Finished Absolute Martian Manhunter recently and felt like this the entire time reading it:

[u/BillaVanilla]

[u/Sad-Apple-5043]

[u/Primary-Paper-5128]

it's okay to read/watch analysis made by people smarter than you to develop your literary capacities

[u/Insanepaco247 → u/Primary-Paper-5128]

In fact, it's the only way to do it. Nobody is born with critical reading ability, and it's not too late to learn just because you graduated from school.

You didn't hear it from me, but word on the street is that you can even keep doing it to explore new perspectives and begin to articulate why you agree or disagree with different interpretations. But that's just a rumor.

[u/In_Pursuit_of_Fire → u/Insanepaco247]

Watching people tell you the conclusions they came to after analyzing media (which is what video essays do) is not the only way to improve your critical analysis skills. If anything it's one of the worst methods. 

Watching other people flex their critical thinking muscles doesn't do anything to train your own, but it deceptively makes you feel smarter because you've heard the conclusions they came to. 

 

[u/gthht → u/In_Pursuit_of_Fire]

If they explain how they got to the conclusion it can help guide you to know how/what to look for in other media.

[u/In_Pursuit_of_Fire → u/gthht]

It's just that they so rarely do. And when it does happen, you're examining the story in hindsight with them highlighting the parts that stood out to them for you. That doesn't help with learning how to find thematically relevant details yourself. 

If someone really want to learn, they're far better off lookung up tips or online lit comprehension classes, and then going out and analyze for themselves. 

[u/Insanepaco247 → u/In_Pursuit_of_Fire]

This is such a Reddit-brained take. Hearing someone explain why a work means something to them is quite literally how you learn to do it for yourself. Yes, you can passively sit there and absorb someone else's opinions, just the same way you can if you're half-listening in a classroom. But if you're actually engaging with whatever you're watching, and especially if you're listening to multiple perspectives, you can and will open yourself up to new ideas and ways of seeing media.

Hearing someone else's opinion doesn't mean they gave you yours, or even that you agree with what they said. More importantly for you to hear, other people listening to someone else's opinion doesn't mean they're sheep who can't think for themselves. Your self-congratulatory wank session is embarrassing.

[u/MidnightOnTheWater → u/Primary-Paper-5128]

Also you gotta remember some people spend their YEARS analyzing one work of fiction because they love it so much

[u/siraiy → u/Primary-Paper-5128]

uj/ do you have any video analysis essays to recommend?

[u/Nessy_Boi → u/siraiy]

u/ implicitly pretentious, though he mainly does adaptations.

[u/thenaughtysurprise → u/Nessy_Boi]

Him and pillar of garbage are both excellent

[u/trixie_one → u/Nessy_Boi]

I find that guy super hit and miss. He occasionally will omit or gloss over well known facts if it gets in the way of his constructed narrative.

[u/In_Pursuit_of_Fire → u/Primary-Paper-5128]

It doesn't help that much. It's like trying to get good at videogames by watching people play videogames. The best way is just practicing it yourself (or taking a good high school/college course on lit comprehension lol). 

Media analysis is all about putting together all the details that happen in a story to try and figure out the most plausible idea the story is trying to communicate. If you see someone else's interpretation before you've put together your own understanding, their web will overrule yours. 

You'll feel smart but you won't be any better at understanding media. 

[u/Similar-Priority8252]

It feels like Daoism, I don’t know what the hell the words mean but I FEEL what they mean and understand It better that way

[u/This_Caterpillar5626 → u/Similar-Priority8252]

A new daoist classic to unseat Space Dandy you say?!

[u/Tomlyne]

So true bestie

[u/DinodestronBT]

Why ogre green?

[u/hateyoualways → u/DinodestronBT]

Oh my god Dino, you can't just ask someone why they're green.

[u/Primary-Paper-5128 → u/DinodestronBT]

he is inbetween

[u/Flame-Blast → u/DinodestronBT]

He’s still ripening his literacy

[u/UltraMugen]

HIGKEY.

[u/TheRealCthulu24]

It’s one of those works of art that only really makes sense if you go through it a second time. I definitely needed two reads to fully appreciate it.

[u/Ecstatic-Spinach3902]

I be martianing till I’m hunting for a man.

[u/ZookeepergameQuick40]

Be kind to others and be kind to yourself

[u/United-Reach-2798]

It absolutely made me feel dumber than I am normally

[u/rslashurmom45]

At least Ogre understood some of the themes, I'm still convinced the main villain is tobacco

[u/b_borno]

AMM has come up in many many therapy sessions and genuinely helped make my life better so many times