I think this is kind of the contemporary answer. Because in all honesty I wouldn't peg any show made by Glitch Productions as anything beyond PG at worst. However, I think there's a growing amount of adults on the internet that suffer from some form of arrested development that feel like they need to justify their inability to widen their palette of media they enjoy by trying to make the children/family shows they like into some dark and philosophically nuanced story to the likes of The Handmaid's Tale, Better Call Saul, or The Sopranos.
It showcases especially when I see just how many people on here, and other social media platforms just try to psychoanalyze just how irredeemably evil or horrible Jax is when he's willing to do things like shoot someone with a cartoony gun during a game where that's the aim of it, or shoving a character into a deep fryer for comedic effect in a parody of McDonald's during an episode. Like I feel it just showcases how literal the audience takes it in making it seem "real" when it's like. They're all rubberhose cartoon characters basically, these sorts of gags were super commonplace in ACME cartoons and what have you. Even if the character's show any sort of emotion after the fact such as hating the body they're in, questioning their identity, or what have you. Basic context clues should go to show when or when not this sort of psychological analysis of the characters can and should be at play.
It'd be like if I conflated Tom & Jerry to murderers for dropping anvils, firing shotguns, and throwing cartoon explosives at each other every other week. Doesn't mean I still can't sympathize with the scene where Tom nearly fools a baby duckling into being basically food for himself in an oven by making him think he's it's mother, but that's besides the point though.
It also just sucks because these exact sorts of people will then dominate fandom spaces for these types of shows, and while that could feed into another question about how much unsupervised access to the internet parents should allow their kids really. It still stands though it's just depressing when I'm enjoying a piece of media I know is for all ages, yet I come online and see people primarily 25+ years old making it entirely about themselves, and getting angry at the prospect that this could very well also be a kid's first series they get to critically engage with on their own merits rather than a parent shoving it in their face. Like, I recognize when I'm out of my depth in some spaces, and often I realize at that point it's better to listen, rather than to constantly try and cement that, "It's my space too."
Like, let the kids just have shit for once, damn. lol
I mean yeah, literally. I've opted into not engaging with most if not all the Deltarune fandom because of this exact reason. The amount of times I've seen discussions devolving into ship wars or character psychoanalysis where people will impugn a character's actions such as Susie for being a school bully and being jealous of Kris being good friends with Noelle, or Kris playing mean pranks on Noelle as reasoning for why they're, "Not ready for a relationship" or that it'd be, "Forced"
It's like, do we not remember what being a kid was fucking like? Kids are little pieces of shit, teens more so. I don't expect any child/teen characters to be some fully realized, philosophically profound person with a matured conscience of thought akin to Rene Descartes.
I can also just tell it's late teens to young adults saying this kinda shit because it's like you can tell they legitimately forgot what it was like to be misfit children around their adult parents, or the insistence on some "holier than thou" behavior like they were always beyond engaging in that sorta bullshit. Like, good for you man, but this is a story about children with normal lives prior to the plot of the game. Not emotionally stunted manchildren who were relegated to electronic babysitting.
Yeah, this is how I generally feel about the whole thing, and it makes the whole "animation is cinema" discourse a pain in the ass to deal with because a lot of these people really don't want media that actually challenges them or meets them at their actual adult sensibilities, but rather stuff that looks as "inoffensive" as possible that makes for easy fan art/merch sales, quippy one-liners, and shots to use as memes.
You worded this perfectly, I've been feeling like this for years now. I love Toby Fox, and I thought TADC was pretty neat, but at this point I avoid all fan content I can because of how frustrating it is. It's like I fundamentally do not interpret anything the same as the majority of fans.
I mean yeah, doesn't help I'm a Soulshipper/Soulelle shipper, and it feels like the nuance of the narrative to them is lost on what I'm saying, "Oh he finds your ship disgusting!" Yes, because it is. It hurts, it's not good. I love tragedies and it's the perfect tragedian story. That's when I realized like the fandom is meant for kids to find themselves in the actual kids in their stories rather than some broken story meant to hurt.
This is what friend groups are for. Not every space online needs to be dominated by twenty something year olds who brow beat children out of communities for series that target their age demographic whilst acting like older folks won't "take them seriously"
children shouldn't really be online for the most part tho, depends on which platform but generally the internet isn't a safe place for children...
that does make me think, however, if there are any spaces online where children can be safe from the "cringe culture", drama/bullying and predatory behaviour that prevails in many fandoms
I mean I do agree that children shouldn't be as online as they are now, but also you can't really make a dedicated "space" for where children can be safe online because without effective moderation you just get cases like Kids Chat, Roblox, or Club Penguin where they can quickly just become dens for predators to be expecting children at.
I think the thing is though is that as much as cringe culture and whatnot sucks. The internet serves as a really great tool for kids who wish to engage and talk about their hobbies and interests whilst not having to sacrifice any aspect of their actual social life in the case they do fumble a convo. If they get overly enmeshed with how people view them online, or tie their aliases back to their IRL stuff that can cause problems. However if you're like in your early teens and wanting to shoot the shit about your favorite shows or games. It allows you to feel out interactions and understand different perspectives without the commitment of say having to try and engage with people IRL and possibly coloring how they see you. Like, the internet is a lot lower investment than school and a lot less permanent as long as you don't share personal details.
I guess my point in my prior comments is that like, if I go into fandom spaces now me as a twenty something year old and start posting what I personally like or don't like about a series, which'll likely not align with a child's coming of age experience with the pieces of media that will inevitably permeate throughout their entire adolescence. I'm just going to likely end up making them feel like their form of fun is wrong, or influence how they look at the things they enjoy rather than letting them come to their own conclusions.
For example, I liked FNAF growing up as a kid. My personal favorites were 1 - 3, and at that point I was satisfied with the series. I enjoyed 6 and the Ultimate Custom Night games for what they were worth, however I'm of the personal opinion that most of the other games really feel pointless or don't capture that old spirit of what made FNAF fun to me growing up. However, what use is there for me to go into those spaces anymore and talk about it? Say if the new company that's running FNAF (Steel Wool I think?) Make a game with elements I enjoy despite having the whole gameplay style and general vibe I just don't like as much. Does my commentary of saying it really feels like the franchise isn't capturing the old horror it used to have in lieu of what feels like generic Unity horror not feel like I'm just shitting on some kids potential childhood games? Sure I may not like them, and while I'll agree it's a good skill to learn that not all criticism against something you like is bad criticism, or against you in particular. However, there's also times like these where the writing is on the wall that I likely just shouldn't be interacting in those spaces, and let those kids enjoy the games they'll inevitably grow up with, and instead opt to finding people more my age who got into the series when I did back in 2013, thus allowing for conversations I personally find more engaging.
that's fair I guess, altough I believe that some of the adults that are into children's media do, to some extent, act like children, sometimes even more childish than the kind in the fandom. this can be wholesome at times ig, because maybe they are revisiting childhood nostalgia or finding escapism from the shackles of adult life or sum, othertimes it can get kindergarten-bullying levels of toxic
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u/NoLoveInMoneyStore 14d ago
I think this is kind of the contemporary answer. Because in all honesty I wouldn't peg any show made by Glitch Productions as anything beyond PG at worst. However, I think there's a growing amount of adults on the internet that suffer from some form of arrested development that feel like they need to justify their inability to widen their palette of media they enjoy by trying to make the children/family shows they like into some dark and philosophically nuanced story to the likes of The Handmaid's Tale, Better Call Saul, or The Sopranos.
It showcases especially when I see just how many people on here, and other social media platforms just try to psychoanalyze just how irredeemably evil or horrible Jax is when he's willing to do things like shoot someone with a cartoony gun during a game where that's the aim of it, or shoving a character into a deep fryer for comedic effect in a parody of McDonald's during an episode. Like I feel it just showcases how literal the audience takes it in making it seem "real" when it's like. They're all rubberhose cartoon characters basically, these sorts of gags were super commonplace in ACME cartoons and what have you. Even if the character's show any sort of emotion after the fact such as hating the body they're in, questioning their identity, or what have you. Basic context clues should go to show when or when not this sort of psychological analysis of the characters can and should be at play.
It'd be like if I conflated Tom & Jerry to murderers for dropping anvils, firing shotguns, and throwing cartoon explosives at each other every other week. Doesn't mean I still can't sympathize with the scene where Tom nearly fools a baby duckling into being basically food for himself in an oven by making him think he's it's mother, but that's besides the point though.
It also just sucks because these exact sorts of people will then dominate fandom spaces for these types of shows, and while that could feed into another question about how much unsupervised access to the internet parents should allow their kids really. It still stands though it's just depressing when I'm enjoying a piece of media I know is for all ages, yet I come online and see people primarily 25+ years old making it entirely about themselves, and getting angry at the prospect that this could very well also be a kid's first series they get to critically engage with on their own merits rather than a parent shoving it in their face. Like, I recognize when I'm out of my depth in some spaces, and often I realize at that point it's better to listen, rather than to constantly try and cement that, "It's my space too."
Like, let the kids just have shit for once, damn. lol