[THEME MUSIC]
[DING]
For two years and some change, we
have been that person that starts a conversation
at a party and then totally just straight up walks away.
Sorry, it's just they keep refilling the guacamole,
and we have to just-- sorry.
I'll be right back.
[CRUNCH]
Comment responses are an impossibly important part
of "Idea Channel."
And a bunch of you have asked if we'd ever go back and respond
to comments on old videos.
So here we are.
That's what we're going to do.
And if you're worried, don't be.
We're not going to do this all the time.
But the stuff we talk about on "Idea Channel"
is always gaining new context, always
open to new interpretation, and subject
to its historical moment-- even Bronies-- especially Bronies.
So, that being said, we're going to respond
to comments from our top-five most popular episodes.
So for everybody keeping track at home,
that's "Bronies," "Controlling versus Being Your Avatar,"
"You Are Probably a Hipster," "Homestuck," and "Old Memes Are
Old."
All but one of which, I think it's worth noting,
are where we defend a thing a lot of people
really don't like.
[CLUNK]
So then, I guess, might as well just dive right in.
[TRUMPET FANFARE]
Quote, "'Tell me what you think in the comments.' You sir,
have no idea what you have started."
Oh, but I do, MrBombman97, oh, but I do.
"Idea Channel" has come a long way
since this, which was our seventh episode.
I had a little bit more hair back then
and spoke a little bit slower-- and maybe could have been
a little bit more thoughtful.
meko xtwisparkle points out that, while we
talk about the idea that it's complicated to say any one
thing is definitely masculine or definitely feminine,
we still argue from this premise that, based
on its characteristics, "My Little Pony" is definitely
a show for little girls.
Though I think is worth pointing out
that, in talking with "Bitch" magazine,
the show's creator Lauren Faust talks
about her aim to kind of rehabilitate the "girls show."
And she talks about how saying that something is girly
or for girls tends to be this cultural shorthand for stupid
or not worthwhile.
And she wanted to change that.
And in the same article, they talk about how she's successful
but never could have dreamed of this level of success.
And I think that's interesting and important context
for this whole-- this whole arrangement of things.
berry jordaan goes in another direction
and asks whether or not "My Little Pony's" wide appeal
has something to do with its treatment of childhood,
as opposed to its gendered aspects, which you could maybe
view as a detail of its design.
Which I totally get, but I also think
it's important to ask questions about when a space is designed
for a particular gender, when is it
appropriate for other genders to feel
like they can enter into it?
And I think you can view the worst parts of the Bronie
community-- which I realize might not
be a huge number of people by any measure--
as a kind of male colonization of a space intended
for young women, which is unfortunate
given the comparatively fewer spaces made for young women.
And I think that's a thing that is worth asking about,
something to consider, and something
that we should have considered more when making this episode.
angela lindup writes, "the trick with reading
homestuck is to not think about anything too hard,
and it actually makes sense in a really roundabout way."
If you don't have this idea of what
it's for or what it will accomplish,
it becomes much easier to enjoy.
And, incidentally, this is about how I feel regarding "Ulysses."
It's, like, a thing that just happens.
And when you bring expectation to it,
ugh, it gets much more difficult.
And, as thoreau kilbourne points out,
this is also kind of true of "Dark Souls."
"Dark Souls" makes no sense, if you're
asking questions like, why am I on this quest,
or who are these people?
But if you turn off that part of your brain, it is perfect.
I think "Dark Souls" knows it's a video game.
All of the questions are answered by mechanics.
And, if you're asking questions that
aren't answered by mechanics, "Dark Souls"
isn't going to answer them.
Because it doesn't think those questions
are even worth asking.
Just kill the demons, get the souls,
who cares about the other stuff.
Teleport between bonfires.
Of course, as TrenchcoatedPsycho seems to imply,
there are textual things that you have to put up with.
But that there also these extra-textual
elements that you have to justify
dealing with-- like maybe the actions or schedule of a less
than benevolent creator.
Not naming names.
This also applies, I think, in a roundabout way,
to our "Controlling Versus Being Your Avatar" episode.
Tessa Bane writes about how the control versus be dichotomy,
like most dichotomies, is a false one and talks
about how there is also this sense of being an observer,
which is just as applicable to creators as it is the audience.
And this really makes me think about the presence
of the creator in all of these things
as this third party that feels absent
even though they have architected
this grand experience.
How much is Gabe Newell a part of the Valve games,
or Peter Molyneux in the Fable games, or Sid Meier and Civ.
And in those games made by those creators,
when we feel like we are the character that we are playing--
as it seems like a lot of people felt about Gordon Freeman,
right?-- OK Donkey and a bunch of other people wrote about
this, that a silent character is one that makes them feel like
they are that character.
What question do we ask ourselves
when the game wants us to do something
that we don't want to do.
Are we asking, why is the game asking me to do this?
Or, are we asking, why did the creator or writer of this game
ask me to do this?
And I think that's an interesting and weird recast
of that question.
Maybe there's another episode, a sort of sequel episode,
in here.
And you would only ever ask these questions
of "who is making me do this" when you feel that connection
to your avatar.
And, as nessesaryschoolthing points out,
in games like "Civilization," this is really hard to do.
And Densoro talks about how, when
there is no clear illustration and
mechanic for the physical boundaries of your thing--
like, on the screen-- it's harder for you
to read yourself into it.
And, right, for "Civilization," what even are you?
I always thought of myself as the disembodied idea
of civilization, which I realize is probably a very weird thing
to think.
And, finally, ArtisticDreams brings
up the really good point of, what
if those physical parameters are your physical parameters?
Like, what if you are in virtual reality,
and in order to progress "GTA 5" you
would have to perform all of Trevor's physical actions.
Could you even do it?
I think this is a great question,
and we should definitely do an episode about this,
before anyone else does.
Because I hear when you do things first,
you're the coolest.
Which brings us to hipsters.
So much fear in this comment section.
People worried that they might actually be hipsters.
It's like the Red Scare but for a subculture.
People worried that the authority seeking out
and judging hipsters is so strong and present that they're
worried they might be a hipster and they don't even know it.
Anyone could be a hipster.
Your neighbor could be a hipster.
Your sister could be a hipster.
Call the emergency hot line if you see what you suspect
is hipster activity.
And it's especially complicated because, as Violent von Tesla
and Evelyn W point out, even saying
you are not a hipster is, to some people, proof
that you are a hipster.
So, literally, nobody is safe.
No one.
On the other hand, Will Thornton delivers
what I think is the most popular conception of hipsterdom,
which is a group of people who don't
like things that are popular.
And if we do believe that is the case,
then I have some bad news the members of the Internet Cool
Kids Club that think that memes are no longer funny when
they become popular.
Y'all are hipsters.
Sorry.
I don't write the rules.
I just read 'em.
No, but really, the most interesting part
of this conversation is the vast gulf
between people who think that internet memes are just
over-- like Damien Benavidez.
"Memes are leaving the internet and really now only
thrive in meme-specific apps, like iFunny."
And the folks who still see them as a funny, like Gigi Smith,
or useful features of communicating on the internet,
like TeresaMcD who works with kids who love the memes.
Regarding which, I can't help but think
of the exploited and the "punk's not dead" mantra, right?
Like, internet memes are not dead,
it's just their original audience sees them
as being sucked of their meaning because of their distribution
amongst a wider audience and, you know,
the changing of that meaning because of that distribution.
So, yeah.
Wah, wah, wah.
Oh, my god.
Culture is changing?
Ungh.
"The internet should just [BLEEP] stay on the internet,
and this whole American greediness
of trying to monetize every [BLEEP] thing
is pushed to the point of over saturation.
Hence, the gagging reflex of any memes nowadays
that are older than a day."
Which brings us, finally, to the Canadianimperialist's saltily
worded condemnation of a leaking internet
and the critical theory, Frankfurt Schoolish
idea that American culture and popular culture
are essentially the same thing.
To which I respond,
[SWISH]
You mad, bro?
Why you so mad, though?
And with that, come to the conclusion of our first
ever, full comment response video.
I hope you are not mad, even if you do happen to be a bro.
Regardless of your madness or bro-ness,
if you have comments on these comments,
please leave your comments in the comments.
We haven't really figured out what
we're going to do with comments on comments.
I don't know if we do a comment response to comment responses,
but who knows?
We'll figure something out.
This week's episode was brought to you
by the hard work of these bros, who are only sometimes mad.
We have a Facebook, an IRC, and a subreddit--
which you should visit and leave comments on,
because we love comments so much.
It's almost like we have a fever,
and the only cure is medical science and rest,
but the comments make us happy.
So that's-- that's why we ask for them.
We think they're neat.
We think you're neat.
And if you'll excuse me, I see that they
have refilled the guacamole.
[THEME MUSIC]
[DING]