One Star

“just transition” “we’re living our lives in color, and he can too” all the big gay internet trolls out there just need to come out the closet, and be their big gay selves. This is such an unfortunate case particularly to those who faced harassment from this guy, but — like Cody said — him as well. This stuff comes from disturbed people, and there’s absolutely something to empathise with upon reading/hearing about this. Art as competition has always been strange (with awards and such), but NOW people see competition in algorithms and numbers upon numbers, that you’re incentivised to attach your worth to; It’s designed to be addictive, to feed your dopamine however it can, it’s unfortunately natural for people to divert that toxic energy into this- leaderboard way of looking at internet success. It’s important to remember tho (so you don’t wind up like Shaun) that — while the numbers are there — any “competition” is made up, by yourself. Everybody works at their own pace, contributes something different, and the numbers on that leaderboard aren’t a reflection of how much your art has connected with or helped people. Comparison is the thief of your valuable time and everyone’s respect for you, as that one saying goes. And even if you do find that idea of competition IS a serious motivator for you, at least play fair, and mayyybe acknowledge that you miiight have some underlying shit to work on. Don’t review bomb. Put that energy towards your art, promoting it, even a friendly challenge between friends. I feel an admittedly overblown and self-righteous disgust towards filming TikTok promos during a shoot. I get the idea of using skits to promote a film, BTS has been a thing forever… I get it, it’s maybe something I should consider trying out in my own way, but I still feel… eh, about it. Something something insert 5 hour Gen-Z video essay about ‘performativity’, and how “the concept of playing an idealised version of yourself to sell ‘your brand’ is a hecking bummer dude”, here STILL- That is a significantly more productive way of channeling that grind/hustle energy, than review bombing those you feel unnecessarily threatened by. Don’t review bomb. Live your lives in colour. Pray the gay towards you. P.S. The idea of a filmmaker’s least favourite films of theirs being a series of flashing colours and a static shot, that was devoid of colour from the get-go, is a very cosmic and beautiful thing. I’ve been writing this review for like an hour and it sucks. - My review, not this film. My five star rating is because it really is perfect, in my opinion. The Pure Cinema Trilogy seems similarly authentic, and right up my alley, as well.