Why doesn't Red Letter Media get more shit?

[Bufbaf]

I'm not even sure if I'm judging here, I'm very curious though. I've been rewatching a bunch of their videos, and they repeatedly (and I mean VERY repeatedly) go off about, and these aren't my words, "the gays", "midgets", "females", "the mentally challenged" (not sure anymore if "retards" are on the table also, they have an entire "storyline" about forcing characters into a gay wedding, which turned out as funny as you'd expect, and it just doesn't stop. They also don't get tired of implying social justice warriors in production messing with movies and similar types of criticism, be it fair or not, I don't know.

That said, they have some episodes where they sort of make fun of the "stop putting females into my movies"crowd as well, but how honest is it really is you do the same jokes a week later.

So, since there's a sizable movie and freelance movie critic fanbase on Era, what are the thoughts on this? Am I completely wrong here and it's all just in good fun?

 

[swift-darius]

seriously. I keep seeing people left and right talk them up, even among other relatively progressive fandoms like giant bomb's, and it super rubs me the wrong way. I want nothing to do with a bunch of edgy reactionaries.

 

[SirKai]

A lot of the humor in their older material has absolutely not aged well (even though I did admittedly love it like, 9-10 years ago). I think they've considerably cleaned up their act in recent years from what I've seen although I've still seen them occasionally take the piss out of the "SJW" perspective, but I don't watch them a whole bunch. I imagine they've steadily matured over time, or just scaled things back enough so as to not get in hot water while also not alienating their chud audience.

I never watched them but more broadly I think there time in the sun has already passed to a large degree so it could be that just no one cares about them anymore.

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Their videos still get insane view numbers.

 

[citrusred]

I never watched them but more broadly I think there time in the sun has already passed to a large degree so it could be that just no one cares about them anymore.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I pretty much stopped watching after their Captain Marvel HitB. I'd had suspicions about them holding dated viewpoints for a while for a while (particularly Rich) but that video was a fucking embarrassment.

 

[Zor]

I never watched them but more broadly I think there time in the sun has already passed to a large degree so it could be that just no one cares about them anymore.

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They are still very popular.

 

[Soap]

I never watched them but more broadly I think there time in the sun has already passed to a large degree so it could be that just no one cares about them anymore.

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This is kind of how I feel. They got big from Plinkett and that kept an audience for a while, but these days it kind of feels like they are old men yelling at clouds. However, since there is basically no move industry right now I may be imagining things.

 

[Aprikurt]

The guys who did those Star Wars prequel videos a hundred years ago?

They were never on my radar, them being gross bigots just confirms that.

 

[WaluigiTime]

They get a lot of shit here ever since they did the Captain Marvel review.

 

[Bufbaf]

The guys who did those Star Wars prequel videos a hundred years ago?

They were never on my radar, them being gross bigots just confirms that.

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I mean, okay, but that doesn't overwrite their still immensely high popularity (and I noticed them brought up a bunch of times on Era as well). According to whatever this Google result from programminginsider.com is:

Most popular Movie Reviewers on YouTube

• #1 Chris Stuckmann. Subscribers: 1.81 million.
• #2 Jeremy Jahns. Subscribers: 1.72 million.
• #3 Channel Awesome. Subscribers: 1.21 million.
• #4 Red Letter Media. Subscribers: 1.2 million.
• #5 Mr. Sunday Movies. Subscribers: 1.18 million.

So yeah, they're up there. Pretty much every video seems to break 1m views handsomely, so it's not like they've been out of fashion for ages or something.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Even if they got more shit they'd still be popular. I mean, just look at Channel Awesome.

 

[GamerJM]

I think people are usually quicker to defend them because whenever they engage with people about this sort of thing, they come off more as out of touch dudes in their 30s/40s who grew up in a world where these sorts of things were normalized moreso than people with right wing political views, iirc. That doesn't make it okay but it does make them less bad than like, idk, JonTron (low bar, I know).

 

[Aprikurt]

I mean, okay, but that doesn't overwrite their still immensely high popularity (and I noticed them brought up a bunch of times on Era as well). According to whatever this Google result from programminginsider.com is:

Most popular Movie Reviewers on YouTube

• #1 Chris Stuckmann. Subscribers: 1.81 million.
• #2 Jeremy Jahns. Subscribers: 1.72 million.
• #3 Channel Awesome. Subscribers: 1.21 million.
• #4 Red Letter Media. Subscribers: 1.2 million.
• #5 Mr. Sunday Movies. Subscribers: 1.18 million.

So yeah, they're up there. Pretty much every video seems to break 1m views handsomely, so it's not like they've been out of fashion for ages or something.

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Yeah, I was talking about myself personally. I just remember trying to watch one of their videos and the voice the guy was putting on cut through me like a knife. Unfortunately being an asshole doesn't impact popularity as much as it should. Trashing Captain Marvel is a free ticket for many sexist idiots.

(Mr Sunday Movies is a lot better in many ways)

 

[VAD]

I just watched their prequel stuff and that's it. I don't regret not watching more of them.

 

[Infinity Times Two]

The bulk of their jokes lately has been the abundance of streaming services, lazy remakes, the death of the theater experience and the blockbuster. The things mentioned seem to take less and less place, which says to me that they are maturing, which we must allow for.

I dunno, I still watch every video from theirs because they give good insights into film production and they usually have good taste and present them well.

 

[beansontoast]

I haven't watched much of their stuff, although I did see the SW prequels reviews. I just found the whole serial killer with people in the basement jokes so unfunny and just edgy for edgy's sake. Never really wanted to watch more of their stuff after that.

 

[Raiden]

These guys digged into the prequels for hours, with hours and hours upon research, watching them probably like 77 times. Critiquing the smallest details and dumbest things. And all I could think was if you put this many time in Citizen Kane you''ll find stupid shit as well.


My point being now is that they annoyed me since then and I don't even like the prequels, and never saw any other red letter media stuff.

 

[Jac_Solar]

This usually irks me, like Joe Rogan who I can't listen to anymore, but for some reason it doesn't bother me as much with these guys. Like, I'm willing to put up with some of their dated views and still enjoy their videos. I guess it comes across as less offensive because it feels like they are portraying some out of touch characters a lot of the time, and the format makes them feel like "friends", and you're more willing to put up with a friend you disagree with. Or maybe this just makes me a hypocrite.

 

[Potterson]

They are - at least now - typical white, sarcastic centrists afaik. Still like their re:views for example where there are far less "jokes".

 

[Ushojax]

I enjoyed the analytical parts of the SW prequel reviews but the serial killer humour wasn't for me. From the few other clips I've seen of them I get the feeling that they are typical comic book neckbeards/Trump voters.

 

[Fatoy]

Mike and Jay are legitimately decent film critics when they drop the act, which is why I only watch their non-skit videos. Their comedy isn't funny in the slightest.

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

There are so many terrible people to focus in online media on that some weak both sides stuff does not get covered too much.

 

[Praxis]

seriously. I keep seeing people left and right talk them up, even among other relatively progressive fandoms like giant bomb's, and it super rubs me the wrong way. I want nothing to do with a bunch of edgy reactionaries.

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I'm a big fan of GB's, but some of their humour was pretty out there if you go back and watch old stuff like the Persona Endurance Run, definitely not aged well just like a lot of humour from back then.

Edit: I have still watched the Persona ER three times

 

[Davey Cakes]

Mike and Jay are legitimately decent film critics when they drop the act, which is why I only watch their non-skit videos. Their comedy isn't funny in the slightest.

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They are - at least now - typical white, sarcastic centrists afaik. Still like their re:views for example where there are far less "jokes".

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I dunno, I still watch every video from theirs because they give good insights into film production and they usually have good taste and present them well.

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All of this.

Some of their content might be "unsavory" but there's still quality stuff in a variety of formats. It's up to the viewer to decide where to draw the line.

 

[Alien Bob]

I don't know, I feel like they get exactly as much shit as they deserve. Their old stuff hasn't aged well, there's topics they clearly would be better off shutting up about, but they can be genuinely insightful or funny. They are problematic mostly due to ignorance or a refusal to engage explicitly on a political level. All due criticism to them on all of that.

But that still puts them so far ahead of the Joe Rogans and Jeremy Clarksons of the world.

 

[GS_Dan]

Avoid anything with Mike and/or Rich in and they're fine, even good. Their recent Twin Peaks videos were good, for example.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

i stopped watching when they made an unnecessary joke while talking about one of the godzilla movies, something like "did you just assume gender" which told me the kind of guys they were

 

[Stalker]

The guys who did those Star Wars prequel videos a hundred years ago?

They were never on my radar, them being gross bigots just confirms that.

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Ding ding ding

Their star wars shit was embarressing and so was how people flocked round them and the mr plinkett character.

Then when they reviewed captain marvel by shitting on feminism and not for a second talking about the movie I knew I'd want to see any of their shit.

 

[Khanimus]

Any value their critical insight had basically died the moment they described the villains of Get Out as "not being typical obvious racists, but instead being so not racist that they came around to being evil again."

Like... what a monumentally stupid fucking take that was.

 

[Muitnorts]

I think people are well within their rights to dislike or take issue with their videos. They've certainly said a few questionable things and made poor taste jokes in the past.

In general though I can't think of many occasions they say the kind of stuff you've highlighted without it obviously being sarcastic. They've often commented on movie execs being too uncomfortable to let characters be gay and forcing scenes to show that they're straight and have spoken out for more diversity behind and in front of the camera.
It's that sort of stuff that makes it easy for me to look past some of the dumb shit they've said especially because that tends to be prevalent in much older videos.

Maybe that's too lenient idk. I've watched most of their content and get the impression they generally have progressive attitudes, there are just times when they don't realise their own privilege and push things for cheap laughs. The fact that those moments are increasingly rare is good, but I realise that my being able to look past them is my own privilege.

Edit: that being said I can't remember/ haven't seen their captain marvel review and there's undoubtedly stuff they've said that I'd disagree with in other videos

 

[Praxis]

I haven't watched their Star Wars or Marvel stuff as I'm not interested in the franchise's enough to care, but I do like their re:View videos about stuff like Tremors, Psycho, Predator etc.

I also share the same opinions about Star Trek as them and enjoy those videos.

 

[Vault]

best of the worst and Re:View is by far their best stuff

i find Half in the bag and Plinkett stuff pretty unwatchable nowadays

 

[Praxis]

I think people are well within their rights to dislike or take issue with their videos. They've certainly said a few questionable things and made poor taste jokes in the past.

In general though I can't think of many occasions they say the kind of stuff you've highlighted without it obviously being sarcastic. They've often commented on movie execs being too uncomfortable to let characters be gay and forcing scenes to show that they're straight and have spoken out for more diversity behind and in front of the camera.
It's that sort of stuff that makes it easy for me to look past some of the dumb shit they've said especially because that tends to be prevalent in much older videos.

Maybe that's too lenient idk. I've watched most of their content and get the impression they generally have progressive attitudes, there are just times when they don't realise their own privilege and push things for cheap laughs. The fact that those moments are increasingly rare is good, but I realise that my being able to look past them is my own privilege.

Edit: that being said I can't remember/ haven't seen their captain marvel review and there's undoubtedly stuff they've said that I'd disagree with in other videos

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I was just watching their Doctor Sleep/Parasite half in the bag episode and they're ripping the shit out of a Trump nerd who's shit is all fucked up about a foreign film winning best picture.

I am a similar age as them though and probably just as guilty as them for being a bit out of touch

 

[astro]

No amount of insightfulness makes up for the shitty views they casually throw around. Their comedy is awful, too.

 

[Lua]

I mean, even without the problematic stuff,i dont understand why some people think they are these cerebral, clever and serious movie critics. All the points that they make in most of the reviews i saw were very,very obvious and surface level. They dont do any interesting out of there analysis of themes and/or metanarrative, its always the bare minimum ponctuaded by centrist-white male sarcasm. Nothing they do is even close to being as well made or interesting as what people like folding ideas or lindsay ellis do, so its always a puzzle to me that they are so respected, relatively speaking.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

I mean, we still got people who cape for Bill Maher here despite the multitude of shitty things he's said and done because "well, he's still funny though."

 

[Deleted member 48828]

I gave up on them after they spent way too much time in their Wonder Woman 2016 review trying to justify representation not being important.

 

[Mafro]

I pretty much stopped watching after their Captain Marvel HitB. I'd had suspicions about them holding dated viewpoints for a while for a while (particularly Rich) but that video was a fucking embarrassment.

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This is pretty much where I fell off too. It's a shame because I really enjoyed their re:View videos where they're mostly out of character and it's just straight up critical analysis.

 

[LProtagonist]

Youtube movie reviewers are trash in general, so I don't really pay attention. Give me more channels like Every Frame a Painting (RIP) and The Cinema Cartography and the like that do some deep dives and actually analyze film.

 

[astro]

I mean, even without the problematic stuff,i dont understand why some people think they are these cerebral, clever and serious movie critics. All the points that they make in most of the reviews i saw were very,very obvious and surface level. They dont do any interesting out of there analysis of themes and/or metanarrative, its always the bare minimum ponctuaded by centrist-white male sarcasm. Nothing they do is even close to being as well made or interesting as what people like folding ideas or lindsay ellis do, so its always a puzzle to me that they are so respected, relatively speaking.

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Yeh, I've never seen anything from them you can't find reading Era or chatting with mates.

I've only watched a few I was recommended by people who like them, though, so could have missed something.

 

[Pezking]

I love 'em. Probably my favorite YouTube channel.

I don't always share their opinion. Their review of Captain Marvel comes to mind, and I actually love TLJ. But that's ok. Most of the time their reviews are great, and the humor is right up my alley.

 

[djplaeskool]

Personally, RLM is a weird seesawing mix of bad psuedo-conservative takes on popular media, 90s style societal insensitivities, and some genuinely great content (Best of the Worst) and knowledgeable analysis.

 

[Mengy]

I watch a lot of RLM's stuff. Yeah I don't always agree with their opinions on things but I do usually find them entertaining. Not always though. As movie reviewers go I do like them, sometimes the act gets in the way of the reviews however.

 

[nded]

Most of their problematic behavior seems to be borne out of ignorance and a Gen X propensity for cynicism and "transgressive" humor rather than malice, though Rich in particular skirts that line a bit too often. They fly under the radar because there is no shortage of even worse people to focus on especially in the last few years.

 

[Bacon]

These are the guys that did the hilarious rape jokes in the star wars commentary right? Yeah y'all can keep that

 

[Noisepurge]

Mike and Jay are legitimately decent film critics when they drop the act, which is why I only watch their non-skit videos. Their comedy isn't funny in the slightest.

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Yup, Re:view and Best of the Worst episodes are often really interesting

 

[Vincent Grayson]

The Plinkett shit turned me off ages ago, and then I just kind of never looked further. I don't really go to the internet for movie reviews unless they're short and humorous (like the Pitch Meeting/Honest Trailers style), so I never really think about them.

At the end of the day, I'm just not sure I care much about some more random white men's opinions on anything. There's hardly a shortage.

 

[hiredhand]

Youtube movie reviewers are trash in general, so I don't really pay attention. Give me more channels like Every Frame a Painting (RIP) and The Cinema Cartography and the like that do some deep dives and actually analyze film.

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This so much. Most popular Youtube film review channels are really obnoxious.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

They likely took Plinkets popularity as a sign to be as crass as possible. Probably the wrong takeaway since they would likely be doing fine covering media without that shtick.

 

[LakeEarth]

They could definitely use a woman in the mix again, that seems to be their biggest blindspot.