it's a straightforward computation", me being lost for a few days, only to conclude after writing everything down "it is a straightforward computation". 3) There is also a problem with "cultural references" in that people want to be able to talk about pieces of media (like series, books, films) even though they don't have time or interest to actually properly consume/digest them. Like, you are expected to know at least some part of the plot of Game of Thrones, even if you are not into medieval fantasy with dragons, so you turn to summaries to gain some surface level understanding, which is usually enough to get on as "in on the topic" for most people. After all, many people don't actually care about the content, they just want to have a common cultural topic. Unfortunately though, this also means reproducing the views and interpretations of these summaries which may or may not be too shallow or "wrong" once you actually get to literate the media yourself. Also, not agreeing with the "memefied" generally agreed upon interpretation of some media might leave you as the outsider, even though you might have actually found some interesting view point yourself. (Memes have their own effects on media literacy themselves, e.g. you don't need to know plot or story of LotR to be able to understand/use the "one does not simply..." Meme, but references like this are sometimes used as a proxy for "knowing" some pieces of media.) now, comments after the rest of the video 4) The English teacher perspective that "you can interpret media however you want as long as it is backed up by evidence" is basically the same as my German teacher(s) had (I am a German citizen, so that's basically the equivalent of an English teacher). And it is this perspective which made me, a mostly math loving person, also like analyzing (and sometimes writing) literature, in particular poetry. I usually didn't like to analyze novels or dramas that much because there is so much plot that I don't have enough time to find "my" story in it. Actually, I personally find the current trend of making education "economic" and focussed mostly on direct practical applications detrimental not just to democratic values as presented in the humanities, but also to STEM subjects, in particular "abstract" math. You have to be willing to dive into the definitions and connections of everything to be able to understand and not just "follow along" a math or science text. 5) I am mostly writing comments as I would in the "old" internet to a forum, in that I want to communicate some information related to the topics to people of similar interest, not only to the author. It is a bit like talking to members of the audience after some performance or play (or even to the parish after church for religious, especially christian, people). Also, I am on here for quite some time and my starting point to KZbin have been videos by local friends or small creators/communities to which one could communicate through the comment section. 6) Through my hobby as a theatre person, I also get a quite pronounced share of the effect of different backgrounds and different levels of engagement with the media at hand: Some people only want easy entertainment, some people want deep and hard to decipher plays, some people simply don't understand some (more abstract) forms of performance during plays. Why would it be any different on the internet?

[@mariaraposabranca7062]

as a phd candidate in interdisciplinary communication studies................... i'm very glad you made this video bc boy no one reads our dissertations.

[@killian4443]

You helped me to read a book tonight instead of browsing tiktok. So I think the video was worth it.

[@raen714]

The section about "death of the author" not being at odds with "media literacy" reminds me of Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury claimed it was a novel about the dangers of television destroying interest in literature, but that feels like a very surface level read, whereas the deeper message seems to be much more in line with a condemnation of censorship. And then an example of how media literacy has been a problem for a long time is that the common takeaway from The Jungle in the early 1900's was that the meat-packing industry was disgusting and unhygienic...but again, that's a very surface level read, where the deeper message was speaking out against late-stage capitalism and promoting socialism

[@kimberlybega8271]

Interesting....I never knew it was supposed to have anything to do with TV, just the anti-censorship part since the literal first paragraph is about burning books!

[@Benjamin_Kraft]

I've read Fahrenheit 451 probably almost 10 times, one of my favorite books easily, and even on the surface level I don't see how Bradburys intention was to say that television itself is the bad guy. Bradbury makes it very clear in the text that this simplistic view is not what the book is about (also, it would be strange for him to say that as he wrote screenplays for movies and tv). In the chapter where Guy seeks up and visits Faber, Faber says that television could have the same high quality content as in the fine literature of the bygone world. I think I also remember the fire captain Beatty stating something similar, that the medium itself isn't what matters, but the content. As an example he brings out the kind of abridged literature that was more popular back in the day, where classics were shortened so that people can read them quicker, reading abridged garbage instead of the real stuff. The book is against censorship, yes, but here again it is still more complicated even on the actual surface level when reading the book. The book makes it quite obvious, Beatty states outright that when the government started to burn books, almost nobody wanted to read them anymore. Ray Bradbury not only condemns censorship, but he also condemns the modern aversion to consume difficult art, and that people too easily choose what is accessible and immediate, avoiding things that might make them uncomfortable - which is detrimental to themselves and the world. I'd say this is the most critical aspect of the book, the central theme, and it is in plain sight. It is also what makes the book more relevant today than ever, I'd argue, in the wake of social media and having entertainment available everywhere all the time in abundance. For as great I think Fahrenheit 451 is, I don't think its central themes are subtly presented, they're more or less stated directly in the surface level text.

[@austincole3419]

​@kimberlybega8271 yeah Ray Bradbury was visiting a college & talked about how the book was about how TV corrupts society, and all the students told him he was wrong. He was so upset that he quit speaking at classes after that

[@vickypedia1308]

​@@austincole3419 if that was his intented message then he massively fumbled the execution

[@Visitormassacre]

It's his book. He has his own insight into it....

[@midnightvoyage105]

The point on comments being more like a town square that is not always directed at the KZbinr is so interesting and true. You see this as well in videos for songs and lyrics, with people writing their sentimental stories about a long-gone lover or something. The comment is not directed at the music artist or even the uploader if they're different, but rather a place to vent about something that the song probably reminded them about.

[@ElchiKing]

I feel that, especially for those comments under songs, it is also the hope that the comment resonates with someone else, either showing them that they are not alone with that feeling or making your feelings heard to an anonymous audience who - at worst - ignores you and at best comforts you. (of course, there might also be hatred and trolling, but usually not towards one-off commenters without a following)

[@radmilk73]

I am SO glad you’re still calling it Twitter and not the other name!! Best part of an excellent video!!

[@hyperrr__]

This was a great video !! I am personally someone who struggles with media literacy a lot. I’m autistic which makes me tend to view things very literally and makes it difficult for me to understand more metaphorical things both in media and just in conversations (like I have a very hard time understanding things like sarcasm). On top of this, I am also a very impatient person and have a very low attention span. So with all this I’m basically the textbook example of someone with poor media literacy. But yet this video explained so much to me, it made me understand why I struggle with it, it helped me realize that the attributes I just brought up are part of the problem for me. And now I sort have a bit of an idea as to how to improve with it and how to face it both as someone who consumes media and as someone who wants to become a writer, so thank you for that. And also, my own answer to the “why do you leave comments question” is that Most of the time i don’t, I just watch the video and am done with it, except for videos like this one that provide with something greater. Before you even asked that question, I was planning to post the comment about how this has helped me realize certain things. And this “extra provided greatness” doesn’t even need to be something as deep as this video. For example, I watched an analysis on kaiju recently and I absolutely love kaiju movies and so I left a comment expressing my enjoyment. It didn’t provide me with great insight, it was just a very good video about something I’m very interested in. So I suppose it is mostly an emotional thing for me, an expression of gratitude that videos like this exist and just putting my thoughts on it out there. I’ve rambled way too long and I have no idea if anyone’s even going to see this but regardless I just wanted to put my thoughts and gratitude out there.

[@AlwaysMythtaken]

My go-to media literacy example is the kid at the end of The Last Jedi. He uses The Force and then the film cuts to credits. So, do you watch the entire movie and believe the purpose in showing the kid use the force was to introduce a future character, the new hero or the next villain. Or do you think, since one of the themes of the movie is anyone from anywhere has the potential to be a Jedi-No dynastic bloodlines needed-showing the kid use the force, the kid established as an abused slave, brings the theme home. As a viewer one of those options would leave me cold, and one made me cry in the theatre. (Writing this before I finish the video. I am fully ready for this to be a bad example.) (Oh god, it’s so much worse. I proved the immediacy point!)

[@marvinmallette6795]

Is that a "meta" joke around the "immediacy point"? Star Wars Trilogy: "No dynastic bloodlines needed". Prequel Trilogy: Retcon. Midi-chlorians, dynastic bloodlines needed. The Last Jedi: Retcon. No dynastic bloodlines needed.

[@KennethLyVideography]

Good god this drove me nuts when I watched reviews from (For example) AngryJoe being mad at the ending saying shit like "WTF is this? Is this stupid kid gonna be a main Jedi in the next movie? Is he gonna be the protagonist in that Rian Johnson trilogy?". It was one of those momment when I was just dumbfounded at how many people in my community were able to miss the point.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Honestly, I really wish The Last Jedi was picked up upon. I found it great that I thought they were doing Gray Jedi stuff and expanding the world of Force users to not be about the Jedi vs Sith, and abandoning the Skywalker vs Palpatine issue. After it became clear that 7 and 8 were a ping-ponging against each other, I realized that 8 would be contradicted and would ruin the trilogy because they wanted a bog-standard “Star Wars story” and Rian Johnson ruined that.

[@jordanetherington1922]

Me too, me too.​@@iantaakalla8180

[@ruudark]

Thank you for this thorough and intellectually humble video on this topic. As an academic on an adjacent topic (persuasion in games), I do admit I was pulling my hair out in the first part, though! Searching media studies (and social scientific) literature for a unifying definition of media literacy is like walking into Home Depot and asking for 'the one tool'. Contexts and types of media undoubtedly impact what media literacy is and how malleable we should be treating media literacy skills. Lastly, I see a lot of representation of media studies work. If you ever want to hear from the close but very distinct field of media psychology, I would love to talk about this or other contemporary media topics with you sometimes. An open invitation!

[@friendlycatwife]

Hello! Girl with a bachelor’s degree in film and media studies here! Really liked your video!! In school, we learned to separate ways of talking about media into categories of analysis. Like whether you’re looking at a work from a Marxist perspective, historical context, authorial intent, gender analysis, etc. It’s an admission that media is too large to be simplified into any one truth or any one conversation. I think the problem with internet analysis is that a lot of us are arguing from the perspective of everything everywhere. This leads to obvious problems, because no two people have the same “everything everywhere” to draw from. This isn’t even getting into paratext, or the influences that come from outside a piece of media, such as where you saw the media, how you consumed it, whether or not your friends liked it, how your fandom interprets it, etc etc etc I think your conclusion at the end is absolutely on the right track and I’d even take it further. Before discussing whether anyone is media literate or not, we need to first understand and establish just what it is we are talking about. Cause as I’ve explained before, we could be talking about so many different things and it’s super easy to talk past each other.

[@mobiusscholkowfsky5412]

I'm so glad you brought up the "blue curtains" thing. I've gotten pissed with how memetic that idea has become. finding a deeper meaning is Overanalyzing or, perish the thought, "Yapping." I understand that a lot of people get soured on literary analysis by papers on things they didn't want to read. but I hate that so many people think it's stupid to read between the lines, or to have to read between the lines on more complicated pieces of media. it's part of what has driven me to get into hand-making physical media, with things like ceramics or printmaking, because i realized how much you can express with it in the fine details, and how much people who really enjoy it will look into those fine details to think about what you could have meant. I've always felt similarly about poetry, and how deliberate you can be with it. I really appreciate your takes here, everyone who contributed. Edit to add: I usually leave comments responding to questions from other viewers, as well as to give feedback to the person themselves. If I want them to know I particularly enjoyed something, found it insightful, or learned something new, I like to let the person who made it know what I liked/why.

[@makeart-notwar-6732]

sure, the curtains are blue for a reason. but is this reason relevant though?

[@shelleydenison]

As always, excellent research, thought, and analysis! I feel like there is always a sharp increase in the instances of my utterance of, "I saw this really fascinating video essay recently" within the week after you release a video.