This year's batch of video essay recs includes several videos that can be treated as resources for further media enjoyment. You'll see several returning creators, but also some newcomers in the mix. Not all of these videos were posted in the last year, but considering Youtube's algorithm nonsense, I think I can be forgiven for taking a little longer than I should have to watch some of these.
Quality Culture: Rush Hour - An Unexpected Image of Black and Asian Solidarity - Let's start with a retrospective on "Rush Hour" viewed through the lens of Black and Asian race relations. I'm not the biggest fan of Jackie Chan these days, but I think we can all be forgiven for a little nostalgia in light of recent events.
The Movie Rabbit Hole: "No CGI" is Really Just Invisible CGI - A four part series on Hollywood's efforts to downplay the use of CGI in marketing - to the extent that they're actually using CGI to hide the use of CGI in behind-the-scenes footage of movies like "Barbie" and "Top Gun: Maverick." Learn to spot little tells like bluescreens that have been digitally turned gray, and compositing mistakes. Best of all, this video appears to have had some real impact in filmmaking circles, spurring discussions about marketing narratives and the use of CGI and VFX.
Moon Channel: Gacha Drama and the Korean Gender War - I'm not very active in the gaming space, but this two-parter on the staggering level of misogyny in the Korean gacha game fandom is a must-watch. Moon Channel is run by a lawyer and avid gamer, who does a deep dive into the social and cultural forces driving this mindset. If you thought Gamergate was bad, what some of these Korean gamers have done in response to the slightest perception that their favorite gacha games might contain feminist messaging, is much, much worse. I choose to take this as a cautionary tale, especially in light of some of the tantrums I saw in Western media fandoms this year.
Accented Cinema: The Cinematic Themes and Visuals of Ancient China - I watched a lot of period Chinese films this year, and I was so glad to find that Accented Cinema had put together this handy, multi-part guide to all the different eras of Chinese history, and all the different visual and thematic signifiers that go with them. Whether it's Mongol fashions in the Yuan Dynasty or low necklines in the Tang Dynasty, you can tell a lot about a piece of Chinese media just by looking at how characters are dressed. This also functions as a nice summary of the Chinese historical eras for those of us who didn't pay enough attention in school.
Li Speaks: A Comprehensive Categorization of Reddit Ragebait - I don't read the supermarket tabloids or the gossip blogs, but I am guilty of reading some of the advice and story subs on Reddit. A lot of the stories are fake, but there are so many that it can be difficult to remember this when a new variation pops up. So kudos to Li for taking on the monumental task of categorizing all the different kinds of ragebait on Reddit, from stories about bridezillas, to stories about evil mothers-in-law, to stories about terrible roommates. It turns out there is an art to constructing fake drama, and this stuff is everywhere.
Just an Observation: Why Ripley Felt Different - Here's a nice, straightforward breakdown of the recent "Ripley" miniseries from Netflix, and some of the choices that director Steve Zallian and cinematographer Robert Elswit made to help tell a familiar story. I always appreciate a breakdown video that can help to articulate what made a piece of media so special.
Be Kind Rewind: Miss Piggy, Camp, and the Death of the Movie Star and Patrick Willems: The Rise and Fall of Muppet Cinema - I'm a long time Muppet fan, so the recent Patrick Willems and Be Kind Rewind videos on Muppet media were inevitably going to make an appearance here. Willems treats the Muppet movies as their own genre, while Be Kind Rewind examines how Miss Piggy functions as a throwback to and gentle parody of old school Hollywood leading ladies.
And finally, if you haven't seen them already, these are the two videos that got the most amount of attention this year in the media circles I'm in. One is about calling out Youtube plagiarists, and the other is about a defunct "Star Wars" hotel. They are both multiple hours long and absolutely fascinating.
Hbomberguy: Plagiarism and You(tube)
Jenny Nicholson: The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel
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