08.11
I want to take the Animation Revelation blog in a new direction.
Every day I grow a little older, and every day I get a little more tired of the whole “angry, negative reviewer” shtick that infests the internet like chlamydia. Ever since the Angry Nintendo Nerd first talked about taking a shit on a video game cartridge (and probably before, as well), people using rage and hatred for comedy effect have become a dime a dozen, with a new one or five popping up each and every day. It’s easy to see why — bashing something in a humorously over the top fashion takes very little effort and can often produce funny results without much work put in. I know from experience, after all.
It may sound like it, but I’m not trying to be a hypocrite here. In fact, I want to explain myself. In 2010, I was either 16 or 17 (depending on which side of June we’re talking about), and like all people at that magical age, I was an edgy little fucker. An edgy little fucker with purposefully contrarian tastes who really had no business posting his immature, swear-filled reviews online. Now, make no mistake, I really do think Umineko is one of the worst anime series ever produced, but before I deleted our old BlogSpot account for drawing potential viewers away from our new home at WordPress, I perused the dusty comments sections of my (and others’) articles. And how (un)surprised I was when I discovered that folks were calling me out on my shit! Ignoring for a moment the mind-boggling possibility that anyone could actually enjoy the Umineko anime, I understood precisely where they were coming from, because I honestly felt the same way myself.
I hadn’t written a review. I had written a vulgar summary with some hateful jokes thrown in.
Some of it was funny, sure. But it’s the kind of thing I’m loathe to see nowadays, and I know many others feel the same way. Negativity, whether warranted or not, is easy to come across on the internet, and often it’s written in such a way that feels insulting to those who don’t completely agree with the writer. And while I was using the whole “angry humor” thing above because it was more of a personal example, the real shit starts when the author is being completely serious. So many reviewers and bloggers write in this really condescending tone as if to say, “I’m right, your favorite show is terrible, PS you’re dumb.” I will readily admit that I’m guilty of this too, though I don’t think it ever went outside a few scattered Clusterfuck entries. I wholeheartedly apologize for them. (For the record, all my old shit is still available on this very blog if you want to see it. Just don’t hold that stuff against the me of 2013, kay?)
Up until now, I don’t think AR has been very professional. Take, for example, how in our Top 65 Animated Series list, not only do we break and go against our own rules and qualifiers multiple times, the “shows that didn’t make it” portion is often flippant and insulting. Or consider how the Seasonal Clusterfucks are never on time because we wait to post the whole shebang at once instead of doing the smart thing and spreading it out over multiple days/weeks. Stuff like that.
But this is just some stupid cartoon blog run by a bunch of friends, right? Why does it need to be professional?
That kind of thinking is why no one reads our stuff.
Which brings me back to the whole “new direction” thing. You’ve undoubtedly seen many cartoon blogs filled to the brim with “angry humor” and anime blogs written condescendingly, and I’m sure at least once you’ve thought, “wow, these guys’ attitudes are getting annoying.” So have I. And that’s why I think this section of Animation Revelation needs a major overhaul.
I want this to be a friendly, approachable blog. A place with an overall positive outlook on animation as a medium, but also where people can find legitimate criticism that doesn’t insult or talk down to them. A place where things are judged fairly – regardless of personal biases, – opinions are respected, and no one feels like they have to write about something out of obligation. I think we’ve already taken a few steps in this direction since the beginning of the year, but we’re not there yet.
Let’s work toward making this into something we can have fun with and be proud of. No more alienating audiences or taking the easy way out.