Pity for "Anti-Woke" Influencers 

my favourite thing is that the right-wing and “anti-woke” crowd constantly call people “snowflakes”, when they’re the ones that cannot stop whining about EVERYTHING

I don't pity them because they have ruined film criticism and film discussion which is my favorite thing in the world.

I truly can't imagine being so terrified of women and black and gay people in media that you spend every day crying about it. It must be so exhausting being so negative all the time.

My family has a history of high blood pressure on both sides. My mom had it. At the beginning of 2022, I stayed with my parents while looking and saving for a new apartment on my own. I noticed my mother would pull up a video from her favorite "Christian" influencer and then watch what RU-vid would serve her on autoplay. And soon, she was fuming about the "What is a woman" question and trans people and all sorts of things. In December of that year, after I'd moved out, she had two strokes and then spent two weeks in the hospital before we had to make the decision to let her pass comfortably. She had health issues and I can't say that watching outrage content caused her strokes. But I think I can say that they didn't help.

I think its really pathetic how they can never talk about dialogue or theme or any kind of actual criticism of a work because theyre stuck on the color or gender of the imaginary people. Some truly amazing films television books and games have come and gone totally unremarked on beyond "woke" and "girlboss mary sue" because legions of "real fans" insist on not enjoying *anything*

There's a tweet that lives rent-free in my head, and it's someone asking a mid-scale anti-woke RU-vidr _"Why don't you just stop."_ And he actually replied. He said _"What choice do I have?"_ I've had your same struggle of pity since.

On a somewhat nicer note - has anyone ever asked you to be a villain in an audio drama because that evil laugh *genuinely* sent shivers down my spine?

Personal story. About a year ago, I decided to make an active effort to reduce the amount of rage-inducing content I saw online. Obviously, I didn't try to make it so I never ever saw anything that was going to make me sad or mad online. That's impossible and probably not healthy. But I did unfollow a few subreddits that were dedicated to that kind of thing. I think the thing a lot of people don't understand about echo chambers is even echo chambers can make you spend hours of your day seething about the people you hate. It's been good. I spend less time on Reddit arguing with memes I disagree with in front of an audience of people who all think exactly the same thing I do. The point I'm trying to get at here is I don't think these kinds of angry echo chamber spaces online are good for anybody and I think we should all try to avoid them. Spaces online to talk about politics are one thing, but it's not healthy to make a hobby out of seething about other people.

I'm all out of pity for the anti woke, I'm in a "angel shuts the doors on Wolfram & Hart" kinda mood.

I want to live in a world where gay characters are treated as normal as straight ones

For what it’s worth I think you are a great presenter and I stick around because I value your honest reviews and integrity. After over a year of not working due to illness in my family I have a new job and was finally able to support you on Patreon. And that- the ability to support a nuanced creator who is able to present on a variety of topics (some that I know about and some that I don’t) makes me really,really happy!

I pity the anti-woke in general. Forget influencers and “celebrities” (most haven’t done anything good or meaningful to be one, but that’s another topic) fans and random people (“the public”?) have missed out and are going to continue missing out on many pieces of great TV, film, music, literature and gaming etc - just because they have a grudge against seeing/hearing/reading about people like me (for those who don’t know: I’m disabled - Chronic Heart & Lung Disease also I’m gay/asexual), you or someone else (probably due to being brainwashed by certain names or because of the way they were brought up by their families) and that’s a shame. I guarantee if those locked their bigoted views away, they’d enjoy something.

Ever noticed the anti-woke don't actually understand the correct definition of woke!

I started watching the anti-woke mob years ago, when Chibnall took over on Doctor who, because everything they were saying was how I felt. Then I slowly started to realise just how awful they were and especially their audience. The saddest part are the women that feature in their podcasts. Those people have no respect for them. They're sexist, crass and say hugely inappropriate things to and about those women and women in general and all those women can do is laugh it off and continue being objectified because, as you said, it's their job and if they don't tow the line they're out of a job. Anyway, I got therapy and medication and it turns out all that anger was just depression and I appreciate things more and ignore the things I don't like now. I enjoy your page because you are nuanced. I can get validation from things I agree with you about, without it coming from a place of bigotry. I also often disagree with things you say, but at least you explain why you feel that way about something, instead of everything being based around "woke bad". Keep doing what you're doing. Even if your page never blows up, at least you have a community of objective thinkers!

The curse of the rest of us is to look at a type of content creator and go "what if I did that?" - I remember back in about 2013, I started being sent messages from people who ended up in gamergate trying to get me on board, and I always look back on that and wonder what I would've done if I was a slightly more suggestible person than I am, instead of just looking at what I was being shown and gone "Jesus Christ, someone wrote something on a website about a video game, get a fucking grip". Cause in the short term, you'll get validation, but like you say, it never lasts. About 90% of those channels that got millions of views off the back of gamergate, look at them now and most of them have almost totally burnt out. Its easy to hate these people blanketly, and sure most of them deserve it, but its another thing if you have experience of someone in your life getting taken in by an online hate movement (which I do) and seeing how the radicalisation process happens and go "wow, that must actually really suck for them to have ended up like this where this is their defining personality trait." The echo chamber aspect also makes these people susceptible to obviously bad ideas that they sink their entire lives, reputations and sometimes their financial future into. Anyone with a basic understanding of marketing would be able to tell you that Rumble will burn out in the next couple of years because its ensured that for anyone outside the specific far right niche that its toxic for your brand, because if someone sees you on it, they'll associate you with that type of content regardless of whether you have any differences with it, the company will hit a ceiling in potential viewers, and they won't be able to maintain their running costs and a lot of people will suddenly have nowhere to go. As said, some deserve it, but that's the curse of empathy. You look at someone desperately chasing these clicks and saying all the things their audience wants to hear, putting a toe out of line, losing it all eventually and you ask "what if...?"

I had a strained relationship with my conservative parents bc I was their only child and I was so scared of how they'd react to me coming out. Eventually, I bit the bullet and was reassured that they did in fact love me no matter what. (It's still a bit strained due to me being an 18 year old dumbass, but that's a different story lol) It has gotten better though bc I was able to be more open and honest with them. I'm still not where I want to be, but I've been doing so much better. I noticed that they've stopped listening to conservative pundits all the time, they've been more receptive to my ideas, less focused on culture war bs; overall, they're happier now. I just feel bad for all the parents who aren't like mine, who are so deep in their hatred that they've built a wall between them and their children. And for their kids, who don't get the love they deserve. Honestly, I just think we'd be better off ignoring reactionaries. You can't be happy if you're constantly consuming hate; you get what you give.

Perhaps the most dangerous thing about the monetization of the internet: the attention economy that makes farming outrage profitable. I mean, reactionary media got a boost from Reagan's deregulation of broadcasting, but it didn't have the speed and scale to be a tight loop like this until Facebook.

I literally just heard someone today say they’d refund their copy of Super Mario Bros Wonder because they found out that Princess Daisy (a cis woman character) is now voiced by a non-binary actor. That’s apparently enough for them. These people will never enjoy anything in life.

Something I've noticed lately on Pinterest: my pins about social justice and gender equality get flagged more and more. This is a new developement and the pins are years old / mildly mannered. The anti-woke snowflakes reach their melting point faster than before. Talking about mental labour in a relationship on general level is already too much for some of them.

Imo, there's a big difference between being locked in a job/career with no real opportunities in sight (been there, done that, more than once), and locking yourself in an ideological echo chamber. Those people have made their beds, now they have to lie in them. Serves them right. And, yes, I'm petty.

I don't pity them because they only bring negativity and hate into this world. You get what you give.

“Forced diversity” is a weird phrase. What exactly would “naturally occurring diversity” look like in media, in their opinions?

My thoughts on pity is this: it is the opposite of sympathy. Pity is considering how wretched someone is and how awful it is that they have dug the putrid hole in which they dwell.

The Fandom Initiative calls them Anti-fans, since they only seem to like hating art, and don't talk about art they like.

I'll be honest, there was a time not too long ago (only a few years maybe) where I started following some of these "anti-woke" creators. Not because I was conservative or right wing at all, mind you, I've been left-leaning my entire life. But there came a time where I was starting to get frustrated with the way diversity was being handled in mainstream media, Marvel and Disney being the biggest examples. The way it kept being lazily done, the way they kept patting themselves on the back for it, the way they kept being obnoxious about it. And yet all the critics and everyone was buying into the hype with seemingly no real logic behind it. And many of these "anti-woke" creators were the only people really criticizing these decisions and calling the creators out on it. And that, honestly, was *so* refreshing, you have no idea. But then I kept watching more. And the more I watched, the more I noticed that the anger never really went away. The same points kept being repeated. And pretty soon, some pretty disgusting things were being said as well. And after a while, I start realizing that these creators are not criticizing poorly-done representation. They're criticizing representation in general. And that combined with many creepy and fucked up things they were saying made me realize what sort of people they were and led to me dropping them entirely. And honestly, I'm happy i did. I have many more entertaining and better content creators that I am far more comfortable watching than them, and I don't need to engage in any sort of media or content that I'm not at all interested in to begin with. I still find myself occasionally agreeing with things they say. But in those cases it's less of a "they speak the truth!" but more in a "even a broken clock is right twice a day" sort of way.

I swear 90% of "anti-woke" personalities appeared in 2016 after ghostbusters and just never left that year. For instance, the last big wave of hate against furries was in 2016 and it's massively reduced since then, but their opinions are still the exact same opinions 4chan had back then

It's frustrating because, well, of course big corporations like Disney deserve criticism. We should be able to critique any show, and obviously, trying to be politically conscious or having more diverse actors and creators, while good, is not a shield from fair criticism, in good faith. But all of the anti-woke goobs keep ruining the discussion with bigotry - we can't just critique, say, the 13th Doctor based on writing or acting, no, we have to blame feminism or lesbians or marxism or some non-existant plot to replace white British men, or accuse the actress of abusing kids who were genuinely happy to see her (yes, for real, they said this), because just saying 'I don't like her' is too hard. Or rather, just doesn't make the big rage bucks.

One thing that has me worried about these “anti-woke folk” is that they could commit acts of terror or inspire others to commit such things over something as frivolous and inconsequential as books/comics/movies/shows/video games/etc. We’ve already seen harassment campaigns made over certain actors and writers, and if something like Jan 6 could happen, who knows what else might happen in regards to fandom spaces.

I've been on the receiving end of "anti-woke" influencers recently. I was writing on Tumblr about how I, a lesbian, disliked the ending of Bayonetta 3 because of its hetronormatvity and for, well, killing off our Bayo; and then my inbox was spammed with gamer dudebros and alt-righters accusing me of being "anti-straight" and "anti-family" and an SJW. They were doing the same right in the tags for the game and harassing queer/sapphic fans just for either not liking Bayo 3 or for shipping BayoJeanne. I swear, gaming is the worst for "anti-woke" reactionaries.

This video made me think about a former friend of mine. We were besties since like the 4h grade and he got caught up in the right wing insanity. He's gay. His youtube channel used to have music and fun vlogs. And, he did content about anti-bullying and his experience coming out. But then the shift he took, I couldn't recognize my friend anymore. We had a big fight via text after Jan 6 and basically ended a near 30 year friendship because he couldn't see that the side he was now a part of was going to be self destructive in the long run. I haven't brought myself to look up his channel because it's too heartbreaking. And when it all comes crashing down, he won't have the true friends he used to have to be there for him because he drove us all away.

To me, anti-woke is basically modern-speak for being anti-nice. Perhaps thoughtless. Having a desire to cause harm to people and probably motivated through spite, or, in the case of politicians, an attempt to win votes that I actually believe is misguided. It's stoked a lot by newspapers in the UK and USA. I'm left-leaning but I have my own mind and don't necessarily agree or disagree with anyone because of their political bias. If someone is pretending to be anti-woke for clicks, they are selling out their values and do not deserve my support in any way.

People like you have been real eye-openers for me. You've helped me see things often in ways I never considered.

You've already got my thumbs up for the thumbnail alone, here 13 hours before it goes live. I can't stand the anti-woke crybabies, always going out of their way to vice-signal to everyone how deplorable they are.

I give no pity to those who wish to see me dead.

I love watching film and media reviews online, it's one of my favorite things to do - hearing other people's opinions on a movie or tv show is just really interesting to me. I remember back when the new Star Wars prequels came out that a few of the channels I watched were obviously upset with the films, but their 'guffs' with them had almost next to nothing to do with the film or it's content itself. Instead they were just mad about Finn and Rey conceptually - they weren't mad about the poor writing or pacing or how things were just wildly 'convenient', all great points to make against those films that are very much present in the actual film itself. They were just mad that Rey was a woman and Finn was black and they basically just guffawed over that the whole time; it was like they couldn't even see the forest for the trees because they got hung up on the clouds. I stop watching those channels because I'm looking for actual thoughts, actual reviews and opinions - not some parrot that squeals conservative talking points when the proper keywords are waved in their viscinity.

I feel like this entire video kind of sums up the difference between the woke and anti-woke crowds: empathy, nuance, and intellectual/emotional flexibility.

I do my best to avoid as much anti-woke stuff on RU-vid as I can. Sometimes it sneaks up on me though. I used to be a huge fan of Shadiversity. Then I saw his secondary channel spiral more and more conspiratorial and off the rails. Even though his main channel was still mostly focused on just medieval weapons and such, I realized I couldn't support him any longer.

Joke's on you; I watch primarily for the validation of your sign-off! That aside, you are in fact one of my favourite YoutTubers to watch for opinions on movies and shows that are not guaranteed to line up with mine. You make excellent points that help me develop and improve my own critical analysis skills.

I love Sterling. Not for everyone, but I don't mind the ranting. Celebrating the downward spiral of subs is interesting, but Steph deserves all those subs back amd more.

These guys love to pull the 'oh, I just don't like the writing' card often - aside from being blatantly disingenuous considering they'll complain about something BEFORE they could see or read it, they overwhelmingly focus on superficial visual details like race or gender. In fact, they'll lead their videos with criticisms based on those qualities, writing someone off because of that. That's not 'the writing', in any sense. If you hate 'the writing' of Captain Marvel, what do the politics or opinions of Brie Larson OUTSIDE of the movie have to do with that, and why is it material to your review of the movie? How does her saying 'we need more diversity in film critics' impact the quality of the character arc of Carol, the fictional character, in the movie?

Thank you for the video, Vera! Short definition of "woke": being progressive and/or inclusive. Long definition of "woke": being aware about injustices and discrimination suffered by people-of-color and minority groups in society, and advocating for them also having equal rights, visibility and voice. There it is. It is not that hard. The reason why bigots struggle so much (or pretend to do) when explaining "wokeness" is because as soon they do it, they will have to explain why it is bad, and they will be unable to do it without expose themselves as just assh*les chasing outrage money. Vera mentioning how the "anti-woke" crowd is always bound for what their audience believes (not matter how derranged it is), and they are unable to diverge of their message, never showing any nuance, is very true. Examples of that would be TERFs trying to explain their nazi supporters or defending pedophiles and people accused of rape assaults, or a certain Jew man cosplayer of human Ken trying to defend Ye West (former Kanye West), despite the singer being an anti-semitic person. Or these people being unable to say something against the orange man in a suit, being accused of multiple charges of rape, electoral and business frauds, because their audiences love him. It is not just an echo chamber, it is the cult mentality of the right wing, where people must have blind commitment to their cause or they are automatically considered the enemy. Personally, when I hear about people complaining about wokeness or declaring to be anti-woke, I use that as a clear assh*le indicator and go away from them. We definitely must call out dangerous and harmful actions by bigots over other people, but the centrist mindset of being able to change the mind of a bigot by only talking to them is very naive and unrealistic. Do not engage with bigots expecting something good to come out it. In order to bigots realize the problems in their prejudices and come out of this mindset, they must do it most by themselves.

To be honest, a lot of what you said here could apply to the left leaning crowd as well. I've seen many a self-proclaimed leftist get angry when a work or a critic doesn't espouse or validate their own belief system, or god forbid they say something the leftist disgarees with politically. And it doesn't even have to be a right wing work, it could be something completely neutral; I once read a two thousand word leftist essay about how Frozen was a dangerous movie because at the end of it, Elsa was still queen and didn't abolish the monarchy. Or the seemingly weekly twitter arguments about how Batman is a fascist because he beats up "poor people". Both of which are aguments I'd call just as stupid as "they're gonna replace white people!" So I think its a little intellectually dishonest to attribute this kind of behavior to exclusively "anti-woke" people.

Their viewers are trapped and miserable as well. I was one of those angry people. I stepped away from it and calmed down and opened up. It does suck the creators can't without losing everything.

I don't pity them at all, they sold their soul and now pay the price

imo, anyone who makes a living by actively spreading bigotry and hate, then feel they're trapped, do not deserve anyone's pity nor sympathy. they knew what they were doing. them being trapped is nothing compared to the harm they actively caused.

I don't pity idiots that want a Disney movie to bring up 911 or being mad at Princess Peach wearing her Mario Kart outfit in the recent Mario movie.

I feel no pity for them. If they wanted to stop, they could quit and getting a fucking real job. Like, I'm sorry that parasitizing culture isn't fun for them anymore.

Decided to subscribe due to this video. I think this kinda gave me the idea on how to feel about conversations that are being had here and I think I'm enjoying the vibe. But to be on the topic, it's kinda like how some Vtubers really effed up by being loud with their choices but also the twitter people are... kinda doing the same problem when they were going against these Vtubers. (let's just say the whole Hogwarts thing kinda makes your point). Anger sells but when you even have a nuiance it becomes "you're against us." And I do agree the "anger marketers" aren't just on the Right as that whole situation. But boy did that whole discourse got bad. Another example of this outside of social media is how bookbanning is being handled in the US. Mom's of Liberity tried to banned Assassian Classroom from public school libaries because it had a scene of these students with literal toy guns that is only ment to kill their teacher (because the premise is infact their teacher is an creature that isn't human and blew up the moon and will destroy earth if they don't do something). Instead of actually reading the context they tried to rally up the outrage of "but what about the children!" when they want to shove down the bible down our throats in all public schools even though that too has violence, sex, and other things happening and demonize context. (Reads with Rachels And Bookish Realms kinda explains this better than I'm doing if you're intrested). But I will not personally touch Game of Thrones because even though it's seen as 'woke', it kinda isn't. When I tried reading it as a free demo... it felt like it was a boring Incel fantasy where one of the main charaters is a 14 year old girl enjoyed getting R-ed in ways that isn't about survival. And the mental health in that whole situation isn't handled well either. As a survior of SA, this did not sit well with me and yet *everyone* loves these series. (And the movie series was absolutely boring when I was watching it due to friends wanting to get into it.) So why can Game of Thrones can be left on shelves but yet things like "All boys Aren't blue", "This book is Gay" and "Monday's not coming" can't? But the outrage against those books are listened to more than ligit conversations of how we can talk to kids about these topics in healthy ways. And as soon as someone want to give a more nuiance conversation where it's not as black and white? Suddenly you're not worth listened to. I want to have those more nuiance convos. I want to have these conversations of "Yeah this can be problematic, but how can we change it where it's better?"

I love your work precisely because you offer critical thought and nuance, as well as just your own personal likes and dislikes without shame or meanness to anyone else. As someone who finds it difficult to nearly impossible to feel pity for the anti woke crowd (especially the influencers who have such a disproportionate impact on the views of those who watch them), I appreciate your ability to consider them with at least some compassion. And your gentle, kind sign off always makes me feel warm and cared for no matter what’s going on in my life! 🥰

Steph being so much happier has actually made it much easier for me to watch them. Also, it''s been amusing to watch that most of the RU-vidrs and webcomics I actually liked also came out within a few years of me coming out :D (And nearly all of them are also trans femme)

Absolutely agree. I pity anyone who lives a life that consumed by fear and anger, honestly. What a miserable existence that must be.

Their audience is also very violent. If they try to pivot way from what they've been saying, their audience could turn on them violently....

True Steph fans know they actually came out a few episodes before the appearance change, but since they didn't wear a wig and makeup but not as a joke this time in that video it didn't cause anywhere near the backlash as full femme Sterling. Incidentally... They stopped fucking pogs so if anything they got less kinky.

If it didn't make them money anymore, I wonder how many of them would still do it. Probably some because they like having an army of fans who cheer them on, but I think a lot would just quit and find another grift.

I don’t pity them because quite frankly none of them are worth even the most minimal amount of effort for me to do so.

One of the reasons I keep watching is your approach to topics you talk about. You look into things thoroughly and come to your own conclusions, you think about the biases you might have. I may not always agree with you, but you always explain why and how you came to the opinion very well. It's really respectable. 😂

the jimquisition has definitely not changed (aside from the 100% agree she is happier).

I mean yeah all they do is compline and trash talk and if something is "woke" and good they freak out and say it's not woke look at Barbie be for it came out all those anti woke Channels were hateing it then it didn't flop all of them were Barbie is distryoing WoKe Disney 😂 like I can't imgen having to hate everything all the time

it does seem to suggest that there does need to be some kind of rehab path for those who went to the right for attention, but now need to leave for safety or a change of heart. because if they are trapped in that scenario, it doesn't help anyone. the only issue is, i have no idea what that would look like.

The idea that these people don’t even believe what they’re saying is the worst part. The damage that is happening to communities, the literal hate crimes that happen only because someone on RU-vid told an already angry person that they should be angrier… so that they can maintain a barely lucrative lifestyle… a few weeks back there was that video of sneako being embarrassed by 12 year olds spewing hateful rhetoric to impress him, made me and probably him realize that there are definitely boys out there doing violence cuz of what he’s saying.

Ya know... I've literally never been able to get a definition of 'woke' from anyone in the anti-'woke' crowd. Like... If I never heard the word again, I'd die happy. I

The way you jump between she and they pronouns for Stephany sterling is genuinely impressive XD

"I pity the fool!"

"I don't have to walk a hard line. I'm not here to sell an ideology. I'm a person." Love this mindset!! Subscribed!

Every day, the amount of media the Anti-Woke crowd can enjoy shrinks just a little, and that's really beautiful.

i used to (and still sometimes do ngl) watch a lot of like rage bait-y and drama content, but i seriously had to stop and like accept how self destructive it was to be mad and depressed at everything all the time. its not healthy. i mean i still struggle with it, but watching content that feeds into that black hole is just so toxic, at least for me. i intentionally try to just watch youtubers who make me happy more than sad or angry (cuz its not abt avoiding emotional stuff altogether, but having more balance ig?)

I think you really hit something there when you said Anti-Woke channels just don't change. At first, the controversies you see seem big and massive and entirely world shaking and a million people watch it then nothing happens and then the next controversy comes along and the cycle begins again. The thing is, we like to treat Anti-Woke channels like these big all consuming problems, but really thats exactly what they want. Irregardless of what audience they get, they succeed at what they want anyway. Because they're playing to the algorithm so closely. Their extremity leads to them getting views, so they can't change that extremity or branch out because then thats lost. So that extremity is just applied to everything. And i think its one of the reasons they post like 2-3 videos a day; because their content is so shallow and lacking in depth in the first place, to stop would mean people would become uninterested immediately because theres nothing else there. Its just hot air pumped into the algorithm people sniff for 10 minutes then leave again. But thats the thing. In order to hit against the things they hate, they become the things they hate. - Hating people victimising themselves and then leap to it when its applies to them. - Hate politics in media whilst making things political in media by talking about it and loving the things that align with them. - Say they're speaking "for the fandom" then don't actually interact with that fandom - Hate echo chambers when their livestreams involve the same 10 people over and over again. At this point they're just harvesting from the culture war as usual, making it sound like this "battle four OUR culture" when really it just never ends. It can't end because its too profitable. Its not even really a war. When you have an infinite amount of people and an infinite amount of time and resources, you're not fighting a war anymore. You're just proliferating the IDEA of it. They can't win because then they're the authority. So they come up with these new terms. "SJW" --> "WOKE" and then another word and then another word and then another word. To make it seem like progress is being made when really it was the same controversy from the beginning. They were always prejudiced. And after a while, each controversies just blends into another. Really, whats different about Nerdrotic or HeelsVsBabyFace talking about She-Hulk as apposed to The Rings Of Power, or Doctor Who as apposed to Marvel. You could swap out the names and the statements would be the same for all of them. But heres the thing. I don't think its working much anymore. At least not in the same way. That ecological RU-vid niche isn't so niche anymore. Those secular communities aren't so secular anymore. Those views aren't so new anymore. And people realise when something doesn't change or improve. At the end of the day, I don't like to think of them as some untackable horrifying mass, because really they're just a bunch of idiots who aren't worth the time of day.

There is also people who defend certain public firuges when they clearly don't believe it because admiting any racism, sexism, etc. exist is something they can never do.

Vera, you're the original angry RU-vidr for me. Your righteous anger is very fulfilling to see ❤

I so very much appreciate that you try to follow the algorithm and focus on your own interests. I completely understand that the algorithm may make it easier to pay the bills, but I follow you because I am interested in what you have to say about things because you seem sincere and people lose that so very easily. I so very much am glad you did not turn into a "drama" channel. Please keep up the good fight. Would love to see you on Nebula, but no idea how that works or the feasibility lol.

There was this film RU-vidr (whom I'm not going to name) who I enjoyed for a bit around the late 2010's and then decided to drop like a rock because... he wasn't necessarily alt-right, he wasn't explicitly political either, but his content felt more and more like the echo chamber of Nerd-space film opinions condensed into a channel. Just every boiler plate film opinion on Marvel and DC and Star Wars and not a hint of any films beyond that crossing his mind. Seriously the only film I can remember him talking about that didn't tie into a massive multimedia franchise was Velvet Buzzsaw. I like my RU-vidrs to have some fucking personality.

Do you think, on your other channel, you could weigh in on the current debate about whether non-binary people are transgender? As someone transgender and non-binary, it's so painful to constantly have to defend who I am. And they never ask me about my experience or my GD or therapy or anything before declaring I'm not trans. I really value your content (more on your Vera channel than here) and your perspective. ❤

The base problem is always the same: Anyone can create a mob, but no one can control a mob.

The joy on Vera's face when they said "I can have contradictions!" Was delightful

I only pity those who make valid criticism to Hollywood movies from 2016 and forward and are overshadowed by the anti-woke crowd.

I actually started liking JSS more as she went from plain "angry ranter" stereotype to dressing more flamboyant, and eventually going femme-presenting. Their anger at the continuing BS from the gaming industry also gets more sympathetic as the bad practices keep getting worse (thanks, capitalism). I don't watch regularly, as the negative news can be draining, but they're still a great watch when I'm in the mood for it, and it's great to see Steph being more energetic and having fun in spite of everything.

The anti-woke showcases the ridiculousness and shadow aspects of the woke movement but then it falls into the trap of polarization looking at the shadow aspect of what Americans call left (no realm left in America but maybe center left) and they go from woke to anti-woke from "left" to right, from Democrat to Republican a play that never ends, from one spectrum of an ideology to another, it seems there is little place to dialogue and integrate the different and or opposite sides and therefore transcend old paradigms ... anti-woke can be as good and as bad as the woke...

The part where you talked about pivots for attention seeking was quite interesting to me, because I remember that happening in 2012/2013-ish with a youtuber I used to watch for gender and sexuality stuff. I remember seeing a thumbnail for this creator sitting down with a “Men’s Rights Activist” with like the implication that we were gonna sit down and bridge the gap between MRAs and feminism and all would be well. I didn’t end up watching that video because a Pokémon channel I like had started another challenge playthrough that same day and I got distracted. But then another MRA based video popped up a few days later from this same creator. And then a third at the end of the week. And at that point I bounced because this was genuinely distressing to me as a trans person who had just come out and cited one of this creator’s videos as a reference in my coming out references to my parents! Anyway all of this to say, rage is one of the most powerful human emotions, and why I believe it’s not the antithesis of love, the antithesis of love is apathy, but love is the strongest counter to rage because it is an equally powerful motivator. Thank you as always Vera for your insight and hard work! Cheers!

I have a friend who watches one of these prominent anti woke types, the Critical Drinker. They have no actual takes or opinions. They go with what's popular or what they think will get them views. The Critical Drinker and the rest of that cohort were all crapping on House of the Dragon before it came out, saying it would be a flop because it was woke, i.e had black characters in it. But then when HOTD was massively successful, the Drinker and others quickly changed tack. He even altered the title of one of his videos I'm sure. As you said, the content is repetitive and boring.

I think one of the biggest differences between the anti-woke crowd and... everyone else is patience, thoughtfulness and effort. Being anti-woke is all about thinking "how will something benefit me right now, and only me" in the easiest way possible. Which is why it's so difficult to make your way out of that, because you're trying to enter a world of thoughtful and skeptical people, after coming from a world of shallow people who would support you and agree with you as long as you agreed with them. And it takes time and effort to build a genuine trust with thoughtful people, especially if you've had a history of being untrustworthy, whereas it's so easy to slip back into the echo-chamber you left.

It was pretty funny how people thought I've "gone woke" simply because I put "ACAB" in my twitter handler after George Floyd, even though I always hated cops.

Beau of the Fifth Column recently posted a video about the dangers of constantly pushing the "hate and anger" type of content and how it's been impacting the whole House Speaker kerfuffle. I _think_ it's the one from yesterday titled "Let's talk about rhetoric, representatives, and Frankenstein..." but since I watch RU-vid on a tablet it's tricky to check one channel while writing a comment on another one. In a nutshell, one of the Republican Representatives who came out against Jim Jordan's bid for the speakership received death threats and harassment. Beau goes into how always labeling your oppenents as "enemies of the state" and such inevitably leads to treating any form of dissent or disagreement as an attack warranting a violent response. Such rhetoric is undoubtedly _effective,_ but it can be (and often is) as dangerous for those who try to use it as it is to its targets.

You know someone is a minority if their mere appearance in any media is viewed as a political statement. If there is straight sex scenes in a series, it’s «neutral», non-controversial, even non-sexual. But when there is gay sex scenes? WOKE, SEXUAL, VIRTUE SIGNAL etc. Also true for black, trans even animals. It’s consisered offensive to even COMPARE animal oppression to any form of human oppression, even if the oppressive rhetoric and method are the same.

Always enjoy these video essays (?)! I work construction and have many coworkers with anti-woke sentiments. I find to just admit to having a differing opinion oftentimes can be very hard for them to hear. So I try to make sure before voicing anything, I have something to say that gives them information without condemnation. Allow them to receive the seed, and allow it to grow and hopefully inform their decision making going forward. Try finding the common ground and show them it’s basically just mutual respect and common courtesy. I personally wouldn’t say that I pity them, but I try to be sensitive and respectful to their life experiences that shaped who they are.

I unsubscribed from Stephanie Sterling for the exact reason that her messaging and content has never changed. I grew to feel that it was a waste of time to watch almosy the exact same video over and over

I've been saying this for a loooooong time. Expecting these people to change their tune is like expecting Alex Jones to suddenly say "Ya know, fellas, the government's not really out to get you!" It'd be the end of their channels and the end of their livelihoods.

"Nothing about Stephine Sterling changed." Ironically, that's the reason I stopped enjoying her content. It just got stale and repetitive. I just got sick of the constant negativity and her attitude of "You're not allowed to enjoy anything from EA, Bethesda, or *Insert game company here.* Or you're a shill." I just don't have the mental capacity for that anymore.

I talk quite a bit about High Guardian Spice on social media, partially because I feel the hatred it got was so overblown, but also because it genuinely inspires me. I don't expect everyone to love it, but I do ask that people give it a chance and at least critique it from a place of sincerity. I'm less interested in people agreeing with me over one cartoon than I am about the details as to what makes something work or not work for others. It's so easy to just milk the hatred and declare it crap for even daring to exist, but it's so much more fulfilling to dig deep into the details and understand what value people find in art. It's why I often find myself bored with Stephanie Sterling's Jimquisition. She isn't wrong for holding gaming corporations' feet to the fire, and I largely agree with her. But after a while, the constant anger becomes a bit of a drag, and I need a break for the sake of my own mental health. This is why I'll never be an anti-woke grifter. As easy as it is to farm clicks by telling reactionaries what they want to hear, knowing that it's all a lie at the expense of minorities is something I couldn't live knowing about myself. So for the trans people who pander to the anti-woke transphobia, they have my pity, but not my sympathy. You reap what you sow, and when you show yourself as willing to sell out others in the hope of getting a few extra brownie points? Then you've thrown away whatever trust you may have gotten to begin with. It's the boy who cried wolf all over again!

Can we just call them sleepies? Maybe nappies? I mean if they're not awake...

I still really want to believe that honest and thoughtful inclusion is not political. Leave me on my island I guess but if you write good characters who are what they are and are honest to it... its not "woke" or "pandering." It's just good writing.

I used to really like The Critical Drinker until I realized he wasn't doing a bit or satire and that's ACTUALLY how he thinks. It's just depressing when you realize that someone you respected is using their platform to spread hate because of their own narrow-minded view of the world. Also, and I realize this is nit-picking a bit, he always complains about "the message" of things but...how does a published author not understand what social commentary and allegory are?

Oof, I used to watch those clowns. So embarrassing 🤦🏿😭 think it stunted me emotionally and mentally, plus imbued me with a good dose of internalised transphobia. Although, tbh, I mainly watched them because I formed a sort of parasocial relationship with them. I also didn't necessarily flock to them for their views, RU-vid just fed me their videos and I just took everything they said as fact because I'm gullible haha. The critical thinking skills came afterwards. The funniest part was that I think I got recommend them because I was in atheist RU-vid a lot at the time and there was a link to anti-sjw/anti-feminist stuff. Even though I don't watch their videos any more, sometimes I still go back on their channels to see what they're up to. Blaire white and rose of dawn for example. I also watched theryn Myer back when she was putting out videos. Idk why I gravitated to so many trans women 😂 I still find myself doing that today. But yeah I look at their channels and see if they've changed their opinions. I get sad when I see Blaire white talking to transphobes and just taking their shit. Like, is the money really worth it to be disrespected like that? It's just sad.

That intro proves it: you MUST play the next Master in Doctor Who. On the subject of your thoughts this video: Yeah, I feel sorry for them too. I just wish there was a good way to filter them from my feeds, at least on Doctor Who. I do what I can "don't show again" from the menu, etc. They just keep showing up, and new ones, and all they do is disparage and lie about the stories I enjoy. That's fine for them to do I suppose - I fail to see how it's healthy in the long term - but I just wish I could make them leave me alone. I love online Doctor Who fandom. When I was a kid long time ago there really wasn't anybody I could share it with. I lived pretty isolated. Just my brothers, and they weren't into it. They just knew I liked it and nodded and went along out of love, I suppose. Wonderful brothers indeed. Thank you!

Great point, I have often thought about this when I have come across "anti woke" stuff. It just feel like some of them don't believe what they are saying, but are forced to.

The sad thing is about this is young people because a lot of these anti-woke channels disguise themselves as gaining channel as video review channels and other things and then once you get in there only then do you realize what they aiming for. Negativity sales playing in simple it sells a hell of a lot more than positivity. There's one RU-vid channel that made around 40 videos about Brie Larson. Now does this guy actually hater probably not but he's gonna do whatever gets the clicks which gets the advertiser revenue

Interjection from about 12 and a half minutes in to the video - I don't always agree with you, I often do, I sometimes don't. But that's fine, it's the whole point, there's not a lot to be gained by listening to people who voice the same views I've already got. That's how we all grow, we listen to other views and think about what they are.

Good video. I do pity them for how they think and refuse to understand. It just amazes me how these people think and how far they are willing to go.

In my late 20s/early 30s I learned the phrase 'The dogs bark and the caravan moves on.' And while I don't believe in being apathetic or apolitical, I don't have the time or energy to stay outraged any longer. Before I engage with anything I now ask myself to do the math. I'm an elder geek and even at the most optimistic I've only got around 38 years left. What is the best use of my time? How does the anger and outrage serve me? So the anti-woke can have their angry rhymes with rich fest. Me? I'll just keep on loving my granddaughter and fight to give her a kinder world.

You clearly have a tremendous amount of compassion and what you say makes sense. But… they chose violence. They chose to make a living harming others, not even in the standard late capitalist way, but by very specifically encouraging hate and violence against others. I do believe in redemption and change, but if doing so means they have change their livelihood and take a hit? That’s a fair price.

Have been watching Stephanie Sterling for years, and the few differences her video undergone since her transition is that she now has long hair and is doing her videos videos out of the U.K. rather than the U.S. she still talks the same as she did years ago.