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At some point (related to my earlier tweets about rewatching old shows), I wanna have a convo with y’all about whether people still subscribe to suspension of disbelief with tv & movies... (con’t)
... and how there *seems* (keyword “seems”) to be more critique around plot relative to real life than just plot structure, writing, etc. IE judging characters in real life context rather than in the context of their own arc, if that makes sense.
Bc I think convos about TV center around multiple schools of thought, noteably criticisms of the plot and character as relates to the show’s universe - like, Urkel was the worst neighbor in the history of life (con’t)
... and critique of the show from the POV of its larger social responsibility (like, Urkel perpetrates horrible nerd stereotypes and normalizes harrasment).
When the “y’all ruin everything with hot takes” / “why shouldn’t we reexamine old faves and critique them?” clashes come up, I think alot is about those two different approaches to the show/movie/music in question...
... judging it in pure entertainment parameters and/or within the context of what it was and was meant to be VS holding all work up against a static set of standards for art and storytelling
It’s not so much that there’s a right/wrong better/worse as - to me - the two seem to get conflated.
I mentioned earlier that I now think Martin’s characters/relationships are terrible; when I once brought it up I said it would never work *today*, but I also don’t hold the show responsible for that... because it was made 25+ years ago.
And I KNOW I don’t have the capacity to get into this with the clarity, balance and nuance it deserves right now, so this is me dropping a pin. Y’all remind me. 
I had the Insecure condom debate front of mind when I tweeted that, too.
https://twitter.com/arain1019/status/1290081622461517825?s=21 https://twitter.com/arain1019/status/1290081622461517825
https://twitter.com/arain1019/status/1290081622461517825?s=21 https://twitter.com/arain1019/status/1290081622461517825
And Fresh Prince holds up well, but there are plennnnty moments where I’m like “Yeah, that’d be a problem if that happened now.”
https://twitter.com/mfdash/status/1290082470570926080?s=21 https://twitter.com/mfdash/status/1290082470570926080
https://twitter.com/mfdash/status/1290082470570926080?s=21 https://twitter.com/mfdash/status/1290082470570926080
But I’ll go back to Family Matters as an example for the differences I’m talking about and will probably use it whenever we come back to this.
It’s no secret from anyone following #TheseTiers that I don’t like -never liked -Family Matters.
It’s no secret from anyone following #TheseTiers that I don’t like -never liked -Family Matters.
And it’s from BOTH perspectives: I think it’s poorly written with trash character development, I think Urkel, Eddie and Laura are all unlikeable and Myra and Waldo are the only redeeming characters... (con’t)
... (con’t) and on a larger scale, I think it’s wack to have had a show about a Black family in Chicago in the ‘90s without it being a show about a Black family in Chicago in the ‘90s. There is nothing distinctively Black about that show.
... but it was never heralded as such either. It was basically babysitting via TV, low brow humor with room for catch phrases, and kids loved it. It was what it was.
This was supposed to be perpetuates* but y’all knew that.
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1290077910880022528?s=21 https://twitter.com/naima/status/1290077910880022528
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1290077910880022528?s=21 https://twitter.com/naima/status/1290077910880022528
This reminds me of how people talk about everybody being messy and annoying in Love Jones and I point out that they’re supposed to be in their mid-late 20s and also that’s the point.
https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290083670720577536?s=21 https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290083670720577536
https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290083670720577536?s=21 https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290083670720577536
Ultimately, I always think context of time and climate matter, even as you point out why we now undestand to not be ok. I brought this up a cpl of years ago and I’ll sit it here until we revisit.
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1083802678625529856?s=21 https://twitter.com/naima/status/1083802678625529856
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1083802678625529856?s=21 https://twitter.com/naima/status/1083802678625529856
They were just a few years older than I was at the time, and realistic AF!! The thing is, I notice people will use not liking a character’s behavior us a reason not to like the work when that’s all totally intentional by the writer. Characters are flawed
https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290090597005500416?s=21 https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290090597005500416
https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290090597005500416?s=21 https://twitter.com/simonekali/status/1290090597005500416
On the flip side, folks will be like “This movie/show didn’t address these x, y, z aspects of Blackness and make shit look too pretty/made shit look too bleak/ had too much trauma / not enough trauma and like...
Content’s like food; it’s meant to feed various apetites.
Content’s like food; it’s meant to feed various apetites.
Like you can acknowledge fast casual food is mostly, generally, a poor choice from a nutritional standpoint, but you know it doesn’t make sense to compare the actual meal to something from a higher quality restaurant.
I feel like that’s where we get lost in the critiques.
I feel like that’s where we get lost in the critiques.
