Stop - Not everything needs to be a masterpiece.

Outrage politics and rage baited clicks have dramatically skewed the discourse around creative media. One post on reddit blows up, centred around a perceived issue (that may or may not be real depending on how much the poster was on their phone whilst watching, or just a general lack of media literacy) and suddenly that entire TV show/Film/Game is the worst thing ever.

Next thing you know people who haven't watched or played it are picking it apart. Minor issues are touted as immersion breaking and plot derailing. It's branded terrible, an insult to the fans (heaven forbid), it might just kill the franchise, and all those in charge should commit Seppuku.

Then you actually sit down and watch it one day... and honestly you can't see much wrong. Sure its an ambitious sci fi tv series, and at times you can see where that ambition met the realities of budget and time, but you grew up watching power rangers where badly dubbed stuntmen in tights leapt away from massive sparkler explosions and fought in cardboard cities. You grew up in reverence of star wars, where a literal potato was used as an asteroid and some dude is running around holding an ice cream maker in the back of one shot. Christ they even left in the shot where the storm trooper bangs his head on a door. so to you the show was fun, you might even rewatch it in a few years, not perfect, but you didn't turn it off either. But not according to "The Internet" no according to them it is awful, no redeeming qualities

What's more you seem this same level of armchair critique aimed at everything from Oscar bait, to kids shows, and you wonder aloud if anyone has heard of not judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree. You see people bemoan bad animation or VFX when in truth they're looking at stylistic choices, or a frame by frame youtube video (I don't think I've ever watched a film frame by frame, top tip there for you to actually enjoy movies).

But where does this obsession come from, why has our online discourse gone from "found some funny mistakes on in these shows" to "DONT watch this show. 10 TERRIBLE mistakes in the new sci fi series (has woke killed another franchise)".

I think we all sort of know the answer, this style of content has simply been deemed more profitable, the fly wheel has spun up, more outrage, more clicks, more clicks, more comments, more comments more outrage, more outrage, more clicks, more clicks, more imitators, and so it goes.

Moderation, nuance, those things take more than a sentence to get across, no ones reading that (Christ id be surprised if many are even reading this) What's more those opposing or moderate opinions they put you outside of the mob, perhaps even in conflict with it, and people they struggle to cope with the thought of being ostracised. The lie of the mob will make the truth of reality a painful ting for those who speak it.

If you want to test this go in to any online forum where environmental issues are being discussed and suggest people try eating less meat to help, watch how fast you find yourself on the outside of the mob, how all your facts and figures compassion and nuance will mean nothing before their agreed upon reality, any internal conflict your comments may spark are seen as you removing them from the group, so they direct that negativity to an external source, and so you feel what its like to be the one voice against 100.

Much like these shows being terrible, they have an agreed upon reality and way of being, and when these ways of thinking become entrenched it becomes incredibly difficult to change them. Within these groups it becomes acceptable to ridicule anyone who opposes them, and so these beliefs, this "reality" become increasingly homogenised, and even if people dont agree fully with them, fear of ridicule prevents them speaking out.

None of this is healthy. And im not talking about healthy for the media companies, im talking about the health of our societies, our communities. This knee jerk outrage, this extremism in everything, it is as damaging to us as drinking 15 pints then running a marathon, its too much of everything. We need middle grounds, those are the spaces in which people grow, they provide access for those are different stages of their journeys both as creators and consumers.

Perfection does not exist, so stop claiming that new show is or isn't it, just enjoy it, and if you genuinely don't, then stop watching. But if your enjoyment is contingent on the last reddit post you read or YouTube video you watched giving you a perspective on something you haven't even seen yet, well then maybe take a step back and ask what you're even doing this for? Are you watching it because you want to, or because you're scared the group wont accept you? Because im pretty sure I remember my mum telling me as a kid, that if they want you to lie to fit in and be their friend, then they aren't really friends with you, they're just friends with their own ideas.