12: Analyzing Social Media's Obsession with "Critique" & Unwarranted Hate (Bullying)

The Japanese animation industry takes on some very mature topics. So, you’d see an anime titled “Bunny Girl Senpai” and immediately think…”fanservice trash”. But conceptually, the anime handles very complex themes such as depression, loneliness and struggling to find a healthy sense of self during puberty, and all in all had the promise of being a pretty wholesome and complex show.

Culturally, we’re taught to largely ignore emotional pain and scars. Many teens learn that in adolescence, you must simply endure emotional pain and not necessarily heal from it. Seeing the depth of these emotional issues manifested physically with scars and invisibility gives us perspective into the severity of emotional pain. I appreciate anime as a visual medium that can take those abstract feelings of loneliness and “feeling invisible” and personify them by physically effecting the characters bodies. 

Though Bunny girl Senpai left a lot to be desired, I appreciate it. A lot of the time, in many different art mediums, we are used to seeing characters be blindly infatuated with one another with characters lacking chemistry and basically falling in love for no reason. However between Mai and Sakuta their connection and intimacy hinges on something as innocent and mundane as simply spending time together, and studying for a test. These simple and seeminngly mundane moments can leave us with something beautiful, intimate, and real. Though cliche, at the end of the day, appreciating simple moments of togetherness is such a special part about being human, and it’s these small shared intimate moments that makes us—-us.

Reese Grey Socials!

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Hello my loves. 

Timestamps
0:00 Intro & Life Update + Content Warning 
2:33 Is Sexualizing/Objectifying Characters OK because they aren't real people?
4:08 Japan's "Soft Power" & How Anime Can Effect Real Life
6:04 Making Anime "Political"
7:27 Sexualization is Subjective Objectification is Not
9:09 The Evangelion Hospital Scene
14:09 Asuka Can't Sleep Scene 
15:53 The Subjectivity of what is "Appropriate"

Critiquing the way anime sexualizes characters, mostly women, and albeit — very young women, isn’t something that is particularly new or revolutionary to the video essay or critical analysis space. However, what we don’t hear discussed as often is the use of “meta-sexualization” in anime. A simple definition of meta-sexualization explains sexualization of a character for narrative’s sake, or comedy sake, so basically any sexualization of a character that is not necessarily strictly for fan-service or viewer pleasure. 

Parallel to the conversation of sexualization of characters we also have the conversation of what constitutes as a legitimate plot point and/or character motivation when it comes to a characters sexualization. This is where we get into conversations about morality and things begin to be much more subjective.  Overall, this leads to the conversation of when is the depiction of sexual abuse, rape, and manipulation appropriate and respectful for a narrative basis and in what ways is disrespectful, unneeded or in some cases, fetishization. 

In the video essay below we discuss specific scenes in Evangelion & Dangonrompa that explore the conscious artistic decisions that lead to the viewers subconscious normalization of sexual content and asks if anime’s pattern of adding extreme sexualization could possibly be a commentary on the sexualization of anime girls in itself (truly meta) or is it explicit for explicit sake. As it’s easy to simply test the boundaries within anime because anime is a medium where boundaries of sexual exploitation are most easily tested on not-real people.  Creations in art, media, music, & videogames influence how and why we think the way we think. explore exactly WHY we think the way we think, and often, entertainment is diminished into an activity that is done passively instead of one to ponder and learn from, so when someone expects more from artists or creators or questions artistic decisions, the opposition is quick to reply with “chill, it’s just a song/movie/show”, and it is. But nothing artistic breathes air that is value neutral. 

Reese Grey Socials!
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Reese Grey Socials!

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Let's Explore the possible benefits and disadvantages of living in an age where where hearts, minds, and algorithms are so deeply intertwined.

Video Timestamps
0:00 Intro & Chit Chat
2:00 How Social Media Frames Our Understandings of Love

Part 1: Self Love & Self Awareness
4:20 Selfishness
7:78 Falling into Codependency
9:10 Staying Single & Hoping to Find Self Love
10:25 Performativity of Love
13:52 Loving Through Mimicry 

Part 2: Learning How To Love
15:00 Loving VS. Wanting to be In Love
16:17 Recognizing Cultural Influences On Our Conceptions of Love
18:26 What Science Suggests About Learning How To Love
21:40 Try Not To Be Too Afraid To Attempt Love
24:57 Eric Fromm’s “Art of Loving”

Part 3 Romantic Relationships
26:26 The Ethical Slut
33:16 Vulnerability & Consent
34:20 Hearts, Minds & Algorithms

Reese Grey Socials!

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Hey Guys :) Join me as we analyze TikTok creator Mol & "Karen" Memes. 

Mol is a LGBTQ TikTok influencer who was recently "cancelled" via unfounded sexual assault allegations via TikTok. His mannerisms and speech patterns are mocked, as well as his content highly criticized. We'll use Mol's TikTok account as a case study to analyze why people choose to hate and bully, and if the public ridicule is in this case, or any case for that matter, is deserved or not. 

 We'll also be analyzing the Karen meme, and why middle aged ;white ladies fall under this stereotype of inherent entitlement. We explore the social implications of white privilege and how it intersects in popular culture and comedy. 

0:00 Intro (Chit Chat about Mcdonalds Coffee & my cat)
2:41 Why Bullying Isn't Just for Children, But Adults Too.
6:16 Analyzing Mol | LGBTQ TikTok Creator
10:06 Exploring Academic Studies on WHY People Bully 
14:09 "But I Didn't Mean to Hurt Them"
18:39 The Compassionate View of the Human Beings Behind the Karen Meme
23:56 The Desire To Put People In Boxes
25:16 Anecdotes on the Karen Meme
29:12 Bai Bai, Leave Your Comments in Chinese

Reese Grey Socials!

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Whether you want to start your own country, or wonder why others have such a difficult time being recognized in international law, there are a lot of politics that goes into the recognition of statehood. There are currently 195 countries in the world that are recognized by the United Nations, however there are countless others all over the world who are struggling to advocate for their people and independence of their land. Territories like Somaliland are rich in culture and have history of war and conflict while other territories such as the principality of sealand exist as more of a fun little place to call their own. 

Life is complicated and extremely dependent on not only individualistic belief, but communal ones as well. A country's boarders can exist because we agree they have legitimacy, and a territory can be internationally regarded as non-sovereign for the simple fact that the majority of people believe it shouldn't. The fact that our collective beliefs make abstract concepts tangible is something that is as equally beautiful as it is terrifying. Join me on today's adventure to question why we think the way we think and learn something new. 

0:00 Intro (What Makes a Country a Country anyway?)
5:35 Transnistria
11:20 Somaliland
13:50 Principality of Sealand
17:33 Fun Facts On Political Recognition
21:25 Closing Thoughts On Our Little Adventure

Reese Grey Socials!

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Comin' in hot today with a little bit spicier content than usual, so I hope you all enjoy. Today, we're going to be exploring both the sentiment of "white privilege is a myth" and "systemic racism still affects people today". Can there be an agreement between both sides? I think it's possible if we genuinely value each other. There is a lot of nuance needed when talking about subjective experiences to understand the sentiment of White Privilege in the United States. Let’s adventure together today to try and understand why we think what we think, question what we believe and learn something new.

 What We Discuss: 
- The Sentiment of “White Privilege” 
- Peggy McIntosh "The Invisible Knapsack"
- Can Systemic Racism Still Be A Thing in This Day and Age? 
- Modern Individual Accountability 

Reese Grey Socials!

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Disneyland. Branded, the happiest place on earth. But why? What about the park’s aesthetic makes people happy? what makes people feel so good when they are there? What gives Disney it’s magic? 

Here, I’ll go into an in depth explanation of what the philosophy of aesthetics encapsulates which includes anthropology, architecture, culture —and most importantly your own personal experiences. 

This adventure explores how entertainment is not value neutral, and the most mundane story lines may introduce either moral judgements or want to influence your wallet (looking at you Autopia presented by Honda). All this being said, I love the Disney Parks, and I want to visit all 13 around the world. So let’s deep dive into just 1 today—- Disney Land Los Angeles.

Reese Grey Socials!

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In this era of “branding yourself”, there's this unspoken feeling that your success is measured by the influence that you have. The bigger the number of subscribers—the bigger the number of views—the better that you're doing. The barrier for entry for content creation is low, nonexistent even. This is simultaneously both the best and the worst thing about the internet.  

This popular notion of "selling yourself" and "self-branding" romanticizes content creation in a way that makes it seem like people will actually care about who you are on a deep level— but usually, they don't. There is simply too much content to choose from. There is no doubt that you will get the most emotional validation out of your content creation if you're honest with yourself as a content creator. Because it's not what the internet can do for you— but it's the value you can provide to your audience. And, of course, every person has inherent value. However, to be a successful content creator, you have to create value for an audience. And then of course, to just be creative and create for creation's sake, you don't owe anybody anything. The complicated issue here, is that most creators lie in the middle. 

Adventure with me today and explore how to find where we lie on the content creation vs. artistic expression spectrum.

 What We Discuss: 
- How to Figure out your artistic goal(s).
- How to make content for an audience as your job VS. How to make content that is emotionally satisfying.
- The constant stress of "creating value" by turning creativity into money.
- Can anyone be a content creator?

0:00 Intro: What is your Goal of Content Creation? Creative Expression or to make Money?
0:51 The stress of "creating value" by turning creativity into money
1:51 your hobbies do NOT have to be your job....
3:51 let's stop romanticizing of "self branding"
5:48 not everyone has the skills & charisma to be a content creator
10:13 Emotions and Content Creation
15:39 Come to the Spooky Partython Live or watch highlights on my gaming channel on Youtube: HewwoReese 

NOTE: I do quote Jules Terpark directly!! I put her TikTok handle but it didn't show after rendering, so if any fans of her notice, yes! She's an inspiration of mine!

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Social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube have democratized fame & notoriety. Anyone can upload any content they wish, at anytime they please. Although this can be an incredibly freeing and cathartic experience for both creators and viwers, allowing both anyone to express themselves and create an audience, while simultaneously giving power to the consumer to choose they type of content they want to see. It also gives anonymous users with bad intent the ability to anonymously bully, harass, dox, or even virtue signal their way into getting anyone they wish “cancelled” i.e. de-platformed from their social media, and no longer be able to post.

This episode takes a look at a few creators, mainly Sevyn Satiiva & Stephanie Soo and how public perception has both given them immense opportunity, but that also comes with the downfalls of unwarranted hate by viewers. Let’s adventure down into the “Dark Side of Content Creation”, that is commonly brushed off by critics as "what you get for putting yourself out there" or "that's Showbiz baby”. There is a stark difference between critique and unwarranted threats and hate. Let’s explore it!

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:59 You Don't Have Total Control When "Personal Branding"& It's Terrifying
1:35 Sevyn Satiiva Sudden Vitality & Unwarranted Hate
4:47 Stephanie Soo Mukbang Drama Controversy (Handled Gracefully)
9:08 Stephanie Soo True Crime Controversy (Handled Gracefully Again)
11:25 PARTYTHON ON TWITCH HewwoReese with meeeee :)

#stephaniesoo #videoessay #commentaryvideos #analysis 

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So is there a female gaze? Yes. But it is not sexy men jumping around, like in Magic Mike, or a closeup of Thor’s badonk. This tends to confuse people. If hypersexualized depictions of female bodies, like up skirts in anime, and mega tight clothing in superhero movies (that shows a surprising amount of booba that is in no way tactical), why is it then, that the “female gaze” isn’t Magic Mike? How are they both the male gaze? Well, despite Magic Mike being about hypersexual and overly sexualized sexy men dancing for women, it still views people not as people, but as bodies, a habit the female gaze argues cinematographers should get out of.
Linguistically, I completely understand how the female gaze sounds like it should be defined as "what women idealize" if the male gaze is of course what men are taught to idealize. But it is however, much more complicated and abstract. The "female gaze" and "male gaze" don't actually gender the abstract ideas they hold, though they are colloquially "gendered" terms. I believe these types of intricate differences between colloquial language & academic language is such a huge barrier to the understanding such abstract ideals, and at the risk of sounding pretentious, this video essay attempts to delve into the Male Gaze VS. Female Gaze debate. 

Conversations about the male gaze and female gaze can easily get really heated and muddled and people can argue about definitions, subjective experience and even biology. And the most complicated part of that conversation would be that nobody’s argument would be incorrect, but all parties must accept there are multiple lenses to the same issue. Without acknowledging both subjective experience and empirical evidence, we will never be able to to enact meaningful change. Having these sorts of conversations are pivotal because figuring out why we think the way we think isn’t as simple as it sounds. To acknowledge that the reason why we find something  or someone attractive has to do with what we’re taught, what is expected, and what is shown to us, and that is terrifying. 

So, if we understand what the male gaze is, and how it hypersexualizes women and has the ability to even degrade men too into being hyper masculine macho people. We then recognize how ridiculous it is to value someone’s attraction based purely on bodily aesthetics, and how much more important it is to value a person's personality and what makes them unique and different. This then goes into a deeper recognition that men and women should both be allowed to wear whatever they want. Like Harry Styles in a beautiful dress or Demi in an awesome pantsuit. They are just clothes after all, personal, how an individual chooses to showcase the

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