Defending The So-Called “Haters” Of The 2020s

First, I should note that the sample videos in this article may contain swearing, “blue” comedy, and opinions counter to yours–all but that last one not typically what I do here in PG land. They are here for flavor and to break the text wall, thus they are not necessarily a requirement to follow this article. I also picked them out at random from their most recent posts, while choosing some of my favorites, both big names and somewhat smaller. However, people like the ones in the below videos are the topic we’re discussing.

Well, here we go again kids. While I’m sure I’ve covered this before, now people whose opinions I usually support have decided that some of the biggest reviewers on YouTube are “grifters”, just in it for the hate clicks, and don’t really believe modern Hollywood is as bad as they say it is. We have creators wondering “oh why don’t they talk about what they like instead of trashing our glorious works”, and that’s not as much of an exaggeration as it should be. The fact that other YouTube media commentators are joining that side is what gets me.

Look, I’m not saying that nobody does the angry rants just to get noticed. That’s been going on since James Rolfe’s reviewer persona was called the Angry Nintendo Nerd. It’s funny, it’s popular, and people love to ride the coattails of something popular without putting in the same effort in creating something new. Hollywood’s done it for decades, and so have many other entertainment sources. It happened before and it will happen again. Thus is life. The majority of commentators and their fanbase, however, are exactly what they appear to be, normal people who are tired of what they’re given, remember what they used to have, and want to know they aren’t the only ones on the internet disappointed with what they’re getting. That’s what the samples are for, and why I’m here to debunk claims against this new wave of reviewers.

Catch more from Disparu on YouTube

I was there, man. I was there for the start of internet reviewing. I was even part of it, doing videos and being part of an aggregate site called Reviewers Unknown, in case any of you went to my videos posted here and wondered what that was about. (Logo and animation by Test Zero) I remember the dawn of the angry reviewer, and back when it started the anger was exaggerated for comedy. We hated these games and shows and comics as a kid and want the catharsis of seeing them roasted alive. Or maybe it was something we did like as a kid but have reassessed under then changing tastes of adulthood (more like college-aged teens and young adulthood, who were “too smart” for “that kiddie crap”) and found the humor in hating on it. It was all the rage at the time, but even Rolfe and Doug “Nostalgia Critic” Walker started to add actual commentary to their comedy, going over why something didn’t work.

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The angry reviewer of today is a different brand of snark, more about making fun of the work and the creators behind it because of why the reviewer is angry. And it’s not necessarily exaggerated, though some of the reaction might be, just not by much. These are people who are seeing franchises and media formats they love taken over by people who don’t really care about what they’re working on. They may be media snobs who want everything to reflect their tastes, or activists who want every fictional world to be so much like their favorite area of California (even if they aren’t from California), or they just want the cool kids at the award shows or peers they admire to tell them how amazing they are, or even people who think they can do it “better” than the already beloved source material. Either way, they want the brand because its popular without understanding WHY that brand is popular. The name is enough for their lazy backsides, or they just think by using that name they can trick you into enjoying their clearly superior tastes and worldviews. These are the people I call the “everything for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” crowd, and be sure to read that in as whiny, pretentious, and egotistical as your mind or voice box will allow.

On the other hand, you have the “allies” who are just so happy to see “representation” (which boils down to embracing a stereotype and calling it “coding”) and don’t really care about the source material. As long as the cause du jour is cheered on, they’re happy even if they don’t support the movie, show, game, or comic themselves. Then you have the actors who just really want to play that type of character, or have [popular thing] on their resume, or want you to see “them” instead of [favorite character], and don’t understand why you aren’t fawning over their performance. Sometimes it’s not the actor’s fault, it’s the writers or producers/director, but because the actor is going to come out and defend their depiction because they personally loved it so much that they think you should as well, so they get the pushback. Let’s not forget the “brand loyalists” who insist you aren’t a “true fan” unless you like every episode of every show, every issue of every comic, every movie under the banner, or every game in the series except for the random one so bad that they’ll “allow you” to hate it, and get mad at you if you don’t because it ruined the series or something. Pointing out that something that came out in the brand contained nothing about what you liked about it is immediately shot down because they’re so worried that brand they grew up will go away that they’ll ignore that the brand is no longer what drew them to it in the first place.

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Each one of these voices then go after the fans for not liking what they created. Fans of previous works and characters in a franchise or genre are told they’re “haters”, “bigots”, or “not being smart enough to understand how great ‘my’ version is”. 2024 saw the addition of the phrase “media literacy” and the insistence that themes and token quotas were enough, not caring about the “story” part of “storytelling”. And voices in mainstream media, hoping for those interviews and early freebees that help them get reports out sooner, joined in. Works like She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Dusborn, and Joker: Folie à Deux took shots at the fans through the characters and media those fans love, because that worked so well for Teen Titans Go! and totally wasn’t seen as crybabies upset that they’re attempt to play off something else didn’t garner them the same love and affection as their predecessors. Oh wait, that’s why fans of the previous cartoon hated Go! and still do. Taking shots at critics has been done by everyone from William Shakespeare to Rolland Emmerich, but taking shots at what should be the target audience to further curry favor with the “cool kids” who won’t care anyway is so much the norm in current discourse.

So when someone like Nerdrotic, the Critical Drinker, and others come along and says “I agree with you, and you’re not wrong to be upset something that got you through your childhood and made you a better person by affirming what your parents taught you is good and right”, it’s a voice crying out in the wilderness. It says “you are not alone; we are here and we can state why what they did was wrong through proper dissection, with snark to make it not boring”. Of course people gravitate to that, but the idea that anyone on this page or so many others do not agree with the things they’re saying is a load of bullfeathers. (I said the videos would have swearing, not the text. I’m still me.) They’re angry, too, and even if they didn’t start their channel out by saying so, and came for the nerdy fun discussions, they saw franchises drained of what they loved about them, studios afraid to put effort into a new property while turning the nostalgic ones over to mockery, deconstruction, and replacements because they aren’t paying attention to the right people, and got sick of being told that something that was “made for them” no longer is because now it’s made for the everything for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee crowd, and opted to fight back. Some of them even went and made their own works in protest of what’s currently available.

Catch more from Nerdrotic on YouTube

The biggest crock from the detractors of this new breed of internet based critic is that none of these creators discuss something they like. They do recommend stuff, sometimes on their own and sometimes during their angry and comedically snarky rants against a lesser version. Among the attacks on The Acolyte, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and most everything coming out of DC and Marvel both in comics and on screen, have been recommendations of The Penguin, Squid Games (at least the first season), the final season of Picard (by the same people who ragged on the first two), Elder Scrolls, as well as recommending both independent projects and going back to versions of old IP that were actually good and respectful, the ones that made them fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other franchises and genres. Back when storytelling was about stories and not quotas and messages, or at least messages that were subtle or made sense while still being entertaining whether you agreed with it or not. Fans debate everything involving the things they love, whether it’s movies, games, sports…I’m sure there are debates on whether Gordon Ramsey could beat Bobby Flay in the kitchen or a boxing ring. “Fan” is short for “fanatic” after all. It’s that kind of geeky conversation that brings them together. (Sorry, jocks, but Yankees versus Red Sox makes you just like Kirk vs Picard debaters.) I chose the last video below on purpose to make that point.

Writing these critics off as just making hate clickbait for the money is doing them a disservice, and the fans will rally around their cathartic sources. They don’t come to these critics to get their marching orders. They’re searching for people who agree with the opinions they already have, who help them feel like someone else feels the same way and is genuine in those beliefs. Critics on this page are just better at expressing those values and why while offering something more entertaining than their targets, and often recommending better versions of those properties. It’s the voice of the loyal opposition, proving that these stories are as bad as you think and why, and that something better is available. Actually listen to what they’re saying and even if you don’t agree with them, at least try to understand where they’re coming from. They were there to celebrate what they love, and now can only watch those who took it away fail and proving their superiority. It’s not joyful to see what you love crash and burn, but it is a relief to know that those who set the fire are burning with it. We didn’t want them to fail, but we’re happy see them get what they deserve for ruining what wasn’t made for them.

Catch more from The Critical Drinker on YouTube