(This posts starts with talking about Stranger Things, but it is used as an example for lack of media literacy. I tried to exclude as many spoilers as possible. Please stay and enjoy!!)
Taking a quick pause to the ghosting(hehehehe get it?) because OHHH MY GOD season five of stranger things. When I tell you this is on track to being one of my favorite seasons I MEAN IT!! All I’ve seen negatively about it are social media posts while the season(or one of the episodes, I can’t remember) has a rating of 9.8 out of 10!! What??? I will not be spoiling much if any of the plot of season five or any of the big events, because if you haven’t seen it yet you definitely should. There are a lot of call backs to season two(the best season) and it’s just found itself back to its more humble roots which is amazing.
As the season has released, there have been a lot of realizations from the GA(General Audience). Such as the fact that Will, “in fairyland with all the other faries, all happy and gay,” Byers is gay. Such as the fact that Will, “survivor of the upside down,” Byers is strong. Such as the fact that the show about losers has losers that act like losers in it. Such as the fact that when people are traumatized their personalities change up a little.
What cannot be pictured at this moment is me looking around for cameras. Because what do you mean you didn’t realize the premise of the show? There is a character brought back from an earlier season that many people didn’t know, even though she was very important to one of the character’s arcs. Someone recently posted that their mom, who had watched the entire series, didn’t know what the Upside Down was. Y’know, the main bad place that the story REVOLVES around. All of this has led me to realize a real issue, people aren’t enjoying shows anymore. They’re just watching them.
Nick, what do you mean by “just watching them”? Well, have you ever just left a podcast on while doing something? Has a documentary been put on during your class that you didn’t particularly care about, so you just zoned out while it played? Have you watched a show like Big Bang Theory or Rick and Morty so many times that you know what happens so it can be background noise? Well, the GA is treating new shows like those things stated previously even though their new shows linear and have a heavy important plot. They aren’t getting excited about shows and their stories, they’re just consuming them to say they’ve watched them.
There are some shows that you literally can’t watch without absorbing them and fan theories.Creating a fandom or community space where you can make friends is kind of the POINT of some of these shows. My favorite examples are Lost and From, which are two series created by the same people that relied on fans interacting and making theories. Even Stranger Things needs a fandom to survive. I mean, why include A Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy love triangle if the fans aren’t suppose to choose sides? I mean, they did this back in the day with Twilight, those team Jacob and Team Edward shirts weren’t ironic.
The only way a series will survive is not just by viewer ship, but by fans. The Walking Dead, while not coming from the main series anymore, is still continuing because they have fans talking amongst themselves! Most members of the GA will stop at the main series and go “Yeah I like the walking dead.” An actual fan will watch the like eight spinoffs and go “Oh I love TWD!” They’ll contribute by following the actors’ other works, going to conventions, buying merch. They’ll make friends because they’re a fan.
But now, people need things spelled out to them. Audiences don’t think, they just observe. I think what’s to blame is AI and the constant usage and assurance needed from things like Chat GPT, but maybe I’m just too woke. I mean, this one person thought a character introduced in season 4 was Will’s dad………… as if we don’t know Lonnie Byers abused him and the rest of their family, like this was stated in the FIRST EPISODE OF STRANGER THINGS. If you’re having AI do EVERYTHING for you, then you WILL lose your media literacy and your writing WILL suffer.
AI today is used for EVERYTHING, and I really hope that my fellow writers aren’t the type to rely on it. Your average Joe not having basic media literacy is already bad enough, but the people here not having media literacy? That would be HORRIBLE. Please please PLEASE my fellow literaries, do not rely on AI, especially not when it comes to your writing. Read a book, watch a show, watch a movie, listen to some music, then discuss those things with your peers! Get opinions, have conversation, don’t just sit idly while taking in media and actually do something with your brains!!! Don’t fall in with the crowd that can’t enjoy something without the joke being explained. USE YOUR BRAIN SOMETIMES. IT’S OKAY.
YIKES. I yapped a lot this week. I’m just very passionate about participation and media literacy….. clearly. I’ll get back to my ghosting next week, PLEASE interact with those y’all, even if it’s telling me to shut up (crying emoji). Okay, ByeBye!!!!
