I hate to have to say this, but there are a lot of people who have turned themselves into professional victims online and they can’t understand that they have a choice.
Of course, you suggest that and they freak out. What the hell is wrong with these people?
This is not a new observation. There are entire genres of channels on YouTube that are professional whiners. Everything is terrible! Then why the hell are you watching it? Just walk away and find something else to do that you enjoy!
I decided to put this article out because I saw a long rant by Wes, over on Thinking Critical, about how crappy the American comic book industry is, and while I like Wes. I like what he has to say a lot of the time, he’s still doing it to himself.
That’s really the problem with all of them. They are all doing it to themselves! I realized a long time ago, at least 15 years ago now, that I wasn’t having any fun reading American comic books. You know what I did? I stopped reading them. I walked away. I realized that I wasn’t having any fun watching modern Star Wars. What did I do? I stoppped! Same with Star Trek. I don’t do it. I go and find stuff that I do enjoy. I don’t give my money to the idiots that are making crap. Let them die! I’m fine with that.
Unfortunately, there’s a whole “industry” out there based around rage-watching things they hate. How stupid is that? Oh right, people are willing to pay them scream about things they hate, which is even more stupid. There are entire classes of YouTube content that I don’t consume any longer because I have no interest in the constant whine-fest. There are even more that are right on the verge of getting dropped. I am sick and tired of the crap, certainly, but I am even more sick and tired of the complaining about it.
Wes has an entire channel dedicated to whining about American comics. I’m sure that’s not what he intended it to be, but that’s all it really is now. He’s done it to himself. Now, he’s complaining about it. How does that work, exactly? If you hate modern American comics, STOP READING THEM! I’ve said that before and he doesn’t like it much. Why? Because this is his brand. Concentrated whining. If you like American comics, which is fine, I used to do that myself, then pick the ones you like and talk about them. However, he wouldn’t get paid that way and in so doing, he’s bought into the rage-machine. He’s contributing to the problem. Marvel and DC don’t care who buys their comics. Money spent on comics bought for rage-bait spends just as well as anything else. In fact, I think Marvel and DC know they’re making people buy their crappy comics which is why they keep doing it. They can’t be that stupid that they don’t realize their sales are in the toilet. Any attention is good attention at this point.
Sadly, a lot of people are just living in a nostalgia bubble. They can’t get past what used to be true. Me, I loved reading comics in the 80s and early 90s. I still have massive runs of Marvel and DC from that era. If I’m in the mood to read comics, I’ll go read those. I’m not giving modern Marvel or DC a red cent or a moment of my time. They have to earn it and they’re not even trying.
Same goes for movies and TV. Earn my money or you won’t get it. I think everything that Disney does these days is garbage. Granted, I don’t have kids that age, mine are grown and gone, but even they recognize how terrible it all is and has been for a very long time. Therefore, I don’t watch it. I don’t subscribe to Disney+. I haven’t seen a Marvel movie since Endgame and don’t miss them one bit. I don’t watch any of the DC crap. I’ve caught one or two on streaming but hated them all and honestly, have zero interest in doing that anymore. I don’t enjoy it so I don’t do it. It’s pretty simple.
What I do watch is my massive physical media library. I never have to watch anything new again. I have thousands and thousands and thousands of DVDs and Blurays that I can sit down and watch any time I want. I buy very, very little that’s come out in the last decade, but there is a lot that I can get when things were quality and appealed to me. That’s where my money goes. I’m not going to just hand over my money because I don’t know what else to do with it. I’m not bored. I have tons to do. If modern companies want it, they have to earn it.
That they have little interest doesn’t bother me one bit. They can all go out of business for all I care. I don’t need them. They need me, or people like me. Meanwhile, I’m not getting my blood pressure up worrying about the stupid crap that’s out there right now. I just ignore it and increasingly, I’m just ignoring the people who can’t do the same. It’s all really irrelevant. The people who insist on screaming for a living, they did it to themselves.
Maybe they should choose to do something else.
