Love that you got Adam Neely for this video. He always has something insightful and meaningful to add to discussions about art analysis. His contribution really tied this whole project together
I'm in the process of getting a Linguistics degree, and these videos are not only highly educational, but also a brutal exercise in simultaneous interpretation. I crank the playback speed down a notch and practice, my brain gets fried in like three to five minutes, but it's still fun as hell. CJ, you're fantastic at what you do and your insight is highly valuable, but for the love of god don't be a speaker on any international events, save an interpreter's life...
The message was actually "don't psychologically abuse people putting absurd expectations on them that will bend them into an unhappy life just to please you" bestie...
Nice to see you hear Jessie! Just watched your Earthsea vid about the power of names after going on a LaGuin binge again. Glad to see you watch this content too!
obsessed with how the flowers are always shaking behind you, as if they too have something to contribute but are trapped within their floral vessels and are cursed never to escape
I think you're right about generational trauma not being a promise Encanto delivers on, but I think the thematic cohesion you're looking for is easier to spot if you realize the theme is about "family as performance". That's why the dinner looms weirdly largely in their mind in We Don't Talk About Bruno -- it's the performance they're in the middle of while Mirabel goes on her adventure. Things aren't going well and they need to _appear_ differently. The (perceived) failure of the family at dinner is that the actual dysfunction and worries were acknowledged, providing a complete inversion from a healthy relationship. In the beginning, they can all feel like they're doing their best and helping people and that's good -- but it leaves no place for Mirabel. The end of the movie is about trying to disintermediate the relationships they have with each other and their community -- to love and relate to each other, and not just the performance of each other.
Fully agree. I think Encanto was… okay? But I think this message was executed well. No one in the characters family is actually close or concerned about their emotional well being. I wish the film went harder into its serious moments.
The appeal of Umbrella Academy is in its over the top wattpad-esque writing. It's pulpy, campy, comic-book warm trash, and that's a lot of fun. It also has fun action scenes, an interesting visual style, queer main characters, and lots of cathartic "fuck you abusive dad" moments.
When it was primarily known as the comic by My Chemical Romance's front-man, people were much more prepared going into it. Watching it from the front page of Netflix with no context, I can understand why some might be side-blinded by the camp emo-ness in a superhero story.
Sophie From Mars ka Curio did a cracking early video on how its a dissection of traumatic abuse, how each character represents a different way that it manifests in later life.
@@kohhna i kinda want to watch this video but i'm having trouble parsing your comment into search terms. can you post the end of the youtube url (i.e. ?v=GPrNWuppMcc)?
“i have a brain disease where everything that passes through my mind has to go through this gauntlet of analysis to see if it’s optimized for meaning” (15:10-15:18) i felt this in my soul
"Did every culture in history invent a kind of religion and God because we're all coincidentally the same kind of fucking stupid-or because God was there to observe and interpret?" you can't just fucking drop that on me like it's nothing
I had an art teacher once who asked me if art needed an audience. Me at the time defining art as: "any piece which intends to transmit something abstractly," said yes, art has to have an audience otherwise it's just information. My art teacher told a story about a gentleman who built a series of pylons on top of a mountain, they were built in such a way that when lightning would strike them it would create rudimentary images. But because of the way, you know lightning works, the phenomenon is completely unobservable. You could check afterwards and make sure that the image worked, but no one would have seen it, no one could have seen it due to the danger, we just know that it existed in the trail that the lightning followed. He asked me if I thought this was art, if there was a transmission of emotion in knowing that art existed at one point. I was a bit stumped by this He then unasked the question completely, he told me that he made this whole scenario up, there was no old man no mountain and no lightning art. He asked how I felt about that I told him honestly, I felt a little betrayed because I thought the idea was so romantic. He then said that the betrayal, was art. Maybe the most important thing I learned in all of college
this is really interesting to me. I feel like this speaks to the existence of performance art (speaking as someone with little to no experience with performance art) - the knowledge that someone did that thing, hearing the story of it, thinking about what the thought process and motivations must have been around all that, for something that would not produce anything tangible - you're thinking about those subtleties where you can't describe the concept literally, you need some sort of metaphor or abstraction like the lightning pylons to feel the intention or meaning behind it. that it wasn't a true story is definitely a twist but also definitely still feels like art, just turned on its head a bit.
@@potatoman-oe5jy my current understanding, with more than a decade of reflection, is that the betrayal itself, the feeling the sensation, that information was the art.
I feel like here, you were not betrayed yourself by the art that never happened but compelled by the beauty of the story to realise this art. As C.J the X acutely describes in this video if the photographs had died with the lady then we would have never known and therefore would have never been able to care, the art or 'art moment,' would essentially cease to exist to us. I guess what I'm trying to say here in a roundabout way is that the story your art teacher presented to you was the art in question, this was a transition in motion from him to you and therefore the lightening house itself would have never been art because it wouldn't ever have been observed by anyone, due to this everyones ability to care is stripped away. Maybe I'm making no sense but it's nice to voice my thoughts.
I'm surprised by your read of "We don't talk about Bruno" , it makes me curious about your experience of family, because I thought "time for dinner" captured a unique and intimately familiar kind of dread, of the performance of the social game and everyone playing discoherent parts, it's a performance leading -into- the social performance of a really tense table of family members who are so busy pretending to be fine that they can't even begin to address how unstable their performance is. I have... Sat at tables like that, where the call to "normality" is the lash of conformity, a honey covered whip. I do think.... It was an unbaked narrative. It was structurally strange, but I respect the bravery of trying to weave that many motivations into a cogent narrative. I think Coco did a better job of that kind of collective minded storytelling, but I'm excited to see more of it.
I definitely think this is what they were going for. I really never understood. That was the “climactic conclusion” idea I think, but I don’t think it was very well established or displayed… I say, 11 months after you typed this lol
I love your take on the "time for dinner" meaning. It brings new bittersweet meaning to Bruno making himself a plate and seating to join dinner for many years even with a wall between them. He wanted to be part of the family act of dinner but knew his gift brought a level of honesty that didn't fit with the roles everyone else would play.
“You’re love is more beautiful than the movie...” that’s why I love fanfiction. Most of my favorite media is only my favorite because of the love random people on the internet expressed and explored through writing about that media.
Yes, absolutely! It's one of the only mediums that is just a pure expression of love and enjoyment which hasn't been corrupted by capitalism (for the record, I don't think we should overturn capitalism, but it still sucks). There are thousands and thousands of exquisite writers, creating novel-length stories taking months and years of their time for absolutely no reward beyond a few kudos and comments. It's beautiful!
YES! I'm a Potter fan, has been since I was like seven, and while there is pretty much nothing I like about the source these days (Jesus fucking CHRIST they are badly written, also fuck JKR) I still interact with the fandom every day. It's part of me and my life in a way it never would have without this enormous community of other people also loving a thing. A thing we all decided deserved more attention, quality and time than was originally put into it.
I looooove Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction, just so many wonderful stories delivering 10 fold the best of what the show could ever offer. I'm so excited for CJ's follow up review of it!
The art that Vivian Maier experienced when she took her pictures, it was different from the art we experience when we look at her photographs. There is connection in the experiences, but they are still separate arts, separate experiences. Finally I understand why for me, my drawings, they are very little to me when I finish them, but to my friends they are really important. I say, you can put it up outside, do whatever with it, it is fine if you lose it or rip it, and they say, no I need protect it, laminate or put in a frame. Because the art for me was the experience of draw it, make it happen. But for them, the art is the experience they have every time they look at it. Thank you, this really helps.
yes! and visual art connects feelings between the artist and the viewer on a level before words/intellectualizing the experience. we can only use words to describe the feeling. like how a specific aroma can take you exactly to a specific memory. Vivian MAier's photos take us back to that specific second in time and tell us what she was thinking and experiencing. it humanizes and demystifies the past
Thank you CJ the X for articulating what I've been thinking about; how I don't wish to get more views, but make work that means a lot to those who see it. My only goal in caring about analytics is hoping it can reach those who it will be meaningful too, and also making sure I can live in this capitalist hellhole.
Your 12 Minutes video popped up in my recommended a few weeks ago. I started watching it while playing Breath of the Wild and ended up pausing my game to focus entirely on your video. I've thought about it fairly often since then and returned to your channel several times, it's even been the basis of several in depth conversations I've had recently about women and the way they're often fridged or treated as a plot point rather than a person whose opinion matters. I thought you'd like to know that one of your videos made its way to someone who valued it and gave her a new perspective, resulting in interesting discourse. Like you said, your video meant a lot to someone who saw it.
CJ is the only youtuber who can turn the camera on me, who makes me feel like I'm being watched instead of them, who makes me self-conscious in a way that isnt comfortable but isnt uncomfortable. They make me more aware of myself and my thoughts and my taste not just generally but In Real Time as I watch. These arent background noise videos. They arent even on the couch with popcorn videos. These videos are like take me to church and bring me closer to God videos.
I'm not sure I agree about poetry being inherently a typographic medium. There's so much poetry that I've struggled to understand until I've read it aloud. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of slam poetry, but to my mind, a significant part of the art in poetry is the sound of it. A poem isn't just a series of words, it's also the sound and the rhythm and the flow of the verse. I do agree that lyrics are not poems, and vice versa but there is a reason people conflate the two, they're definitely sisters more than cousins.
Bro I'm a let's player and even I'm deeply unsettled by Mr Beast's bizarre way of saying deeply cynical things in a weirdly positive way. It's like he lists all the worst things about the platform but is like, yeah, I love it!
It's like the mountains climbing metaphor, this is a game to Mr.beast. Just like how the mountain climber who wouldn't accept a helicopter ride, Mrbeast wouldn't start his own platform or make a change on this one because that would ruined the fun.
46:00 I fucking love this section. For perhaps the first time in the channel's history, there is nothing but visual information. So much of this channel's structure is based on there being constant audio and visual information, but in this one instance, there is no audio for a long time. It makes you pay attention to the photos you're seeing, it forces you to take in what you think they mean. It was genuinely jarring, so much so that I stopped eating my bowl of frosted flakes just to take it in. It's very small but I think it's fucking brilliant. Well done, CJ.
every time I watch this video- I usually listen to videos and barely half watch them, but for that section- I do the same. pause whatever I'm doing to experience the images flatly replacing each other on screen in silence. truly brilliant
CJ's speech is like if my mouth could actually keep up with my ADHD brain. They put things into words so well, and also takes things from perspectives I might's not considered before. I'm also not a native English speaker, so I appreciate their use of the language bc I feel like I get to understand it a little better when they use it in a way I'm not used to.
As another ADHD brain you just wonderfully described that. It's like that crazy incoherent train of thought suddenly upholds when you're trying to express it and not get distracted by other thoughts like right now where I totally forgot what I actually had to add to your comment.
After hearing that ADHD brain insert I instantly felt the weight of self disappointment when I realized that I can’t ever dream of being able to express myself as clearly and coherently as he does. True talent.
I'm a 4th year art student, I've been in three different schools and I SWEAR if any of my teachers were anything like you, it would have saved much confusion, art blocks and therapy
Gonna offer an alternative perspective on the "Time for dinner" line: I think, whether purposeful or not, that line is actually great. Because the entire song is saying they don't talk about Bruno. It's taboo. And just when everyone is maybe considering opening up in a big way, Isabella's boyfriend arrives, it's time for dinner, and the conversation stops, with all of their stories overlapping because it's still milling about in their minds. The social propriety falls back into place, which is mirrored later when Mirabel brings up the puzzle piece and "ruins" dinner. They CAN'T talk about Bruno now. That music hits like it should be triumphant, but the lyric makes it evident that there could've been more. They were all right on the cusp, but Abuela's strictness for tradition and making sure the family looks good trumped any revelation. Obviously this could be a stretch, but I think it's a valid interpretation, again, regardless of intent.
But overall, yes, hard agree on Encanto wasn't very good. It was entertaining, I liked most of the songs. But the movie, from a writing perspective, hurt. I don't like plot holes overall, and I REALLY don't like plot holes when they can literally prevent the movie from existing.
I actually agree with you on this. Where in Hamilton it’s got all of those repeating motifs and then there is some level emotional catharsis, I felt like LMM was trying to subvert that catharsis and create discomfort in us. We’re like Mirabel, we desperately want the release of talking about the elephant in the room but the second we are about to get it musically it devolves into overlapping themes and more tension, just in time for us to have dinner and everything to go crazy. It just ratchets up the tension to 11 musically for me in time for a tense scene.
@@soyy4571 And *I* came to the comments to say this! We're getting a "it me" russian nesting doll going on here. I haven't seen Encanto. But, from what's presented here, I totally could interpret this failure to resolve the build of tension as intentional distraction mirroring the social expectations placed on the main character. But, like I said, I didn't see the movie, so maybe that doesn't hold up structurally in context.
Genuinely, saying “If someone could just explain the point of their art then they would just explain it and not make the art in the first place” articulates my frustration with people asking what they should be getting out of art instead of engaging with the art so much more comprehensively than Death of the Author. Like Death of the Author is part of it, but it doesn’t adequately explain why I also feel like the ARTIST is getting cheated by placing all of the emphasis on their intent, and this does.
What if their relationship to the media and all the contents is so distant that they need something like the artist's intent or other people's ideas on it to begin to feel like they can engage with it? Like, I have to ask "why do people like noise music" to begin to hear anything other than the static CJ played, to begin to feel anything beyond displeasure. I want to understand what others value in it, to be able to enjoy the interaction on some level, and engaging in others' aesthetic testimony is a part of engaging with the art with more appreciation. So, to me it's frustrating when people try to make others engage with art in the way *they* would - in this case an example would be a friend of yours asking that question and you responding with "you're supposed to engage with it without knowing the answer to that question". I'm sure there are contexts where I would understand your frustration, but like... do you get what I'm saying?
@@Ulyssa12 You're absolutely right, of course, and I think a cool and necessary expansion of CJ's point in this video about art being more than the sum of the artist + the thing + the audience is that when members of the audience engage with the art and with each other, those interactions are ALSO more than the sum of their parts. And I don't think anyone should be forced to engage with anything on someone else's terms, though I certainly see the merit of doing so of one's own volition. I should clarify that I'm talking more or less specifically about the assumption that you cannot under any circumstances engage with or interpret the art on your OWN terms unless you are already armed with the artist's explanation of their intent. This is sort of counterintuitive, but if art is at its most basic level communication, then to me the unilateral refusal to engage without that explanation actually suggests that you DON'T want to understand what's being communicated. Or that you don't trust the artist to communicate through their art. I'm not saying asking questions is unhelpful or wrong, I'm not saying looking in the space around the art for additional context is unhelpful or wrong, but I am saying if you think an artist's (or another member of the audience's) explanation of the art can always communicate the same thing as the art itself, 1) you're missing something, and 2) you're depriving the artist of something.
yeah I guess to butt in on both of you here it sounds like the difference between saying "I don't get it, what should I be listening for here" as 1) a cop-out to avoid critical thinking about the thing vs. 2) an honest good-faith attempt to experience the thing more fully to work through a lack of prior experience with that thing because you're interested in becoming more experienced with that thing. like the noise music example referenced here, or say with students in a high school English class. there's an apathetic version and a genuine version, and people can choose whether or not to engage with that kind of question accordingly.
@@Ulyssa12 If my input is worth anything, I consider noise music to be an expression of meditative displeasure itself. The abstract synthetic noise equivalent of depictions of violence
"i wonder if this is true, what im saying" is honestly an eternal mood and im gonna start using it to communicate uncertainty in my own ideas where applicable
"Was encanto good or did you just like it" is EXACTLY how I felt watching the movie. It looked amazing and beautiful but the story wasn't neaaaarly as tight as I would have expected from a big 2021 Disney movie. I don't want to disrespect the people that it represents and I wanted to LOVE it but it felt like a baby light show..... a GORGEOUS baby light show but a baby light show nonetheless. 5/10 not as good as emperors new groove ;p
LOL, I first watched it in the middle of a depressive episode on 2 hours of sleep, in bed at 10am after a work meeting, and I bawled my eyes out the whole way through.. I somehow thought that meant that it was wholesome and nice, so I watched it again with my family and was just a bit embarrassed for having recommended it.. I have to say though, that I‘m not an English native speaker and while we can just ignore lines like „time for dinner“ and „abuela get the umbrella“ as just English pop nonsense, when it‘s translated, it just cheapens the experience even more.. it is colorful and pretty though
The Animation in Arcane is GORGEOUS but it does not take away the genius writing you’re missing lmao 😭 (coming from an old Arcane hater) those are the best written characters I’ve ever seen in media especially women characters
yeah i was watching this video and then CJ went "the first episode was so boring that i didnt watch the rest" and i went "?????????? oomfie u are, cross my heart and hope to die, missing out on one of the most heartfelt pieces of western animation to ever exist"
Yeah that sat off with me lol like you stop at what is basically just a prologue and refuse to watch the parts that made the show unique and memorable and then say it's not worth ur time? Like ig it's in ur right but don't talk about it like you have anything important to say then lol
@@sereniteea I get what you mean, but I understood him. I also didn't vibe with it at the beginning. It took like 2 or 3 episodes for me to get hyped about it. I only continued because my significant other was intrigued and wanted to
The other day, a friend showed me dice made out of the glass that is used for camera lenses (according to her). It caught the sunlight in gorgeous ways, breaking it down into delightful colors. I like the sunlight already, but the way this glass split it into its many parts let me admire and enjoy it in a completely new and different way! I think you're like that glass, CJ. You take things apart in a way that adds to my enjoyment of them. And you also are an incredibly healthy influence on me as an artist, with your advice helping me break down many of the walls in my brain that kept me from making stuff.
In case anyone was wondering, it probably was a dichroic cube. They are used in projectors to split white light into didferent colors, so you only need one LED instead of three different ones.
I would say that art as a hobby is still art and you still deserve to be defined as an artist even if your work isn't shared. The essence still exists between your communication with yourself, therefore creating the substance which gives art value. Through this communication with art that is only seen by the artist they bring that essence with them everywhere they go, communicating the essence to others in an even subtler form in daily life. I would go even further to say that art as an interaction exists everywhere all the time and therefore every human can be considered an artist, at least in specific moments. That's why I love art, because I love people and I seek to find art every day in it's most subtle forms.
What i feel like that "Time for dinner" was trying to achieve is the family finally doing what the title of the song says, they aren't talking about bruno, they're having dinner, ignoring the uncomfortable part of their family and simply moving on with the mondaneity of their lives without aknowledging the issue
Yes, I was going to say something like this. It's part of how Abuela runs the family; it's time for dinner, it's time to stop acknowledging everyone's stories. It isn't aware of what's going on in the rest of the song because Abuela isn't aware of what's going on with the rest of the family. It isn't cohesive precisely because the family isn't cohesive. Which adds to the layers of the song being in the style of a madrigal, the name of the family.
@@sumgirl720 Oh I hadn't thought about the lack of cohesion to be because of that, showing a "lack of care" from abuela's part for everyone's stories and personal motifs, clever!
To me, that idea expressed really well which makes the song cohesive cuz the ideas go together. But it may not work for you because it's anti climatic even thought that is part of the story.
Honestly the way I feel about this channel is like I'm auditing a 400 level class titled Aesthetic Philosophy in a Modern Cultural Context. Subtitled The Elevation of Art Through Applied Reason and Logic.
The Biography in the description feat. SchoolboyQ alongside Roland Barthes really sends home the feeling of grad school. CJ should give us their "syllabus" ahead of the video's drop dates.
Watching a CJ the X video is like reading an old foundational text for a particular field of study or school of thought, like Das Kapital or Aristotle's Poetics, but formatted differently for the modern day. I feel like I am witnessing cultural and philosophical history being made in my lifetime. I am an original disciple of CJ.
my heart stopped when everything everywhere all at once came up i was rly scared our parasocial relationship will be ruined but by the midpoint of the vid i realized i don’t place that much value on your criticism but more so on your analysis
I think people also often misinterpret or misrepresent the idea of subjectivity with every view or interpretation is equally valid in the same way people misunderstand the idea of something being a social construct as meaning something isn't real or doesn't exist when nothing is farther from the truth. I see this a lot surprisingly in my own field of mathematics. For a long time mathematicians were convinced that the goal of mathematics and logic was that there existed a set of rules which could fully describe mathematics and we could discover them. More specifically that there exists a set of definitions and axioms (statements we take as true without proof) such that every syntactically correct statement within that system could be proven to be either true or false. But then gödel came and proved that the existence of such a system is impossible. That no matter how many axioms you have your system will always either be inconsistent (lead to a logical contradiction, the existence of statements that can be proven both true and false thus) and thus useless, or incomplete (the existence of statements that cannot be proven at all). And thus inherently the very idea of truth is subjective. You can have two frameworks that hold different statements as true and yet you can't say one is correct and one is wrong. But the subjectivity of truth does not mean all frameworks are valid, because even though there cannot be a correct all encompassing framework there can be incorrect inconsistent ones. And even among consistent ones they can be more or less useful in terms of which statements they can determine the truth of. And i think the same is sort of in a roundabout way true for art. We may have different frameworks through which we perceive, analyze and determine the quality of art. And even if they are fundamentally incompatible that doesn't necessarily mean one is right and another is wrong. But that does not mean there are no frameworks that are objectively wrong nor does it mean all frameworks are equally useful in analysis or appreciation.
CJ’s devotion to art-art as a facet of God, really-is actually helping solidify my comfort with leaving my own art in the past. I used to make music, I’ve repeatedly flirted with fiction writing, and I even wrote a tabletop role-playing game; but my day job is in renewable energy. Even at the height of my (Twitter-dependent) tabletop RPG “career,” I repeatedly said I didn’t intend to write full time. I understood that my higher calling was NOT art-it’s helping design a better society at a small scale. So when the audience for my work came for me with pitchforks (Twitter), I dropped artistic excellence entirely and picked up cycling to replace that time. I’m not writing that second edition of that role-playing game, even though it would be aesthetically better, because my calling is elsewhere. I incentivize and convince people in four towns to install solar panels and electric heat pumps-and I’m better at that than at making art. I still love music and writing, but I’m not On The Side of Art like CJ is-and thus I’m happy being a hobbyist and consumer.
that's a really interesting perspective, i suppose i haven't ever really thought of it like that. because i suppose i'm definitely "on the side of art", like i genuinely couldn't fathom a reality where i'm not making art, consuming art, thinking about art, all the time. i also am surrounded by people who are like that so it's a nice reality check and interesting perspective i hadn't really considered lol.
51:27 “If you hear ‘art is more important than us’ and you think this is tacit endorsement for suffering for art, you’re still thinking that art resides in objects.” This part reminds me of a quote from my absolute favorite author, Hanif Abdurraqib. “I know that I stopped thinking about extreme grief as the sole vehicle for great art when the grief started to take people with it. And I get it. The tortured artist is the artist yay gets remembered for all time, particularly if they either perish or overcome. But the truth is that so many of us are stuck in the middle. So many of us begin tortured and end tortured, with only brief bursts of light in between… I am, of course, in favor of letting all grief work through the body and manifest itself creatively. But what I’m less in favor of is the celebration of pain that might encourage someone to mine deeper into that unforgiving darkness, until it is impossible for them to climb out.“
The part of this video that most caught my attention was the brief aside where you said "I wonder if this is true, what I'm saying." I'm constantly asking that question of myself and other people when talking about art, or really anything at all. And the conclusion I inevitably come to is that even if it's not true, it might be useful. I found this video incredibly useful regardless of truthfulness. For example, my imposed dichotomy of truthfulness vs usefulness. Maybe it's purple, baby.
i also liked it bc - as he described himself - i was 50% like "TOTALLY" and 50% like "no, what the fuck? no!" and that reminded me that, yeah, this is a discussion abt art, it's always like... objectively a bit bullshit. (not that i would have been offended without the disclaimer or whatever). i pretty much always have that feeling reading (in this case, watching) a work that really engages with "what is art" beyond Philosophy 101 - raising questions AND actually trying to answer them. (I cannot tell you what I would do for a CJ the X video that had "The Art of Cruelty" in its bibliography. I simply cannot). Anyway, I lied earlier when I said I wouldn't have felt offended or whatever bc i literally DID, in a visceral, irrational way - what i MEANT was that it would have significantly impeded my enjoyment of the video. i have enough experience with this topic to know my own reaction to it, and be able to navigate it. and that made me appreciate that little moment all the more - it's like the reminder i would have had to give myself was built in, which i think is oddly fitting, thematically, considering how much this covers anticipating the needs of your audience
“But what’d you really think about Encanto?” “I liked it fine.” “Yeah me too.” “A little full of itself but good music and imagination.” “Fair enough.”
The effects of colonialism on what defines good taste has always made me wonder about where people and artists end up limiting themselves in an effort to prove good taste.
Could you elaborate on this? Swear I'm not challenging you or anything, that's just an angle on this subject that I haven't considered and I'd love to learn more.
@@mueggsy To me the most obvious example I could draw would be music theory (scales mainly) that are seen almost in a way like gospel, academia specifically when it comes to art is very strict and often influenced by European standards and constructs. I know for me in an effort to prove good taste I wouldn't reference an artist like kikuo(an artist who often ignores theory) or my own culture's style of singing because likely it would either be interpreted as political or laughable to even those who identify as objectivists.
@@greenworld966 that's a really good point! Reminds me of a Sideways video I watched in which he talked about how the composers of Avatar (the blue people movie) were challenged to come up with "alien sounding" music for this alien culture, and they genuinely did come up with something entirely original with both the help of music historians, composers and anthropologists, but james cameron scrapped it because it was "too weird" and they just ended up picking vaguely african-sounding music for this alien culture instead. like, the perception of what is "human music" and "other," at least in that movie, ended up revealing some nasty colonialism that ironically went directly against the film's message
Here to see your detailed apology to famous (infamous) youtuber little joel. I expect that this video will be edited with the CORRECT take by the end of the day. This means a lot to me.
i think people call the emperor's new groove words like "perfect" because it's very aesthetically and tonally cohesive in a highly stylised way, consistent and densely packed, and holds people's attention and gives them enjoyment at a high level throughout - they could like other things more and not call them "perfect" for that reason, it's just easy for someone to like every second of the emperor's new groove because the level of quality is largely similar across it, and it's a pretty good level of quality all things considered especially if it tickles your sense of humour well i watched it for the first time not that long ago btw i think it also says something that the emperor's new groove is so beloved when it's like _the only_ disney movie with a "riskier" sense of style that isn't all homogenised like the media landscape tends to be
This, exactly. It's like, 'perfect' seems like a value judgment but it's _not,_ it's more of a... comment on how a thing is structured, I think? Something being 'perfect' and 'beautiful' are not the same things, in fact sometimes they can be opposites.
@@KillahMate at risk of being wrong i'm assuming they're talking about the brazilian dub, which honestly manages to elevate the movie so much on its own. i already liked it with the original voices and all, but the brazilian dub was so good it's ingrained in that generation's childhood and is still a staple when you rewatch it as an adult.
00:00 Intro 04:10 Part 1: Was Encanto good, or did you just like it? 08:25 Part 2: A lyrical analysis of We don't talk about Bruno 12:40 Part 3: I shit over everything you love 18:00 Part 4: What is art critique? 30:40 Part 5: Aesthetic engagement and gameplay 42:55 Part 6: What is art? 45:10 (Vivian Maier) 52:27 Part 7: Essence & Interpretation 1:03:10 Part 8: The Mr Beast to CJ The X continuum 1:17:00 Part 9: the resurrection of the author 1:31:30 (conclusion)
"You don't have to feel like a genius, you are simply the conduit through which genius passes. Be honored for every scrap of it." Is such an incredible quote
This is the kind of education I tell people I receive from UA-cam. Not college but good enough for me. Thank you for making art that helps me understand my relationship to art better.
This was perfect -I disagreed with most of it, and it took me 3 hours to watch it, because I went on lengthy rants, I loved it so much. 9.5/10, watch mother!
I love Encanto, Arcane, and Umbrella Academy but I also think you're completely correct in your critiques about them and I appreciate you being willing to share your views. Whether you present them with a more positive or negative spin, I love it. Maybe it's that cult leader charisma.
@@calvinjohnson6242 True, but CJ's inability to make it to the second episode is still a valid critique and I appreciate hearing critical opinions of things I love because it helps me see them more fully. Do I think CJ is missing out? Absolutely. Does that make their opinion moot? Not at all.
@@briannenurse4640 It may be the one flaw in Arcane that the first episode doesn’t paint a clear picture of what the rest of the show will be like. It’s very formulaic compared to the rest of the series. There are some elements that take up most of episode one that are cut down for episode two and three, and completely cut from the show by episode four. And some major elements of the show that are completely completely absent in episode one.
@@calvinjohnson6242 Yeah I had a similar reaction. Anticipating how annoyed I was gonna be by them, and then ep 3 happens. I think you're absolutely right.
Same - I am not a fan of Lin Manuel Miranda ( Sondheim he is not) period, but I liked Encanto. Broad brushes intergenerational trauma and how one copes within a family like that 🤷🏾♀️ so from a family systems theory it was ok
I have definitely run up against the idea of media 'not being worth my love'. I've been involved in fandom for years now and I have devoted hundreds of hours to shows and movies and books that are just not very good! And some of that time is spent criticizing it and thinking about how it could be better. But a lot of it is just love despite the flaws. I love the good parts enough that I want it to be good. And sometimes that sucks because the creators of the media don't respect or like their fans. But overall it's just-- I can see the good parts and I want it to be great so desperately. And I just don't know how to get away from it!
Do you happen to be a supernatural fan? Because after nearly two years of it being over, I’m finally starting to become less involved in its fandom, despite the fact that it was mostly a bad show. Mainly because it introduced a lot of concepts that allowed creators in the fan community to make genuinely good and enjoyable art or analysis. If you aren’t a fan, know it can always get worse on the “this media doesn’t deserve my love” front lol
@@marys4038 I have seen some Supernatural and interacted with the fandom (I'm still on tumblr lol) but I was more the Sherlock and Doctor Who type haha. It is definitely a good example of a show that is just. Not good! But people have created some truly fantastic works of art based off it.
@@BooksRebound Book: Harry Potter. It's not just a bad book, the author is doing her best to make the world a worse place to live :// Movie: This is a hard one! I watch a lot of movies that aren't 'good' but no one watches them for art, they watch them to have fun, like Bill and Ted or A Knight's Tale. Maybe the Star Wars sequel trilogy or the X-Men movies are good here. TV Shows: There's so many, probably because TV has the most people writing, producing, directing, and acting, and there's more time to make mistakes with however long a show goes on. I'd say the entire trifecta of SuperWhoLock, Doctor Who being the least offensive of the bunch. The Book of Boba Fett show was also such a huge let-down for me but I still continued to draw fanart for it and read fic and stuff.
“I don’t think that art is subjective, I think that your subjectivity is part of the art”. That really feels like it. It feels so spot on, and it’s why it’s so hard to debate whether art is objective or subjective. Because art is bigger than either of those things.
"Aesthetic testimony is not enough" This is so true and it makes me so sad that for so long I've interacting with media just by the testimonies of others. I grew up on UA-cam and instead of watching the endless shows and movies the youtuber I was watching had an opinion on I consumed the opinion of the youtuber and that was it. I did not interact with media, I interacted just with the opinion of the media that was more entreteining to consume. I was a child and I did not have enough capacity to consume that media that the youtube revierws were reviwing but by just watching the reviews I fucked up my relationship to media. I'm literally incapable to watch a series, it is to hard for me to stay consistent or watch hours of the same thing, while I spend hours on UA-cam. It is not all bad, I realised how fucked it was and I try everyday to get away from that mindset (I'm very far away from where I used to be). I can now experience media by my self and little by little I'm trying to reduce my social media use in general, I try so I do not consume content acritically. Your channel for has given me the apreciation for art I always had (I watches the reviews beacause at that moment I felt they were an accesible way to understand a higher art that my child brain would not process) and to experiment it for myself. The only video I have not watch of your channel is the arrival one because you explicitly say to go watch experiment the movie for myself and, for the first time, I decided to do so and Im waiting to watch the movie. I know it is not the central point of your video but truly, that phrase was putting into words a fealing I've had for a long time. If someone is reading this comment, please let yourselfs experiment art and do not find an easy way to *consume* it. Social media and consumerism in general makes your relationship with people worse is something most of us agree on, but it also makes your relationship with media worse and as with the former, you can get help with that.
This is a really good comment, I identify a lot with the "stuck in a cycle of watching reviews/analyses of art and not the art itself" sentiment. For me it was about energy -- experiencing art takes more energy and thought than passively consuming video essays does. I had to break the cycle of doing the easier thing and instead reap the rewards of actually experiencing the art itself.
Yeah.. The combo of the video and this comment made me realize I do the same thing and have been since childhood for similar reasons. It has recently started to bother me in recent years but I never was able to put a finger on why until now. I'm 23. Now I need to start that journey of actually experiencing art myself too. So, you're not alone, thank you for your comment putting into words how it feels.
I used to do the opposite and avoid things because other people said they liked them. Then I realized I liked enough things everyone else did that what was better for me was to just wait to watch things either before I hear anything about them or until other people stopped talking about it so. That way it’s easier for me to have my own opinion first.
for me, personally, watching analysis/interpretation of media/art makes me feel the exact same feelings as consuming art itself. Essentially, analysis/interpretation can be art, too.
I swear on everything that is unholy, Arcane is genuinely brilliant. It intentionally introduces itself as your average TV show to make it easier to rip your heart out and shove it down your esophagus. Most of the main cast isn’t introduced until episode two. The story doesn’t really start until episode three. This show isn’t just about the animation, I promise. The show is very aware of cliches, and it uses it against you. The antagonist is more complex than he seems. Character dynamics change. There’s a huge time skip halfway through. It’s good. Please, please don’t stop because of episode one. It’s so worth it. EDIT: The comments below include SPOILERS.
I only ever see people saying this, and I really don’t understand it.. we started watching it and found the world building promising but from the third episode on, it just went downhill, Jinx was powder first and then just crazy without any character development between that and the guy who worked with Victor was a whole three new characters every new episode, Violet became a sexist trucker dude calling people cupcake without any motivation out of the blue.. we stopped watching after the second to last episode because by then, even one more episode was just too boring and unstructured for us
@@lotta_kannfastalles As someone who loves the show, I can understand your reservations about the transition from jinx to Powder; but I think that was the point. We, the audience see Jinx the way Vi sees her - this totally foreign creature who she can barely believe is her sister. The choppy difference between Jinx and Powder is also a direct cause of her PTSD - she went through a very traumatic event and was immediately raised by a malevolent figure, so she really just started anew in terms of personality and tailored herself to fit Silco's needs. Speaking on Vi's sexism, I'm not too sure what you mean? If you're speaking about the way she treated Caitlyn, that read more defence mechanism from being imprisoned for 20+ years to me than anything. And she called Caitlyn cupcake because she likes her romantically. I agree with your criticism on Jayce - he did switch up a lot, but I think that was meant to show how easily he could be manipulated? I don't know.
@@lotta_kannfastalles Powder was already pretty messed up. She was quiet, obsessed with explosives, and lashed out when left alone for five minutes. Remember, her parents died, so she had attachment issues and trauma before the story started. Then she was responsible for killing her best friends and her father figure, hit and abandoned by her sister, and raised by an evil dude. Her madness is a direct cause of these traumatic events. It was the clearest and most believable depiction of the transition to madness I’d ever seen. Jayce is a complex character who can’t make up his mind. He is surrounded by people who have very different views about the world, and so he is constantly changing his perspective. However, every action he makes is a reaction to his previous mistakes. He’s one of my favorite characters. Vi didn’t become sexist or a trucker. I don’t know where you got that from. You might be used to shows where characters are mostly static. In Arcane, characters change a lot, just like real people. You 100% have a right to your own opinion, but you surely must have noticed how many people disagree with you… Your main problem with the show seems to be “lack of motivation.” If thousands of people see the motivation and you didn’t, perhaps you missed something important? This is genuinely nothing against you. I just want to make sure you don’t dissuade people from watching the show.
@@krystalkomics8757 Jayce changes his mind a LOT, but it’s always a reaction to a person’s advice or his own mistakes. In fact, I’m willing to bet any real person would have made the exact same decisions as him throughout the show as he did. He listens to heimerdinger and apologized during the Council scene, until he feels his experiments are being insulted. He is about to kill himself as a reaction to his mistake, until he listens to Victor and finishes his experiment anyway. He listens to Heimerdinger and saves new inventions for another year, and shuts down Hextech as a reaction to his mistake when the new invention is stolen. He becomes a Council member and listens to Mel and gets on the Council’s good side. He continues Hextech when his friend starts dying, and he goes to war when he listens to Caitlyn and Vi. But he sues for peace when he kills the kid, as a reaction to his mistake. At the end of his arc, he says he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him anymore. He makes them all listen to HIM now. But I’m sure that Jayce will go into full war mode after this attack by Jinx. That’s the tragedy of his character.
The only oversight is Ekko. Because they forgot to have him with Jinx interact in any way to make heartbreak actually meaningful. Which is weird for a show that so masterfully build character for Heimendinger, the joke inventor in the game.
I was confused by this comment but now I understand so much after clicking "show more" on the description. Odd choice to just literally write it there but honestly that is more convenient
"I'm a genius, not an expert" from a fellow adhd goblin passionate about art is the reason this is my favorite channel on UA-cam. Arcane is a masterpiece tho.
I find it a tragedy that you cannot get through the first episode of arcane. As someone who just doesn't do movies or series in general after noticing I don't have the patience for most of them. I watched arcane. And though I skipped through most of the first episode. The series was amazing. Both in artstyle but also in storytelling. And since I admittedly am not experienced in the field of storytelling it might not be the masterpiece my mind makes it out to be but I genuinely think this is a piece of art where everyone involved cared to make art. In character development, world building as well as visually. It tells two different stories of two different worlds at the same time untill these worlds ultimately converge in a way I have never seen before (though again I haven't seen much so it might not mean much) I don't know if you'll see this but I hope you consider dredging trough the first episode (i don't remember if the second was better) and I promise you might not regret it
I think it’s really interesting how you prefer the objective analysis side of art instead of subjective cause I’m the complete opposite. I exclusively experience art through vibes and what makes me feel good. The only time I care about the “technical” side of art is when I already like whatever it is that I’m consuming. Objective analysis of art doesn’t make me like something that I previously didn’t before, it does give me an understanding of it and in that way I can appreciate its existence but it wouldn’t make me like it. I’m just so inclined to my personal taste that anything that doesn’t cater to that isn’t that important to me, but I can respect that it might be important to others for whatever reason. I think the way that I value the human experience leads me to value personal taste over “taste”. It’s fun how humans can experience the world so differently, kind of almost makes me like being a human :)
My reaction to art is also very personal and emotional. If I love a melody or the way a painting looks, I get an instant connection, no information required. My attachment to it will be introspective. Any behind-the-scenes content thereafter is me going into research-mode. :D
For most video essayists I enjoy, I can usually somewhat predict their takes or points about to be made. With your videos, I can never even come close. However once I rewind the same 20 second segment 6 times and my brain feels satisfied that it understood your point, it always feels poignant and coming from a place of sincerity. Your arguments somehow simultaneously feel like something interesting and new to me, as well as something that's been lingering in the back of my mind for years and I haven't been able to put into precise words.
I heard someone the other day say that the idea of having "good taste" goes back to the roots of knowing the difference between the taste of wholesome foods versus the taste of poisonous food, and now I'm terrified that the granny aesthetic catalogue of consumer goods that came with some vinyl tiles I ordered for my bathroom means that my sense for interior design will be fatal to me, but also I really want that chenille bedspread for my guestroom. I don't have a guestroom, but if I did it would have a chenille bedspread in it. And so many kitschy cardinal ornaments with motivational phrases like "every time you see a cardinal an angel is near" which was another thing for sale in that catalogue. Along with a selection of nearly identical beige high waisted shorts, and a variety of pastel tee shirts. And a pot smoking garden gnome.
I'm so glad you're making intellectualism more accessible, considering how seemingly (at least in the circles of the internet I've seen) so many are anti-intellectual
MAYBE "isabellllaaaa your boyfriend's heere~ TIME FOR DINNER" is commentary on the mundanity of life and how when you're part of a big chaotic family that's going through a lowkey traumatic experience together time doesn't stop, it just rolls relentlessly on - dinnertime comes and the boyfriend arrives and you all have to set the table and sit down and eat and put on a good show for the guest regardless of the trauma cloud constantly hulking in the background but idk i never watched the movie; the only experience of encanto i have is watching this video twice lmao
Honestly, Encanto is a conglomeration of amazing scenes that feel like they should have more in between them to connect them. I enjoyed the movie and the messages that the songs conveyed, but I feel there needed to be a bit more to flesh out the whole story
"I want the movie to honor your love" Really *slammed* into perspective some conversations I've had with a member of a webcomic Discord because she will regularly and consistently point out the ways in which the comic can Be Better and whenever I see it, I think 'But I love it already as it is! It means so much to me, I see so much value in it, why don't you think the value that already exists within it is enough? Why are you constantly asking for More?' and CJ saying (in paraphrase) "A person's love is more beautiful than a lot of the art they give it to." really flipped a switch in my brain and made me realize 'Oh. Oh she _doesn't_ do that because she Only Likes These Parts of the comic and wants the rest of it whipped into shape. She does it because she actually has a wholistic affection for the comic, and wants a wholistic discussion of it, which includes her saying 'These are the ways in which the comic is not excellent, which I want us to be aware of and get salient food for thought from.' and I am taking it really hard because it _is_ a statement of 'This is not worth so much of your trust and love', but I presumed it was coming from a place of 'therefore you're vapid and thoughtless for doing such a thing' instead of 'and I want you to reserve that trust and love for that which serves it better than some webcomic' which is the true spirit of her ethos.' So anyway, thanks for that. I feel like I have one of these personal revelations every time you upload.
I was talking to this complete stranger on twitter who really loves Harry Potter, and I believe our discussion(or argument) started because I said Joane wasn't that skilled as a writter. When she asked what I was talking about I said that I could explain the issues I had with the story, but it would be easier if she saw Shaun's video breaking down some of the flaws the story has. She said she wouldn't do it, because if she knew the video could make her love Harry Potter less then she had no reason to see it. I asked her if she wasn't worried about the possibility of loving something that doesn't exist and she couldn't understand what I meant, so I explained: If she loves Harry Potter, then she must be aware of the good and the bad aspects of it. That means she is aware of the flaws the books has and she doesn't believe the whole thing is without value just because of the presence of some flaws. I made it clear that if this is the case then I have no problem with it, she was free to like whatever she likes. And if that was the case, then seeing someone talk about these flaws shouldn't bother her, because she is already aware of them. And if she wasn't aware of them before, then after getting in contact with this new perspective she can then decide if she still loves Harry Potter, or if she had the wrong impression. I know I'm rambling here too, but I was trying to tell that person that sometimes the stuff we consume doesn't reflect our values. The things this girl liked exists, be it friendship, or fantasy, or bravery, etc. Whatever she believes makes a story great, it exists. But that doesn't mean it exists there on that story. Like, this person was terrified of finding out if her understanding of what HP is about matches the other people's understanding of what HP is about. Like, imagine loving someone like this. Imagine refusing to talk about their past in order to preserve this pristine image of them that you have in your own head. Is that love? I don't know if your friend is like me, but I'm SO open to talk about the flaws of the things I consume. Because if I really love something I want to be sure I'm looking straight at that thing, and not just projecting what I want to see. (She didn't watch the video BTW).
These are the kind of videos I miss. My feed is drowned out in a lot of noise and ambition and loud garbage that i love to waste my precious hours to. But every video of yours i watch isn't a waste. It's the first time i feel like I'm spending my time on something, sharing it, transcending it beyond the ticking seconds and flying numbers, and just ugh. Thank you is never enough :7
"Umbrella Academy is like a Wattpad fanfic" Yes and that is why I love watching it I do see how one cannot really call it quality art though. It's melodrama
I think one of the things I love most about these videos is that I can just *barely* keep ahold of the concepts being discussed. It's like an intellectual challenge that forces me to rewind and relisten. It becomes, well, a game.
There were a lot of reasons I fell in love with Encanto, but perhaps the biggest one for me was that they didn't vilify the whole family- or even Abuela, arguably. Like, I grew UP with story after story featuring a protagonist getting shit on mercilessly by literally all of the other characters (looking at you, JK); with Encanto, it was an extremely refreshing change of pace to see how Mirabel's family, for the most part, truly loved her- and vice-versa- even if they had trouble grappling with the fact that she wasn't also gifted. That's what differentiates this movie from the usual kid-friendly Disney fare for me; for the most part, these characters felt like real people and talked like them, too. How often does this actually happen in kids films? Not a heck of a lot.
I was all "aw, this is so good, too bad it must be halfway through already and will soon end" only to look and realize it was mere 16min in. Astonishing density of information and perfect pacing. You're amazing. Today we dine well, boys.
Really appreciate this video, your conversation specifically about how you can love certain movies even if you're not sure you like them is relatable. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Christopher Nolan (whose films I definitely love bc of sentiment) - 'Films are subjective - what you like, what you don't like. But the thing for me that is absolutely unifying is the idea that every time I go to the cinema and pay my money and sit down and watch a film go up on-screen, I want to feel that the people who made that film think it's the best movie in the world, that they poured everything into it and they really love it. Whether or not I agree with what they've done, I want that effort there - I want that sincerity. And when you don't feel it, that's the only time I feel like I'm wasting my time at the movies.'
I thought the "boyfriend" line was ultimately about the tension of expectations. The pressure of the marriage (important that the song begins with a wedding that 'went wrong'). The dinner, which should be a communion with family, has turned into a pressure pot be abuse of a pressured marriage proposal and an unrequited love. I dunno, just me.
The boyfriend line never really felt exceptional to me, like it was an effective line about familial expectations but that's 80% at least of all of the lyrics in this movie and that specific line had less punch than many of them. By contrast, for me, "time for dinner" was honestly a little bit brutal (in a good way) because there have been SO MANY TIMES that "time for dinner" in this kind of context has meant "sit down and stop talking, because whatever's bothering or important to you right now is less important than acting like a Rockwell painting for a little while."
To me was more of a "Hey, look! Someone outside the family is coming during a crisis! EVERYONE ACT NATURAL" and they are all arranging the table and the food like Mirabel didn't just spend the entire afternoon wreaking havoc and digging old memories and resentments up with every family member AND EVEN THE TOWNSPEOPLE
I literally have nothing to add with my silly UA-cam comment. I think if we all loved each other the way CJ loves art, the world would be a better place. Thanks for making the video.
I think I missed the genesis of this particular art moment, but I'm still quite pleased to discover you spewing so many salient syllables with such emphatically punctuated speed and momentum. I look forward to further examining your body of work, cheers!
I always saw the "Time for dinner" line as a harbinger. The dinner scene is when the straw finally breaks. The last line of the family image goes away as the family has a public breakdown. Stuff was already happening but much like the rumors the song was about, it was all intentionally ignored and under the surface. The song is part of the whole film, so reading it in a vacuum does it a disservice. I see it more as a foreshadowing song, hence the "he's here" line and the "I'm fine, I'm fine" lines
I like Fantano’s use of “taste/tasting” in the verb sense because it really highlights the difference between “tasting” i.e. distinguishing between components of a thing and therefore being able to consider how they interplay; the pleasure of understanding. And “consuming” i.e. I don’t care how it tastes, just get into me; the pleasure associated with fulfilling a base need.
I also think it’s really important to recognize that people aren’t art. Their personas and egos can be works of art, but people as a whole aren’t art. Relationships can be art. But people are essence itself, ykwim?
The reasons "Ecnanto" worked for me specifically to where you fell off of it. I felt those songs showed the alienation of Mirabel from the family that happened when she didn't get powers. She was there, but no-one seemed to share anything with her, so she couldn't know how any of them felt until the magic falling apart gave a material pressure to push herself to learn about her family and listen to them. They may not have known individually about the clues, but when looked at together you could see that they all felt stressed and upset about their predicaments. As for the song "We don't talk about Bruno", everyone wasn't supposed to talk about Bruno but really wanted to talk about Bruno, however as soon as someone from outside the family shows up they needed to stfu.
Had to stop the video to weep over the Vivian Maier story, completely wrecked my shit Edit: back to report that not only did this story change me a little bit, like all good stories do, but I'm currently reading the first physical book I've read in a long time - Maier's biography, which I went to a library to find- as a direct result of CJ's Bo Burnham video, which has changed my relationship to being "online" like nothing else has. CJ, your work is important, and impactful, and I'm grateful.
When I watched encanto I felt "wow this movie is all over the place and characters and themes are not well developed on screen but there are so many context clues that you can see what they're going for. I hope people still like the movie despite these drawbacks because it's just dripping with love from the creators" And I'm very glad that the movie is known for the love put into it and all the meanings are intuitively picked up by the audience, and not eaten up by critics the other way around.
My opinion is that all taste is subjective. People who think they have objectively good taste just have a superiority complex. I adore CJ the X videos, not because I think they show objectively good taste, but because they have something unique to say & it's said with enthusiasm
I wonder if you or any one else in the comments enjoying this have ever heard of, or would be interested in "The Anthropocene Reviewed." A lot of philosophy you have about art as an experience, subjectivity, and even number rating systems reminded me of parts of it. It especially reminds me of art being "art moments" and that anything can be art if it creates that moment. If you don't know, it's a collection of essays that facetiously provide number rankings for all sorts of things- weather, Sunsets, Halley's Comet, Penguins of Madagascar, an Icelandic hot dog stand- but none of it is wholly grounded in superficial rankings of that thing, its the experience of the thing, the history, the meaning. "There are no disinterested observers, there are only participants...when people write reviews, they are writing a kind of memoir, here's what my experience was." It's Ranking the Lascaux Cave Paintings art and history, but also it's interaction with people, ranking the way it is cared for and remembered, about how art is necessary and will outlast us as it continues to be experience. Its a favorite of mine that ends up being part memoir, part education, part musing on how humanity can make such beautiful things while also having such a great capacity for causing harm, and prose on how what we review is also what we experience, and that that is how we grow to love the world. the point. Might be worth a read!
I get some kind of perverse joy from you tearing down my assumptions of the world, I swear it's not sexual or masochistic, it just feels so damn good to be challenged for a change. So much of the internet, so much of all channels of information has just becomes camps of affirming what you already know and believe. Kudos
I totally get that joy. This initial resistance transforming into a mind-blowing epiphanie. That's what drew me to conspiracy theories year ago, but I lost interest when I figured they all lead into some regressive weirdness, most commonly antisemitism. It was disappointing but also expanded my perspective, so a good outcome overall, I guess.
I honestly think reviews/analyses of art are my favorite artform? Like there are whole genres and mediums of art that I do not consume at all that I follow purely through review channels dedicated to them. It's almost like consuming a specific kind of remix; a different piece of art based on the original but in a new medium, filtered and reconstructed through the artistic interpretation of the reviewer or analyst, as they pull out individual components and arrange them to create a different kind of story, on that fits and highlights their subjective experience. I also often go to them not to get an opinion of the original artwork as a whole, but to get an opinion of the individual components that the reviewer has pulled out of its context to explore in relative isolation. It does help you interpret your own taste, not by copying opinions but by improving your ability to pick out things to have your own opinions about. It's a great way to identify tropes that appeal to you, reflect back and see how much of your favorite art contains it, and identify new ways you want to explore or use that trope yourself as an artist, or that you want to look for as a consumer. Like you can look at a sewing tutorial and thing "I never want to wear or make the thing they're making, but that, that one stitch, that one effect they got; I wanna know what that's called, I want to know how to do it, how to spot it in other contexts, how I can use it in a totally unrelated project.
That little moment about defining awesome as a sudden flicker of mutual understanding really resonated with me. I work retail, and those little tiny moments when the script falls away and you can actually be a real person talking to another real person, instead of being an employee talking to a customer are like magic. Those little tiny fragments of actualization are just special in a way that is hard to articulate.
This is why I fuck with textile and fiber arts all much. They are so connected to people and the way they're observed and used that they have historically excluded from "art". When you crochet or quilt a blanket, you have to consider the feeling of the materials, make sure its the right size for the intended use, and when you're done, you'll cuddle up with it, sleep with it, use it to warm you. It's an art form so heavily built around both the objective and subjective, so tied to making sure people don't just see it, but feel it, share it, use it. A handmade outfit being ugly is subjective, but it not fitting is objective. Leather HAS to be used and cared for, or it will literally dry up. It's so public and also so private, being right up against your skin, in your most private spaces, but it's also the first thing other people see about you. It so easily moves between "art", such as high fashion, and "not-art" like your socks and sheets. The connection between humans and textile/fiber arts is really like nothing else.
Here's an interpretation: poetry isn't constrained to just be read off a page. It does work when read off a page, sure, but if given the change (ie the author is still alive and performs their poetry/there are recordings of them performing), then that is the way it should be consumed and reading it is therefore the equivalent of reading lyrics without knowing the song. Similar to plays for me. I hate reading plays. Even if I disagree with a character choice, set piece design, or anything about how the play is performed, it's infinitely better than reading the thing. I write poetry to be read aloud. I pick when and how to rhyme based off my speaking cadence and how I pronounce certain words. I write like I speak. To me, having someone read my poetry absolutely destroys 80% of the impact. However, some poems literally cannot be read aloud this way. Poems have this spatial property that other written texts often don't have. Deliberate indentations or line spacing, big blank parts of the page, changing typefaces, maybe the line itself is rotated 45°. That cannot be translated into a live reading. So poems are special to me in their flexibility. Depending on the author's intent they either almost have to be read aloud to do them justice, or can't be read aloud as they were written to live in the page. TLDR; poems can be read off a page if that's how the author wants it to be, and they can still be poems even if they are read aloud and given lyrical qualities.
I had the exact same though as you when I watched that part on the video! The poetry that has stucked most with me has been read out loud. There is this fantastic video of Allen Ginsgberg reading "America" with music in the background and for me "America", my favorite poem of him, is that video even if the music is edited, because is the way I experience it. Idk if it makes much sense, but man do I love a good read poem.
@@Mateo-ph9js Yes!!! Allen Ginsberg was someone I was thinking of as a famous poet who often performed his work but couldn't recall his name! Great example of poems that don't the same unless they are read aloud.
7:15 The song was about her feeling like she constantly feels like she's about to crack under the pressure of meeting the unrealistic expectations she's been shouldered with by the rest of her family. I mean later you talk about conveying ideas correctly, but there is also the job of the recipient observing the art to be attentive enough to not misinterpret what they are experiencing. How does "Give it to your sister and never wonder if the same pressure would've pulled you under" have anything to do with her cracking underneath the pressure of withholding knowledge? She doesn't even bring up the secret once during the entire song; the song was just her momentary venting about the pressure she's already under all this time, a snap reaction from her being pestered about shit she doesn't have time for. The problem of the scene wasn't the song, it was the transition afterward. Luisa's response shouldn't have just been "I don't know" like a dropped ball during improv night, it should've been followed up with something along the lines of "but I already got too much on my plate. I can't waste time worrying about that."
i think you can still argue that the song was at least badly placed within the structure of the movie (or, rather, either the structure overall or the song itself should have been modified to accomodate each other) in the sense that it seems CJ's issue is the way the plot... just doesn't move forward. like Mirabel's got her quest and while retroactively it all fits, it doesn't... chronologically. i'm not sure if i've quite captured it, but i think that's the essence of their main gripe w the movie, in this section you are correct, though, that saying this song had anything to do w "under the pressure of knowledge she doesn't have" is an obvious misread, for which the reviewer would have to be held to account more than the work itself. (though this is also said in a questioning tone, suggesting it might be more... it's not clearly about that, but if it's NOT about that, HOW is this relevant? WHY is it here? like it's also not the audience's fault to first see A asking B questions about something, and then B going off about how stressed they are, to assume the two are related. even if, in real life, it would be reasonable for them... not to be. I also feel the need to point out the movie actually says there is a logical reason for these random asides, and it's MIRABEL's gift - or being the gift or whatever -, so the fact that neither the original video nor this response mention that feels like an indication that the movie also maybe failed to communicate that smoothly). Plus, I'm pretty sure it's totally possible that lyric COULD have been referring to keeping a secret, from the audience's POV, as we lacked a lot of info at that point. Who knows, maybe Luisa has been given too much responsibility IN RELATION TO THE SECRET, or maybe her sister told her about it, bringing her into it unnecessarily because she's always expected to take care of everything. (i haven't watched encanto in a while so i might be misremembering but i think things are kept vague enough that it's not a crazy conclusion to draw)
@@user-qv2qf1jk5o I mean definitely the entire movie has a crapton of structural issues. Luisa and Isabela are so shallow and narratively reductant that one can be forgiven for misremembering them as the same character. I don't defend the movie; I defend the song. It did a lot of narrative work really well, only for everything else around it to be limp.
my friend while actively consuming, or after having consumed it, will look up fanworks (most often fanfic) and look through popular stuff and i think she does it to learn the media through the eyes of people who love it instead of necessarily seeing it from the creators intention (which i’m also pretty prone to) which then in turn produces the most wack experience of knowing all the small things about say like a show but not knowing what the actors look like or which repeated plot points are canon and which aren’t dhdhdh it’s basically like having two different realities
You do genuinely make me feel not alone in the way I rant about things all the time. I am autistic and when I talk about a special interest it’s basically one of these videos but unscripted and messier lol.
Love that you got Adam Neely for this video. He always has something insightful and meaningful to add to discussions about art analysis. His contribution really tied this whole project together
Very happy I didn't open the comments until the very end of this video lmao
As someone who speaks English as a second language nothing boosts my self esteem more than understanding what you're saying
English being the only language I know, I only understand half of what he says.... idk if that says more about me or the English language.
I'm in the process of getting a Linguistics degree, and these videos are not only highly educational, but also a brutal exercise in simultaneous interpretation. I crank the playback speed down a notch and practice, my brain gets fried in like three to five minutes, but it's still fun as hell. CJ, you're fantastic at what you do and your insight is highly valuable, but for the love of god don't be a speaker on any international events, save an interpreter's life...
this is the best backhanded compliment I have ever seen on the internet holy shit
SAME
Omg same haha need to backspace here and there but none the less it's very entertaining and informative :D
I liked encanto cause the message was it's okay to be mid and that resonates with me
The message was actually "don't psychologically abuse people putting absurd expectations on them that will bend them into an unhappy life just to please you" bestie...
@@sarasthoughts touch grass
@@sarasthoughts yeah ok but what if you got bitches instead
@@sarasthoughts no it was its okay to be mid.
@@drmeggman7602 ur mid
“Who needs DMT when you’re the chosen one” is my absolute favorite joke you’ve ever made
Yours are the only videos that I quite literally cannot watch at double speed.
i always watch them at double speed because it makes me feel very powerful lmao
Nice to see you hear Jessie! Just watched your Earthsea vid about the power of names after going on a LaGuin binge again.
Glad to see you watch this content too!
i rewatched several minutes often and i still have to watch the entire video a few times to really get what he is communicating 😅
jokes on you, i watch it on double speed!!!
i have to pause regularly to process ;-;
Oh, hi.
obsessed with how the flowers are always shaking behind you, as if they too have something to contribute but are trapped within their floral vessels and are cursed never to escape
Love watching them wilt over the course of the video too.
… _sigh_ of course he addresses it
giving crowley from good omens
HFDFDASFDGFGH
I think you're right about generational trauma not being a promise Encanto delivers on, but I think the thematic cohesion you're looking for is easier to spot if you realize the theme is about "family as performance". That's why the dinner looms weirdly largely in their mind in We Don't Talk About Bruno -- it's the performance they're in the middle of while Mirabel goes on her adventure. Things aren't going well and they need to _appear_ differently. The (perceived) failure of the family at dinner is that the actual dysfunction and worries were acknowledged, providing a complete inversion from a healthy relationship. In the beginning, they can all feel like they're doing their best and helping people and that's good -- but it leaves no place for Mirabel. The end of the movie is about trying to disintermediate the relationships they have with each other and their community -- to love and relate to each other, and not just the performance of each other.
Fully agree. I think Encanto was… okay? But I think this message was executed well. No one in the characters family is actually close or concerned about their emotional well being. I wish the film went harder into its serious moments.
"Everything I say is a good tweet"
10/10
Based !
I am also inclined to agree
6/10 lol
I love when I see my follows on each other's channels
@@amys0482 yes yes yes yes yes
The appeal of Umbrella Academy is in its over the top wattpad-esque writing. It's pulpy, campy, comic-book warm trash, and that's a lot of fun. It also has fun action scenes, an interesting visual style, queer main characters, and lots of cathartic "fuck you abusive dad" moments.
that’s probably the best description i’ve seen so far of the show, and i love the show so much because of these reasons. also klaus gang 😦🤞
When it was primarily known as the comic by My Chemical Romance's front-man, people were much more prepared going into it.
Watching it from the front page of Netflix with no context, I can understand why some might be side-blinded by the camp emo-ness in a superhero story.
Sophie From Mars ka Curio did a cracking early video on how its a dissection of traumatic abuse, how each character represents a different way that it manifests in later life.
Tldr: people read fanfic for a reason
@@kohhna i kinda want to watch this video but i'm having trouble parsing your comment into search terms. can you post the end of the youtube url (i.e. ?v=GPrNWuppMcc)?
“i have a brain disease where everything that passes through my mind has to go through this gauntlet of analysis to see if it’s optimized for meaning” (15:10-15:18)
i felt this in my soul
"Did every culture in history invent a kind of religion and God because we're all coincidentally the same kind of fucking stupid-or because God was there to observe and interpret?" you can't just fucking drop that on me like it's nothing
It’s the first one
don't start an argument about the existence of God under my comment guys
oh cool 80 likes
@@deeduml but i want tooo
@@marinecomponentvandefensie5351 they were polite about it, be nice.
I had an art teacher once who asked me if art needed an audience. Me at the time defining art as: "any piece which intends to transmit something abstractly," said yes, art has to have an audience otherwise it's just information.
My art teacher told a story about a gentleman who built a series of pylons on top of a mountain, they were built in such a way that when lightning would strike them it would create rudimentary images. But because of the way, you know lightning works, the phenomenon is completely unobservable. You could check afterwards and make sure that the image worked, but no one would have seen it, no one could have seen it due to the danger, we just know that it existed in the trail that the lightning followed.
He asked me if I thought this was art, if there was a transmission of emotion in knowing that art existed at one point.
I was a bit stumped by this
He then unasked the question completely, he told me that he made this whole scenario up, there was no old man no mountain and no lightning art.
He asked how I felt about that
I told him honestly, I felt a little betrayed because I thought the idea was so romantic.
He then said that the betrayal, was art.
Maybe the most important thing I learned in all of college
this is really interesting to me. I feel like this speaks to the existence of performance art (speaking as someone with little to no experience with performance art) - the knowledge that someone did that thing, hearing the story of it, thinking about what the thought process and motivations must have been around all that, for something that would not produce anything tangible - you're thinking about those subtleties where you can't describe the concept literally, you need some sort of metaphor or abstraction like the lightning pylons to feel the intention or meaning behind it.
that it wasn't a true story is definitely a twist but also definitely still feels like art, just turned on its head a bit.
Was the betrayal art because your transfer produced an emotion in you with a story? Was art the emotion you got from the story?
@@potatoman-oe5jy my current understanding, with more than a decade of reflection, is that the betrayal itself, the feeling the sensation, that information was the art.
God. That's actually fucking hilarious.
I feel like here, you were not betrayed yourself by the art that never happened but compelled by the beauty of the story to realise this art. As C.J the X acutely describes in this video if the photographs had died with the lady then we would have never known and therefore would have never been able to care, the art or 'art moment,' would essentially cease to exist to us. I guess what I'm trying to say here in a roundabout way is that the story your art teacher presented to you was the art in question, this was a transition in motion from him to you and therefore the lightening house itself would have never been art because it wouldn't ever have been observed by anyone, due to this everyones ability to care is stripped away.
Maybe I'm making no sense but it's nice to voice my thoughts.
I'm surprised by your read of "We don't talk about Bruno" , it makes me curious about your experience of family, because I thought "time for dinner" captured a unique and intimately familiar kind of dread, of the performance of the social game and everyone playing discoherent parts, it's a performance leading -into- the social performance of a really tense table of family members who are so busy pretending to be fine that they can't even begin to address how unstable their performance is. I have... Sat at tables like that, where the call to "normality" is the lash of conformity, a honey covered whip.
I do think.... It was an unbaked narrative. It was structurally strange, but I respect the bravery of trying to weave that many motivations into a cogent narrative. I think Coco did a better job of that kind of collective minded storytelling, but I'm excited to see more of it.
time for dinner 💀 (i've not seen the film)
I definitely think this is what they were going for. I really never understood. That was the “climactic conclusion” idea I think, but I don’t think it was very well established or displayed… I say, 11 months after you typed this lol
I love your take on the "time for dinner" meaning. It brings new bittersweet meaning to Bruno making himself a plate and seating to join dinner for many years even with a wall between them. He wanted to be part of the family act of dinner but knew his gift brought a level of honesty that didn't fit with the roles everyone else would play.
“You’re love is more beautiful than the movie...” that’s why I love fanfiction. Most of my favorite media is only my favorite because of the love random people on the internet expressed and explored through writing about that media.
i feel the same way but with edits
Yes, absolutely! It's one of the only mediums that is just a pure expression of love and enjoyment which hasn't been corrupted by capitalism (for the record, I don't think we should overturn capitalism, but it still sucks). There are thousands and thousands of exquisite writers, creating novel-length stories taking months and years of their time for absolutely no reward beyond a few kudos and comments. It's beautiful!
YES! I'm a Potter fan, has been since I was like seven, and while there is pretty much nothing I like about the source these days (Jesus fucking CHRIST they are badly written, also fuck JKR) I still interact with the fandom every day. It's part of me and my life in a way it never would have without this enormous community of other people also loving a thing. A thing we all decided deserved more attention, quality and time than was originally put into it.
I looooove Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction, just so many wonderful stories delivering 10 fold the best of what the show could ever offer.
I'm so excited for CJ's follow up review of it!
YES ABSOLUTELY FANFICTION AND FANDOM CULTURE IS JUST AS MUCH ART AS THE SOURCE MATERIAL
IT'S FUCKING PURPLE BABEY
The art that Vivian Maier experienced when she took her pictures, it was different from the art we experience when we look at her photographs. There is connection in the experiences, but they are still separate arts, separate experiences. Finally I understand why for me, my drawings, they are very little to me when I finish them, but to my friends they are really important. I say, you can put it up outside, do whatever with it, it is fine if you lose it or rip it, and they say, no I need protect it, laminate or put in a frame. Because the art for me was the experience of draw it, make it happen. But for them, the art is the experience they have every time they look at it. Thank you, this really helps.
yes! and visual art connects feelings between the artist and the viewer on a level before words/intellectualizing the experience. we can only use words to describe the feeling. like how a specific aroma can take you exactly to a specific memory. Vivian MAier's photos take us back to that specific second in time and tell us what she was thinking and experiencing. it humanizes and demystifies the past
Alana your words are very beautiful
@@rachelhuang8179 thank you
so beautifully put!! you’ve helped me understand vivian maier’s work a little better
So for you, it's the process, the experience that matters. That's cool. More like what dancers or singers experience, maybe.
Thank you CJ the X for articulating what I've been thinking about; how I don't wish to get more views, but make work that means a lot to those who see it. My only goal in caring about analytics is hoping it can reach those who it will be meaningful too, and also making sure I can live in this capitalist hellhole.
Your 12 Minutes video popped up in my recommended a few weeks ago. I started watching it while playing Breath of the Wild and ended up pausing my game to focus entirely on your video. I've thought about it fairly often since then and returned to your channel several times, it's even been the basis of several in depth conversations I've had recently about women and the way they're often fridged or treated as a plot point rather than a person whose opinion matters. I thought you'd like to know that one of your videos made its way to someone who valued it and gave her a new perspective, resulting in interesting discourse. Like you said, your video meant a lot to someone who saw it.
capitalist hellhole is just human life.. in reality no one should be rich and everyone should help providing the things we can’t live without
♥️
thought, meaning, and care 💜
CJ is the only youtuber who can turn the camera on me, who makes me feel like I'm being watched instead of them, who makes me self-conscious in a way that isnt comfortable but isnt uncomfortable. They make me more aware of myself and my thoughts and my taste not just generally but In Real Time as I watch. These arent background noise videos. They arent even on the couch with popcorn videos. These videos are like take me to church and bring me closer to God videos.
I watch a lot of videos while naked, so I’m really glad I don’t relate to this 😅
YES. you put words to the feeling
@@mollusc3125 holy shit lol
i usually just giggle a lot but hey go off
Same. It puts words to debates I have about concepts internally that I struggle to communicate externally.
I'm not sure I agree about poetry being inherently a typographic medium. There's so much poetry that I've struggled to understand until I've read it aloud. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of slam poetry, but to my mind, a significant part of the art in poetry is the sound of it. A poem isn't just a series of words, it's also the sound and the rhythm and the flow of the verse. I do agree that lyrics are not poems, and vice versa but there is a reason people conflate the two, they're definitely sisters more than cousins.
Give Sarah Z a fucking Oscar for her line reading of “ITS FUCKING PURPLE BABY!!!!”
Thank you thank you
@@SarahZ not to be parasocial but you responding to my comment gave me a rush of dopamine
Of course they had you read a Tumblr post. Typical Hollywood typecasting.
Yes, I came here looking for this specific comment. That line reading made me *feel* things
@@smallbabyedwards LOL
Bro I'm a let's player and even I'm deeply unsettled by Mr Beast's bizarre way of saying deeply cynical things in a weirdly positive way. It's like he lists all the worst things about the platform but is like, yeah, I love it!
no one is happier with the rules of the game than the winner
Oo wow it's the funny disco elysium man watching cjthex
It's like the mountains climbing metaphor, this is a game to Mr.beast. Just like how the mountain climber who wouldn't accept a helicopter ride, Mrbeast wouldn't start his own platform or make a change on this one because that would ruined the fun.
@@jasonlu9562 in summary, he's not an artist, he's a gamer
@@Envy_May couldn't have said it better myself
46:00 I fucking love this section. For perhaps the first time in the channel's history, there is nothing but visual information. So much of this channel's structure is based on there being constant audio and visual information, but in this one instance, there is no audio for a long time. It makes you pay attention to the photos you're seeing, it forces you to take in what you think they mean. It was genuinely jarring, so much so that I stopped eating my bowl of frosted flakes just to take it in. It's very small but I think it's fucking brilliant. Well done, CJ.
every time I watch this video- I usually listen to videos and barely half watch them, but for that section- I do the same. pause whatever I'm doing to experience the images flatly replacing each other on screen in silence. truly brilliant
CJ's speech is like if my mouth could actually keep up with my ADHD brain. They put things into words so well, and also takes things from perspectives I might's not considered before. I'm also not a native English speaker, so I appreciate their use of the language bc I feel like I get to understand it a little better when they use it in a way I'm not used to.
As another ADHD brain you just wonderfully described that.
It's like that crazy incoherent train of thought suddenly upholds when you're trying to express it and not get distracted by other thoughts like right now where I totally forgot what I actually had to add to your comment.
you can learn to speak that fast! It's a skill like any other and can be practiced and honed. I learned through speech and debate in highschool.
@@tannersievert6885 Aw, that actually encourages me :) Thank you!
After hearing that ADHD brain insert I instantly felt the weight of self disappointment when I realized that I can’t ever dream of being able to express myself as clearly and coherently as he does. True talent.
I'm a 4th year art student, I've been in three different schools and I SWEAR if any of my teachers were anything like you, it would have saved much confusion, art blocks and therapy
Gonna offer an alternative perspective on the "Time for dinner" line: I think, whether purposeful or not, that line is actually great. Because the entire song is saying they don't talk about Bruno. It's taboo. And just when everyone is maybe considering opening up in a big way, Isabella's boyfriend arrives, it's time for dinner, and the conversation stops, with all of their stories overlapping because it's still milling about in their minds. The social propriety falls back into place, which is mirrored later when Mirabel brings up the puzzle piece and "ruins" dinner. They CAN'T talk about Bruno now. That music hits like it should be triumphant, but the lyric makes it evident that there could've been more. They were all right on the cusp, but Abuela's strictness for tradition and making sure the family looks good trumped any revelation.
Obviously this could be a stretch, but I think it's a valid interpretation, again, regardless of intent.
But overall, yes, hard agree on Encanto wasn't very good. It was entertaining, I liked most of the songs. But the movie, from a writing perspective, hurt. I don't like plot holes overall, and I REALLY don't like plot holes when they can literally prevent the movie from existing.
I actually agree with you on this. Where in Hamilton it’s got all of those repeating motifs and then there is some level emotional catharsis, I felt like LMM was trying to subvert that catharsis and create discomfort in us. We’re like Mirabel, we desperately want the release of talking about the elephant in the room but the second we are about to get it musically it devolves into overlapping themes and more tension, just in time for us to have dinner and everything to go crazy. It just ratchets up the tension to 11 musically for me in time for a tense scene.
Interesting perspective, I hadn't considered that.
exactly what I came to the comments to say!
@@soyy4571 And *I* came to the comments to say this! We're getting a "it me" russian nesting doll going on here.
I haven't seen Encanto. But, from what's presented here, I totally could interpret this failure to resolve the build of tension as intentional distraction mirroring the social expectations placed on the main character. But, like I said, I didn't see the movie, so maybe that doesn't hold up structurally in context.
Genuinely, saying “If someone could just explain the point of their art then they would just explain it and not make the art in the first place” articulates my frustration with people asking what they should be getting out of art instead of engaging with the art so much more comprehensively than Death of the Author. Like Death of the Author is part of it, but it doesn’t adequately explain why I also feel like the ARTIST is getting cheated by placing all of the emphasis on their intent, and this does.
What if their relationship to the media and all the contents is so distant that they need something like the artist's intent or other people's ideas on it to begin to feel like they can engage with it?
Like, I have to ask "why do people like noise music" to begin to hear anything other than the static CJ played, to begin to feel anything beyond displeasure. I want to understand what others value in it, to be able to enjoy the interaction on some level, and engaging in others' aesthetic testimony is a part of engaging with the art with more appreciation. So, to me it's frustrating when people try to make others engage with art in the way *they* would - in this case an example would be a friend of yours asking that question and you responding with "you're supposed to engage with it without knowing the answer to that question".
I'm sure there are contexts where I would understand your frustration, but like... do you get what I'm saying?
@@Ulyssa12 You're absolutely right, of course, and I think a cool and necessary expansion of CJ's point in this video about art being more than the sum of the artist + the thing + the audience is that when members of the audience engage with the art and with each other, those interactions are ALSO more than the sum of their parts. And I don't think anyone should be forced to engage with anything on someone else's terms, though I certainly see the merit of doing so of one's own volition.
I should clarify that I'm talking more or less specifically about the assumption that you cannot under any circumstances engage with or interpret the art on your OWN terms unless you are already armed with the artist's explanation of their intent. This is sort of counterintuitive, but if art is at its most basic level communication, then to me the unilateral refusal to engage without that explanation actually suggests that you DON'T want to understand what's being communicated. Or that you don't trust the artist to communicate through their art.
I'm not saying asking questions is unhelpful or wrong, I'm not saying looking in the space around the art for additional context is unhelpful or wrong, but I am saying if you think an artist's (or another member of the audience's) explanation of the art can always communicate the same thing as the art itself, 1) you're missing something, and 2) you're depriving the artist of something.
yeah I guess to butt in on both of you here it sounds like the difference between saying "I don't get it, what should I be listening for here" as 1) a cop-out to avoid critical thinking about the thing vs. 2) an honest good-faith attempt to experience the thing more fully to work through a lack of prior experience with that thing because you're interested in becoming more experienced with that thing. like the noise music example referenced here, or say with students in a high school English class.
there's an apathetic version and a genuine version, and people can choose whether or not to engage with that kind of question accordingly.
@@Ulyssa12 If my input is worth anything, I consider noise music to be an expression of meditative displeasure itself. The abstract synthetic noise equivalent of depictions of violence
@@leftpawedpolarbear ah yes this makes sense to me for sure. I think we're on the same page.
"i wonder if this is true, what im saying" is honestly an eternal mood and im gonna start using it to communicate uncertainty in my own ideas where applicable
"Was encanto good or did you just like it" is EXACTLY how I felt watching the movie. It looked amazing and beautiful but the story wasn't neaaaarly as tight as I would have expected from a big 2021 Disney movie. I don't want to disrespect the people that it represents and I wanted to LOVE it but it felt like a baby light show..... a GORGEOUS baby light show but a baby light show nonetheless. 5/10 not as good as emperors new groove ;p
LOL, I first watched it in the middle of a depressive episode on 2 hours of sleep, in bed at 10am after a work meeting, and I bawled my eyes out the whole way through.. I somehow thought that meant that it was wholesome and nice, so I watched it again with my family and was just a bit embarrassed for having recommended it..
I have to say though, that I‘m not an English native speaker and while we can just ignore lines like „time for dinner“ and „abuela get the umbrella“ as just English pop nonsense, when it‘s translated, it just cheapens the experience even more.. it is colorful and pretty though
The Animation in Arcane is GORGEOUS but it does not take away the genius writing you’re missing lmao 😭 (coming from an old Arcane hater) those are the best written characters I’ve ever seen in media especially women characters
yeah i was watching this video and then CJ went "the first episode was so boring that i didnt watch the rest" and i went "?????????? oomfie u are, cross my heart and hope to die, missing out on one of the most heartfelt pieces of western animation to ever exist"
Yeah that sat off with me lol like you stop at what is basically just a prologue and refuse to watch the parts that made the show unique and memorable and then say it's not worth ur time? Like ig it's in ur right but don't talk about it like you have anything important to say then lol
@@sereniteea I get what you mean, but I understood him. I also didn't vibe with it at the beginning. It took like 2 or 3 episodes for me to get hyped about it. I only continued because my significant other was intrigued and wanted to
The other day, a friend showed me dice made out of the glass that is used for camera lenses (according to her).
It caught the sunlight in gorgeous ways, breaking it down into delightful colors. I like the sunlight already, but the way this glass split it into its many parts let me admire and enjoy it in a completely new and different way!
I think you're like that glass, CJ. You take things apart in a way that adds to my enjoyment of them. And you also are an incredibly healthy influence on me as an artist, with your advice helping me break down many of the walls in my brain that kept me from making stuff.
This was a very lovely thoughtful sentiment to read.
how lovely
In case anyone was wondering, it probably was a dichroic cube. They are used in projectors to split white light into didferent colors, so you only need one LED instead of three different ones.
Not only was that beautifully put, but true. CJ really does take things apart in a way that makes me rethink them, and see both the good and the ugly.
I ran, I'm here to be fed my parasocial milkshake aaaah.
Slurp mm very delicious
🤤🤤
Parasocial milkshake? Nah, hun. This is the parasocial primordial soup.
i wanted to like this but it’s at 420
nevermind it’s at 421 now
I would say that art as a hobby is still art and you still deserve to be defined as an artist even if your work isn't shared. The essence still exists between your communication with yourself, therefore creating the substance which gives art value. Through this communication with art that is only seen by the artist they bring that essence with them everywhere they go, communicating the essence to others in an even subtler form in daily life. I would go even further to say that art as an interaction exists everywhere all the time and therefore every human can be considered an artist, at least in specific moments. That's why I love art, because I love people and I seek to find art every day in it's most subtle forms.
fuck yeah you're so real
Style is substance 🙏
What i feel like that "Time for dinner" was trying to achieve is the family finally doing what the title of the song says, they aren't talking about bruno, they're having dinner, ignoring the uncomfortable part of their family and simply moving on with the mondaneity of their lives without aknowledging the issue
Yes, I was going to say something like this. It's part of how Abuela runs the family; it's time for dinner, it's time to stop acknowledging everyone's stories. It isn't aware of what's going on in the rest of the song because Abuela isn't aware of what's going on with the rest of the family. It isn't cohesive precisely because the family isn't cohesive. Which adds to the layers of the song being in the style of a madrigal, the name of the family.
I've seen this movie once months ago and I caught that. The movie is, like, fine, but this seems like a stretch of a criticism
@@sumgirl720 Oh I hadn't thought about the lack of cohesion to be because of that, showing a "lack of care" from abuela's part for everyone's stories and personal motifs, clever!
To me, that idea expressed really well which makes the song cohesive cuz the ideas go together.
But it may not work for you because it's anti climatic even thought that is part of the story.
Honestly the way I feel about this channel is like I'm auditing a 400 level class titled Aesthetic Philosophy in a Modern Cultural Context. Subtitled The Elevation of Art Through Applied Reason and Logic.
The Biography in the description feat. SchoolboyQ alongside Roland Barthes really sends home the feeling of grad school. CJ should give us their "syllabus" ahead of the video's drop dates.
Watching a CJ the X video is like reading an old foundational text for a particular field of study or school of thought, like Das Kapital or Aristotle's Poetics, but formatted differently for the modern day. I feel like I am witnessing cultural and philosophical history being made in my lifetime. I am an original disciple of CJ.
this is so real
so true
Holy glaze
you put it into fucking WORDS
My favorite part of encanto was when Bruno said “it’s morbin time” and morbed the magic back to the family.
my heart stopped when everything everywhere all at once came up i was rly scared our parasocial relationship will be ruined but by the midpoint of the vid i realized i don’t place that much value on your criticism but more so on your analysis
haha i had the exact same journey
fr cj i was about to leave you
I got scared too, but then I didn't think it got criticized all that much.
I was not scared, but I was mentally preparing to watch Miraculous Ladybug for the first time with the bad faith intent to dislike it a lil bit
I think people also often misinterpret or misrepresent the idea of subjectivity with every view or interpretation is equally valid in the same way people misunderstand the idea of something being a social construct as meaning something isn't real or doesn't exist when nothing is farther from the truth.
I see this a lot surprisingly in my own field of mathematics. For a long time mathematicians were convinced that the goal of mathematics and logic was that there existed a set of rules which could fully describe mathematics and we could discover them. More specifically that there exists a set of definitions and axioms (statements we take as true without proof) such that every syntactically correct statement within that system could be proven to be either true or false. But then gödel came and proved that the existence of such a system is impossible. That no matter how many axioms you have your system will always either be inconsistent (lead to a logical contradiction, the existence of statements that can be proven both true and false thus) and thus useless, or incomplete (the existence of statements that cannot be proven at all).
And thus inherently the very idea of truth is subjective. You can have two frameworks that hold different statements as true and yet you can't say one is correct and one is wrong. But the subjectivity of truth does not mean all frameworks are valid, because even though there cannot be a correct all encompassing framework there can be incorrect inconsistent ones. And even among consistent ones they can be more or less useful in terms of which statements they can determine the truth of.
And i think the same is sort of in a roundabout way true for art. We may have different frameworks through which we perceive, analyze and determine the quality of art. And even if they are fundamentally incompatible that doesn't necessarily mean one is right and another is wrong. But that does not mean there are no frameworks that are objectively wrong nor does it mean all frameworks are equally useful in analysis or appreciation.
CJ’s devotion to art-art as a facet of God, really-is actually helping solidify my comfort with leaving my own art in the past. I used to make music, I’ve repeatedly flirted with fiction writing, and I even wrote a tabletop role-playing game; but my day job is in renewable energy. Even at the height of my (Twitter-dependent) tabletop RPG “career,” I repeatedly said I didn’t intend to write full time. I understood that my higher calling was NOT art-it’s helping design a better society at a small scale.
So when the audience for my work came for me with pitchforks (Twitter), I dropped artistic excellence entirely and picked up cycling to replace that time. I’m not writing that second edition of that role-playing game, even though it would be aesthetically better, because my calling is elsewhere. I incentivize and convince people in four towns to install solar panels and electric heat pumps-and I’m better at that than at making art.
I still love music and writing, but I’m not On The Side of Art like CJ is-and thus I’m happy being a hobbyist and consumer.
I personally feel like “I’m on the side of Art” simply as an appreciator of Art.
that's a really interesting perspective, i suppose i haven't ever really thought of it like that. because i suppose i'm definitely "on the side of art", like i genuinely couldn't fathom a reality where i'm not making art, consuming art, thinking about art, all the time. i also am surrounded by people who are like that so it's a nice reality check and interesting perspective i hadn't really considered lol.
51:27 “If you hear ‘art is more important than us’ and you think this is tacit endorsement for suffering for art, you’re still thinking that art resides in objects.”
This part reminds me of a quote from my absolute favorite author, Hanif Abdurraqib.
“I know that I stopped thinking about extreme grief as the sole vehicle for great art when the grief started to take people with it. And I get it. The tortured artist is the artist yay gets remembered for all time, particularly if they either perish or overcome. But the truth is that so many of us are stuck in the middle. So many of us begin tortured and end tortured, with only brief bursts of light in between… I am, of course, in favor of letting all grief work through the body and manifest itself creatively. But what I’m less in favor of is the celebration of pain that might encourage someone to mine deeper into that unforgiving darkness, until it is impossible for them to climb out.“
I do really hope CJ gives Arcane a try someday and realizes that the art style isn't even its main selling point
The part of this video that most caught my attention was the brief aside where you said "I wonder if this is true, what I'm saying." I'm constantly asking that question of myself and other people when talking about art, or really anything at all. And the conclusion I inevitably come to is that even if it's not true, it might be useful. I found this video incredibly useful regardless of truthfulness. For example, my imposed dichotomy of truthfulness vs usefulness. Maybe it's purple, baby.
Me too. I really liked that quick little aside.
"All models are wrong, but some models are useful"
You'll run into this in many aspects of science if you go on pursuing it.
@@emmaragnhof2866 literary analysis too
i also liked it bc - as he described himself - i was 50% like "TOTALLY" and 50% like "no, what the fuck? no!" and that reminded me that, yeah, this is a discussion abt art, it's always like... objectively a bit bullshit. (not that i would have been offended without the disclaimer or whatever).
i pretty much always have that feeling reading (in this case, watching) a work that really engages with "what is art" beyond Philosophy 101 - raising questions AND actually trying to answer them. (I cannot tell you what I would do for a CJ the X video that had "The Art of Cruelty" in its bibliography. I simply cannot).
Anyway, I lied earlier when I said I wouldn't have felt offended or whatever bc i literally DID, in a visceral, irrational way - what i MEANT was that it would have significantly impeded my enjoyment of the video. i have enough experience with this topic to know my own reaction to it, and be able to navigate it.
and that made me appreciate that little moment all the more - it's like the reminder i would have had to give myself was built in, which i think is oddly fitting, thematically, considering how much this covers anticipating the needs of your audience
God DAMN. This comment felt like art, ngl. Not sure what that says about my understanding of the video I just watched.
Sarah Z screaming "it's fucking purple baby!!" about graped soda brings me joy in a purely subjective manner
That umbrella academy take is 100% accurate, I love the show but 3 seasons in and the characters still have no ability to communicate with eachother
“But what’d you really think about Encanto?”
“I liked it fine.”
“Yeah me too.”
“A little full of itself but good music and imagination.”
“Fair enough.”
I only realized I was looking for this when I saw it. Thanks.
*finger guns firing*
this is funny but i want to throw u into the sun for referencing what u are referencing
I will fight you on sight.
LOOOOOL. i #getit
The effects of colonialism on what defines good taste has always made me wonder about where people and artists end up limiting themselves in an effort to prove good taste.
Could you expand on this?
Could you elaborate on this? Swear I'm not challenging you or anything, that's just an angle on this subject that I haven't considered and I'd love to learn more.
@@mueggsy To me the most obvious example I could draw would be music theory (scales mainly) that are seen almost in a way like gospel, academia specifically when it comes to art is very strict and often influenced by European standards and constructs. I know for me in an effort to prove good taste I wouldn't reference an artist like kikuo(an artist who often ignores theory) or my own culture's style of singing because likely it would either be interpreted as political or laughable to even those who identify as objectivists.
@@greenworld966 that's a really good point! Reminds me of a Sideways video I watched in which he talked about how the composers of Avatar (the blue people movie) were challenged to come up with "alien sounding" music for this alien culture, and they genuinely did come up with something entirely original with both the help of music historians, composers and anthropologists, but james cameron scrapped it because it was "too weird" and they just ended up picking vaguely african-sounding music for this alien culture instead. like, the perception of what is "human music" and "other," at least in that movie, ended up revealing some nasty colonialism that ironically went directly against the film's message
@@mueggsy omg yes that is a perfect example!! You get it fr
Here to see your detailed apology to famous (infamous) youtuber little joel. I expect that this video will be edited with the CORRECT take by the end of the day. This means a lot to me.
i think people call the emperor's new groove words like "perfect" because it's very aesthetically and tonally cohesive in a highly stylised way, consistent and densely packed, and holds people's attention and gives them enjoyment at a high level throughout - they could like other things more and not call them "perfect" for that reason, it's just easy for someone to like every second of the emperor's new groove because the level of quality is largely similar across it, and it's a pretty good level of quality all things considered especially if it tickles your sense of humour well
i watched it for the first time not that long ago btw
i think it also says something that the emperor's new groove is so beloved when it's like _the only_ disney movie with a "riskier" sense of style that isn't all homogenised like the media landscape tends to be
I call The emperor's new groove perfect because I watched it dubbled in portugese and it just straight up fixes the film.
This, exactly. It's like, 'perfect' seems like a value judgment but it's _not,_ it's more of a... comment on how a thing is structured, I think? Something being 'perfect' and 'beautiful' are not the same things, in fact sometimes they can be opposites.
@@LiteralmenteFadul Well now you have to explain that in a bit more detail 😁
i think a lot of people just have nostalgic and sentimental ties to it, but i do agree that the timing is very well done
@@KillahMate at risk of being wrong i'm assuming they're talking about the brazilian dub, which honestly manages to elevate the movie so much on its own. i already liked it with the original voices and all, but the brazilian dub was so good it's ingrained in that generation's childhood and is still a staple when you rewatch it as an adult.
00:00 Intro
04:10 Part 1: Was Encanto good, or did you just like it?
08:25 Part 2: A lyrical analysis of We don't talk about Bruno
12:40 Part 3: I shit over everything you love
18:00 Part 4: What is art critique?
30:40 Part 5: Aesthetic engagement and gameplay
42:55 Part 6: What is art?
45:10 (Vivian Maier)
52:27 Part 7: Essence & Interpretation
1:03:10 Part 8: The Mr Beast to CJ The X continuum
1:17:00 Part 9: the resurrection of the author
1:31:30 (conclusion)
Merci, Monet
THANK YOU , god this man needs timestamps
@@Flipitmixit (I don’t think they like being called that)
@@le-ore o
"You don't have to feel like a genius, you are simply the conduit through which genius passes. Be honored for every scrap of it." Is such an incredible quote
This is the kind of education I tell people I receive from UA-cam. Not college but good enough for me. Thank you for making art that helps me understand my relationship to art better.
I went to college (and law school) and I have learned just as much here if not more.
I mean both from Prof. CJ and UA-cam, generally.
This was perfect -I disagreed with most of it, and it took me 3 hours to watch it, because I went on lengthy rants, I loved it so much.
9.5/10, watch mother!
you seem so cool :0
When fucking fantano appeared and he said I'm the internets busiest music nerd I literally stood up with my hands on my head, this is my avengers
LMAOOO UNDERRATED ASS COMMENT
I love Encanto, Arcane, and Umbrella Academy but I also think you're completely correct in your critiques about them and I appreciate you being willing to share your views. Whether you present them with a more positive or negative spin, I love it. Maybe it's that cult leader charisma.
You haven’t reeally watched Arcane until you get to the third episode…
@@calvinjohnson6242 True, but CJ's inability to make it to the second episode is still a valid critique and I appreciate hearing critical opinions of things I love because it helps me see them more fully. Do I think CJ is missing out? Absolutely. Does that make their opinion moot? Not at all.
@@briannenurse4640 It may be the one flaw in Arcane that the first episode doesn’t paint a clear picture of what the rest of the show will be like. It’s very formulaic compared to the rest of the series.
There are some elements that take up most of episode one that are cut down for episode two and three, and completely cut from the show by episode four. And some major elements of the show that are completely completely absent in episode one.
@@calvinjohnson6242 Yeah I had a similar reaction. Anticipating how annoyed I was gonna be by them, and then ep 3 happens. I think you're absolutely right.
Same - I am not a fan of Lin Manuel Miranda ( Sondheim he is not) period, but I liked Encanto. Broad brushes intergenerational trauma and how one copes within a family like that 🤷🏾♀️ so from a family systems theory it was ok
I have definitely run up against the idea of media 'not being worth my love'. I've been involved in fandom for years now and I have devoted hundreds of hours to shows and movies and books that are just not very good! And some of that time is spent criticizing it and thinking about how it could be better. But a lot of it is just love despite the flaws. I love the good parts enough that I want it to be good. And sometimes that sucks because the creators of the media don't respect or like their fans. But overall it's just-- I can see the good parts and I want it to be great so desperately. And I just don't know how to get away from it!
Do you happen to be a supernatural fan? Because after nearly two years of it being over, I’m finally starting to become less involved in its fandom, despite the fact that it was mostly a bad show. Mainly because it introduced a lot of concepts that allowed creators in the fan community to make genuinely good and enjoyable art or analysis. If you aren’t a fan, know it can always get worse on the “this media doesn’t deserve my love” front lol
@@marys4038 I have seen some Supernatural and interacted with the fandom (I'm still on tumblr lol) but I was more the Sherlock and Doctor Who type haha. It is definitely a good example of a show that is just. Not good! But people have created some truly fantastic works of art based off it.
@@BooksRebound Book: Harry Potter. It's not just a bad book, the author is doing her best to make the world a worse place to live :// Movie: This is a hard one! I watch a lot of movies that aren't 'good' but no one watches them for art, they watch them to have fun, like Bill and Ted or A Knight's Tale. Maybe the Star Wars sequel trilogy or the X-Men movies are good here. TV Shows: There's so many, probably because TV has the most people writing, producing, directing, and acting, and there's more time to make mistakes with however long a show goes on. I'd say the entire trifecta of SuperWhoLock, Doctor Who being the least offensive of the bunch. The Book of Boba Fett show was also such a huge let-down for me but I still continued to draw fanart for it and read fic and stuff.
ngl i think youll do yourself a favor if you leave that sinking ship. there is stuff out there worthy of your love.
@@franzferdinand1782 also still on tumblr lol, mainly because it’s the most tolerable social media in terms of the system of it imo
“I don’t think that art is subjective, I think that your subjectivity is part of the art”.
That really feels like it. It feels so spot on, and it’s why it’s so hard to debate whether art is objective or subjective. Because art is bigger than either of those things.
"Aesthetic testimony is not enough" This is so true and it makes me so sad that for so long I've interacting with media just by the testimonies of others. I grew up on UA-cam and instead of watching the endless shows and movies the youtuber I was watching had an opinion on I consumed the opinion of the youtuber and that was it. I did not interact with media, I interacted just with the opinion of the media that was more entreteining to consume. I was a child and I did not have enough capacity to consume that media that the youtube revierws were reviwing but by just watching the reviews I fucked up my relationship to media.
I'm literally incapable to watch a series, it is to hard for me to stay consistent or watch hours of the same thing, while I spend hours on UA-cam.
It is not all bad, I realised how fucked it was and I try everyday to get away from that mindset (I'm very far away from where I used to be). I can now experience media by my self and little by little I'm trying to reduce my social media use in general, I try so I do not consume content acritically. Your channel for has given me the apreciation for art I always had (I watches the reviews beacause at that moment I felt they were an accesible way to understand a higher art that my child brain would not process) and to experiment it for myself. The only video I have not watch of your channel is the arrival one because you explicitly say to go watch experiment the movie for myself and, for the first time, I decided to do so and Im waiting to watch the movie.
I know it is not the central point of your video but truly, that phrase was putting into words a fealing I've had for a long time. If someone is reading this comment, please let yourselfs experiment art and do not find an easy way to *consume* it. Social media and consumerism in general makes your relationship with people worse is something most of us agree on, but it also makes your relationship with media worse and as with the former, you can get help with that.
This is a really good comment, I identify a lot with the "stuck in a cycle of watching reviews/analyses of art and not the art itself" sentiment. For me it was about energy -- experiencing art takes more energy and thought than passively consuming video essays does. I had to break the cycle of doing the easier thing and instead reap the rewards of actually experiencing the art itself.
Yeah.. The combo of the video and this comment made me realize I do the same thing and have been since childhood for similar reasons. It has recently started to bother me in recent years but I never was able to put a finger on why until now. I'm 23. Now I need to start that journey of actually experiencing art myself too. So, you're not alone, thank you for your comment putting into words how it feels.
I used to do the opposite and avoid things because other people said they liked them. Then I realized I liked enough things everyone else did that what was better for me was to just wait to watch things either before I hear anything about them or until other people stopped talking about it so. That way it’s easier for me to have my own opinion first.
for me, personally, watching analysis/interpretation of media/art makes me feel the exact same feelings as consuming art itself.
Essentially, analysis/interpretation can be art, too.
I swear on everything that is unholy, Arcane is genuinely brilliant. It intentionally introduces itself as your average TV show to make it easier to rip your heart out and shove it down your esophagus.
Most of the main cast isn’t introduced until episode two. The story doesn’t really start until episode three. This show isn’t just about the animation, I promise.
The show is very aware of cliches, and it uses it against you. The antagonist is more complex than he seems. Character dynamics change. There’s a huge time skip halfway through.
It’s good. Please, please don’t stop because of episode one. It’s so worth it.
EDIT: The comments below include SPOILERS.
I only ever see people saying this, and I really don’t understand it.. we started watching it and found the world building promising but from the third episode on, it just went downhill, Jinx was powder first and then just crazy without any character development between that and the guy who worked with Victor was a whole three new characters every new episode, Violet became a sexist trucker dude calling people cupcake without any motivation out of the blue.. we stopped watching after the second to last episode because by then, even one more episode was just too boring and unstructured for us
@@lotta_kannfastalles As someone who loves the show, I can understand your reservations about the transition from jinx to Powder; but I think that was the point. We, the audience see Jinx the way Vi sees her - this totally foreign creature who she can barely believe is her sister.
The choppy difference between Jinx and Powder is also a direct cause of her PTSD - she went through a very traumatic event and was immediately raised by a malevolent figure, so she really just started anew in terms of personality and tailored herself to fit Silco's needs. Speaking on Vi's sexism, I'm not too sure what you mean? If you're speaking about the way she treated Caitlyn, that read more defence mechanism from being imprisoned for 20+ years to me than anything. And she called Caitlyn cupcake because she likes her romantically.
I agree with your criticism on Jayce - he did switch up a lot, but I think that was meant to show how easily he could be manipulated? I don't know.
@@lotta_kannfastalles Powder was already pretty messed up. She was quiet, obsessed with explosives, and lashed out when left alone for five minutes. Remember, her parents died, so she had attachment issues and trauma before the story started.
Then she was responsible for killing her best friends and her father figure, hit and abandoned by her sister, and raised by an evil dude. Her madness is a direct cause of these traumatic events. It was the clearest and most believable depiction of the transition to madness I’d ever seen.
Jayce is a complex character who can’t make up his mind. He is surrounded by people who have very different views about the world, and so he is constantly changing his perspective. However, every action he makes is a reaction to his previous mistakes. He’s one of my favorite characters.
Vi didn’t become sexist or a trucker. I don’t know where you got that from.
You might be used to shows where characters are mostly static. In Arcane, characters change a lot, just like real people.
You 100% have a right to your own opinion, but you surely must have noticed how many people disagree with you… Your main problem with the show seems to be “lack of motivation.” If thousands of people see the motivation and you didn’t, perhaps you missed something important?
This is genuinely nothing against you. I just want to make sure you don’t dissuade people from watching the show.
@@krystalkomics8757 Jayce changes his mind a LOT, but it’s always a reaction to a person’s advice or his own mistakes. In fact, I’m willing to bet any real person would have made the exact same decisions as him throughout the show as he did.
He listens to heimerdinger and apologized during the Council scene, until he feels his experiments are being insulted. He is about to kill himself as a reaction to his mistake, until he listens to Victor and finishes his experiment anyway.
He listens to Heimerdinger and saves new inventions for another year, and shuts down Hextech as a reaction to his mistake when the new invention is stolen. He becomes a Council member and listens to Mel and gets on the Council’s good side.
He continues Hextech when his friend starts dying, and he goes to war when he listens to Caitlyn and Vi. But he sues for peace when he kills the kid, as a reaction to his mistake.
At the end of his arc, he says he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him anymore. He makes them all listen to HIM now.
But I’m sure that Jayce will go into full war mode after this attack by Jinx. That’s the tragedy of his character.
The only oversight is Ekko. Because they forgot to have him with Jinx interact in any way to make heartbreak actually meaningful. Which is weird for a show that so masterfully build character for Heimendinger, the joke inventor in the game.
For a while I've been saying "Art is people communicating to each other" and I think that summarizes this video pretty well.
CJ actually putting the bibliography in the description is like, CJ actually putting the bibliography in the description. Thank you, King!
I was confused by this comment but now I understand so much after clicking "show more" on the description.
Odd choice to just literally write it there but honestly that is more convenient
@@SnoFitzroy how is it an odd choice? I thought it was standard practice for people on the more “academic” side of video essays
"I'm a genius, not an expert" from a fellow adhd goblin passionate about art is the reason this is my favorite channel on UA-cam. Arcane is a masterpiece tho.
I find it a tragedy that you cannot get through the first episode of arcane. As someone who just doesn't do movies or series in general after noticing I don't have the patience for most of them. I watched arcane. And though I skipped through most of the first episode. The series was amazing. Both in artstyle but also in storytelling. And since I admittedly am not experienced in the field of storytelling it might not be the masterpiece my mind makes it out to be but I genuinely think this is a piece of art where everyone involved cared to make art. In character development, world building as well as visually. It tells two different stories of two different worlds at the same time untill these worlds ultimately converge in a way I have never seen before (though again I haven't seen much so it might not mean much) I don't know if you'll see this but I hope you consider dredging trough the first episode (i don't remember if the second was better) and I promise you might not regret it
I think it’s really interesting how you prefer the objective analysis side of art instead of subjective cause I’m the complete opposite. I exclusively experience art through vibes and what makes me feel good. The only time I care about the “technical” side of art is when I already like whatever it is that I’m consuming. Objective analysis of art doesn’t make me like something that I previously didn’t before, it does give me an understanding of it and in that way I can appreciate its existence but it wouldn’t make me like it. I’m just so inclined to my personal taste that anything that doesn’t cater to that isn’t that important to me, but I can respect that it might be important to others for whatever reason. I think the way that I value the human experience leads me to value personal taste over “taste”. It’s fun how humans can experience the world so differently, kind of almost makes me like being a human :)
I guess that’s my art consumer mindset vs your art discoverer/creator/interpreter mindset
You've articulated a sentiment I've been struggling to for months! Thank you sm you don't understand how helpful this is!
My reaction to art is also very personal and emotional. If I love a melody or the way a painting looks, I get an instant connection, no information required. My attachment to it will be introspective.
Any behind-the-scenes content thereafter is me going into research-mode. :D
For most video essayists I enjoy, I can usually somewhat predict their takes or points about to be made. With your videos, I can never even come close. However once I rewind the same 20 second segment 6 times and my brain feels satisfied that it understood your point, it always feels poignant and coming from a place of sincerity. Your arguments somehow simultaneously feel like something interesting and new to me, as well as something that's been lingering in the back of my mind for years and I haven't been able to put into precise words.
"remember to download ad-blocker" -CJ the X, right as a YT ad interrupts them mid-sentence
I heard someone the other day say that the idea of having "good taste" goes back to the roots of knowing the difference between the taste of wholesome foods versus the taste of poisonous food, and now I'm terrified that the granny aesthetic catalogue of consumer goods that came with some vinyl tiles I ordered for my bathroom means that my sense for interior design will be fatal to me, but also I really want that chenille bedspread for my guestroom. I don't have a guestroom, but if I did it would have a chenille bedspread in it. And so many kitschy cardinal ornaments with motivational phrases like "every time you see a cardinal an angel is near" which was another thing for sale in that catalogue. Along with a selection of nearly identical beige high waisted shorts, and a variety of pastel tee shirts. And a pot smoking garden gnome.
i love you
homie that IS taste / hj
I'm so glad you're making intellectualism more accessible, considering how seemingly (at least in the circles of the internet I've seen) so many are anti-intellectual
MAYBE "isabellllaaaa your boyfriend's heere~ TIME FOR DINNER" is commentary on the mundanity of life and how when you're part of a big chaotic family that's going through a lowkey traumatic experience together time doesn't stop, it just rolls relentlessly on - dinnertime comes and the boyfriend arrives and you all have to set the table and sit down and eat and put on a good show for the guest regardless of the trauma cloud constantly hulking in the background
but idk i never watched the movie; the only experience of encanto i have is watching this video twice lmao
Honestly, Encanto is a conglomeration of amazing scenes that feel like they should have more in between them to connect them. I enjoyed the movie and the messages that the songs conveyed, but I feel there needed to be a bit more to flesh out the whole story
That sounds like the majority of musicals I've ever seen.
"I want the movie to honor your love" Really *slammed* into perspective some conversations I've had with a member of a webcomic Discord because she will regularly and consistently point out the ways in which the comic can Be Better and whenever I see it, I think 'But I love it already as it is! It means so much to me, I see so much value in it, why don't you think the value that already exists within it is enough? Why are you constantly asking for More?' and CJ saying (in paraphrase) "A person's love is more beautiful than a lot of the art they give it to." really flipped a switch in my brain and made me realize 'Oh. Oh she _doesn't_ do that because she Only Likes These Parts of the comic and wants the rest of it whipped into shape. She does it because she actually has a wholistic affection for the comic, and wants a wholistic discussion of it, which includes her saying 'These are the ways in which the comic is not excellent, which I want us to be aware of and get salient food for thought from.' and I am taking it really hard because it _is_ a statement of 'This is not worth so much of your trust and love', but I presumed it was coming from a place of 'therefore you're vapid and thoughtless for doing such a thing' instead of 'and I want you to reserve that trust and love for that which serves it better than some webcomic' which is the true spirit of her ethos.'
So anyway, thanks for that. I feel like I have one of these personal revelations every time you upload.
I was talking to this complete stranger on twitter who really loves Harry Potter, and I believe our discussion(or argument) started because I said Joane wasn't that skilled as a writter.
When she asked what I was talking about I said that I could explain the issues I had with the story, but it would be easier if she saw Shaun's video breaking down some of the flaws the story has.
She said she wouldn't do it, because if she knew the video could make her love Harry Potter less then she had no reason to see it.
I asked her if she wasn't worried about the possibility of loving something that doesn't exist and she couldn't understand what I meant, so I explained:
If she loves Harry Potter, then she must be aware of the good and the bad aspects of it. That means she is aware of the flaws the books has and she doesn't believe the whole thing is without value just because of the presence of some flaws. I made it clear that if this is the case then I have no problem with it, she was free to like whatever she likes.
And if that was the case, then seeing someone talk about these flaws shouldn't bother her, because she is already aware of them. And if she wasn't aware of them before, then after getting in contact with this new perspective she can then decide if she still loves Harry Potter, or if she had the wrong impression.
I know I'm rambling here too, but I was trying to tell that person that sometimes the stuff we consume doesn't reflect our values. The things this girl liked exists, be it friendship, or fantasy, or bravery, etc. Whatever she believes makes a story great, it exists. But that doesn't mean it exists there on that story.
Like, this person was terrified of finding out if her understanding of what HP is about matches the other people's understanding of what HP is about.
Like, imagine loving someone like this. Imagine refusing to talk about their past in order to preserve this pristine image of them that you have in your own head.
Is that love?
I don't know if your friend is like me, but I'm SO open to talk about the flaws of the things I consume. Because if I really love something I want to be sure I'm looking straight at that thing, and not just projecting what I want to see.
(She didn't watch the video BTW).
These are the kind of videos I miss. My feed is drowned out in a lot of noise and ambition and loud garbage that i love to waste my precious hours to. But every video of yours i watch isn't a waste. It's the first time i feel like I'm spending my time on something, sharing it, transcending it beyond the ticking seconds and flying numbers, and just ugh. Thank you is never enough :7
"Umbrella Academy is like a Wattpad fanfic"
Yes and that is why I love watching it
I do see how one cannot really call it quality art though. It's melodrama
Season 2 is pretty quality I think
I'll take sincere melodrama over self hating mockery of compassion any day.
it may be wattpad melodrama but it's MY wattpad melodrama
I think one of the things I love most about these videos is that I can just *barely* keep ahold of the concepts being discussed. It's like an intellectual challenge that forces me to rewind and relisten. It becomes, well, a game.
I ADORE Arcane but I lost my shit laughing at "Oh you found an ITEM? You live in a REALM???"
There were a lot of reasons I fell in love with Encanto, but perhaps the biggest one for me was that they didn't vilify the whole family- or even Abuela, arguably. Like, I grew UP with story after story featuring a protagonist getting shit on mercilessly by literally all of the other characters (looking at you, JK); with Encanto, it was an extremely refreshing change of pace to see how Mirabel's family, for the most part, truly loved her- and vice-versa- even if they had trouble grappling with the fact that she wasn't also gifted.
That's what differentiates this movie from the usual kid-friendly Disney fare for me; for the most part, these characters felt like real people and talked like them, too. How often does this actually happen in kids films? Not a heck of a lot.
I was all "aw, this is so good, too bad it must be halfway through already and will soon end" only to look and realize it was mere 16min in. Astonishing density of information and perfect pacing. You're amazing.
Today we dine well, boys.
Really appreciate this video, your conversation specifically about how you can love certain movies even if you're not sure you like them is relatable. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Christopher Nolan (whose films I definitely love bc of sentiment) - 'Films are subjective - what you like, what you don't like. But the thing for me that is absolutely unifying is the idea that every time I go to the cinema and pay my money and sit down and watch a film go up on-screen, I want to feel that the people who made that film think it's the best movie in the world, that they poured everything into it and they really love it. Whether or not I agree with what they've done, I want that effort there - I want that sincerity. And when you don't feel it, that's the only time I feel like I'm wasting my time at the movies.'
I thought the "boyfriend" line was ultimately about the tension of expectations. The pressure of the marriage (important that the song begins with a wedding that 'went wrong'). The dinner, which should be a communion with family, has turned into a pressure pot be abuse of a pressured marriage proposal and an unrequited love.
I dunno, just me.
Good read! I didn’t really think of that because Camilo go brr
The boyfriend line never really felt exceptional to me, like it was an effective line about familial expectations but that's 80% at least of all of the lyrics in this movie and that specific line had less punch than many of them.
By contrast, for me, "time for dinner" was honestly a little bit brutal (in a good way) because there have been SO MANY TIMES that "time for dinner" in this kind of context has meant "sit down and stop talking, because whatever's bothering or important to you right now is less important than acting like a Rockwell painting for a little while."
To me was more of a "Hey, look! Someone outside the family is coming during a crisis! EVERYONE ACT NATURAL" and they are all arranging the table and the food like Mirabel didn't just spend the entire afternoon wreaking havoc and digging old memories and resentments up with every family member AND EVEN THE TOWNSPEOPLE
completely agree with this analysis
Time for dinner
I literally have nothing to add with my silly UA-cam comment. I think if we all loved each other the way CJ loves art, the world would be a better place. Thanks for making the video.
I think I missed the genesis of this particular art moment, but I'm still quite pleased to discover you spewing so many salient syllables with such emphatically punctuated speed and momentum. I look forward to further examining your body of work, cheers!
I always saw the "Time for dinner" line as a harbinger. The dinner scene is when the straw finally breaks. The last line of the family image goes away as the family has a public breakdown. Stuff was already happening but much like the rumors the song was about, it was all intentionally ignored and under the surface. The song is part of the whole film, so reading it in a vacuum does it a disservice. I see it more as a foreshadowing song, hence the "he's here" line and the "I'm fine, I'm fine" lines
I like Fantano’s use of “taste/tasting” in the verb sense because it really highlights the difference between “tasting” i.e. distinguishing between components of a thing and therefore being able to consider how they interplay; the pleasure of understanding. And “consuming” i.e. I don’t care how it tastes, just get into me; the pleasure associated with fulfilling a base need.
You need more likes for that "tasteful" observation, my guy.
I really like this because it also doesn’t make one thing better than the other. Both are valid forms of enjoyment, ones just more in depth.
I also think it’s really important to recognize that people aren’t art. Their personas and egos can be works of art, but people as a whole aren’t art. Relationships can be art. But people are essence itself, ykwim?
“who needs DMT when you’re the chosen one” are words that i strive to live by
The reasons "Ecnanto" worked for me specifically to where you fell off of it. I felt those songs showed the alienation of Mirabel from the family that happened when she didn't get powers. She was there, but no-one seemed to share anything with her, so she couldn't know how any of them felt until the magic falling apart gave a material pressure to push herself to learn about her family and listen to them. They may not have known individually about the clues, but when looked at together you could see that they all felt stressed and upset about their predicaments. As for the song "We don't talk about Bruno", everyone wasn't supposed to talk about Bruno but really wanted to talk about Bruno, however as soon as someone from outside the family shows up they needed to stfu.
yes exactly! the dinner part was literally a "we are changing the subject now because we dont talk about bruno"
Had to stop the video to weep over the Vivian Maier story, completely wrecked my shit
Edit: back to report that not only did this story change me a little bit, like all good stories do, but I'm currently reading the first physical book I've read in a long time - Maier's biography, which I went to a library to find- as a direct result of CJ's Bo Burnham video, which has changed my relationship to being "online" like nothing else has. CJ, your work is important, and impactful, and I'm grateful.
being a hopeless victim of Netherlands housing crisis while listening to this ahhh just perfect
Same here
*relates in Polish*
same, wish i could move out so bad
Capitalism ruins everything.
When I watched encanto I felt "wow this movie is all over the place and characters and themes are not well developed on screen but there are so many context clues that you can see what they're going for. I hope people still like the movie despite these drawbacks because it's just dripping with love from the creators" And I'm very glad that the movie is known for the love put into it and all the meanings are intuitively picked up by the audience, and not eaten up by critics the other way around.
My opinion is that all taste is subjective. People who think they have objectively good taste just have a superiority complex. I adore CJ the X videos, not because I think they show objectively good taste, but because they have something unique to say & it's said with enthusiasm
I wonder if you or any one else in the comments enjoying this have ever heard of, or would be interested in "The Anthropocene Reviewed." A lot of philosophy you have about art as an experience, subjectivity, and even number rating systems reminded me of parts of it. It especially reminds me of art being "art moments" and that anything can be art if it creates that moment. If you don't know, it's a collection of essays that facetiously provide number rankings for all sorts of things- weather, Sunsets, Halley's Comet, Penguins of Madagascar, an Icelandic hot dog stand- but none of it is wholly grounded in superficial rankings of that thing, its the experience of the thing, the history, the meaning. "There are no disinterested observers, there are only participants...when people write reviews, they are writing a kind of memoir, here's what my experience was." It's Ranking the Lascaux Cave Paintings art and history, but also it's interaction with people, ranking the way it is cared for and remembered, about how art is necessary and will outlast us as it continues to be experience. Its a favorite of mine that ends up being part memoir, part education, part musing on how humanity can make such beautiful things while also having such a great capacity for causing harm, and prose on how what we review is also what we experience, and that that is how we grow to love the world. the point. Might be worth a read!
it’s definitely worth a listen too :)
Totally agree! The anthropocene reviewed is a masterpiece, and I would definitely recommend listening to the podcast
Loved it. Get the audio book too, as John reads it himself
I get some kind of perverse joy from you tearing down my assumptions of the world, I swear it's not sexual or masochistic, it just feels so damn good to be challenged for a change. So much of the internet, so much of all channels of information has just becomes camps of affirming what you already know and believe. Kudos
I totally get that joy. This initial resistance transforming into a mind-blowing epiphanie. That's what drew me to conspiracy theories year ago, but I lost interest when I figured they all lead into some regressive weirdness, most commonly antisemitism. It was disappointing but also expanded my perspective, so a good outcome overall, I guess.
UA-cam is Mr Beast's mountain. He's never going to get in that helicopter.
I honestly think reviews/analyses of art are my favorite artform? Like there are whole genres and mediums of art that I do not consume at all that I follow purely through review channels dedicated to them. It's almost like consuming a specific kind of remix; a different piece of art based on the original but in a new medium, filtered and reconstructed through the artistic interpretation of the reviewer or analyst, as they pull out individual components and arrange them to create a different kind of story, on that fits and highlights their subjective experience. I also often go to them not to get an opinion of the original artwork as a whole, but to get an opinion of the individual components that the reviewer has pulled out of its context to explore in relative isolation. It does help you interpret your own taste, not by copying opinions but by improving your ability to pick out things to have your own opinions about. It's a great way to identify tropes that appeal to you, reflect back and see how much of your favorite art contains it, and identify new ways you want to explore or use that trope yourself as an artist, or that you want to look for as a consumer. Like you can look at a sewing tutorial and thing "I never want to wear or make the thing they're making, but that, that one stitch, that one effect they got; I wanna know what that's called, I want to know how to do it, how to spot it in other contexts, how I can use it in a totally unrelated project.
That little moment about defining awesome as a sudden flicker of mutual understanding really resonated with me. I work retail, and those little tiny moments when the script falls away and you can actually be a real person talking to another real person, instead of being an employee talking to a customer are like magic. Those little tiny fragments of actualization are just special in a way that is hard to articulate.
This is why I fuck with textile and fiber arts all much. They are so connected to people and the way they're observed and used that they have historically excluded from "art". When you crochet or quilt a blanket, you have to consider the feeling of the materials, make sure its the right size for the intended use, and when you're done, you'll cuddle up with it, sleep with it, use it to warm you. It's an art form so heavily built around both the objective and subjective, so tied to making sure people don't just see it, but feel it, share it, use it. A handmade outfit being ugly is subjective, but it not fitting is objective. Leather HAS to be used and cared for, or it will literally dry up. It's so public and also so private, being right up against your skin, in your most private spaces, but it's also the first thing other people see about you. It so easily moves between "art", such as high fashion, and "not-art" like your socks and sheets. The connection between humans and textile/fiber arts is really like nothing else.
Here's an interpretation: poetry isn't constrained to just be read off a page.
It does work when read off a page, sure, but if given the change (ie the author is still alive and performs their poetry/there are recordings of them performing), then that is the way it should be consumed and reading it is therefore the equivalent of reading lyrics without knowing the song. Similar to plays for me. I hate reading plays. Even if I disagree with a character choice, set piece design, or anything about how the play is performed, it's infinitely better than reading the thing.
I write poetry to be read aloud. I pick when and how to rhyme based off my speaking cadence and how I pronounce certain words. I write like I speak. To me, having someone read my poetry absolutely destroys 80% of the impact. However, some poems literally cannot be read aloud this way.
Poems have this spatial property that other written texts often don't have. Deliberate indentations or line spacing, big blank parts of the page, changing typefaces, maybe the line itself is rotated 45°. That cannot be translated into a live reading.
So poems are special to me in their flexibility. Depending on the author's intent they either almost have to be read aloud to do them justice, or can't be read aloud as they were written to live in the page.
TLDR; poems can be read off a page if that's how the author wants it to be, and they can still be poems even if they are read aloud and given lyrical qualities.
I had the exact same though as you when I watched that part on the video!
The poetry that has stucked most with me has been read out loud. There is this fantastic video of Allen Ginsgberg reading "America" with music in the background and for me "America", my favorite poem of him, is that video even if the music is edited, because is the way I experience it. Idk if it makes much sense, but man do I love a good read poem.
@@Mateo-ph9js Yes!!! Allen Ginsberg was someone I was thinking of as a famous poet who often performed his work but couldn't recall his name! Great example of poems that don't the same unless they are read aloud.
7:15 The song was about her feeling like she constantly feels like she's about to crack under the pressure of meeting the unrealistic expectations she's been shouldered with by the rest of her family. I mean later you talk about conveying ideas correctly, but there is also the job of the recipient observing the art to be attentive enough to not misinterpret what they are experiencing. How does "Give it to your sister and never wonder if the same pressure would've pulled you under" have anything to do with her cracking underneath the pressure of withholding knowledge? She doesn't even bring up the secret once during the entire song; the song was just her momentary venting about the pressure she's already under all this time, a snap reaction from her being pestered about shit she doesn't have time for. The problem of the scene wasn't the song, it was the transition afterward. Luisa's response shouldn't have just been "I don't know" like a dropped ball during improv night, it should've been followed up with something along the lines of "but I already got too much on my plate. I can't waste time worrying about that."
i think you can still argue that the song was at least badly placed within the structure of the movie (or, rather, either the structure overall or the song itself should have been modified to accomodate each other) in the sense that it seems CJ's issue is the way the plot... just doesn't move forward. like Mirabel's got her quest and while retroactively it all fits, it doesn't... chronologically. i'm not sure if i've quite captured it, but i think that's the essence of their main gripe w the movie, in this section
you are correct, though, that saying this song had anything to do w "under the pressure of knowledge she doesn't have" is an obvious misread, for which the reviewer would have to be held to account more than the work itself. (though this is also said in a questioning tone, suggesting it might be more... it's not clearly about that, but if it's NOT about that, HOW is this relevant? WHY is it here? like it's also not the audience's fault to first see A asking B questions about something, and then B going off about how stressed they are, to assume the two are related. even if, in real life, it would be reasonable for them... not to be. I also feel the need to point out the movie actually says there is a logical reason for these random asides, and it's MIRABEL's gift - or being the gift or whatever -, so the fact that neither the original video nor this response mention that feels like an indication that the movie also maybe failed to communicate that smoothly).
Plus, I'm pretty sure it's totally possible that lyric COULD have been referring to keeping a secret, from the audience's POV, as we lacked a lot of info at that point. Who knows, maybe Luisa has been given too much responsibility IN RELATION TO THE SECRET, or maybe her sister told her about it, bringing her into it unnecessarily because she's always expected to take care of everything. (i haven't watched encanto in a while so i might be misremembering but i think things are kept vague enough that it's not a crazy conclusion to draw)
@@user-qv2qf1jk5o I mean definitely the entire movie has a crapton of structural issues. Luisa and Isabela are so shallow and narratively reductant that one can be forgiven for misremembering them as the same character. I don't defend the movie; I defend the song. It did a lot of narrative work really well, only for everything else around it to be limp.
yeah I caught that too. ultimately it doesn't really detract from the bit he's doing or the point he's making, but I'm right there with you.
The aside where you say "I wonder if this is true, what I'm saying." at 50:24 is way funnier than it should be.
my friend while actively consuming, or after having consumed it, will look up fanworks (most often fanfic) and look through popular stuff and i think she does it to learn the media through the eyes of people who love it instead of necessarily seeing it from the creators intention (which i’m also pretty prone to) which then in turn produces the most wack experience of knowing all the small things about say like a show but not knowing what the actors look like or which repeated plot points are canon and which aren’t dhdhdh it’s basically like having two different realities
You do genuinely make me feel not alone in the way I rant about things all the time. I am autistic and when I talk about a special interest it’s basically one of these videos but unscripted and messier lol.