And to show that you can’t say any (every) ethnic group is a single bloc that thinks the same about all issues pertaining to him, here’s an Indian dude who doesn’t really see any problem with Apu: https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983457101786898438
Not being Indian, I can’t of course say anything about how Indians feel about Apu (other than quite a few Indian friends and acquaintances I’ve known over the years found him hilarious – but again, a few individuals don’t speak for an entire group). However, I can identify with the author of that Twitter thread in that there’s no shame in being an immigrant who works his/her ass off to make a better life for their family, and as the son of immigrants who did just that, I do identify to an extent.
I honestly think this is required viewing for anyone who has ever had any significant contact with gaming webcomics like CAD or Penny Arcade, either positive or negative. Trust me, this video is not what the title or thumbnail suggest it to be. Just watch it.
I’ll admit, I’ve been kind of avoiding this one, because I’m expecting the same tired shitting on PA and incomplete, unfair retellings of events that I’ve seen repeated a thousand times, and I don’t need to hear again, especially with the context of Hbomb’s own troubled past with trans folk. But I’ll take that rec and watch it, I suppose.
That’s what I think is interesting about this one. He gets into the failings of CAD and comics like it, but the more interest point he has to make is that they still have Something To Say about gamer culture, intentionally or not.
Though that’s surprising to hear about Hbomb having issues with trans people. What happened?
The super short version - he threw a FtM trans person(who had worked with him on some of his videos), who was the victim of sexual harassment under the bus in favor of his mate who was the perpetrator(though harassment doesn’t really cover the seriousness of it, since the person was making credible threats of sexual assault, as a pickup line). When said trans person went to Hbomb(as the perpetrator was a mutual friend) to say “Hey, this guy, he’s been super shitty, this is what he did, you’re kind of helping him, I could use your support”, Hbomb basically pulled the usual “I don’t believe you, you must be mistaken, he’s not like that” etc card, while spreading doubt around their group of friends. He also kept the perpetrator on as a Discord mod, livestream mod, and had him contributing to videos.
Then, when said person called Hbomb out publicly, Hbomb made an ass-covering non-apology, and according to people on his discord, banned any and all discussion of the topic except in private, to him, kept on being mates with(and iirc, having him in a position as mod of his discord) the perpetrator, and apparently kept on with the same “Aw, she’s crazy, it’s all fake, xyz is just doing it for attention” - except he just did it in the voice chat channels, rather than the text, so it couldn’t be screenshotted, and you’d have to be either very lucky or rather prepared to actually make a record of. He has made no mention of it since his non-apology.
Goddammit, Hbomb. Well that certainly undercuts certain parts of the above video, namely the bits about The Room (or maybe it strengthens them considering the irony).
Lindsay’s partner in crime, Nella, now has her own YouTube channel. In her first video, she explains how the recent Rampage movie has fucked up geography. Her second video explains how the early U.S. acquired its land after its war of independence.
Addition to the second video: If the film is set in 1789 then huge parts of whatever was west of the Mississippi would’ve still been a mystery. The Spanish had explored parts of what is now America and was then Mexico but fucked if any western power knew what was going on in much of the Pacific coast or most of the Great Plains.
I absolutely love the tie-in vlog he did the other day too talking about Book Club. You can tell how deep he is into this project by how gleeful he gets pointing out discrepancies between how the characters in that movie talk about Fifty Shades and what actually goes on in the book.
Magdalen Rose (who I’ve been following for years, and you should, too) has been showing her young daughter cartoons that wouldn’t rot her brain, and they both became fascinated with the old She-Ra series from the 80s, and it inspired her to make this video. What elements make for a good science fantasy?
I am not a big fan of the Scott Pilgrim movie, though I own and like the comics, and I think this video showcases one of the reasons why. While the techniques employed by Edgar Wright are certainly interesting and quite well executed, it is also rather bothersome for the viewer. To me at least the film less “connects” locations, scenes and story elements by doing this, but jerks the viewer from scene to scene and accomplishes the opposite and the film seems disjointed and you have trouble following along. The fact that Scott Pilgrim is a terrible person (and he is supposed to be) also doesn’t exactly help the viewer.
At this point I will admit that I used to watch BBT. The theme tune was catchy, and the show has a lot of actors I used to love on Roseanne, and I was blinded by the fact that it was about geeks. I also laughed a bunch of times, though it slowly dawned on me that something wasn’t quite right. Then I read a blogpost/article which basically explained in no uncertain terms that one of BBT’s biggest sources of “humor” is making fun of Sheldon who is strongly coded as autistic (unfortunately I can no longer find that particular, though the internet is awash in similar takes). Though the showrunners are denying that this is intentional or whatever, it is in essence undeniable.
After that I thought about it more and realized that most of the comedy in it is making fun of its characters. Not because they’re bad people and deserve ridicule, but because they have odd personality quirks. And I admit that some of those lines can be funny and can still get a guffaw from me through pure audacity, but overall the show is basically the equivalent of pinning a “Kick Me” sign on the back of the nerd in class, then laughing as people kick him in the ass. The show is about nerds, but it isn’t for nerds. It is in fact for the “jocks” and “normies” so they can still laugh at the nerds while giving lip service toward the nerds.
I also saw the wisecrack video yesterday, though I thought the video about misogyny was more prescient and a better take, because as badly as the shows take on nerds is, it also unfortunately also illustrates very much the kind of behavior male nerds display toward women which is a current topic. The problem however is of course that the show pretends its harmless and funny that those non-archetypical men are still displaying toxic masculine behavior, instead of condemning such behavior. Thus the show contributes to normalizing it.
Well that certainly undercuts certain parts of the above video, namely the bits about The Room (or maybe it strengthens them considering the irony).