Have you seen Deadpool and Wolverine? I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t exceptional. It was fun, giving me well-deserved belly laughs, but outside of capping off Fox’s era of Marvel movies it probably won’t be regarded as one of The MCU’s best. (I could end up being wrong, though.) Still, I recognize that it won’t appeal to everyone. Which leads me to an IGN article that wasn’t kind to it.
I won’t go into depth on what I didn’t like. Not only is Carlos Morales entitled to an opinion, I agreed with some of his points. I disagree with the movie being bad, but still. Deadpool and Wolverine’s a reference-fest stretched to 2-hours. It’s fun, and fittingly in-character, but let’s not kid ourselves. Besides, whether or not a movie’s good is open to interpretation. That much has always been true.
My issue is more how this article was framed. It feels like a clickbait piece meant to evoke strong emotions and generate traffic, which I have experience with. Ignoring that, I don’t think it’s Morales’s fault that his editorial received negative feedback. Because IGN marketed it as clickbait.
See, clickbait’s as notorious as the internet. Websites rely on algorithms to promote and circulate information, and that’s led to a mixed end-result. On one hand, stories and voices that wouldn’t have gotten attention before are available on demand, allowing instant responses. On the other hand, that immediate attention has caused an over-saturation of brain mush, something Deadpool as a character serves as a stand-in for. It’s in the word itself, but clickbait’s supposed to be provocative.
I have personal experience. Back in my Nintendo Enthusiast days, I was constantly at the mercy of an algorithm. I was getting paid peanuts, and I often didn’t meet the threshold for the month. Add in that the site’s editors had to juggle over a dozen writers at once, and there were weeks I didn’t get any feedback on articles that made it past the planning stage. I was stressed, overworked and undervalued. And I wasn’t alone.
Additionally, I was at the mercy of said editors. They frequently made changes to my work to “meet site standards”, hence my voice became diluted. Words were changed, phrases and sentences I’d never say otherwise were added for mass appeal, and my work was at the mercy of angry readers. I hated it, despite it being a valuable learning opportunity. Yet I gained appreciation for that kind of writing, as well as the unrealistic expectations foisted on writers.
I have personal experience. Back in my Nintendo Enthusiast days, I was constantly at the mercy of an algorithm. I was getting paid peanuts, and I often didn’t meet the threshold for the month. Add in that the site’s editors had to juggle over a dozen writers at once, and there were weeks I didn’t get any feedback on articles that made it past the planning stage. I was stressed, overworked and undervalued. And I wasn’t alone.
Additionally, I was at the mercy of said editors. They frequently made changes to my work to “meet site standards”, hence my voice became diluted. Words were changed, phrases and sentences I’d never say otherwise were added for mass appeal, and my work was at the mercy of angry readers. I hated it, despite it being a valuable learning opportunity. Yet I gained appreciation for that kind of writing, as well as the unrealistic expectations foisted on writers.
I’m much more sympathetic to clickbait writers nowadays. Selling out for clicks isn’t easy. It’s hard, and it’s soul-crushing. However, since it contributes to a writer’s cache, it’s sometimes necessary. A job’s a job!
I sympathize with Carlos Morales. He genuinely felt Deadpool and Wolverine was underwhelming, and he wanted to share his reasoning. That the end-result reads as clickbait is probably not his fault, but rather that of the almighty algorithm. It’s the opposite of “If you write an essay and the pen breaks, it’s your fault,” because the pen here is dictating the essay you’re writing. That’s how clickbait operates.
It'd be easy to say “Journalism used to be more professional back in the day!”, but I’ll refrain. Not only is outrage the standard model of journalism, but I’m positive you can find examples going back to the early days of print. Shock value sells, it triggers our “fight or flight” impulses. Clickbait’s a newer, more instantaneous version of that. If you’re oblivious to that at this point, I can’t help you.
I sympathize with Carlos Morales. He genuinely felt Deadpool and Wolverine was underwhelming, and he wanted to share his reasoning. That the end-result reads as clickbait is probably not his fault, but rather that of the almighty algorithm. It’s the opposite of “If you write an essay and the pen breaks, it’s your fault,” because the pen here is dictating the essay you’re writing. That’s how clickbait operates.
It'd be easy to say “Journalism used to be more professional back in the day!”, but I’ll refrain. Not only is outrage the standard model of journalism, but I’m positive you can find examples going back to the early days of print. Shock value sells, it triggers our “fight or flight” impulses. Clickbait’s a newer, more instantaneous version of that. If you’re oblivious to that at this point, I can’t help you.
Even going by the article’s content, critics have been hard on movies forever. Silent films in Hollywood were railed on for cheapening media. “Talkies” were criticized for ruining careers, while Technicolor was criticized for ruining the audience’s imagination. Even Jaws and the Star Wars franchise in the mid-to-late-70’s were criticized for over-commercialization of the medium, reducing it to shallow storytelling. It’s easy to laugh in hindsight, but film has always been subjected to scrutiny.
Also, Deadpool and Wolverine being a “shallow meta-narrative” doesn’t automatically negate its value. As The LEGO Movie demonstrates, if you have something to say, then the narrative being meta doesn’t matter. Storytelling techniques are only as good as their storytellers, and this movie pulls it off. Because let’s face it: superheroes are kind of silly. Deadpool’s biggest crime, therefore, has always been throwing shade at that.
I won’t pretend this is “high cinema”, even if the top contenders, like Martin Scorsese, have never impressed me. Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, and superhero films are no different. But Morales’s editorial shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all. He was probably working within a system that chews up writers and spits them out constantly. Even if he was content with what he wrote, and we’ll never know, he deserves some mercy. As does IGN for working within the confines of the almighty algorithm.
Also, Deadpool and Wolverine being a “shallow meta-narrative” doesn’t automatically negate its value. As The LEGO Movie demonstrates, if you have something to say, then the narrative being meta doesn’t matter. Storytelling techniques are only as good as their storytellers, and this movie pulls it off. Because let’s face it: superheroes are kind of silly. Deadpool’s biggest crime, therefore, has always been throwing shade at that.
I won’t pretend this is “high cinema”, even if the top contenders, like Martin Scorsese, have never impressed me. Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, and superhero films are no different. But Morales’s editorial shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all. He was probably working within a system that chews up writers and spits them out constantly. Even if he was content with what he wrote, and we’ll never know, he deserves some mercy. As does IGN for working within the confines of the almighty algorithm.
Alternatively, you can stay mad at someone for writing an article you don’t agree with. The ball’s in your court.
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