J733Anderson
Since: Aug, 2014
09/06/2014 00:00:00
I'd say that this is a really good review. It states a few things wrong and a few things right about his series, and it's easy to see where you're coming from. Really good. Wonderful :)
Scolipendra
Since: May, 2013
09/08/2014 00:00:00
I see exactly where you're coming from, actually.
saltyoven
Since: Dec, 2013
09/09/2014 00:00:00
this Review feels like It could start some fascinating discussions. And I am being 100% serious.
Austin
Since: Jan, 2001
10/15/2014 00:00:00
A lot of people mistake the word "objective" to mean "opinion that I find reasonable".
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The Objectivity Sticks in the Throat
In terms of production values there's nothing offensive with Mysterious Mr Enter, he does everything competently and if it lacks personality he at least makes up for it in quality. The jokes are pretty good and despite spending a lot of his time complaining it feels like he's coming from a good place. It's clear that he really is criticising because he wants to see the writers stretch themselves and take their cartoons to their full potential. He's keen to teach his viewers good writing techniques and it really is admirable.
The problem that stops me from being able to get on board at all is that he tries and believes that he's being objective and non-biased. It drains his reviews of interest and very easily raises hackles. To say that you're being objective means that you have to believe that what you're saying is absolutely right and incontrovertible. It means Mysterious Mr Enter has to know better than everyone else.
Even this doesn't come from bad motivations. He wants to be fair, rational and reasonable and being 'objective' is how you do that.
-Except art is always a personal experience. It's true that their are tips and tricks that improve the odds of people liking your thing. It's probably a good idea to introduce your characters and be consistent and set the plot up properly. I'm not saying these kind of discussions are impossible. But that's not the start and end of anything. You need to get the basics right but there's all sorts of personality and expression that you use those basics to convey and these are the point of the whole exercise. If you want to make a structurally perfect episode then all you need to do is be rote and formulaic and try nothing new and convey nothing of meaning.
Mysterious Mr Enter's style of review encourages a cartoons-as-essays approach. Everything has to be consistent and logically rigorous with a solid argument for existing that everyone can agree with. This is his approach to responding to criticism too. But cartoons aren't essays and essays are dry and boring.
The thing is, Mysterious Mr Enter does have feelings, ideas, impressions, viewpoints and imagination, but he appears to try and repress them in order that everyone can agree with his position and review. There is a place for talking about structural details, but not at the cost of everything else.