"Ah, but what you call overthinking, I call enjoyment, so I think we might be at an impasse here."
—Mike Rugnetta, PBS Idea Channel, in response to a commenter invoking the MST3K Mantra.
"...I think this is a kind of catharsis. We generally want stories to make sense, and if we can’t make the story coherent then at least we can can gather up all the problems and catalog them in an orderly fashion, dangit!"
"As someone who has helped others with their writing, I'm often amazed at how much detail some writers insist on giving about trivial features of their characters, and how disinterested they are in sticking to them. Or maybe they don't realize that "Watchful eyes the shade of distant mountains" is not the same as "Mercurial irises as black and mysterious as the dark side of the moon."note "
—Response
to a dismissal of the importance of internal consistency
to a dismissal of the importance of internal consistency"There's Suspension Of Disbelief and then there's insulting my fucking intelligence."
— The Spoony One on the Wing Commander movie
Poster: "The simple question is: did you have fun playing?"
Other poster: "The question, from a designer perspective, is never "did I have fun?". The question is, "Could this experience have been improved?". It is important with any work of media to ask, "What worked, and what didn't? How do the elements of this work combine to create a greater whole, and what elements feel out of place or dissonant?". (...) I am capable of enjoying an experience while thinking that it could be better."
Several exhorted me to “lighten up, it’s only a movie, can’t you stop thinking and just have fun?” This demand is the traditional ploy when someone can’t marshal a real argument – which is one reason why it’s routinely used on inconveniently uppity Others...Them I will leave to the tender ministrations of Moff’s Law, with the added footnote that it’s actually impossible to turn a brain off, short of irreversible coma or death.
—Athena Andreadis, Ph.D, Lab Rat Cinema: Monetizing the Reptile Brain
We want to be able to pretend it's real. It doesn't have to be based on a true story, or even be a realistic story. It just can't be dumb as shit.
It would still be dumb, even if I relaxed.
"You should just enjoy the movie by ignoring parts of the movie."
— Adam Johnston of Yourmoviesucks DOT Org, paraphrasing the standard fan response to his brand of analyzing
"In the wake of all of this, I keep being told people with passion worked on this game, so I can't criticize it. Oh, this update was free. I'm so 'ungrateful' that Kishimoto, Flynn, and the entire team are trying. So let me tell you something that will blow your mind. Firstly, every piece of media has people passionate working on it. Secondly, Kishimoto directed Sonic Forces and Lost World, two games also heavily criticized by these same people, for apparently 'not trying'. But, we all know what this is: they don't believe this statement, as they are willing to criticize those games. It's just thrown out in an attempt to stop others when they criticize something that person likes."
