Black woman here. There’s nothing that takes me out of a European fantasy story faster than showing random black people sprinkled in with no explanation. Instead of focusing on the story, I immediately begin thinking about how this world or population came to be…and the more I think about it, the more I’m PUNISHED for it.

"I should not have sold my DVD collection" that hit hard

I did love how she chose to save a murderous dragon, but let her father die who, despite his mistake, actually risked his life to try and save her. What a horrible character.

You know what's fucked up? Every time arranged marriages are explored in a narrative, they're almost universally portrayed as a sacrifice for the woman, but not for the man. Like men don't also desire a relationship of mutual love, respect, and support.

It's funny that Shrek did this whole trope subversion with Fiona better over 20 years ago. Fiona was also a great character in her own right.

Every time we think we have hit rock bottom, Hollywood drops a nuke down the mineshaft and reveals a new cavern of concentrated cringe and hate.

"Oh you can accept magic, hobbits and an evil sentient ring, but not Honda Civic cavalry? racist."

Writer 1: "I want a Mary Sue. But I don't want to get called out on it." Writer 2: "Have her get hurt. A little burn is all it should take to shield us from that criticism." W1: "Brilliant! But the thought that I, I mean she, might be diminished in some way while showing how awesome women are doesn't sit right with my entitlement." W2: "Magic healing slugs. That way, we can claim she struggled and still have no lasting consequences." W1: 😃

i love that point. writers always trying to make movies "that reflect the modern world" but what they actually mean is make movies that reflect downtown L.A.

This movie is what happens when you try to do "subversion" but end up doing all the tropes everyone's tired of

>Modern Day "Did God paint you?" *riots for 5 months*

The major plot hole: The dragon can identify the lineage of her enemy by the smell of their blood. She also knew that the king from another kingdom she killed was the father of the princess she was hunting. By that logic, she should have smelled the king's blood and realize there and then that she's been fooled by the actual king/queen of the land.

Damsel is such a perfect summation of what streaming has become. It's empty, can be played in the background while you doomscroll and you still fully understand it, and exists mostly for the people involved to pat themselves on the back about their superior virtues. 42:45 Nook of No-Tagsies is gold

The plot point of a dragon being upset that someone killed her babies isn’t even original - _Dragonslayer_ did it much better more than 40 years ago. Galen is justified in killing the baby dragons - they’ve just killed the princess and are currently eating her corpse, so they clearly pose a threat to him as well. But the movie takes a moment to show Vermithrax realizing her children are dead, and then becoming enraged in her grief. (And that’s really saying something, since Vermithrax was a stop-motion puppet and even a short scene like that would have taken days to film.)

"Damsel" is an "updated for modern audiences" version of 1981's "Dragonslayer." And nothing says, "it's going to be awful" more than the phrase "updated for modern audiences." "Dragonslayer" had good effects for its era, nice performances by Peter MacNicol and the legendary Sir Ralph Richardson, and "strong, independent female characters" such as Caitlin Clarke's "Valerian" and Chloe Salaman's "Princess Elspeth." No agenda. No "The Message." No identity politics. It's just a fairly entertaining film about honor, courage, sacrifice, magic, and a dragon. That modern Hollywood turned it into vapid, predictable, morally relativist, bean-counting, feminist pandering dreck by "updating" it is just part of a very depressing trend.

Despot, Please release your full analysis of Scum as a standalone video. The smash cuts back to the fem-fantasy were hilarious, and more jarringly effective because I was riveted to the analysis of the themes in Scum. Every time we went back to fem-fantasy my mind started wandering because, as you have pointed out, we’ve see current-year trash many times.

The "Screw", being a public servant who doesn't like his job but feels his sense of duty, does more for society than Damsel.

I do appreciate the time you take critiquing today's postmodern trash.

I will admit. A survival horror movie about a girl trying to avoid being a sacrifice to a dragon sounds awesome on paper. Or the premise of a virgin sacrifice winning the dragon over to her side for some revenge. What doesn't work is fusing both concepts together with woke glue and creating an abomination I'd like to call wasted potential

The explanation of the expense of horses in medival times cant be understated. It cracks me up when shows depicting that time frame just have random horses available whenever, at anytime, for free

Shrek did the whole "princess saving herself" trope better over 20 years ago. Not to mention that was supposed to be a joke, not something to be taken seriously P.S. : Millie Bobby Brown turned down a role in the Godzilla x Kong movie so she can act in this garbage XD

We want Mansel: Hero of Men

"You are weak. I am powerful." I swear, these writers either don't understand morality or don't value it. Every single thing they write is about might making right and how women are secretly the most mighty. Where's the aspiration towards virtue? Where's the depiction of heroes being different from villains due to their values, not their power level? The very foundation of these stories are rotten because the hero is not heroic.

(((56:22~56:34)))??? Yes, and to expand, this is what happens when you have tyrants as writers in your creative department.......

I love how someone got thrown into the cave, survived the fall and then while running from a fire breathing dragon, found what she believed to be an exit, decided to then go back into the cave to draw a map and sign it. truly stunning and brave.

Thanks for including Mr Reflection. His smooth, empty brain untroubled by facts and reality reminds us of the joy of childhood ignorance. Truly an inspiration

Never get rid of your DVDs. Streaming sites ARE "fixing" old movies' "problematic" parts. If you want to keep unadulterated movies, keep the DVDs.

The Damsel in Distress is a great trope; it provides an excellent opportunity for both tension and character development.

Despot of Antrim is so underrated, you honestly deserve much more

So, I tried showing my Mom your “Women Talking” video, telling her how that the treatment of the boys in the movie was how I was raised and abused as a child. But she said to me that I “needed to watch the movie to understand the whole thing”. Basically defending my abuse

I have a suggestion for the next SAW movie, ironic given how many of them there have been but Jigsaw kidnaps a bunch of Hollywood studio executives and forces them to make original content... or die trying. "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" So happy to see NON-PLAYABLE SHEEP AGAIN... Come on gang, let's make him the Despot's best team member for next year. He's a legend.

My most hated trope is the “look for the reason someone is evil”. I don’t want to know how Nottingham in prince of thieves came to be the way he is. He has one line that hints at it. The rest of the time he’s just deliciously cruel, and he’s the best thing about that movie. Stop trying to make me feel bad for the awful person, Hollywood.

From here on out, I will refer to the modern genre as "Femntasy" until conditions improve.

ChatGPT told me that the Schrodinger's Feminist concept is imposed to women by the society and "Ultimately, the idea of "Schrodinger's Feminist" underscores the need for ongoing dialogue and action to address systemic inequalities and empower women to define their identities on their own terms". Imagine my shock.

Dammit Despot, I want you to know that I live in constant anticipation of your next video. I am perpetually excited for the next time I will get to hear you completely deconstruct something in that awesome Irish voice, for the next time I will get to see Non-playable Sheep, Karen iPhone, and those hilarious little back-and-forths between you and Mr. Reflection. You're my favorite KZfaqr of all time. Just wanted you to know that.

I'm genuinely surprised he didn't end the pitch for _Attack on Lesbos Prime_ with the lesbians being so awestruck by the manliness displayed by their defenders that they abandon their ways to seek relationships with the unmarried men.

Despot, I watched many reviews but I’m always looking for yours. I clean my house, take care of my baby while listening you roasting entertainment 😂😂😂, it’s refreshing. God bless.

I legit wonder who even thought this was a good idea? a Fantasy movie where the Princess Saves Herself, wow, that's really groundbreaking....in 1990. Now it's so cliche having the princess be saved by a prince would've been subversive.

Hollywood lately seems to not know how to write villains anymore. When they write a sympathetic villain, they turn out to be the most evil and despicable people imaginable. When they write an irredeemable villain, they turn to be reasonable and possessing of strong morals (to varying degrees)

The dragon in Damsel is almost exactly the same as Grendel's mother in Beowulf. Both had their son's killed and both went on killing sprees. The only difference is the time in which they were written - in Beowulf the killer doesn't get a pass. Hmm, Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th was also a grieving mass murdering mommy. Should we excuse her? 😄

4:21 The phrase “Let the past die, kill it, if you have to” is cool, but completely meaningless, considering that for so many years, Disney hasn’t come up with anything new for Star Wars. All “new” ideas are maximal changes or adaptations of old ones, as well as abstract concepts, such as “Force Dyad” or “Holdo Maneuver”, that can be retconned in the very next movie or scene. Disney and other companies also very heavely rely on the nostaliga and old titles, despite the image of “a new generation for a new audience”, most of the authors, screenwriters and others are old people or simply older than their audience.

at the end she order the dragon to kill every single people in that castle , oh your parent or child is working at the castle ? woops too bad they died for girl boss 😎 the trope of modern girl boss, only they matter .

Perfect call on the background looking exactly like Fantasy Land... with artificial "perfect ethnic and cultural balance" to reflect "the world (uhm...Los Angeles) we live in today"and to ensure Mr Reflection sees himself

I love that the girl who prior to Elodie managed to escape and climb up the top entrance to the caves conveniently had time to carve "It's not the way out!" on the wall before the Dragon fried her. It was about as comical seeing her charred skeleton there than the Castle of Aaarghhhh.... carving in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Babe wake up, Despot just posted a video

Strange that girl bosses always make horrible decisions once they obtain power. What does that say about women in general?

What gets me is how the entire show looks not much better than a hastily cobbled together Ren Fair. You can't unsee the cheap rugs they threw down on the grass, the weak tin armor, the ugly leather doublets, the plastic rocks, the rubber weapons... it's all just so cheap and heartless and shitty. Even the extras don't seem to care.

At 9:34 that simple question from a child, 'did God paint you?' made me smile just as the character did. It's so earnest and believable, and it feels so refreshing compared to the dreck we are expected to endure nowadays. I might have to check that old movie out.

I’d waited all my life to hear Mr. Reflection in HQ, to hear a reflection of myself in audio quality.

Wait... The Acolyte writers straight-up lifted lines from Harry Potter while completely misunderstanding the morality behind the sentence? I had to look at the pics of the Acolyte writers and I think I found the one responsible: Claire Kiechel. Nothing says, "The only book I've ever read is Harry Potter" than that face. It also says "REEEEEE! Bigot!"

Watching this again... you know what, Despot? A very good friend of mine who also happens to be a good writer thought of a far, far better story for Damsel... in less than FIVE minutes. With his permission, I will copy and paste for you what he wrote: "Ok, so for the Damsel rewrite there are two warring kingdoms. One of European descent and the other from the Middle East. The European King, Elodies father, enlisted the dragoness for aid to win the war against the raging Jihadists who were ravaging his land. With the King’s careful planning and the Dragoness’s cunning, they are able to push back the Sultan and his forces and save their land. Unfortunately during the final battle, the King accidently kills the Dragoness’s young by mistake. Driven by revenge, the Dragoness seeks to kill Elodie but at the last second decides she can’t do it. Instead, she abducts Elodie and uses her as a bargaining chip to draw out the King. A brave knight sets out to rescue her and Elodie has to try to talk down the dragon, her father and the Knight so that no one else dies, even if she has to risk her life to do so." ^What do you say? Also, I'd do ANYTHING to see Attack on Lesbos Prime! :) It'd be the story we don't deserve but need in the current year.

I thought the princess was gonna turn clever savage to kill the dragon but instead… Girlboss befriends the evil dragon that killed her father and hundreds of innocents over centuries. Then they go traveling the world together 🤡🎉

I giggled like a loon when I saw the notification come up: I have been *_waiting_* for this!

My mom is very black, and my dad is very white. My wife is white and my very white-looking son has blonde hair and blue eyes after 2 generations.. got that Hollywood?

It's sad that currently produced media has the worst messages possible. You can't show any of this to children or easily impressionable adults, because they're going to turn into horribly selfish sociopaths that empathize with evil and abhor goodness. The tropes they attempt to "subvert" haven't been seriously present for decades now. The morals they support cause horrible rifts in society and give people no reason to love one another. What even is the point of seeing these productions anymore? They don't have good production quality, they don't tell good stories, they don't have good morals. Nothing makes sense. Nothing is subtle. I long for a return to the excellent storytelling of the past, of independent productions that aimed to tell captivating stories in highly engaging ways. I could probably even stomach some of the shit messages if the writers weren't so pushy about them. But no, we're not allowed to have nice things. We get slop because that's what we, apparently, deserve.

Another great video. Genuinely appreciate all that you do, Mr. Despot. I don't normally enjoy long-form videos but your content is full of ideas so great I make it a point to take notes in order to reference them later. Yours is the type of content I'd make were I not so intellectually deficient. You put into words arguments others cannot fathom. Last but certainly not least, the cast of meme characters and expanding lexicon of original terms is chef's kiss. Thank you again and keep up the great work.

Sweet. Despot you dropped this right on time. I've 1 hr left in work.

You forgot another plothole, how does Millie Bobby Brown know that the previous girls who were sacrificed were all diverse when she never met them?

36:19 by far the funniest despot moment... Tom's thundering laughs as the lady loses her marbles is amazing

The kingdom of LA must employ the guards from Swamp Castle who also failed to protect the wedding party in Monty Python's Holy Grail.

30:41 The parallels you've drawn are beautiful. What these morally depraved activists do not understand is that evil men don't necessarily love cruelty and depravity. Sometimes they just don't care about morality what so ever. If being kind and compassionate achieves their goals then they will do it, and if being cruel and sadistic achieves their goals they will do it. Such men have no hesitation to cross any lines or any limits of morality. No lengths they will no go and no lows they will not stoop down to

The ten min mark is pure gold. Great video so far and great channel overall. Non playable sheep is fantastic.

I figured your _Damsel_ review would be a contender for Best of Year, and I wasn't disappointed. 👏 Also, the _Attack on Lesbos Prime_ has to be one of your best. I'm just recovering from all the howling laughter I engaged in.

I know very little about classical literature, but isn't the archetypal dragon analogous to evil incarnate? Like a Supreme natural evil that must be overcome at the zenith of the character's trial. This movie tells of a man who made a deal with the devil, and says we should have empathy for the dragon. Our heroine identifies with the dragon and wields it to destroy civilization and hierarchy. I dont want to sound like I'm clutching my pearls over here, but this trope is low-key demonic.

Thanks Despot. Long week of work, I was happy to see you drop a new original work. And you're absolutely right, as soon as we see the title - Damsel - we all know exactly what to expect. Young girls being fed this content nowadays are going to grow up with some warped ideas!

5:25 These few seconds were more interesting than the entire movie. Thank you for this artistic masterpiece Despot

The whole maestro bit was so entertaining that I forgot this was a video about damsel…

A key component of the "femtasy" genre that I think bears further repeating: *it's pushing total moral inversion.* This transcends mere double standards, but actually presents the idea that objectively evil actions are not only acceptable, but *_automatically praise-worthy_* whenever a [birthing person] does it. The only exceptions to this are in scenarios like this, when two or more "empowered" female characters are placed at odds, and even then, the brunt of narrative karma is almost invariably redirected to one/all male characters even/especially when it has been a conniving villainess who has been driving most of the plot. For a few years now, I've argued that feminism actively cultivates Cluster-B personality disorders. And I suspect these narrative decisions are related to that, specifically as attempts to recalibrate public sentiment/consciousness/ standards to accommodate/ _venerate_ such moral reprobates; "if you can't win, rewrite the rules to allow _you alone_ to cheat." Nothing else makes sense. This is propaganda designed to raise [birthing persons] to the status of unimpeachible moral paragons, then use that status to justify anything they do. *This is god-tier double-standards.*

You've become one of the content creators whose videos I look forward the most.

Nice to see you on Open Bar the other day 👍 Was a great line up, I’m subbed to all you guys!

“Get up you lazy bastard”. Man, that actually gave me chills. If I had it, I’d fund that in a heartbeat.

I thankfully have all my DVDs still. You never know when streaming services are going to collapse.

Do you guys know the difference between Damsel and the Despot's video on it? The Despot's videos didn't put me to sleep.

I hope you cover Kung Fu Panda 4 someday as that even unfortunately had the whole girlboss trash in it as well and somehow disrespecting po still garnered theme millions lmao,felt so disappointed when i watched the whole thing on a torrent website lol

Every single video you make is a wonderfully fun and often educational watch. I love all the garbage from Hollywood and Friends(tm) because it leads to your videos being made and actually bringing joy to the world. Keep it up, Despot.

In the wheel of time, I propose the following locations from the book/show would be acceptably multi-ethnic in order of acceptability: Definitely multi-ethnic Tar Valon - Explicitly takes in Aes Sedai, Warders, and retinue from every corner of the world. Major river trade city, with connections to most major mainland areas Likely somewhat varied Tarabon and Bandar Eban - Port cities between the seafolk and the mainlanders, main population is Taraboner/Domani (Indian) with some of mixed seafolk (black) heritage, as well as less of other races of coastal traders Lugard - A centralized river trading city with faction issues, likely has at least some residents of each race along it's river pathways Illian, Tear, and Ebou Dar - Major port cities Barely Justifiable Caemlyn - Large city with access to a river, not hugely reliant on trade and river pretty much only goes between Illian and Saldea on map, some possible intermixing with river and road traders Maradon (Saldea) - Same as above but less so, mentioned as a important trading stop on the Caemlyn route but is at the end of it rather than the middle. Taren Ferry - Tiny little river port town, gets high amount of trade compared to it's size. Trade is with Tear and Illian. I bring this up because of all the lamenting about it. They could have made all these cities and the characters from them multiethnic (though less than the show made Emond's Field) and it would have been fine but the show made the tiny little insulated farming village into "downtown LA." They could have made each of the areas a different race and it would have been fine. They made the Shienarans Japanese and I was fine with that. They could have made the Seafolk black, the Domani Native American, the Taraboners Indian, and the Tairens Arab and that would have been perfectly acceptable. The only group where their race is story relevant is the Aiel who are the pale Irish in the desert because they were banished there.

I think I speaks to how bad and boring this movie must be if Despot who talked about the marvels for over an hour, could barely bring himself to talk about damsel

I'm a 20 year old woman, and I'd love to see more stories where women are yes, their own people who are strong in their own ways, but are being saved by men. Because it's nice to see, it's a lovely thing.

I'd definitely watch Attack on Lesboss Prime. The fact journalists and wokists would ID with the pig-men, Vimar Prime, and centaurs would further expose them for what they are.

*O LOL* the sheer hypocritical moral reminds me of another work of fiction I once read. One that belongs to the ever more popular growing D&D universe! 😀 The plot was that a *'Blue Dragon'* - which means a Dragon of *EVIL* allignment, cause all chromatic Dragons portray evil nature - has terrorized a Kingdom by itself and its two siblings. And later in the game, the also popular meta of the "Playerparty" defeats the blue Dragon after a hardfought fight. But then _" OH NO "_ plottwist (!!) the Mage of the group _"betrays"_ them since he finds a way to enslave the Dragon with a magical artefact and he just stands there and laughs... menacingly!! And before the Mage could even describe what his plans for the Dragon are, the entire party naturally turns against him, because he... he...- He did not tell them he could do that and sneakily followed his own agenda. That is literally it. Now they all feel _"betrayed"_ and the writing becomes very cringe, in an attempt to justify this as a "plo~t twi~st". 😏 But what is worse and the worst thing of all is... that they manage to *FREE* this blue Dragon afterwards from the Mages mindcontrol. A BLUE DRAGON, which is an evil creature by nature, let him grab the now spellslots depleted Mage and *let him fly off with the Mage, a member of their own or a fellow humanoid race (a Human), a being who terrorized their kind FOR FUN* and act like they safed the day. The Blue Dragon was still heavily wounded and they could have taken it down. Racial betrayal, betrayal as a species, wierd sympathy for a villanous monster, who killed hundreds of people, destroyed villages, enjoyed the desperation of the "rodents" it tortured and then the Humanoid fantasy group just lets this piece of blue sh°° fly off. 😆 Damn was I disgusted! This was so disgusting and just INSANE! They handed the Mage over to whatever humiliation and torture the blue Dragon still planned for him! Just crazy! Super hypocritical and ultra cringe in an attempt to subvert expectations I guess.

I would really like to watch this video but I’m busy preordering Star Wars - Outlaws.

Tom Cruise laughing through Carrie Mulligans outburst is one of the funniest things ive seen this year

Man I loved that Robin Hood growing up. Morgan Freeman was my favorite character. When he knocked down the door and threw his scimitar was my favorite moment. “Now I fulfilled my debt” Loved it

You are a gem, sir. Your rhetoric is so biting and hilarious. And the editing cuts, the mashups, the recurring characters. So funny my friend. A top tier gentleman.

Despot was trying so hard to not have to suffer through Damsel he reviewed both Scum and Bradley Coopers sniveling Oscar bait instead. I can’t blame him honestly

Henry Cavill sure has a lot of time to watch garbage.

I’m curious if Hollywood has forgotten that we’ve gotten plenty examples of female characters that are strong and well rounded. Princess Fiona from Shrek (despite the fact she was saved by Shrek, she ends up rescuing him in return by using her martial arts skills to fend off Robin Hood and his merry men from killing Shrek in the forest) Truly, Shrek was ahead of its time. It took all those classic fairytale tropes and poked fun instead of shitting on them like modern Hollywood does nowadays. Shrek, an ogre, subverted the expectations of being an ugly mean beast by going on a grand adventure, becoming a hero, and finding true love. Fiona is revealed to be spunky, fierce, and not so ladylike as Shrek imagined. Both Shrek and Fiona learn that they shouldn’t judge someone before they get to know them. Fiona is strong and independent but also dreams of true love and still embraces her femininity. She realizes that her happily ever after is a typical one where she marries a prince and lives in a castle, rather it lies in marrying Shrek and starting a family together in the swamp.

Wow, your videos have improved so much in the past year! I just ran across you a couple months ago and the first video I watched was your "Bro's" video, I think, and it's always hilarious to hear how creatively you format your script. I love how you cleverly put in clips if the other movie to really drive home how boring and repetitive this kind of movie really is now. Inspiring to me, and creative. Keep it up! ❤

I love your channel dude.

“the american counterparts of these men would later bestow upon themselves the modest title ‘the greatest generation’” The Best line in any youtube video ever.

New drinking game: take a shot whenever Despot says "20 story fall"

43:17 Thank you! You're the first person to point this out that I watch. Even used the same "Guyladriel" name as when I first saw that part. Disparu missed, Greg Owen missed it, several people missed it. I know, a small thing, but I thought it stood out like a turd in a punch bowl.

Thank you! You are easily my favorite channel!!

I haven't been inside a movie theatre in a loooong time, but I would go to see "Attack on Lesbos Prime".

a world where chad destroys the ultra dystopian mega corporation future while protecting family values and standing up for lesbians is unironically supremely based

Hey, Despot... many thanks for including clips from "Soldier" (1998). I love that movie. Kurt Russell is at his BEST in this. And Connie Nielsen is... well... Connie Nielsen. Great movie! And for the record, your script summary sounds AWESOME!

Your channel is criminally underrated.

Attack on Lesbos Prime was in fact more interesting than 90% of the Netflix library. Great plot, great archetypes, cool dialogues and important lessons. Fantastic!

Yours is easily my favorite YT channel of all. Very smart and funny. I thought I'd speak on it since it occurred to me that people who are familiar with your content can see that your channel does better world building than most of the movies you reference. I enjoy that.

about the complete ignorance of families of the previous wives of the "prince", when Henrik VIII of England, the "Wife Head Chopper" was trying to find another eligible wife , somewhere in Protestant German States, his envoy got several letters of refusal from the potential matches due to the fate of the previous wives, their parents wanted to get them married to the king , but totally isolated highborn women were able to obtain the information and were able to refuse a marriage that could risk a detachment of their heads...