Ah okay. Not gonna watch the whole hour but I’m curious. Do you remember ballpark of the minute mark?

Do I want to watch this YouTube clip or should I save myself the stress? I can never be sure.

lol That is very fair

God I love runners

Alexa, clear my schedule.

I was like 😬😬😬

Dying at "the yellow website"

It drives me insane. The way people talk about video games is so obviously affected by the bizarro-world culture around it, yet some would pretend to believe they’re separate or unaffected by it and that it has no place in their writing

Context can help as a springboard to discuss how you engaged with art. That’s all. Not every reader is as internet-brained as we are

Context from that culture can help, when appropriate. That’s all. We’re not brave warriors for pretending to be above it. Just like people who think they’re too smart to be manipulated, pretending to live in a vacuum can make us more susceptible to hiding our blind spots and perspectives

What nonfiction is made better by pretending to be unaware and uninfluenced the culture in which it exists

“Well I want to know about the reviewer—“ the reviewer doesn’t live on the moon! They exist within gaming culture and is keenly aware of it

And make no mistake—it influences us. We have an emotional reaction to it

This is including arguments I’ve heard from writers who want conviction and bravery in writing. We seem to pretend to dismiss a culture of loud and aggressive opinions, and then call it bravery instead of acknowledging its role in how we engage with art

My goal is to express my disagreement. You're welcome to say that I'm dishonestly approaching your point, if that's how you feel, but I'm being as honest with you as possible. I think part of your point, as I've understood it so far, is wrong and makes assumptions of a useful approach to criticism

If you want to say that “not for me” doesn’t add anything to the review, fair. Hard disagree, but fair. But to suggest it takes away from the review as false generosity is assuming intent, not to mention disregarding its value in setting context for knowing the writer better

lol Come on. “To me the other perspectives are always imagined” isn’t intellectually honest

What if other perspectives aren't imagined? Does it become fair game to address? Because there's value in, say, pointing out the popularity, history, and fandom of an IP when discussing my experience with it

What your saying now is a different tune than “'Not for me' is fake generosity"

Exactly! That’s been my point, which I feel is in disagreement with some of what I read from you and @jakesteinberg.substack.com. The notion seemed to be that the absence of a claim of “good” or “bad” means appeasement or a dearth of conviction. And that’s just untrue.

Taylor Swift's album isn't for me, but I still might have something valuable to say about it that has nothing to do with whether it's "good" or "bad." And that's okay.