Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever was great until I realized the message was that you should never try to open good relations with other nations and always stick to your own because even trying is a bad idea. It literally is the opposite of Black Panther 1.
2 weeks ago (edited) | 74
The vast majority of Disney content has a theme of “Adult Authority Bad, Child Rebellion Good”
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The main theme of Turning Red was basically to ignore the warnings of your parents even if they experienced the same issues as you because you know better than them
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Low-hanging fruit, but: Harry Potter. There's plenty of great stuff in that series (books and movies), and if you look at the superficial themes, they all sound nice - love is good, courage is good, prejudice is bad. But the way those themes are explored is extremely problematic, with blatant examples of supporting or dismissing prejudice in the same breath as it condemns those things. It suffers heavily from protagonist-centered morality
2 weeks ago | 26
Honestly I got nothing, but I know some movies that are the reverse; bad writing but good themes. For me it's the Bionicle movies I watched when I was young. They all have great themes of being a hero, teamwork, and being true to yourself. The writing could have definitely been better, and I can really see that now as an adult.
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A Song of Ice and Fire and The Good Place (this one is arguable, I understand, but the themes are rough from my point of view) immediately come to mind for me.
2 weeks ago | 10
Dune, both the first novel and especially part 2 for the film. I haven’t finished Messiah yet but from what I’ve read it will probably fit in here too. Morality is reduced to consequentialism, even if the characters know what they are doing goes against their conscience they often do it anyway to get the result they want (see Paul rejecting every path that did not lead to the Baron’s death knowing that killing the Baron would necessitate all the killing and suffering that follows in the series).
2 weeks ago | 10
Game of Thrones. Let's take fantasy and crap over every heroic theme. The honorable man gets beheaded. The clever man is torn down. Seeking justice results in the death of your whole family. If you do what is right, your sworn brothers will murder you. I loved the Serious of Unfortunate Events books as a kid, but as an adult, I see them as nothing but depression for depression's sake.
2 weeks ago | 66
My wife says Steven King's...... anything The movie version of Clockwork Orange
2 weeks ago | 34
Not necessarily in the 'well-written' category, but Modern Disney's philosophy of 'Everyone is good by default UNLESS they're irredeemably eeeeviiiiil!' 1. Makes children susceptible to evil-dressed-as-good ("Hey, I have a van full of candy and kittens and I want to give you some because I love you!!!!") In contrast, Other Mother, Madame Medusa, Admiral Rourke, Bill Cypher, etc. All very evil, all appear as good or at least friendly at first, offering our heroes gifts, validation, whatever they want! so long as they're willing to shift their morals just a teensy bit. 2. Takes away the hope of redemption. Going back to Atlantis: the Lost Empire, the main cast of villains has a redemption arc! Don't really see that happening nowadays. There's also the flip-side of children's media, 'No one is truly evil, they're just victims of trauma.' While more realistic, creates the problem of lack of accountability and responsibility for one's own actions. "Hurting people hurt people," Yes, but that doesn't mean it's okay. A customer might be having a bad day, but that doesn't excuse them for abusing retail workers, and there should be consequences. (Also also brushes against Point 1 above, 'They just need to be treated nicely!') Treasure Planet's John Silver is a good example of the opposite, where he hints that he became a cyborg due to injuries following his dream (trauma,) he is a ruthless leader (trauma + goal,) BUT he's also willing to manipulate vulnerable people and unapologetically uses physical violence to get his way. [SPOILERS] in the end, he recognizes what he has become, what he is doing to someone he loves, and literally pushes his goals away to make the more moral choice. "It was just a life-long obsession, Jim. I'll get over it." Takes accountability and commits to do differently. The choice comes down to him, not whether or not he was loved 'enough.' Then come the real-world consequences for all his crimes... In writing this I realize that maybe the theme is just how redemption is handled in general. Modern family media either puts it in a 'it's impossible because only bad people are bad,' or 'it's not redemption, it's healing,' category. Maybe we need to find a healthy middle of 'Everyone is capable of good and bad, you are responsible for your actions, redemption is always possible, but it's not easy, and it requires recognizing you were wrong and taking steps to change.' In that, I'd say Kylo Ren's redemptive ending was better written than Abuela's, where Kylo actively made choices to reach for the light, while things just kind of fall into Abuela's lap (Bruno comes back and she kisses him without saying a word. It probably would've been more fulfilling if he'd been hiding nearby, trying to build up the courage to speak up, and she comes to find him and humbly asks him to come home.) (I still like Encanto more though haha.) Idk if this makes sense? [BTW thank you, Master Samwise, for the great content. I listen to it while sketching my OCs and it's very inspiring for my own writing. All the best!]
2 weeks ago | 3
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier "Ah yes, let's just feel bad for the terrorist that targeted a building of LITERALLY INNOCENT CIVILIANS ALL JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD EXTRA FOOD TO SPARE?!?!!" WTF KIND OF-?! NO!!!!! I never felt sorry for that character!! Why tf was the finale treating her as some sort of frikkin martyr?!?! 😡 >:0 How condescending and just straight up insulting!! They could have just took the food all stealth-like!! They didn't have to resort to that!! (in Minecraft
2 weeks ago (edited) | 9
Mine would have to be the live action version of speed racer. The show, amazing; the car designs were cool; the plots per episode were interesting in some cases... but the villain being a corporation with a face, the cheating that wouldn't be outside the realm of criminal enterprises, and the betrayal was lackluster at best. But my own bias is the cameo that my uncle got in speed's first loss in the movie. 30 seconds of Tuiasosopo in the commentary box. Beyond that, the victory was beautifully done. That's all I can say about the movie
2 weeks ago (edited) | 11
Avatar (by James Cameron), main character there is a traitor and a simp whereas most of humans are portrayed as cartoonish villains
2 weeks ago | 21
Breaking Bad Everything and everyone was collateral damage
2 weeks ago | 23
Relatively out-of-left-field, especially as it's mainly more of a manga: Kingdom Its main characters possess compassionate and righteous spirits, are capable of incredible heroism on the battlefield, and share deep and abiding bonds of camaraderie over the course of quite literally hundreds of chapters. In practically any other setting like Lord of the Rings or King Arthur, Shin, Ten, and Kyoukai would be legendary, undisputed heroes, as they grow to wield and command martial might of such magnitude that they would eclipse the threats that existential foes like Mordor and Mordred would otherwise represent. We are talking about military engagements where the side with a quarter-million soldiers is the UNDERDOG, instead of the bigger opponent. The readers get to witness the MCs embark on a journey epic in scale, starting from the very beginning as foot-soldiers in a five-person squad and rising to the very top, witnessing every step that they climb in rank and prestige through sheer merit. Despite all that, and despite the lionization of their cause, they are fighting for the State of Qin during the Warring States Period as it embarks on enormous campaigns of expansionism and conquest. Ambitions of which would never be acceptable in the context of today's values.
2 weeks ago (edited) | 9
The Last of Us The theme I got is that loves makes people selfish and in an extreme world, you have to be extremely selfish to be with the people who make you happy.
2 weeks ago | 43
Donna Tartt's novels - The Secret History is a genuine guilty pleasure, because the caliber of the writing is so high, but it is absolutely devoid of positive role models
2 weeks ago | 1
Master Samwise
Can you think of any movies/shows/games that are technically well written but have bad themes?
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 341