This is going to be extremely rambly but I want to get this off my chest. Instead of letting it fester inside of me until one day I go see a therapist.
Recently it feels like my YouTube recommendations page has been flooded with negativity. Particularly of things that are of little interest to me. Videos bashing the movies Nostalgia Critic made, videos lamenting how inferior The Simpsons nowadays is compared to the early seasons, videos detailing the decline in quality of Butch Hartman. There’s other, less negative stuff as well, but it feels there’s more negative stuff than anything of actual substance.
I’m not gonna touch the latter two mostly because I couldn’t care less about them. I personally love early Simpsons, and while I think the later seasons are not as bad as some people claim they are, it’s not like I religiously watch the later seasons like I do the first ten. I want to instead focus on all the Nostalgia Critic bashing videos.
This isn’t meant as a defense of Nostalgia Critic. I personally haven’t watched his content in about 5 or so years. And I’m not gonna touch the whole thing about the abuse in Channel Awesome and what went down. That’s a whole can of worm I’d rather not discuss. But the videos I see pop up in my recommendations page that bash the movies Nostalgia Critic made 8 or so years ago really irk me. Especially from a creative standpoint.
I remember back in the early 2010s when Nostalgia Critic made those movies. That was probably the peak of my fandom with regards to Channel Awesome. Or That Guy With The Glasses, as it was known at the time. And while I didn’t think the movies were the greatest thing in the world, it was obviously something he was passionate about. It felt like a labor of love.
I think to critique and criticize and heavily lambast something that somebody worked really, really hard on is extremely unfair. I’m not saying you shouldn’t dislike something or not like something if you don’t care for it, but some of these videos feel particularly vindictive and malicious. Like its sole purpose is to crap on what the guy is passionate about. And I don’t think that’s totally fair.
I think there is a place for criticism and showing your dislike for certain pieces of media. To be completely positive about everything is as an unhealthy mindset as to be completely negative. But it feels like society today is becoming more and more a cesspool of unpleasant emotions. Like people are thriving off on this hatesink and they can’t go on unless they hate something. To make a video expressing your dislike for something is one thing. But it’s like some channels are created solely just to be totally angry and negative. Or that they’re designed just to shit on one creator.
At least with the Angry Video Game Nerd, which I love and enjoy to this day, that’s done for laughs. That’s a persona done specifically for the camera. I’m talking about the channels that aren’t done as a joke. The ones where their anger is genuine and isn’t completely for entertainment purposes.
If you have a YouTube channel and its sole purpose is to rag on one particular content creator, or one brand or sport, you’re a loser. You have better things to do than to just be fucking miserable. I am sick and tired of all the negativity I see on my recommendations page. So what if season 500 of The Simpsons isn’t as good as the first ten? Is that really something to get bent up about?
I admit I have at times become upset at certain shows or things I’m passionate about. Hell, as a wrestling fan, I get annoyed almost every week by some of the bone-headed decisions being made. And there have been moments where the quality of the later seasons of The Simpsons has me shaking my head. But I’m not one of those people who finds enjoyment off of other people’s negativity. Especially when it comes to content creators and their passion projects.
If I end up getting published, I expect some people to criticize my work. Nothing, no matter how perfect, is ever universally praised. But I just don’t know how I’ll feel if someone dedicates their whole life shitting on my hard work, the thing I’ve spent many, many years crafting.
I would just feel so torn up inside. Like I’ve wasted my life.