by lhb412 » Mon Jun 17, 2019 6:08 pm
^ Unfortunately, like most video essayists, I think the good points are sort of embedded in the breading like fruit and nuts in a fruitcake. Of course, if you watch a lot of YouTube video essays (and I'm talkin decent ones, not clickbait garbage by dunderheads) you'll see this is sort of endemic to the form. Partially, this is due to the algorithm itself, which favors longer videos, meaning if you even want to make content you have to stretch it to at least a half hour in length if you want any return on your investment.
Nevertheless, I think the video's central conceit that while the storyline reflects the political leanings of the director/writer it is primarily concerned with being an epic disaster film that reflects the cliches and interests of Anno's favorite movies and pop culture (with the overlay of the Fukashima metaphor and imagery, which on some level you would have to do if you were making a Godzilla film in Japan in 2016) and less concerned with being some sort of political screed or extended metaphor. In short, that it's a mistake to assume Milius-level intent.
But to the topic of video essays, (which I want to bring up because I watch a ton of them and, for better or worse, I think it's becoming the replacement for written essays for young people, especially when it comes to writing on pop culture) I like Patrick Willems videos, but even he often ends up padding his material. It doesn't help that he is married to a biweekly schedule. Lindsay Ellis and Natalie Wynn are probably the only real masters of the form at the time being, Lindsey with the breath of her (and her co-writers) encyclopedic knowledge and densely, smartly written script and Natalie with her outrageous and entertaining shtick punctuated be her knowledge and research. It helps that they simply release videos when they are done and don't pump them out the way almost everyone else does. It's a strange new world: now you have to be both critic, writer, and entertainer.