The Existential Modern Dystopia of Arcane and Squid Game | Hello Future Me 

Here people talk about war and it's consequences. However, the war in the Arcane wasn't real. But now I'm living in a state where it is. I am an ordinary Ukrainian girl from Kyiv. And people are dying here. Civilian people! And each day I'm afraid to find out that my dear ones are hurt by missiles. I even don't want to think that I can lose them but I can, because there is a real war in my country. My uncle is a soldier and he is defending my city now. My city is a capital. Invaders want to take it in a first place. But we are strong people and we defend our land! Support us please! Spread the information! We need you! We need your voices! Stop the war! Everybody can do at least something! #stopwar #stoprussianaggression #standwithukraine

"[Squid game is] about people trapped in debt competing in deadly childish games in hopes of winning money. Like the American health care system, but with marbles." I about choked on my coffee, I laughed so hard.

Arcane is probably the best example I can think of regarding how terrible circumstances can arise from apathy rather than malevolence. After all, the leaders of Piltover aren't actively evil, moustache-twirling villains who see Zaun as a playground for their wicked fancies. Instead Zaun is made to be worse and worse for its residents simply because Piltover's council doesn't care about what happens to them. And that actually strikes me as terrifying because you know full well that's what you're more likely to find in real life. Not supervillains, but just a lack of care 😟

I once heard a quote that said 'No dystopian fiction is a warning for the future. They are all reflections and criticisms of the present.' or something like that

"No plastic straws, no plastic bags. Yay good for us!" Drinks out of a plastic bottle in the next frame. Well played!

I wonder if the use of competitions in dystopias has anything to do with our sense of community. Anything that pits us against each other is a good fit for a dystopia.

I'll be honest, I did notice the dominos stacked against a picture frame; just didn't think it was that important until you said it was intentional, what I thought was it was a weird thing to decorate a shelf with.

To all the folks wondering "But how can I do anything?" the question is not "How do I personally take down systemsm of oppression and injustice?". Because the answer to that is, you can't. The question you should be asking is "What power do I have and how can I wield it?" You can organize people to demand a community garden. You can take a moment to help an elderly neighbor with something. You can speak up, speak out, speak about your experiences. You can talk to a friend who is scared. You don't even have to do this every day. Dystopias happen when we are torn apart and turn a blind eye; because we learn to never do a thing at all; because all they need to do is to grind us down so we stop doing anything and we stop caring at all; when we start to believe that we can do nothing and so just to accept what we are given... that's when it happens. So look up, look out, and take one step every so often. You do have power. We can do something.

how come no one ever mentions that Vi is also willfully ignorant in that scene with Jayce? Like she's completely right to call him out for saying that he's a part of this NOW, but the first thing she said when she saw the dead kid was "he knew what he was signing up for." justifying his death to Jayce and herself by saying that the kid chose to work for Silco and so he shares the blame, even though Vi should know better than that since she's from zaun herself and should know how difficult it is for the children down there to avoid getting involved with the criminal elements down there. Vi herself technicaly worked for a crime boss even though Vander was kinder than Silco he was still a criminal, so imagine if in act one marcus had actually managed to shoot one of the kids when he tried to in episode 2 and he justified it with "they knew what they were signing up for." no one would buy it from him but they buy it from Vi cus she's the main character and we like her. just wanted to say that both Vi and Jayce are wrong about different points in that scene imo.

As someone who lives in the US, as a member of the lower middle class - enough money to be part of the problem, but not enough to be part of the solution, I always feel these deeply uncomfortable feelings when I think about this. Because I know that the clothes that I'm wearing now and the phone that I'm typing this on are probably made by people working for less than a living wage, and that every time I drive somewhere when I could have stayed home, I'm helping kill the planet I live on. But if I try to live without harm, I have to stamp out just about everything in my life that gives me joy because I can't afford the more "ethical" versions of that. So what can I do? Do I have an ethical obligation to suffer in protest of a system that my suffering won't change? And how much guilt should I feel for the suffering needed to manufacture my joy, if that suffering was just going to happen anyway? And is that all just an excuse for me not to change anything because I'm comfortable where I am right now? It's so frustrating when it feels like the people who feel the most guilt are the ones with the smallest impact. Maybe this is deeply selfish, but sometimes I think: why is it my fault that people have to work in slave labor conditions to make my clothes because I can only afford $30 pants - isn't the fault of the CEO who makes millions of dollars a year, and could take a pay cut to pay his workers more and let people like me still afford their damn clothes? Or maybe it's the fault of the governments who allow their companies to outsource work from countries that allow their people to work for slave labor wages? Or maybe it's those countries faults for not caring for the wellbeing of their citizens? Why does it have to be my responsibility? Why, when everyone who is powerful fails in their duties does it fall to those with only the smallest amount of power to carry all of that on their shoulders? There is something in me that screams that it isn't fair. But maybe that too is just an excuse. And so I continue with my financed cell phone and my $30 dollar pants and my driving to the store or the park or to eat a hamburger - which is yet another thorny source of guilt and ethical discomfort. Because I still don't know how to really create change. And I'm too selfish to let myself suffer for nothing.

The domino thing absolutely got me. The execution at the end actually made me audibly gasp with its strong visual metaphor. But I also laughed so hard at the IMMEDIATE subversion of that cool moment by showing us the unsuccessful attempts to pull off the shot. That sort of thing is incredibly endearing to me.

One point about the comparison between Hextech and Shimmer: while yes, technically the former is the "cleaner" version of the latter, as far as Runeterra's lore goes so far (which of course can be changed in the future or not taken into account in Arcane, but I think it'd be a great shame if that's how they handled it), hex crystals aren't ethical in the slightest. It's a bit of a long story, but: long ago, in the desert there lived a peaceful race of crystalline scorpions called the Brackern, who possess "namestones" which are essential to a Brackern's survival, they basically face death without one. Those namestones allow the Brackern to hold a mind connection among all of them, so one Brackern can experience what the others are going through across incredibly large distances. When a great, worldwide war happened (the same you see in Heimerdinger's flashback in Arcane), they decided to hibernate under the earth for safety, only to be awakened once Piltoveans came around, found them and harvested the namestones (so committing mass murder of the Brackern), renaming them to "hex crystals" and in the future ended up using them for everything from machinery to insignificant trinkets. The clan who got their high status in Piltover through discovering the crystals is very much aware of what they are and don't want others to know their origin (the clan is not present in Arcane, but is highly suspected to appear in season 2 given their incredible significance to Hextech). They do develop a synthetic version of them later on, but it is not as powerful, so Brackern-originating crystals are still very much in use. I suspect at least one person already mentioned this in the comments or you're already aware of all that, in which case sorry for the rant. But, as a tl;dr: Piltoveans nearly wiped a race of peaceful crystalline scorpions with a rich culture and a strong bond for the crystals found in their bodies and nowadays use their souls to power anything from an artificial heart to a proverbial coffee maker.

18:54 I just want to comment that Seong Gi-hun's PTSD flashback when everyone starts attacking each other in the bunk bed room is a reference to a real world 77 day strike in South Korea. Ssangyong Motors laid off 43% of its workforce, who then holed up in the factory demanding their jobs back. The police assaulted them with batons and water cannons, and helicopters dropped tear gas. Ultimately, the police took over the factory and the strike failed. If we extrapolate the events of that real world strike to Gi-hun's life, he would have been blacklisted from working, making gambling and loan sharks the only way he could get money. With that context, I suggest the situation is less his fault then it seems, i.e. with him just being a deadbeat gambling addict.

"Ignorance isn't just something we have, it is something we craft for ourselves" Love this quote!

"Humans are really good at assigning blame on an individual level," might as well be considered one of the worst things undermining current society as a whole. The obsession of the "me"and no concern for We as a society, frankly as a species. Wonderful content as always, thank you. 💙

Growing up, I heard a lot of "silver spoon" stuff and was (is, I suppose since I'm barely an adult and haven't moved it it hasn't quite stopped) constantly told I was privileged and fortunate and that I should recognise that there are people with less opportunity than me. All of this is true, but it hurts like hell to think about. Sometimes I feel like I'm more willing to throw myself under the bus because a lot of other people have it worse. And, I don't know how to help fix things, it all feels to big, too monumental. How do I help the kids in the slums who start walking to school at 4 in the morning? And then I'm here like "Oh crud I don't want to wake up at 5:30 to get a bus to get to uni", and I suddenly feel really guilt for just existing. Wilful ignorance then becomes a way to stop feeling so guilty for existing, for having what others don't, for somehow contributing to a system that pushes people down. I really hate this reality.

Quick note on Hextech: in the lore, the crystals are from a species called the Brackern (sort of giant earth elemental scorpions). What's worse, is that these crystals are important to the species' growth and survival, and that they apparently contain souls of past brackern. Essentially, hextech is as if the IRL industrial revolution was built up around ivory, except using it would also torture long-dead elephants. Hextech is the perfect technology for Piltover, since it's clean, neat, aesthetically pleasing, and unknowingly built upon the suffering of beings nobody bothers to think of.

Tim I’m gonna be honest, I only voted yes on the “Is Arcane a dystopia?” tweet because I wanted you to talk about it in a video

Arcane was so well voiced and just done so well in general. I havent had my "oh crap I better keep that safe" switch flipped so aggressively as I had with young Jinx since my freaking daughters were born. Jinx Vi and Jayce all feel like honest to goodness real people it's awesome. Caitlyn is well done also but the other 3 are crazily well done. Snowpiecer has my vote for show I wish I more often had time to watch, so good

I came here the first time to learn about hard/soft magic system. I learned about the concepts or worldbuilding in writing. I keep coming back because the worldbulding's concepts are not constrained to fictional worlds, they are about our own world. The Dominos were brilliant. The extra footage too. I would argue something like: "We may destroy a lot of 'dominos' while trying to fix them". But that's a metaphora for another day.

As a Brazillian, this hits differently. We who live in the good part of town are sometimes a few blocks away from people starving, we see mothers picking food from our trashcans to feed their children but we also don't see any of this We ignore the reality in such a way that verges on the ridiculous. Differently from the US, our racism is unspoken but just as cruel, we don't have white people saying the n-word when we are alone but the concept of the state-funded university moved from "the brightest minds in the country" to "a bunch of stoners, lazy communists that undermine our culture" after we introduced racial quotas. Pretending not to see how the other lives could be considered a national sport

“Die Hard isn’t actually a Christmas Movie.” I see you’ve invoked the ancient rites for summoning OSP Red xD

Arcane is one of the best shows ever. And your breakdowns and analysis of this show and avatar are spot on. I mean the way powder turns into Jynx is jus crazy to wrap your head around

For more in this vein I'd recommend the Magnus Archives. It's about power, and identity under horrible systems, and wouldn't it be fucked up if there was a guy whose wife was made of beetles. It has basically all the themes touched on in this story and then some.

As a ripe teenager myself, I can confirm; we’re fucking pissed at this world. It stems from the fact that we grow up with access to the internet, and are keenly aware of how many problems the world has, the fact that there will be more, and most frustrating of all how little we can do. Furthermore, we are frustrated because unlike our anime of OP friend groups saying “I want that” and “I don’t like that” (looking at you one piece, MHA, etc.) and unlike our books of heroes making progress through individual effort, and unlike our movies with the big bad guys, we are humans in a human world. We are limited by our mortality and small role, limited by the lack of a target, limited in what we can do. Thus, we feel helpless. Some sink to despair and cynicism. Others try to ignore it, entertaining themselves in ignorance. Still some others are stubborn, defiant, and refuse to admit helplessness. Yet, for all their bravado, their defiance does not give them the power they wish they had. There’s only one way out: we need everyone to see, or be shown the problems we all face. Humans are weak individually, but can do a lot in mass coordination. It’s our true advantage over other life. Thus, mass analysis and discussion of these topics are the true first steps to fixing the issues we face. So thanks, Tim, for taking that first step, and trying to get others to do the same. The world’s not doomed yet. At least, no more than usual

"The good place" speaks of the complexity of choices in one of the early season finales. Not a dystopia, but touches on a similar issue.

Wonderful analysis! I definitely feel and agree that the "games" aspect of modern dystopia comes from the idea of willful participation. All of the "games" are a metaphor for life, and it's something we're all just playing to survive. We have to follow the rules the oppressor places, and yes we could try to rebel but is it worth the risk? In both Hunger Games and Squid Game, the players say they don't want to play, but they have to. They have no other choice -- if you can't beat them, join them. I think it reflects the idea that we are constantly beaten down by the systems we're born into, and we're all just trying to make the best of the situation we're in. Of course, these modern dystopias point out that the longer we participate in the systems as they are, the more drastic the disparity, and the harder they are to dismantle, and the murkier the placement of blame becomes.

Massive spoilers for The Good Place: The Good Place actually highlights the whole problem of global supply chains pretty directly, pointing out that if the world really did moralize everything we did, it would be literally impossible for someone to be found morally good based on their actions because everything from buying a t-shirt, to driving to work, to listening to pop music means indirectly supporting heinous labor practices and the destruction of the environment. Even living the most non-harmful existence possible, living off radishes grown in your own back garden and drinking your own recycled urine, isn't good enough. If the series wasn't a comedy that laces every part of the exploration with jokes, it would be a pretty bleak conclusion to draw, but to me it highlights that just moralizing things will never get us anywhere. The world's problems won't be fixed just by labeling them as wrong, if we're not willing to actually look outside our bubble and push governments and organizations to invest in real, lasting solutions instead of just sweeping problems aside or delaying them for a decade or two, then for the foreseeable future anything we do could be considered immoral.

[*feels proud of myself for noticing dominos in background well before they were set up*] [*feels bad for recognizing I'm inevitably not noticing real world applications the dominos are a metaphor for*]

As someone living in Turkey, I have a lot of internalized hate and rage about this topic and it hits really differently. It is something else to be on the other end of this problem as opposed to those who are watching this from rich first world countries. Ignorance is really a bliss; being priviliged to be ignorant unless it happens to you is a luck one is born into.

As someone who wants to write a dystopian graphic novel, this really opened my eyes to themes I had already planned, and what I could possibly add to make it even better. Very insightful, love your videos.

It’s interesting what you said about distance removing moral responsibility. There’s actually a psychology theory about it. Milgram did experiments on obedience which obviously isn’t the same thing, but he found that buffers like giving instructions over the phone rather than in person etc effected obedience. Then there’s also Latane’s social impact theory which specifically looks at distance. Idk it just reminded me of this. Really thought provoking video. I hope anyone reading this has a nice day :)

I wish I was more like Caitlyn, willing to go down there and see for herself, willing to face the consequences of her living conditions. But... how? And even if I do, how would I even attempt to make a difference? Is Caitlyn gonna be able to make a difference (for more people than just Vi), or is it just gonna be a noble attempt stopped in their tracks? I can't help but feel if Arcane goes the truly realistic route in season 2, the efforts of one person will never be enough.

"You've always been a part of this, you just never had to look it in the eye" is such a raw dialogue and O think summarizes the entire fucking video SO WELL.

So I live in Israel and this hit so hard. We’re not even a sea away and people are willfully ignorant of what is basically an apartheid. Idk how bur we’ve been conditioned to literally ignore or label fake everything that doesn’t look good for Israel. I can’t believe how long it took me to wake tf up, and some people never get there. Arcane was extremely relevant in this aspect. Thanks for the video!

Once again, another incredible video and this time with a deep theme of conversation, which is amazing in itself. When you said that we tend to blame others constantly or find excuses to escape the responsibility of our decision, it reminded me of an idiom from my country (🇻🇪) that says "la culpa es de la vaca" which translates into "the blame is on the cow" (this was also turned into a book if you ever want to read it or if there's an English version), and it talks about how the blame is on everything and everyone except ourselves. And also, as someone who lives in a country that was considered (because it is a lie in a way) "a country in development", in recent years our economy is more of a bad joke than what is supposed to be that we have a strange mix of disparity just like in this modern dystopias that you talk about. Here the only difference between someone from an upper class or a lower class is mostly centre around on: " how many food products you can afford" and "how many jobs do you have to buy them", that's it. Here the average people are working at least 3 jobs just to buy food for 1 week. So every time I see these dystopian worlds, especially the ones referenced here, struck me too close to home. I still remember how it wasn't impressive and more like familiar that, for example, Katniss didn't have a shower and had to bath herself with a bucket filled with water because is something that I have done since we can spend 1 or 4 weeks without water in our home. So yeah, hahaha, is not only that it feels exaggerated but more like it is how it is in real life in some countries. Thank you for the video! 💕 (and I hope you can read this comment hehehe) until the next one!

Jayce didn't raid Silco's Shimmer plant in order to help the undercity shed the yoke of a crime lord. He did it in an attempt to remove a threat--a perceived clear and present danger--to Piltover. It was Vi who saw Silco as a cancer on the undercity that needed removing in order to save the undercity, or at least give it a chance to save itself. I think it is a mistake to think of Jayce as having any sort of epiphany with regard to his moral responsibility towards the undercity; his actions were firmly and exclusively focused on Piltover's security, not the undercity's welfare.

I feel this, I feel that I like a lot of people my age get a lot of anger and angst from this pervasive sense of manufactured consent. Growing up our parents were always telling us how gratefull we should be that we're growing in the "best" places in the "best" times and we were lucky that the "best" systems could take down us peacefully down the path pf progress. Yet expecting us to look at all the suffering and poverty in the world and just accept it as the way it is and be gratefull we're not among the less fortunate. Deny that we're clearly exploiting these parts of the world to enjoy our luxuries, and assume that "progress" will solve it all and these things are far too complicated. Instead we should cheer on the systems and institutions that created these imbalances and be gratefull for the ways they benefit us after all how lucky are we that "progress" has worked out for the "best".

A great reflection on this "incidental" inequalities for me is on "Those who walk away from omelas" from Usula K Le Guin. As a social scientist and (most of the time) someone who tries to be hopeful on humanity and on the future, I always think that the best way to take responsibility on our little broken world is through collective action. Don't be afraid of politics and don't be afraid to manifest collective and politically. Every little voice, every little vote matters, I believe that some ppl from our generation sometimes fall in this pessimistic mindset that "there is no way to fix our broken world", but remember, we're a not alone in our fears. Get together and mobilize, talk about fears and hopes with those who are close to you and don't be afraid of politics. We are able to do great things together :)

You are clearly on the correct side of history. Please keep teaching the world these ideas. It’s a marathon folks! Everyone keep going!

I wonder if Arcane is what LoK could have been. Its a picture of what happens when the "harmony" and "balance" is disturbed for the sake of "progress." Pilltover is a technologically advanced utopia, but any sense of culture and tradition and brotherhood has been lost. They aren't dissimilar to the Fire Nation from AtLA, only its almost more sinister because they aren't imposing their utopia through conquest but through ideology and material innovation and "progress."

Arcane is the best show ive seen in a long time, maybe ever. But I never thought of it as dystopic. Because its so true to reality. That says a lot about our reality. Also, the double Consent in Squid Game always seemed to be fundamental to the story, yet so many reviews or essays regarding it never seem to mention it at all. Glad to see this aspect of the show getting the acknowledgement it deserves.

The "manufactured consent" idea is interesting. Ive heard it before, altough i never found it particurly compelling: still good to have a way to say the idea.

15:47 Peter Singer made an interesting thought experiment to convey this sentiment about distance, impact, and bystander effect: Your route to work takes you past a shallow pond. One morning you notice that a small child has fallen in and appears to be in difficulty in the water. The child is crying in distress and it seems is at risk of drowning. You are tall and strong, so you can easily wade in and pull the child out. However, although you'll come to no physical harm if you rescue the child, you will get your clothes wet and muddy, which means you'll have to go home to change, and likely you'll be late for work. Do you have a moral obligation to save the child? Okay, now suppose that there are other people walking past who would equally be able to rescue the child but are not doing so. Does the fact that they are not doing what ought to be done mean that you're no longer obligated to save the child? Do you have a moral obligation to save the child? Let's imagine that there is some uncertainty attached to the situation. You know you're not going to come to any harm if you attempt the rescue, but you can't be sure that your efforts will make any difference to how things turn out. This is partly for the counterfactual reason that if you don't intervene, then it is possible that somebody else will do so, thereby bringing about the same result (i.e., the rescue of the child from the pond); and it is partly because it is possible that by the time you reach the child, it will already be too late. It is important to be clear about the precise situation here. You have good reason to suppose that your intervention will bring about a better outcome than would otherwise be the case, but you can't be sure about it. The question is - does this element of uncertainty mean you're no longer obliged to go ahead with the rescue attempt? Now consider another variation on the basic scenario. It so happens that you cycle to work, and the pond is located in a park where you know a gang of bicycle thieves operates. You don't have time to lock up your bike, and you know that if you leave it, even briefly, to rescue the child, there's a good chance that it'll be stolen. It's a battered old bike, it doesn't hold any particular sentimental value to you, and you can easily replace it. Does the possibility your bike will be stolen while you're saving the child mean you're no longer obliged to go ahead with the rescue? Now let's imagine that this is not the first time you've come across a child strugging in an expanse of water and seemingly at risk of drowning. In fact, only last week on your way home from work you heard cries as you passed by a local reservoir and when you investigated you found that a young boy had fallen in and was struggling to drag himself out. Happily, he was quite near to dry land, so you were able to reach into the water and pull him out, albeit you did ruin your work shirt in the process. Does the fact you saved a child's life last week mean you're not obliged to go ahead with the rescue this week? It's possible that you're not aware that in the United States drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury/death for children aged 1 to 14 years. Does the fact that saving this particular child's life won't contribute towards solving the more general problem of water safety mean that you're not obligated to save the child after all? Finally, would it make any difference if the child were far away, in another country perhaps, but similarly in danger of death, and equally within your means to save, at no great cost - and absolutely no danger - to yourself? (this is taken from www.philosophyexperiments.com/singer/

I'm used to you producing quality videos, but damn this was a cut above!! Engrossing analysis with great points. Left me with a lot to think about.

It is quite funny looking at Zaun in Arcane. After Zeri, who is based deep in Filipino Culture. The parallels of Arcane to the History between The USA and the Philippines are now painfully obvious. The tragedy of it all is that the people here (The Philippines) believe that the wounds are healed but Justice hasn't been served. More of our intellectuals move to America for better prospects. More and more of the kids here are divorced from the culture that brought them to the world. Even more so with people bleaching their skin. We have a term for this now, Colonial Mentality. The feeling of inferiority of one's own culture resulted from colonization. The cultural Hegemony of the USA's ideology is hypocritical just like Piltover. Providing a home for the largest thief in the Philippines whose son is now participating in the Presidential Election. Destroying democracies to crush opposed ideologies. Committing war crimes which only get a single leaf thrown at them. Calling to judge others with the ignorance of the role they played in the world. I am sorry if this is just me but this is dystopian-esque that we all just accepted it as the nature of things and not calling for justice. The Philippines was denied statehood simply because it is majority "Brown" besides being far away. I see a lot of people when I look at Vi's Family. Vanders' value of security and the need to keep the status quo to protect others. Vi's youthful frustrations towards the world who too have to lead others into a better future. Claggers' silent but willing to follow and help the best he could. Milo's distaste for failure and innovation. Powders' creative but progressively degraded mental state who have to deal with harassment for being too different. Where she who also has been molded by Silco, the idealistic madman who caused harm to innocent people. You can go so far as to say Caitlyn is a supporter from the other side. This, if you look closely is very cyclical. An every increasing destructive set of dominoes only calls on the destruction of the Family. I could go on with the minor details of Arcane to support my claims but I honestly doubt anyone would bother reading this. Also, CIA this is simply speculation. I have no power in this system so you don't need to waste any resources on one random person. Edit: spelling

Tim, i always find your content so intellectually stimulating and it helps me both with my worldviews and my own writing. The effort you put into your videos and the quality of production is always high, and I appreciate that. Thanks!

I'm working on a sci-fi audio drama, that takes place BEFORE things go full cyber-punk. What I've found so hard, is figuring out how to manage all the things you've mentioned. This has given me an entire new pov on this. Thank you.

To be honest, I don't think exploitation of people who don't truly have another choice needs to be that far away from us to remain ignorant about it, or even argue to its necessity. I think of Amazon as a prime example. There are entire cities around the world that are completely dependent on the jobs that Amazon provides to them and with no economic mobility those jobs become the only option. They are enduring atrocious working conditions all while people get irritated when something takes more that two days to ship. Having the exploitation be farther away certainly makes it easier to be ignorant of its happening, but so does that exploitation being tied into the foundations of our economies.

Reminds of chidi from the good place, he spent his entire trying to take full responsibility of every decision he made. Thinking about every moral implications his choices have on the world. And yet in doing so, he made his own and others' lives miserable, resulting in him being sent to the bad place. The concept of assigning blame is further explored in season three, when Michael finds about the unintended consequences a good action can have, leading to a negative point total. Thus proving that assigning blame has become way more complicated in today's world.

I think this was your best video yet. I’ve been a fan for years, but the presentation, conciseness, and impact was amazing. Keep it up, we appreciate you.

Damn. Your videos are always worded with precision and care. I truly enjoy hearing you talk about the stories you love and what you learn from them.

distributing responsibility is too hard. I prefer to focus on who needs help, and what needs to be changed. Everyone needs to change, whether they bear any blame or not, to make things better. Responsability is not based on what bad you have done, its based on what good you can do.

Is it dystopia if it reflects the realities of society, rather than it’s fears? Also love your cat in the background xD

thank you for your videos. i dont know how but they keep saving me so thank you. you make the noise in my head less loud and i remember why i have hope, you remind me of a quote about not giving up in the face of all thats wrong and brutal and cruel in the world cause some battles will never be over but that doesnt make them any less worth fighting. i hope youre having a good day, im sending you love from the other end of the world

I haven't watched you in so long, and your quality has become incredible! The core was always great, but this is just so refined now, great job man

I would add to your thought on how easily ignored distant problems are by pointing out that ignoring them is also largely self-destructive. Globalisation led to the west getting lots of cheap goods, immediately followed by wave stagnation as industry left for cheaper places. It's a pattern that has repeated throughout history; slavery for instance is effective at enriching a privileged few whilst also preventing a nation as a whole from developing. By ignoring the problems is the lower city, Piltover was ignoring a valuable resource. How many more revolutionary scientists could have emerged from Zaun if it weren't for the poverty? How much more resources could Piltover have acquired had it, for instance, actually deployed the mining equipment that Jayce had developed? Mechanisation in our world simultaneously improved working conditions AND output. The city of progress was, ultimately, holding back its own progress.

And hextech's not actually clean at all. That's something they haven't touched at all for now in Arcane, where the crystals actually come from, but it's a huge deal..

Your a truly amazing man, I lost this channel from my reccomended a while ago. And then stumbled upon one of your older videos from 2018, when I clicked on your channel to see how you've been doing after 4 years, I decide to click on a video talking about two shows I enjoyed. And ended up with a lesson that will probably stick with me throughout my life. I never noticed any dominio's, because they were in the background. You are amazing and have been on this platform for so long, and every video I watch, even If I get bored, I will still exit out that tab learning something new. Atleast once.

I love the bloopers at the ending there's a sense of comfort in knowing that everything isn't always perfect

Every time I am faced with a conflict of generations, just like the one you present here, a quote from "Catch-22" regarding Nately's girl's younger sister comes up in my mind. "It was a man's world, and she and everyone younger had every right to blame him and everyone older for every unnatural tragedy that befell them; just as she, even in her grief, was to blame for every man-made misery that landed on her kid sister and on all other children behind her."

I'm from a third-world country and you cannot be more correct. People don't realize how much first-world countries and companies based there actually exploit us. For instance, in shoes, they get the rubber from us, underpaid child laborers make the shoes for cheap. The shoes get shipped to the US, then they put the logo. They ship it back here and sell it for an incredibly high price. Furthermore, our country is forced to turn to cheaper yet more questionable ways to "compete" or even "match" the progress of first-world countries. Newer and more renewable energy sources are not cheap either. We cannot afford those as much as first-world nations can. I did not even realize how much that is a huge theme in Arcane that resonates with our nation.

I think this is my favourite video you've done so far. Brilliant work.

I'm glad you're finally taking a look at the show and I really look forward to more potential videos on it about the various characters writing techniques and world building

At the ending, when you mentioned the hiding of the dominoes, I felt a twinge of pride that I had noticed it in one of the earlier scenes. "Look at me, I'm not as blind as other people," my mind told itself. And then I realized how many more I most likely missed. We can sometimes take pride in the fact that we stood up and noticed something wrong, and spoke out about it. That's great, but we also need to realize that it doesn't mean our "good work quota" is complete. There is so much more that we should be seeing, but we can sometimes let our self-congratulating natures leave us blind to the other problems that still need to be addressed.

I'm sad that the YA dystopian phase mad me hate dystopian literature. I didn't give it a chance again until I watched A Clockwork Orange, and I thought, "Hey, that's actually pretty good." In school we had to read YA dystopias because it was popular, and our teachers thought it was so deep and meaningful.

This has got to be one of your best videos. I've watched all of them until now (i really hope i didn't miss any) but this is just a cut above them. Excelent video. Thank you for creating this.

I absolutely loved this episode. Well done. I'll be back after I've pondered on everything here a while. Thank you!

I'd love if you could all keep telling me about how you saw the dominoes the whole time over at my patreon because things cost money www.patreon.com/hellofutureme

This question reminds me of the fact that the Spanish audiobooks of the way of kings and words of radiance are tagged as dystopias.

This is one of your best videos you have ever made in my opinion. That ending gave me chills.

I like the way you executed that video. Most of the time I felt like I'm siting with one of my friends and ranting about the society. Good job it was heartfelt!

Part of the problem is that an individual you have little to no influence on the system. And are often dependent on it. Like I could chose not to own a phone to negate all the terrible work ethics that come with it. But that would also put me in some amount of social isolation in todays society. I have already experienced this first hand when I still had an old flip phone when most other people owned a smartphone. So at least it feels like I need to own a phone to be able to stay in touch with people. But when buying a phone it is not easy to see which phone is best to at least minimize the negative impacts from buying a phone. It requires a lot of research, and then extrapolate that to everything that one needs to buy to one extend or another. And that is assuming there is even good information available, because businesses don't like to brag about their bad labor conditions. And even if you find the best possible option, it is likely to be more expensive that other lest humane options. Money that you could spent on other much needed things. Sure some people have enough money that it is barely a dent, but a lot of people just cant afford to buy what is morally better over what is cheap.

Squid Game and Arcane were my two favourite shows of 2021, and this analysis of them is just *chef's kiss* sublime.

Long time cyberpunk fan. I gotta say my favorite pieces of dystopian art center the human condition in a way that inspires me to continue caring about the things we typically keep out of sight and out of mind. It is very easy to get overwhelmed by everything happening in the world but we can not realistically change everything in the world anyways. I urge folks to start on something, be it local or a cause that moves you deeply... and keep going. Societal commentary is tricky to portray, but to me good media doesn't just make a statement- it inspires is what I'm saying.

I came here for writing stuff but was VERY HAPPILY enlightened by your talks on responsibility and the connection from classes, distances, etc. It is something I always knew but never connected the two sides and is VERY interesting, I'm at 19:30 but had to comment these thoughts now. To be specific its my own small self against the other but also the big business person against me, those connections.

The moment you mentioned the distance between the USA vs. The Philippines... That just struck a cord to me since I work for a U.S. based financial company whose clients reap the benefits of the Filipino labor force but the difference in compensation between U.S. employees vs. Filipino employees is just heart breaking. And don't get me started on the whole Customer service situation (I'm looking at you "Karen").

"People in other countries have to resort to other ways to do the same as us" Me: remembering how I couldn't buy games, because they weren't available at all where I lived, then there where a few ones, very few, so, the only way to really play anything was piracy and emulation, I remember when with my brother we figure how to have 2 instances of vba running and we played kirby's mirror labyrinth, how we had to play in the same keyboard, it was very fun, I remember it fondly. Most people didn't had to go out of their way just to be able to play a game with their sibling, we did. Another example was Unreal tournament 2004, we bought that game, after install the disc had to be in the CD tray to start, when we had a second pc and could play we had a hard time because of that, but we were able to play. There are a lot of time we had to go out of our way just to be able to play a game, and now I have like 500 games on steam. I have played most of them, not finished all. But I don't have to go out of my way just to play a game with my brother anymore.

Amazing video. You articulated all of the themes that are actually in the book I am writing. I had vague ideas of the plot and character arcs, but this really helped.

What a great video! I literally felt it in my heart!

The ending felt so heartbreakingly hopeful…It’s already happening but maybe we can stop some of it

A lot of the references to "other countries" kinda get me because... odds are rather few people watching this has to look all that far. I live in a beautiful affluent city in a country that's generally very modern, progressive, has healthcare, labour codes, etc... but there's those parts of town, the really old section of downtown tucked just out of sight of the popular tourist spots and business areas... "Out of sight, out of mind" is a frighteningly powerful and pervasive part of the human psychology. Right there along with NIMBY.... ---- That said... the "I've been hiding dominos in the background this whole time" thing works just fine even if you've been spending half the video wondering what's up with the dominos

HFM, I appreciate your video essay making skills on this one. So much meaning, so much density, and its very coherent. I'd call this your magnum opus but i havent seen enough of your videos haha. in my eyes you perfected video essaying :)

One of your absolute best so far Tim!! Wow

For me, I kinda feel perpetually guilty just by being alive. I can do all the little things that we get told help make things the tiniest bit better but the lack of power I have to generate an impact against the actual system just makes them feel pointless, especially when those that do have the power to improve things only keep the shitty cycle going. I am still hopeful for positive change though, that I can help build support with enough people that we get to have a chance at building a better world. Even if climate change has ravaged the planet to a worsened state by then, there's always hope for people to come together and decide on a kinder, fairer path. Without hope, change never happens. Videos that discuss all these dilemmas are certainly one vital way for cultivating a way towards change!

Thank you for this. I've been trying to tell people in the rich western world: we are the first district. We are as over the top and occupied with nonsense as they appear to us. Of course there is more nuance there like beautuifully shown in squid game. But if you indulge in fast fashion just to throw the rags away after a year, you are willingly participating in more current and future human suffering, than would be necessary.

I’ve been looking forward to this video since the poll!!

This was BEAUTIFULLY written! So insightful and thought-provoking!

As someone on the other end of the supply chain, frustration and helplessness is common when we realise how the world looks to those on the opposite side. We'd like to be oblivious to the pain of knowledge too but for most of us, the power to turn away doesn't rest with us. I've watched Tim and the community grow for years now and am proud of it especially with the charity streams and stories from Tim's work with helplines. They've made an impact in the real world. But having access to such a helpline and local community itself a first world privilege not reaching the other end of the rope. Squid game was big in my country too upon release but i surmise the reason and experience was a lot different here.

“There are things you are never going to notice, like the dominos in the background” Me who’s been staring at them throughout the video:”so about that”

Fitting that I think your best video essay comes for the best animated television show... maybe ever. And as a die hard avatar fan, and as a long-time fan of your content, both of those statements mean a lot. Great work.

wow i loved this video so much!! you are such an eloquent speaker !

Fuck, Tim talking about the intricacies of heavy topics through the lens of Arcane AND throwing in a Magic card? A green one nonetheless? Was this episode tailor made for me?

"And stick with me, because I'm gonna say it anyway. This is what you're here for. You're stuck with me on a beautiful ride. It's gonna be lovely. At the end of World War II..." That build up killed me. Thank you. Loving the exhausted, chaotic energy through the whole video as you unpack everything.

I’m so glad I found this channel. These videos scratch that part of my brain that makes me sit and think and question myself and my morality. Also makes for interesting journal entries.

Really well done dissection of the social intrigues of real life an fiction :) always a joy to listen to you

14:08 Your point about countries exporting their environmental costs reminds me of a 2016 sci-fi Indonesian novel by Tere Liye titled "Hujan" (TL: Rain) which is a disaster plot about climate change and a long-distance age gap romance in the midst of it. Spoiler alert but I don't think there's an english translation anyway so... (Minor spoilers) In the story, after natural disasters have struck the world, the inevitability of climate change got into the heads of the populace, demanding their governments to launch an experimental liquid that affects their country's atmosphere to reduce the temperature. However, with time, it was discovered that the surrounding countries who had not launch this solution into their clouds had a dramatic shift in temperature. Tropical countries all of the sudden began snowing and no one could do a thing about it. Eventually, even the main protagonist's home country started riots to launch their own solutions into the clouds. (Major ending spoilers) The novel ends with global temperatures dramatically rising once more, all over the world, and no solution can fix it because every country contributed to this new problem. The last thing humanity can do is launch a ship into space filled with people randomly chosen by lottery and the MC marries her lover in a doomed Earth under the unbearable heat, knowing that they both will eventually perish. It's meant to be a happy ending but the author expertly crafted the context in such a way to punch the readers in the gut.

I saw the dominos the whole time and I was annoyed by them, but I was powerless to stop them. And I thought maybe, if I watch to the end, the mess of dominos will resolve itself - and we won't just spiral into a sea of bones.

Excellent video, I really enjoyed it. I also appreciate how much time it took you to make your domino analogy into such an effective metaphor with your blooper reel lol.

22:30 I liked the comparison of hextech and shimmer to real world, however hextech is not a clean version of shimmer lore wise, although the backgrounds havent been explained within arcane they are basically using the souls of a different magic race as magical fuel. (while this does change the notion of the argument you were making at this point I think it solidifies it in another sense as most of our "solutions" seem reasonable but have other wider reaching if not less noticeable impacts elsewhere.