Over the past couple of years, Twitter has been the main social media site I go to to converse about movies, and I’ve had the opportunity to engage with many film critics and fans from a wide age range from around the world- I’ve even brought some of them onto the Sonic Cinema Podcast. I’ve also become aware of bloggers and YouTubers who deal a lot in news, but seem to peddle “fake news” and outrage more so. Some of them have become fairly successful in doing so, even though- in their content- they seem to be a nerd extension of Fox News and OAN. I’d rather not give them any oxygen here by naming them, but instead, I want to link to you a couple of great videos from editor Ashley Lynch on how pop culture discourse has become radicalized over the years; I will embed those below. Another excellent exploration of this depressing trend is in a recent blog by podcasters Rewriting Ripley about how alt-right sentiments have crept their way into “Star Wars” discourse, and succeeded in polarizing films that were, by and large, more popular than some of the noise around them would have you believe. Earlier this week, the hosts of Rewriting Ripley were attacked by these same YouTubers and doxed, all for being honest about what anyone who has been paying attention has been happening in pop culture discourse. As much as I am grateful for all the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know as a part of “Film Twitter,” it’s been disheartening to see how much negativity and bad faith complaining has taken oxygen out of the room of real film criticism, and just enjoying discussing films. It’s also inspired me to try to lay out what I want Sonic Cinema to represent, and what I want to try and do to push back against the negativity.
Along with the above “Mission Statement,” I’ve also decided to try and begin streaming, to help bring the type of film discussion not only I want to be a part of, but also, what I think a majority of film fans would want to see. This coming Monday- March 29, 2021- I will be debuting the Sonic Cinema Movie Chat on Twitch. The first episode will be an hour, from 9pm-10pm EST, and will be a introduction to me, Sonic Cinema, and some movies I recommend, and discussion of what it’s been like as a critic the past year. I hope to make it a weekly thing, and I even plan on bringing guests in the form of friends, filmmakers and other critics to discuss films, what they have going on, and just enjoying hanging out together- I already have filmmaker Chris Esper, a filmmaker and frequent guest on the Sonic Cinema Podcast, lined up for the second episode. I hope you come and join me, and together, we can create a discourse that will celebrate what we love about movies, rather than wallow in hate.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
