The Imposters: A Hostile Takeover Of Popular Culture (Part 1: Early Ramblings) 

At first, I almost thought it was tragic that George Lucas lived long enough to see this happen to Star Wars. Then I remembered that he voted to stay the course at Disney at the last annual shareholder meeting.

It's no longer about entertainment, it's eductainment The first presumption is that the ignorant unwashed masses need to be taught right from wrong in the first place. The second presumption is that it's the role of these enlightened entities to do so, because they know the truth of things (and it's not up for debate bigot). The end result is these mandated beige asinine design by committee identikit series that almost all ultimately flounder. The telltale giveaway is that more often than not the messaging they are attempting to impart are often dictated to the audience through explanation or exposition versus shown through cause and effect.

In the punk rock scene, we call them “posers.”

It’s not inclusion though. It’s painted like that, but it’s in fact exclusionary. Regarding propaganda, you’re absolutely right. That’s the focus, rather than on characterization and story and world building. I wonder that there isn’t a simple formula for resolving this in the creation process: if the gender or race of the characters can be changed and the result is abruptly cringe instead of ‘inclusionary’? Then it isn’t good writing. If the IP is removed from the writing, and the result lacks any appeal on its own merits? Then it isn’t good writing.

If the only way that you can relate to the plight of a character is by having the character looking, "Like you," that is called narcissism. Having said that (and as a Venezuelan), yes, it is nice to have a character like Cassian Andor played by Diego Luna. But the fact of the matter is that Diego Luna's ethnicity was not plastered all over the place, or made out a big thing in Rogue One or Andor. It was just an incidental fact. To put it quite simply: They have prioritized politics (in this case, identity politics) over the story. And the results are in plain view. They are the only ones to blame for this mess.

I appreciate the article you wrote in Forbes about episode 3 of this show, as well as the RU-vid videos you've made surrounding the show and these topics in general. Your ability to be balanced when talking about these things is much appreciated, when so many people on RU-vid have gone the road of being as dramatic as they possibly can to farm the algorithm. The thing I can't wrap my head around is, how and why is this stuff still getting produced? We have countless examples of big IPs shoehorning too much activism and disrespecting the source material, and it ends in sales/viewership numbers not meeting expectations. It's unbelievable to me, to think the people making the decisions on what gets produced, are so disconnected with what people enjoy consuming.

I find it incredibility stunning and brave they put somebody's masturbation mantra in a Star Wars show 🤣

It’s like one of my acting teachers used to say “If you want me to care, you have to give me reasons to care, and not simply tell me that I’m supposed to care.” I think you nailed it, if the storytelling is good, I never find myself thinking about a character’s race or sexuality, I’m already invested in their story.

Well said. My growing frustration with this new trend of storytelling has really turned me away from lots of shows and movies that promise interesting ideas but fall very short in execution.

Also, explain to me why Acolyte had a 91% approval rating (now 85%) on Rotten Tomatoes. Who are these critics? It reminds me of war journalists during the Iraq War who sold their credibility for "access" and reported only what they were allowed to report. There is no F'ing way that professional critics look at this drivel and think it's good.

First time watcher. Just gonna say its hilarious your background is colored like the Simpsons. Yellow for their skin, blue for Marge's hair, pink for Homer's Donut.

Propagandists see the arts only as a vehicle to a) spread their dogma, and b) show the whole world (and their peers especially) how virtuous they are. They may enjoy the surface aesthetics of certain art, but have either no interest in the root of the identity of the work, or secretly despise it. The expression of core human truths, something which is central in so many great stories, ESPECIALLY Star Wars, is mocked by the Leslies of the world. Regarding your point about gatekeeping, I think a better term to use would be SELF-POLICING. Fans of any franchise should have both the backbone to enforce basic values for the purposes of protecting the integrity and identity of said franchise (don't join the hobby with the intent to change it etc.), aka self-policing, while still having the restraint to make sure the values aren't too absurd.

Star Wars is gross but it's nothing compared to what Paramount did to Star Trek. Talk about imposters. The writers for Star Trek: Picard either never bothered to watch TNG or other classic shows OR their objective was precisely to destroy the core values of the franchise.

Great video Erik! Delivering a message, well intentioned or not, is really not that hard. Anyone can do it, you just have to say what you mean. What isn't easy though is getting people to care about what you have to say. I think that's what a lot of these so-called impostors fail to grasp. You still ultimately need to have a well-crafted story that engages the audience and intrigues them enough to want to explore your themes and messages. From what I've seen, many modern writers, showrunners, and filmmakers seem to feel that just because they're broadcasting an important or well-meaning message they are entitled to praise and success. You're right, that's not art but propaganda.

Mjtanner did a video calling it spite media. It's not that they add politics and diversity it's that they do it in a spiteful way. And sometimes these spiteful attacks target the fan base itself.

"It is the story, not (those) who tell it." This quote from a Stephen King novella (The Breathing Method, I think) describes the problem perfectly. The "imposters" that you described are putting themselves first ahead of the story. One of the best things about science fiction is that, when done properly, a message can be incorporated into the plot without impacting the quality of the story. For example, Star Trek had a number of episodes that had progressive messages for its time but those messages were more subtle and part of a well written and entertaining story. Great video!!!

I think you really nailed it here: the distinction between propagandists and entertainers I wish Disney and the plethora of other propagandists would take a lesson from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. They are masters of presenting characters that the audience roots for and utilizing that connection to tell stories that have political themes. My favorite among them is Nausicaa, who is a young woman that can be considered "strong" but she is more than an accomplished fighter. She is clever, determined, and empathetic. She is born to rule, but she accepts the burden of leadership nobly instead of barking orders. She spends the majority of the movie trying to get people to stop the senseless violence and destruction. She cries when she sees cruelty. Her people love her so much that they weep when she's force to leave her home, and they rejoice when she returns. Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke likewise spends much of that movie encouraging people to put aside violence, even when people laugh in his face or threaten him with violence. And there's also Chihiro, who begins as a selfish child but finds strength in humility and helping others. As for Tolkien, he's often criticized for focusing on male heroes who wield swords to battle. But his works are filled with strong women who take power in other forms. And if that's not good enough, he wrote Eowyn, who defied an undead king of malice to defend her uncle who lay dying. To this day that passage makes the hair on my arms stand up, and I read it every few weeks or so. But the larger point is not the defense of old works because they are always OF THEIR TIME. Tolkien wrote primarily according to his faith to his creation, and secondarily for a white male audience. Yet if representation is so important, how is it that I, a latino born in S. America 60yrs later, find so much to relate to in his works? Should I ignore Homer's Odyssey because it doesn't address issues pertinent to urban hispanic culture? Is the Handmaid's Tale worthless to me because it doesn't feature a male protagonist who's interested in baseball and anime? To make another example, the Rings of Power failed miserable but not because it made Galadriel the central character and a strong female character. It failed because it doesn't understand what a strong character is. If you watch that show it becomes obvious that it's written from the perspective of a spoiled child whose conception of authority is their parents handing out rules. "Because I said so" but it never gets past that to the point of "oh my god I'm so glad my parents kept me from touching a hot stove or running into the street before I understood the danger." Not to mention, of course, that this is also NOT how Tolkien wrote Galadriel at all

I FINALLY wrapped up Season 4 of Castlevania on Netflix and watching it i was thinking "Why arent there more characters like Syhpa?" Like she is legit the power house of the group - but her femininity and grace is embraced. That doesn't make her any weaker, or viewed as a "lesser than" when comparing her to Belmont or Alucard. There are so many well written females, but in so many instances lately, it's in animation material - Vii & Jinx are other perfect examples in Arcane.

Thanks Erik. As a leftwing Gen Xer who can't abide either the "woke" or "based" agendas, I really appreciate your sane, sensible perspective.

Well said. Thank you for your contribution to this conversation.

I barely ever sub but you got mine. But this was one of the most thought out videos that painted the problem in clear unbiased terms. We need more people like this if this charade is ever going to slow down.

You're one of the few pop culture commentators I find who can incorporate your own view in a way that seems authentic and well-balanced. I long ago stopped following publications and just followed specific writers like Thomas Frank, Matt Taibbi, Julia Ioffe, Anne Applebaum and yourself. Thanks for the vid and getting beyond the buzz words.

Ive been thinking about something realted lately - Lucas at 30 was the perfect teller of a post vietnam story, senses of light side people party freedom vs. dark side militarism. Lucas at 50 was the wrong person to tell another star wars story - he had become a near billionaire business dude and the prequels showed an obsession with disfunctional government and japanese trade dominance. His bad creative calculations most obvious having han solo stomp on jabbas tail, all concern for dumb visuals and no concern for making his big bad look silly. Until tv made everything everywhere all at once, writers and painters could build a world (faulkner, dickens, tolkein, lloyd alexander) without distraction - now, the mountain of branding and messaging following us everywhere doesnt leave much room, and someone like headland, weinsteins acolyte (he also had no clue, ruined anything he put.more than money into) has no chance.

The problem with the culture war in America is that the 2 parties both serve the same masters and basic purpose: they serve big money interests and crony capitalists. So the only way they can differentiate from the other is in certain social issues like racism, LGBTQ+ issues, personal freedoms etc and every minor issue is elevated into a major one on every opportunity, cause that what the battlefield has to be, so that it isn't anything that has to do with class or wealth

I feel like it’s become way more confortable to double down on identity politics than to claim "eat the rich". As for Andor, a little thing made me enjoy it even more : there’s a working class depicted in it, it looks real (even though it’s in a Star Wars show!), and it’s not something to be seen everyday in shows from the US. At a time I believed Gilroy to be british cause there were a few moments where Andor felt a bit like "Brassed Off" and other movies of this kind.

In my view the upper class is far more cynical, I believe identity politics is used to divide and conquer, keep you from uniting under class because that scares them shitless.

It''s also important to realize that these woke fanatics simply do not use our standards to determine quality. When we judge a work on its merits, we look at plot, characters, setup and payoff, consistency, worldbuilding, et cetera. But to these people, "quality" literally is nothing more than the degree to which a work supports the message they want to propagate. The bare fact that the main character in this series has two mothers is what makes it a good series to them. They do not bother to create good characters or a consistent plot because they genuinely don't consider that to have any value. I really believe that these people can look at the Acolyte and then at Empire Strikes Back, and not see any difference in quality other than that the Acolyte would be an improvement because of its diverse cast. And because "diversity" is the sole measuring stick THEY use to determine quality, they automatically assume everyone else ALSO judges a work based purely on that. So whenever someone has a negative opinion on a diverse show, that can only mean that person hates people of color, and every criticism that person voices is really just a shield to hide his bigotry, and can be ignored.

Thank you for eloquently describing how we feel when we see art focusing on a message instead of a story. It’s so obvious when it’s happening but it’s difficult to describe for many of us. And yeah, wow, Rings of Power was so so disappointing. Poor writing and they made Galadriel into an arrogant child. I didn’t care about or like a single character in that show. I’m going to rewatch lotr trilogy for the thousandth time soon.

Spot on! Build this channel up to be a viable income and platform for yourself. A guy with a name of a viking and who actually looks like a viking with swords in his back drop and who pushes against these imposters no matter how nuanced and objectively sound his argument may be, could get asked to leave a mainstream publication like forbes!

We saw this start in comics whereby you had these new creators or tourists or imposters or whatever, come into the arena with this idea they were owed something and that someone had to be deplatformed or brought down in order for them to gain power, and the only way they could do this was by destroying what had come before and riding the coat tails of things that were already established because they had no talent to speak of. They lacked the ability to create anything so they simple repurposed things that were already successful and already made money and just forced their own propaganda or message or whatever into the mold that already existed. And if you know anything, that didnt turn out great. So they start forcing their way into other spaces like tv and movies, and we are seeing the same playbook all over again. They come in wielding this stick to bludgeon everyone with and a playbook that simply started out by calling people misogynist so they could shutdown the conversation and get their way. When that wore a bit thin they started pulling the recism card and the homophobe card and all these other now tried and true tactics for shutting conversation or critique down. Within the last few years they started using a newer tactic whereby they poison the well prior to something being released so they can then say when they get the slightest bit of pushback "I told you so, its the racists! Its the incels! Its the gay haters!". They dont want to create anything because they cant, and we see it so clearly with every new disney release that they are incapable of making anything of any value. If they had a deft hand like Tony Gilroy and could make these things seem natural nobody would care, but they are so concerned with pushing that message that they cant see past their own noses. Ive talked about this shit for years on various casts and whatnot and they story is still the same, use shutdown terms to silence critique and never admit you did anything wrong because that undercuts their message which is the most important thing, ,much more than having talent and creating something with value. I love inclusion and new ideas, but like you said, when they arent naturally evolving as part of the story they just end up being a fucking blazing red blinking neon sign that is constantly beating you over the head and preaching at you, and nobody wants that. I honestly think theyve created more enemies out of people who would otherwise be on their side, Im a prime example of that. Im super lib, super progressive and meet all sorts of checkmarks on their scales but I cant stand these fucking morons. They lack talent and they are ruining things that could otherwise have value. They devalue everything they touch.

lot of great points here. I was also broken by the prequel trilogy as a teen but have come to agree with Topher Grace that the bones of a great film are in there, it just got bungled. Watching the single-film fan edits on youtube totally changed my POV on PT. There is still great (or at least, fun) new Star Wars content in the comics. Charles Soule's Vader series was fantastic and his Qi'ra series was really enjoyable - War of the Bounty hunters (standalone), Crimson Reign and Hidden Empire.

So I sought you out due to your Forbes article. You're one of the few good ones left. Your video covers my thoughts exactly. Keep up the good work, bro!

Y'know it'd be one thing if a lot of these franchises were just bad writing and fell apart because they were plain bad, whatever. I think the most disheartening thing is that even people who critiqued so much of the last few years and didn't even involve politics in their reasoning whatsoever still called every word for a bigot and horrible person under the sun. Sucks to know that not liking something I grew up enjoying anymore because it got goofy and cynical means I've just been a hateful piece of shit the entire time, sure feels good ever giving it any of my money now. Love the video by the way! One of the more level-headed approaches I've seen on the subject.

The Expanse was another show that was diverse, but seamlessly so, and was completely amazing.

A good counter to this is Disco Elysium. It wears it's politics on it's sleeve, neck and belt buckle. But the writing in it is so good, sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes riotously funny, that it doesn't matter.

Erik- I've only come to know you and your name very recently, but I've already grown a lot of respect for you. This video is incredibly important. There is this never-ending rhetoric used by the people of this club (or cult?) in which anyone with even a tiny amount of criticism of this club or their work is blatantly called a conservative or a bigot. Either or because it seems those words, in their perspective, are interchangeable. They use those labels in immature name-calling at their critics as a means of both self excusing their self-righteous behavior/belief (Which they ignorantly and domatically believe to be the only true morally correct way), while also using it as a one word tool to simply write off any words that fight back. Once upon a time I used to consider myself a liberal. I definitely do not align with the values on the right side of the political spectrum, but like you, I very much do not identify with the beliefs of these people who seem to have co-opted the left. Don't get me wrong here, I definitely do not believe it is okay to paint anyone conservative as a bigot, but I also think it is important not to let them get away with thinking it is only the far side of the political spectrum who are absolutely fed up with this bullshit. That is to say- even if their speed-dial excuse is immoral to begin with (being on the right does not make you a biggot), it is still important to make clear that this excuse is only standing on a completely false assumption to begin with, namely that their critics are only on the right.

one of the last honest msm reviewers... I can see 1000 ways to make the witches choir scene better. They took all the wrong decisions.

Should be upvoted more. Is a really balanced opinion and sums the modern movies problems up nicely.

What a great take Erik. Thanks for keeping it real - it makes me feel legitimately insane when I see shows like this and Rings of Power get the pass from critics, whether that be from politics or payoffs. They're terrible, but only on the basis of being poorly written, plotted and executed, and I appreciate you shining a light on those aspects specifically.

I wouldn't pay to see any of the SW movies, including the original trilogy. But I am a fan of SW video games and books. There is a wealth of creative writers who pen great SW stories. It seems almost deliberate that Disney has never made use of all that talent and experience.

a perfect video, thank you for articulating the issue so eliquently. I watched the first episode of the acolyte and was like THIS IS GOING TO WASTE MY TIME I NEED TO STOP NOW. It was the same exact feeling i had with night country. But I'm happy I've learned my lesson. I believe in the concept of equal representation but when all of the characters are written to have the same morally complex plank of wood personality, and they hit these absurd story beats that are very convienant for the plot; I know that it's going to be a stinker of a show.

Nail on the head dude. Just subscribed and smashed like. Looking forward for more content

Very true. Btw I just loved your article the other day claiming that the new “Bronwyn” in RoP is Sauron 😂

So spot on here. Erik! Identity/race/cultural relations were on a steady positive path for some time. Yes, I'm not part of a marginalized group, so easy for ME to say, but it is still true. Since Orange Man and especially after G0erge Floyd, the "old" (sensible) left gave ground to it's counter-productive fringe to take more of the reigns. Regarding the "current message": MESSAGE RECEIVED- MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! In other news - fire is hot! Don't touch fire! Spread the news! Shout from every platform as often as possible! FIRE HOT!

The Shakespeare witches can be really creepy, if done right - even the Coen dude's latest adaptation was pretty cool, with a single, crow-like witch with three reflections. But this SW version is more like new-age, yoga-practicing 'witches'. That clip was so cringy. My thing is, there've always been creatives who have wild political ideas who I love. I think I've read just about everything Alan Moore has written, and he is (claims to be, anyway) an anarchist - the writer Nic Pizzolatto (of True Detective fame) seems to have built upon some of Moore's ideas. Robert Heinlein is known as a more conservative writer (although, I think people take him wrong, so that's debatable), but without Starship Troopers you might not have things like Warhammer 40k or even the space marines from Cameron's Aliens. Writers build on what's come before, and I feel like the creatives now aren't making things for future creatives to build on - they more so seem to be trying to tear down what has come before - killing the past, in other words, as if you can actually accomplish that without the past coming back to bite you in the butt.

Beautifully said!! Story quality always need to come first. It’s not about you, it’s about the story

Erik stop being so reasonable.

I really do appreciate the discernment and intelligent thought here. Your thoughtful take on this issue is so on point. Thank you! I really admire your honesty and candor. Thank you!

Nice measured perspective! Star Wars fans, and most sci-fi fans, have always leaned liberal. This is not the audience that needs preaching to, it's an audience that needs to be honored! I've always liked the more progressive and inclusive direction Star Wars/sci-fi has always taken. But, this new D.E.I. directive is a 2-fold problem (at minimum). 1) They are prioritizing D.E.I. over talent in hiring management and creators. They've stated as much, and it shows in their products. 2) It's actually hippocritical, in that D.E.I. actually means Divide, Exclude, and Indoctrinate. It has literally become a bigoted policy against straights/whites/males. And the Acolyte is showing this truth very clearly!

Love your takes. We need more like you to save entertainment. Subbed.

The thing is the Witches of Dathomir are already a thing and were done far better, even in Ashoka, than what I am seeing in Acolyte.

I wonder if identitarians realize the damage they are doing to actual left wing ideas, if they even care. Separating people into categories and purity testing has completely distracted us from talking about universal health care and workers rights, which have basically vanished from the national conversation in the US.

"Lack of content from Lucas" - that was maybe not a bad thing. Star Wars was special. Also Lucas tried doing a TV show but it was deemed to expensive. Streaming made the current Star Wars shows possible. "Propaganda is never good." - There are some amazing movies people would consider overtly political or propaganda. Stuff like Eisenstein or even "Battle of Algiers" - which heavily influenced Andor. Ironically I think a line form that recent Acolyte episodes describes the situation best:"It's not about the light side or the dark side but about power and who's allowed to use it."

When I was growing up in the 80's Eddie Murphy was one of the biggest stars in film and no one cared he was black. Now it seems like you have to choose a side or your demonized. Like you said, just give us some good content. No need to club us over the head with your personal viewpoints. Arcane had a lesbian (or Bi?) character but it was so organic it didn't feel forced. It just kinda happened and wasn't THE focal point. Imma geezer (59), so maybe I'm just nostalgic.

100% Erik. Thanks for bringing a balance to the Force. Have to admit I watch Nerdrotic, Drinker etc. but I feel uncomfortable with the Donald part of the spectrum. But they are entertaining which is more I can say for Disney Star Wars and Rings of Power. So yeah thankyou for your alt- left perspective. So sick of the corporate and elitist identity political propaganda. Bring back good story telling, creativity and natural inclusion.

Well said. I'm old enough to remember art, and I miss it. Mostly watch old movies and shows on RU-vid and dvd.

Nice name! I grew up in an age where you didn't judge people by how they looked or their orientation, but their character. This kind of crowd are preaching the exact opposite. I appreciated this video and can't agree with you more on these "imposters".

Well spoken. As an alt-lib/left I'm going to refer to your language to explain myself to anyone that cares. Live in a super liberal city. Its really confusing these days. Well to do city dwellers focusing on things for clout, but there are more pressing issues.

Erik Kain You may know by now that Ryan Kinel gave you a shoutout in his ‘The Acolyte Episode 3 BACKLASH’ video. You know, I’m glad I’m not a reviewer of films & television, as there is way more piss poor content than decent to good to excellent content. That would wear on me.

Excellent video. 🎯

Second video I watched that I agreed with you 100%. Subbed 👍🏾

Keep up the good work!

Wow, a journalist that isn't a shill abd actually well thought out points without denigrating the audience. Respect.

Keep it up Erik! 👍 Even one of the conservative-leaning channels I sometimes watch (Midnight Edge) gave a shout out to your Acolyte review. Being left-leaning myself I enjoy your vids more lol

Good points! IMO people like Clint Eastwood make good conservative films because hes actually an artist and puts the work first

Given some of the subjects you've touched upon in this video, here is a centrist point-of-view: Verisimilitude is the only thing that matters when it comes to storytelling, regardless of the medium. The leftist hyper-fixation on gender and race for inclusion reasons stifles creativity and prevents people from telling stories in specific settings, due to them not being inclusive enough. It is okay to make content that only has one type of ethnicity in it, if it makes sense story-wise. Moana, as an example, is not diverse at all and no normal human being, regardless of what they look like, cares about it not being diverse.

Love this

Good ramblings, thx!

They are tryna turn the world into high school again. HELL NO

I also consider myself left-leaning, but damn if it isn't hard sometimes with all the biased shit churned out by left-wing media. Then I remember that most right-wing media is just as biased. I remember you from the GG days as one of the few trying to stay more objective, didn't realize you had a RU-vid channel until recently, after checking out that recent Forbes article about The Acolyte. Keep up the good work!

I really liked this. I am in a similar position, politically, and tired of the IDPOL bs. Art as propaganda is what I've been calling the 'Christian Rock Problem' for years.

Preach! I'm a libertarian/objectivist, so I fall in the cracks when it comes to 'religiosity'. (I'm not.) I AM in favor of capitalism in its pure form which is 100% voluntary with no advantages to one party over another. What you just articulated is so spot on for most of us it isn't funny. Drinker nailed the term 'the message' because it fits and is an objective truth. It is blatantly obvious to anyone NOT inside of their bubble. I hate that crap no matter which side of the fence it is coming from. Imposters = Inmates running the Asylum. 🏆to you for speaking out

Too many placeholders in entertainment. People holding positions for every reason apart from actual merit. It's a curious thing that those most obsessed with ideological self-inserts into entertainment are also the ones with the least talent. In the case of The Acoblight clearly no talent at all. Dreadful stuff. I think ep3 could well be the straw that broke the camels back for Lucasfilm. I certainly hope so, I don't think I've seen pushback like this before, not even for Rings of Power.

The craziest part to me is just how long all this has lasted despite being clearly unprofitable and poorly received. There's gotta be some serious power & money behind this movement keeping it afloat.

FIRE🖤

As a writer, if I start agreeing 100% with any of my characters, I know I'm in trouble of writing propaganda instead of a story. I write to explore other worlds and other lives and tell entertaining stories. If I wanted to write about my own political views, I would write non-fiction.

i don't consider myself a star wars fan. i'm pretty old, saw the first three movies in the theater as a kid when they came out. i really enjoyed them, but i never owned star wars toys, didn't have the poster or anything like that. they were just big summer movies and back then you always saw the big summer movies. so i feel like my perspective is a little different than a lot of people, and from that perspective i don't think you're right about disney wanting to ignore older star wars. it seems like they went out of their way to kill it, and not in a nice way. what they did to luke was just mean... and nasty, like they were trying to hurt fans that loved that character. seriously... luke, the kid so good and hopeful that he didn't give up on darth vadar turns around and tries to kill the child of his best friend and his sister... in his sleep? no. that's just a shitty way to treat that character and the old fans. they weren't much better to han and you have to ask yourself why? i can totally understand wanting to distance themselves from lucas. how do you recast those characters? instead they could've just had stan lee-like cameos of them and everyone would've been happy. i remember one of the superman movies had the actress that played lois lane on the television show be a passager in a train that young clark kent raced. the scene might have been a minute long, but it was nice- and sweet. i kind nod to the older fans that didn't get in the way of they telling the story they wanted to tell. disney could've done similar things with the old guard and no one would've complained, instead it seems to me that they went out of their way to be adversarial with them.

I think we do need to worry about it, because the takeaway for the studio execs will be, "We don't need to hire good writers. We just need to make it clear that a show is for a specific tribe, and everyone in that tribe will accept any number of plot holes and bad characterization." This is true whether we're talking about so-called woke or Christian faith movies; ideology leads to bad/lazy writing.

Erik is really onto something here. It is an attractive overarching theme explaining the failure of modern popular culture. However I don't think he needs continually to encase his opinions with protestations about what a leftish and tolerant guy he really is. Just say what needs saying. Erik is one of the straightest shooters out there. Anyone who thinks otherwise frankly approaches what he says in bad faith.

DEI money has completely skewed the market. Our 401k contributions are being directed by hedge managers to fund things that do not sell or have actual fans.

One! One terrible show! Ah Ah Ah!

I think more people need to be talking directly about this as attempted indoctrination. Lots of complaining and blaming bad writing and selfish, self-indulgent creators, but when it’s infesting most of entertainment, movies, tv shows, videos games and the like, it’s no longer a happy accident. There’s more going on beneath the surface here.

good vid!

This happens with every once-niche commodity that becomes popular (in the present context, sci-fi / fantasy and nerd culture in general is the once-niche commodity). Forces with money come and try to leverage the once-niche commodity to make money, but because they don’t understand it, they wind up trashing it. People seem to be making this out to be more than it is in the context of Disney. But it’s the same idiots-with-money-but-not-talent dynamic we have seen before and we will see again.

It is disappointing that political conservatives can never seem to create new art that is good. Perhaps the overall viewpoint is a little antithetical…preserving the past vs creating new interesting visions of where we should go. Also the edges of a political side tend to get very black and white in their thinking, and interesting art tends to explore the gray areas of the things society takes for granted. I’m guessing not, but I was curious if you happened to catch any of The Chosen (about Jesus and the Apostles). I always avoid religious shows and movies because they are so badly done. But when I finally got around the watching the first season, I thought it was a rare show that I thought had interesting (and not predictable viewpoints) in many episodes, as well as genuinely entertaining ensemble of interesting characters. It’s into the fourth season so it’s starting to feel a bit repetitive. I kind of wish they had done it in 3 seasons, maybe 4 max, instead of the 7 they are going for. But I thought it was an interesting exception to the rule that anything more socially-conservative in its roots is really awful storytelling.

I don’t understand how companies with such powerful analytics determine that hiring nobody directors who have never led a project before, or intentionally antagonising their fanbases is going to make them money. It’s so patently obviously that they’re failing but they just relentlessly continue down this path of failure. Why? WHY? Where is the logic? What is the gain? It leads to thinking of wild theories like Disney wanting to intentionally shrink its value without admitting it for acquisition purposes.

Erik, 1. Perhaps another way to say it is that "Imposters" are fans... just not fans of Star Wars, Dr Who, etc. They're fans of their "-isms," using these various properties the way propogandists in the past used music, architecture and whatnot to push this or that ideology. 2. A related point: A big difference between them and Gay Lib and that Gay Lib was seeking something that resonates with most "normies," REGARDLESS of whatever they personally felt about homosexuality: Equality under the law, fellowship based on common humanity, etc. There is a world of difference between that vs Woke dogmas such as declaring that Trans woman and females are - or should be - interchangeable in all legal and social settings. Or that all cops are bad. Or all White people are. Or that some 7 yr old is "non-binary." Or that not just similar, but IDENTICAL conduct is either good or bad depending on whether a 'victim' or 'oppressor' is doing it. This is crazy talk, even to classically-Progressive folks. The Woke know this, of course, which is why their entire rhetoric is based on silencing insults (Racist! Transphobe! etc.) or working behind the scenes in politics and media. The Woke *cannot* do what Gay Lib did by appealing to widely-shared common values because they know the more honest they are, the worse they sound. (To be clear, the Right-ward loons are the same way: they have to speak in code about "law and order," "the family" etc because they dare not openly discuss what they have in mind.)

Consider watching some of Angel Studios’ stuff. Especially the Chosen. “Conservative” studio but some decent quality productions. Especially The Chosen

we love erik kain!

Perhaps GRRM misspoke last year when he seemed to blame fans for "hating" their previously favored properties. He seems to understand now.

They (the new creators) can’t see what they are doing as disrespectful or not following the original creators. So any mention of that as a reason for disliking their creation is disingenuous and a smokescreen for the real issue. At best they will say “why do you care” and at worst “you are a horrible bigot” and see no reason to try and engage with such a horrible person. 😞

Ugh….god I hate interpretive dance/experimental theatre. Has anyone else seen Red Letter Media “Best of the Worst/Wheel of the Worst” when they watched “Turtle Dreams”? If you haven’t PLEASE go watch it, it’s….indescribable. 😂

Lucas messed up with the Prequels? Oh friend, SW television started with the Holiday Special and then did both Ewok movies. If you look back, you'll find that the Acolyte is traditional Star Wars, and shows like the Mandalorian and Andor are un-Lucas aberrations.

I'm really glad someone is talking about this in a way that's balanced and fair. The problem with a lot of critiques like this is they're often very politically driven in their own right. When people like CriticalDrinker talk about this stuff you can't help but feel like he's bringing in his OWN politics into his critique. No one but the most ideologically aligned enjoys being beat over the head with a message by a poorly written show. It's not about the diversity, or lesbians, or whatever those things are fine if they're well written characters and can often IMPROVE a series to have a well written diverse cast. You need to look no further than TNG era Star Trek to see that. The problem is like you said once your political message > your art you're just making bad art. TNG succeeds in showing a future where it doesn't matter if you're white, black, or Andorian BECAUSE it doesn't get into the mud with identity politics. It measures it's characters by their character and not their immutable traits.

Reminder that Kathleen's contract ran out in 2023 and they extended it. This is the direction Disney wants star wars to go. Cant wait for another project where they try to blame the fans and call them sexist, racist, ect... For not liking slop stories and poor writing

There's an old saying in writing: 'write what you know.' The writers at Disney are writing what they know, unfortunately for the rest of us.

If you're going to equate the left with primarily the relationship of capital and labour then maybe consider some Durkheim or Webber to expand the view Marx's theory is based on critique and conflict (and equates difference with division and division with oppression and dissonance), wherein Durkheim emphasizes social factors and Weber believes social relationships are shaped by politics, economics, cultural and individual acts and has subjective meaning (so includes psychological or intrasubjective features as compared to social or intersubjective). The depth and layers of early Star Wars has been made into 'necessary but insufficient story telling' in some.of the more modern Star Wars ... and then there is the lack of cohesion to Canon as a separate issue. I'm not a fan by any stretch and more a casual viewer but the gold of New Hope is being sullied by the fool's gold of the New Hopeless

If you permit me a little bit of hyperbole, I think the relationship between social justice progressives and these imposters is very similar to the relationship between Islam and Islamic extremists. You can't get to these terrible things just from being a progressive but that ideology's unusual focus on culture in particular as like the vehicle for social change means that for people that want to misuse it, it gives you a very easy built-in excuse to do terrible things and feel like you're morally justified

it is a true Cult, has been for years, but it used to be filled with talent... now the talent is gone and all that is left is the cult.

These people don't make shows or movies because they have a story to tell, but because they have a sermon to preach.