Edwardian novelists did anime girls BEFORE anime girls were cool.
@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis97144 жыл бұрын
@Lee Smith They did create gunpoweder and other technoligies, but they can not create high culture since the the west seeks to overcome mans animalistic nature while the east seeks to live by mans animalistic nature.
@mediaguyking70454 жыл бұрын
Baltu Lielkungs Gunārs Miezis actually the East has their own tradition of high culture for instance calligraphy, kabuki theatre, noh theatre, and Chinese opera
@mediaguyking70454 жыл бұрын
Lee Smith s how are the eastern high culture traditions; cheap and unnatural copy ? Can you please explain
@jacobitewiseman36963 жыл бұрын
@@mediaguyking7045 the Japanese fanservice we see comes from the sexual revolution in the 1960s. Comes from American hippies and communists.
@mediaguyking70453 жыл бұрын
@@jacobitewiseman3696 and? What is that supposed to prove, cultures tend to influence each other, especially since america is a world power, that exports culture and entertainment world wide, therefore many places like japan got inspired
@thehussarsjacobitess855 жыл бұрын
Have you seen 'Nicholas and Alexandra' made in 1971? A great film, and Olivier's Count Witte gives such a remarkable speech on hearing that Germany has declared war on Russia that goosebumps do not begin to cover it: 'None of you will be here when this war ends. Everything we fought for will be lost, everything we've loved will be broken. The victors will be as cursed as the defeated. The world will grow old, and men will wander about, lost in the ruins, and go mad. Tradition, restraint, virtue, they'll all go. I'm not mourning for myself, but for the people who will come after me, they will live without hope. And all they will have will be guilt, revenge, and terror. And the world will be full of fanatics and trivial fools.'
@treesurgeon24412 жыл бұрын
Damn...
@99IronDuke5 жыл бұрын
Starts fairly slowly, but gets better and better and ends on a detonation of truth.
@chainsawninjalcemist5 жыл бұрын
14:00 Even more audacious of a retcon is the game merging white racial solidarity with exploitative capitalism. In the early 20th, working class populism was incredibly racist, with immigration restrictionism being a prime focus, and the Jim Crow south voting solidly blue. The DR3/Demonkkkrats meme is a thing for a reason. And the early Progressive movement was one of the first proponents of eugenics (Which makes that one early scene where a man says to booker "I'm on your side, I'm a proggresive!" extremely laughable)
@InhabitantOfOddworld5 жыл бұрын
Ah, the classic "Democrats are the real racists!" chestnut Dinesh DeSouza, is that you?
@khandovarbalest13695 жыл бұрын
There was one WW1 vet in Bavaria who capitalized on something a bit like that.
@alexvillegas66715 жыл бұрын
Lol read Jack Londons "The Iron Heel" for a taste
@thehussarsjacobitess855 жыл бұрын
@@InhabitantOfOddworld Not a student of history, eh? All throughout history, elites have used outside groups form poorer countries and backgrounds as slave labour rather than paying the native citizens of their own country a just wage. As a descendant of both Irish and Northern Englishmen, it's a painful paradox to me how Northern Englishmen clambering for higher wages in the 19th century allowed imported Irish workers to be the scapegoat rather than keeping the focus on elites who refused to be just to them. Mind you, the OP is also being unjust by conflating racism with group solidarity (such equivalence is what has given the alt-right so much indignant steam), but your retort is a rude dismissal.
@InhabitantOfOddworld5 жыл бұрын
@@thehussarsjacobitess85 Jesus that take is ice-cold "The elites use outside groups to exploit workers!" Ah yes, the classic Marxist chestnut that falls apart entirely when you actually analyse capitalist ideas, the politics that CEOs hold, and neo-liberalism itself, and see that it's *not* the rich opposing open borders. Every single Leftist has bought into this narrative of deracinated materialism, yet doesn't have the common fucking sense to realise this is blatant propaganda peddled to them by the corporates because it makes them more money. "Let's flood the market with foreigners so we can suppress wages!" "Yes please!", say the socialists with no sense of irony
@alexc41595 жыл бұрын
The thing about the Brahman caste is so true. I even notice this when i work in indian dominated factories, the supervisors or anyone with rank resigns themselves to pointing around and saying "do this' do that" to the point where one particular manager who frequently stands around doing little work even yelled out to me half way across the factory floor stopping me from what i was doing to pick up some boxes sitting at his feet only to look stunned when i told him to pick them up himself because i was busy. This is a stark contrast to other work places in Australia where managers and supervisors do their fair share of the work taking a more hands on approach as they delegate and manage the people under them.
@trisamudeshwar7184 Жыл бұрын
But it is wrongly represented , the brahmins do NOT rule , they technically cannot even own wealth and have to beg it . He is right when he says brahmins are aloof , because it is the job of the kshatriyas to rule . Brahmins or rahter the brahmin archetype is meant to represent intelligent people who can guide and act as a check on the tyrannical tendencies of the ruling class .
@KnightlyNerd5 жыл бұрын
That ending was one of the most upsetting things in my recent memory.
@zhanehoyle82695 жыл бұрын
Wow, this the first time I've been black and white pilled and I don't know how to feel about it. Just...wow.
@anthonyd65555 жыл бұрын
The secret garden really is a wonderful story. A sickly girl on the fringe of identity, returns to her source, which she has to reconnect with to restore herself and the world. The garden image for a return and restoration of eden itself after the fall is fantastic. And it manages all of those ontological themes, within the relm of the contemporary world. Little surprise it feels so magical.
@rext94955 жыл бұрын
That contrast between violence and story is what amplified our protective instincts and bonded us with Elizabeth-- We were the big daddy in infinite.
@jonolas16263 жыл бұрын
YES
@coryparrish5253 жыл бұрын
Hello, you're a big daddy in ALL the games.🤣
@Thelizardviking5 жыл бұрын
Just got to the ending of the video. WW1 truly was the death of the west.
@ShinigamiInuyasha7775 жыл бұрын
In South America some miss the British Empire. As horrible as it was at least wanted peace and offer better culture than USA...
@ShinigamiInuyasha7775 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade Oh i think you are misunderstandig my words friend. Im not claiming that the British Empire was a shinning example of freedom and strengh. I meant the opposite. B. E was far weaker in rought power to the States. So it had to let rule. It knew its limits of strenghs. It let Latin Americans goverments to mostly their own advice and them negotiate with the winners. Even if it was against their main goals. The USA doesnt play by those rules. It will create chaos if the situations is far from their ideal. And then step for control. You mention Venezuela propaganda aside well both sides are equally authocratic and vicious. And attemps of destabilization by economic santions had made the situation more chaotic with inmigrants flooding the region and at large damaging the trade. The B.E would had known better first they would attemp a violent coup. But after that try to negotiate with the goverment. Stabilize the situation and then make profits. You get the point? Plus celibacy and british sci fy are better than porn and reality tv
@ShinigamiInuyasha7775 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade Well. The worst thing that can happen to own predjuices is to them being confirmed....
@ElEscolta5 жыл бұрын
@@ShinigamiInuyasha777 wha... where? there was not even a british empire in south america. It was all Spain and im 100% right to say it sucked for all the native and half-bloods that where not true spaniards
@monad_tcp3 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade "of their own imperial satellites or provinces as badly as many of their former vassals govern themselves today" PRECISELY, the republics are terrible at management, for all practical purposes, the imperialism did work very well, its not as bad as its portrayed nowadays. The irony is that the bad side idea of imperialism was create by us to describe our modern "democratic" system that's only democratic on paper.
@F0itz5 жыл бұрын
You make such highbrow content that even the shitposting in the comments is on a whole other level.
@PothePerson Жыл бұрын
The absolute restraint not to put 'Mary-Sue' in the title
@nachofilament2945 жыл бұрын
I can already tell this is one of your videos I will return to and watch multiple times.
@killercow0015 жыл бұрын
My biggest gripe with Infinite is that it's message isn't anything spectacular. Even at the time, when I was relatively bluepilled compared to now, I thought the themes and morals of the story were uninteresting. Everybody knows slavery is wrong, everybody already believes racism is bad. This isn't biting commentary, these are mainstream opinions that are conditioned into us at a young age, and Infinite fails to add any nuance. Compare that to the inspired setting of Rapture and it's commentary on Objectivism and free will, and it just seems juvenile in comparison. And that's not even mentioning the multiple worlds crap and the watered-down gameplay. At least the art direction held up. I hope System Shock 3 turns out well...
@cyberninjazero56595 жыл бұрын
@Mitchell Couchman no he means SS3 which is also being made
@jarlnicholl14785 жыл бұрын
SS3 probably isn't being made anymore, as its dev team's previous game bombed hard and they had massive lay-offs.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
Infinite isn't a commentary on racism. It's a commentary on the Horseshoe Theory, with the Vox being based off the Bulshevik Revolution. Further, it also served as a commentary on repetitive game sequels (via its use of the multiverse and Infinite's imitation of the original Bioshock). Honestly, I don't get where you get "racism is bad" as the message.
@Red_Devil_20115 жыл бұрын
@farenheit041 Columbia was a wonderful place to wonder around in and relax. Especially Soldier's Field in the evening. That was the best part of Infinite; just soaking in the nice environment.
@caesarplaysgames5 жыл бұрын
Cynic I always thought that Infinite never really explores slavery or racism as a major theme, they’re background themes. The major themes come in the form of the guilt Booker felt by giving up his daughter, and his almost subconscious quest to get her back and redeem himself. It’s the time travel alternate dimension shit that’s the major focus, not the slavery/racism, that’s just all backdrop. At least that was my personal experience with the game.
@Porphyrogenitus15 жыл бұрын
Remembers when Spoony was good Heck, I remember when Spoony was a movie reviewer writing dead-tree articles in KotDT but got run out by readers who didn't get his schtick.
@Porphyrogenitus15 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade Yeah, and basically I knew that once he reached his patreon goal for a spoony one movie, not only would that never happen, but he'd get frozen on any content (the decline in frequency and quality of content was already there). I didn't know he'd go full crazy once he got swarm-attacked by his prog colleagues, and react by going crazy-prog himself and devote his entire life to shitposting on twitter and very bad lets plays. But I knew the old quality spoony-content was finished.
@Porphyrogenitus15 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade I guess I thought it could go either way and *hoped* it would motivate him (and also be an edifying experience with respect to that type of person). Also I was looking forward to any "Spoony One Movie" with about the same level of anticipation that I'm sure most viewers (and most patrons - I never joined his patreon because I was confident that a ongoing revnue stream that wasn't based on ads for *new* content would ruin him) were: that is, the same level of excitement for any TGWG-type movie: only their relatives (for familial obligation) or close friends cared about that crap. Indeed the only *good* online-reviewer-movies are "Gorilla: Interrupted" and "Space Cop," and those only for the preview-promo videos.
@spencercroce16085 жыл бұрын
I don't think we can even contextualize the absolute miserable and traumatic hell that was the first world war. I don't think we'll ever recover from it...
@AustimosPrime2 жыл бұрын
Dan Carlin’s series on WW1 does a good job at capturing a part of it. (PART of it). He reads soldier’s letters to home and poems surviving soldiers wrote after the war. Real life men coming from the napoleonic era of honor driven warfare to being thrust into the first real modern war of our species existence with absolutely no training or knowledgeable leadership… heart breaking shit man. Truly heart breaking.
@theexpert7582 жыл бұрын
@@AustimosPrime that is his magnum opus. Nothing is as good as that series. I relisten to that nearly monthly. It's a masterpiece.
@00Boogie5 жыл бұрын
When I first played the game, I thought the game was foreshadowing that if you didn't pull Elizabeth from the clutches of those who coveted her powers then she'd inadvertently give everyone cancer, or maybe she opened up the gateway to a dimension where unspeakable horrors roamed freely. When it turned out the big threat was a city of old-timey racists with God and Steampunk on their side, it was rather underwhelming. Also it felt like a massive ripoff as they raised questions they weren't even going to pretend to try to address, like what was going on in the dimension where all the friendly robots were coming from.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
"Also it felt like a massive ripoff as they raised questions they weren't even going to pretend to try to address, like what was going on in the dimension where all the friendly robots were coming from." Those friendly robots came from alternate versions of Columbia, with the implication that Elizabeth's desires made them allies. That's all we need to know. What other questions?
@00Boogie5 жыл бұрын
Seems fitting that such a smug answer misses the point. The desire does not in itself make the robots friendly, she can only take such robots from dimensions where they are already friendly. There's the safe but boring explanation of hacking, but there's also the possibility of circumstances which lead to a more complicated situation. Could be a universe with different elements of Columbia in revolt, could be a universe where Booker is taken in by Comstock and becomes his enforcer. Introducing this alternative universe thing invites speculation and imagination, getting such a dull response says quite a bit about who the game was made for.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
@@00Boogie Debateable. Infinite operates on a theory of Constants and Variables, where every reality must follow a set path. This is to be a metaphor for the fact that all of our playthroughs follow the same story, relatively. Hence why there was a conversation over whether Elizabeth created the Vox reality or not, as there is no decision the player can make that will lead them to become a Martyr for the Vox. The reality was a reflection of her own desires (to see Booker redeemed and the Vox strong enough to rise up). Admittedly, once this reality became... real... it began acting in a way Elizabeth did not intend, but the point is there. The only thing I'm concerned about is the Decoy Tear. What in the world is that supposed to be?
@mercurydylan899 Жыл бұрын
That’s so sad about her children in WWI. Wow. What a horrifying moment in European history.
@battleowl35175 жыл бұрын
An absolutely lovely video! Well done! Is the transcript available anywhere?
@zemo82145 жыл бұрын
Infinite's setting always struck me as deeply anti-American, anti-White and anti-Christian trite
@ff75225 жыл бұрын
That's because its explicitly against whites
@Appleboxman5 жыл бұрын
It didn't really try to hide it
@-EndlessHorizon5 жыл бұрын
The search for the 4th position eh
@theproplady5 жыл бұрын
Hearing Angry Joe reee because Daisy became an extremist was the moment I lost all respect for him and viewed him as nothing more than a child. "WAAAAAAH! Muh stong black female hero! "
@mybawzarerichie5 жыл бұрын
@PHONOGRAPH he lost your respect for not supporting a racist? Guess he didn't lose much then
@kilrmonjaro5 жыл бұрын
The British colonies on the whole costed the British money, There wealth came from being the first country to normalize the profit motive.
@sirgodricenwardsaier90745 жыл бұрын
Meh, the Dutch had done that by the 17th century. I'd attribute more of Britain's wealth to industrialization and largely staying out of the 19th century wars that plagued Europe.
@nikk22565 жыл бұрын
@@sirgodricenwardsaier9074 Meh, Britain was a main player in the wars that plagued Europe! We were under threat of invasion you fool! Have you not heard of the peninsular and Napoleonic wars? ahah your comment is utter lunacy!
@Epicrandomness11115 жыл бұрын
@@nikk2256 He's precisely refering to the time period after those wars, whereby Britain was internationally dominant, and only really fought a European war with the Russians, in the Crimean war, until ww1
@monad_tcp3 жыл бұрын
@Maintenance Renegade keep demanding historical reparations and that will run the world to the ground again, that's what made Germans enter WW2 wasn't it ? they had to pay it
@capkovodna5 жыл бұрын
Not going to lie, I do not listen to others for almost a full hour often, but this was such an interesting ride that I stuck to the very end. And not just that, you made me think about what was being said, so by all means, congratulations on a well done project.
@darkroninmarvel5 жыл бұрын
Also the gameplay is just bland when compared to the original bioshock. I can't believe Ken Levine went from Thief: the dark project, System shock 2 and bioshock.... To this mess. I remember an interview on which he claims that the inspiration behind Elizabeth came when he had a date with a girl who just left from an abusive relationship uuuum okaaaay Kevin....that's weird. Fun fact: my grandfather hates Alice in wonderland because how illogical it is to his more mathematical approach, ironic considering that Lewis Carroll was a mathematician
@darkroninmarvel5 жыл бұрын
@farenheit041 ok it's a matter of tastes at the end of the day
@jarlnicholl14785 жыл бұрын
Yup, it was considerably shallower. Concerning Thief, I don't think that he had much to do with it. In any case, those games were far subtler and more highbrow than anything he could pull off.
@jarlnicholl14785 жыл бұрын
I don't think it is merely a matter of taste. Original Bioshock's array of abilities and more intricate level design exist at objective, technical level.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
@@jarlnicholl1478 Objectively, Bioshock had more options and a higher level of interaction, but its combat didn't function as well. It worked as a resource management game with trap-setting capabilities, but it didn't offer the same ability to hold your own in a fight that Infinite offers.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
"To this mess. I remember an interview on which he claims that the inspiration behind Elizabeth came when he had a date with a girl who just left from an abusive relationship uuuum okaaaay Kevin....that's weird." Um, I'm pretty sure that's not where Elizabeth came from. Much of Infinite came from the goal to try new things, both to test the barriers of a sequel as well as things that Irrational hadn't done before. Irrational had always done games where the player was on their own, playing a silent protagonist. Ken's plan was to make the protagonist an actual character this time and to give him a partner to play off of throughout so that they wouldn't be alone. Further, much of Elizabeth and Songbird were based off the Big Daddy/ Little Sister relationship. Yes, there are elements of an abusive relationship there, but I've never heard of that being based on someone Ken had met.
@misterkefir5 жыл бұрын
very interesting take as always. Loving this series so far. just a little tip = next time, don't use background music with words in it.. it's a bit too loud and distracting at times.. Nothing big. Thanks and God Bless!
@ryaneftink73645 жыл бұрын
M3t4PhYzX I don’t think lyrical music is the problem, just specific types (not helped by Dave sounding softer than usual in this vid). I believe it was more to do with the relatively high pitch, and fast tempo of the singing, which is more noticeable than, say, hymns, Chants, Vaporwave, and even some hip hop, whose lower pitch and/or slower tempo make them more suited for atmospheric noise.
@keeperofthedomus76545 жыл бұрын
I liked the music. It was period appropriate and evoked the feeling of the early 20th century
@misterkefir5 жыл бұрын
@Electro_blob me too, that's why I specified my request - "next time, don't use background music with words in it" ;)
@harleywykes49715 жыл бұрын
appreciate the better production value 10/10
@TheDistributist5 жыл бұрын
Man the trolls are out in this comment thread
@bmc88715 жыл бұрын
The Distributist Don’t be dissuaded. This is one of the best videos you’ve ever done.
@Eldritchfan5 жыл бұрын
We love ya, Distributist!
@Jetirk5 жыл бұрын
Love your videos but the thing that gets me the most is your methodology for historical analysis - you seem to operate using some mass idealism where history moves because the masses trade certain cultural values for others inexplicably or for certain material reasons. For example: 21:37 - "Did we exchange our vision of civilization and high culture in order to expunge racism and hate from our society? Perhaps that's the tradeoff we made." Like, where do I even start with this? Who is we? The masses? Why would this happen? Material circumstance? In reality history is moved by oligarchies, small groups of powerful individuals that have names and addresses. Hardly do their views change. Most often they are displaced and replaced. New types of people claw their way into power. From these few emanates all mass cultural shifts. So "we" made no idealogical tradeoffs. The "culture shift" that occured happened due to very few people who made real decisions to make real policies. So tradition did not go away because the masses decided it was magically time since birth control had come out. It went away because the people behind the Hart Cellar Act and the Civil Rights Act and whatever else decided that it would. Find who those people were and how they came into power and there you go.
@JaMeshuggah5 жыл бұрын
I watched Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and had a conversation about how bad and off-point the remakes have been.
@Nitroaereus5 жыл бұрын
Don't know why. I thought this was brilliant. It beautifully conveyed the nostalgia so many of us have for a more human time none of us ever experienced: the dead 19th century that was drowned in the deluge of blood that was the First World War.
@Bicicletasaladas5 жыл бұрын
This video made me remember why I subscribed to your channel in the first place three years ago beyond my tribal need, as a recent convert(revert), of finding Catholic youtubers of reactionary persuasion. You not only provide food for thought. Your video-essays are aesthetic experiences in and of themselves. This one made me sick with nostalgia for the ethos of another era. I want to commend you and thank you for that.
@ZanderPSN5 жыл бұрын
The very last point you make about WW1 is interesting. I thought of a similar idea after listening to Dan Carlin's Blueprint for Armageddon.
@Hiraeth-zq8ze5 жыл бұрын
ZanderPSN I love that podcast. I always find dan to be a smart balanced and interesting commenter on the history he covers. I think my favorite podcast of his though was his most recent two on the menu restoration and the lead up to ww2 in Japan.
@ZanderPSN5 жыл бұрын
@@Hiraeth-zq8ze Ya I like them all but my favorite is probably his WW1 series.
@Hiraeth-zq8ze5 жыл бұрын
The ww1 series is probably number 2 on my list followed by Spanish American war and then by the fall of the Roman republic but every one is great
@williamcrawford76215 жыл бұрын
Could someone clarify the final point for me. I didn't quite get it. I understand WWI destroyed the virtuous era of Victorian England, but why? And how could it have been avoided?
@ZanderPSN5 жыл бұрын
@@williamcrawford7621 Quote by F Scott Fitzgerald used by Dan Carlin "This western-front business couldn’t be done again, not for a long time. The young men think they could do it but they couldn’t. They could fight the first Marne again but not this. This took religion and years of plenty and tremendous sureties and the exact relation that existed between the classes. The Russians and Italians weren’t any good on this front. You had to have a whole-souled sentimental equipment going back further than you could remember. You had to remember Christmas, and postcards of the Crown Prince and his fiancée, and little cafés in Valence and beer gardens in Unter den Linden and weddings at the mairie, and going to the Derby, and your grandfather’s whiskers.” “General Grant invented this kind of battle at Petersburg in sixty- five.” “No, he didn’t - he just invented mass butchery. This kind of battle was invented by Lewis Carroll and Jules Verne and whoever wrote Undine, and country deacons bowling and marraines in Marseilles and girls seduced in the back lanes of Wurtemburg and Westphalia. Why, this was a love battle - there was a century of middle-class love spent here. This was the last love battle.”
@gavins.71655 жыл бұрын
Another well-woven analysis. It is a bit ironic that the explosion of ingénue characters in this era of neo-puritanism acts as a foil to the surge of curious, intelligent, and flawed female characters during the Edwardian era.
@giggajames19035 жыл бұрын
The should have honestly stuck with the original dark aesthetic, with the older "Comstock" Booker, the mute Gibson girl Elizabeth and the steampunky weapon designs.
@starcola30355 жыл бұрын
I feel like the game's depictions of baptism is probably its worst part. Every individual example of it in the game is an attempt at blasphemy or a criticism of the idea of God's grace.
@giggajames19035 жыл бұрын
@farenheit041 "....is the reason for the Holocaust". I played the game years ago and I don't recall this. Where do they mention this?
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
Infinite isn't criticizing Baptism, though. Infinite was rewritten to include a story arc about redemption specifically to prevent that. The only reason there's so much emphasis on Baptism was because (SPOILERS) Ken needed a reason for Comstock to have a different name than Booker so as to hide his identity (certain racial factors were also thrown in to motivate Comstock's secrecy). When an employee at Irrational threatened to quit over it, Ken sat down and had an honest conversation with him about religion. Ken took away the talk of redemption from it and interwove into the story, which is why you'll constantly hear people talking about redemption and forgiveness (Booker towards his past, Elizabeth pondering whether she can "wash away" her sins, Elizabeth and Lady Comstock forgiving their perceived transgressions towards each other, etc). In the end, the game also serves as an imitation of the story of Jesus, as there are several subtle lines that serve to imply that Booker is Jesus in this narrative (Comstock's talk of mirrors when referring to both himself and Booker which leads to his attempt to frame himself as Jesus, Old Elizabeth making a couple remarks about humanity's check and how Booker will have to settle all accounts, and the fact that Booker is a Martyr for the Vox). When Booker is taken to the final Baptism, he is "Every Man All at Once" (the title of one of Comstock's earliest Voxophones, foreshadowing the ending). Booker is a culmination of every version of himself, and his made to drown to death for the sins of all of them, so as to cleanse them. This is further stressed with Elizabeth's final conversation with Lady Comstock, in which they pondered whether it was possible to "save" Comstock, with Lady Comstock asking Elizabeth to find out. And that's exactly what Elizabeth does. Assuming that her plan worked (as the game leaves it open-ended), Elizabeth, by drowning/ Baptizing Booker, is cleansing Booker of all his sins as both the False Shepherd and the Prophet. While there is a criticism of how Baptism can be abused in the game (via Comstock's misunderstanding of it), the game uses it in a respectful manner if one pays attention. The game sings praise to the concept of redemption offered by Baptism, while criticizing those who abuse it.
@caesarplaysgames5 жыл бұрын
Star Cola Just asking, do you have any evidence to support the existence of God or his grace? Not trying to be confrontational, just asking what makes you a believer.
@starcola30355 жыл бұрын
@@caesarplaysgames I just believe in God for personal reasons and I came to the conclusion that He has no reason to lie about the grace He described in the Bible.
@ByzantiumNeon5 жыл бұрын
Sometimes I feel like these videos were custom made for me. We seem to have both been touched and impacted by many of the same pieces of art and had similar realizations. I was only in middle school when I played Bioshock Infinite and knew nothing of politics, but even then I felt this strange spiritual connection to it like even though I was being told that the world of Columbia was bad, it seemed like a near perfect sort of dream for me. Although I always felt that, I never really knew what it was I was feeling exactly until I watched this video. You expressed it perfectly. You are very wise, sir. God bless you.
@The_Custos5 жыл бұрын
One of us, one of us, hate the history of us!
@AGTInfinity2 жыл бұрын
Once again you've given me the food for thought analysis that I crave. Thank you. The structure of your monologues is always extremely well organized. It almost feels like a walk through of your thought process. The closing statement was chilling.
@MrGamma4045 жыл бұрын
My god, Distro. You just struck something deep in me, I have no words. Keep up the great work .
@thewingedpotato64635 жыл бұрын
Best part of: Bioshock: The Story Bioshock 2: The Gameplay Bioshock Infinite: The Porn
@z1u5125 жыл бұрын
I think the porn in bioshock 1 and 2 is pretty good too.
@jonathandoe13675 жыл бұрын
Agreed. XD
@dankcatsmemes92195 жыл бұрын
The What? Please don’t ruin the series in this way for me
@thewingedpotato64635 жыл бұрын
@@dankcatsmemes9219 The "Artistic Reference" materials featuring Elizabeth ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@TheTdw20003 жыл бұрын
Coomer
@TheRealCHIMShady5 жыл бұрын
>bioshock infinite has brain LMAO nice joke
@Grail_Knight2 жыл бұрын
I'm a pretty cold person and I can't remember the last time I cried, but this ending made me cry
@Kelis985 жыл бұрын
Elizabeth didn’t ruin bioshock Infinite, she was one of the best parts.
@reactiondavant-garde5902 жыл бұрын
This was the point.
@teresazbikowska7094 Жыл бұрын
That's why it sucks. She's perfect, inaccurately so.
@realhxq5 жыл бұрын
As GK Chesterton once said, Ceaser believed himself more than anyone.
@loscopihues23435 жыл бұрын
Hey Dave, seeing you recently tackling post-modern topics, I was wondering when you were going to address the issue of deterritorialization and how much has been magnified thanks to globalization.
@Kivlor5 жыл бұрын
I was wondering how you were going to pull off a decent ending to this in the final 10 minutes. And then you brought it round to WW I, and somehow, the ending was abrupt, yet final, like the last hammer strike driving a nail home.
@Elknkam5 жыл бұрын
This was a great video very well done.
@monsieurbojangles23365 жыл бұрын
That was beautifully done. I was completely immersed the whole time. So cozy with the music and imagery of the garden. Really great job, that's my favorite video to date. "The world has become sad because a puppet was once melancholy" - Oscar Wilde
@Paul-ie1xp5 жыл бұрын
I was really disconcerted, when you referenced Spoony1. It took me a moment to remind myself that at one point he was actually producing insightful content.
@theexpert758 Жыл бұрын
Back again. Still one of the finest videos on youtube.
@helcol145 жыл бұрын
That ending. WWI commentary when?
@seoulpig54395 жыл бұрын
I'd add to the reasons Elizabeth isn't really a marry sue is that she doesn't stay pure and optimistic she eventually becomes disenchanted and slowly declines the more she learns about the real world until she more or less becomes evil or at least morally grey in part one of burial at sea
@tom9700915 жыл бұрын
I so wanted to hear "by and by" while this was playing, was worth the wait
@innocentsmith60915 жыл бұрын
Have you seen the recent adaptation of Anne of Green Gables on Netflix? Let's just say you would not be remotely surprised by the changes from the source material.
@TheDistributist5 жыл бұрын
Uggghh no more
@Gew2195 жыл бұрын
To be frank, I don't want to know anything about it.
@theproplady5 жыл бұрын
What? Did they replace Anne with a Black Girl because she was a redhead?
@innocentsmith60915 жыл бұрын
@@theproplady Shockingly no. It's just typical feminist type stuff.
@mirsolis49925 жыл бұрын
@@theproplady It was criticized for adding additional, depressing, non canonical scenes to make it 'darker'. People who enjoy Anne of Green Gables tend to enjoy that it is for the most part, a light hearted story and didn't appreciate attempts to make it gritty or to make Anne seem legitimately depressed.
@JCdental5 жыл бұрын
"technically well-done" That is a controversial opinion, it's at best 3/4 ass
@theexpert7583 жыл бұрын
When the fratricidal ambitions That line. I come back this video at least once a week. It's so powerful to me for reasons I can't quiet explain.
@WordBearer865 жыл бұрын
...Why does Dave know of ahegao? >_>
@Wingedmagician5 жыл бұрын
Ulric Kessler same reason you do
@WordBearer865 жыл бұрын
@@Wingedmagician This isn't about me, this is about Dave, Rob. Let's focus on Dave.
@rwatertree5 жыл бұрын
He heard about the bathwater brouhaha?
@WordBearer865 жыл бұрын
@BTIsaac That is a where, not a why.
@WordBearer865 жыл бұрын
@@rwatertree ...wut?
@theexpert7582 жыл бұрын
Back once again. I kiss my children (2 girls and a young boy) and tell them be good, the west is not lost.
@mirsolis49925 жыл бұрын
I'm befuddled you could enjoy Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables so much as a young boy, as a little girl I struggled through those books on multiple occasions, determined to finish but I never could. I just found them too boring. I think appreciating those types of stories requires you not be exposed to the plot driven stories that dominate modern storytelling. Older books like those were definitely of a different era in that people could legitimately enjoy a chapter where all the characters do is cook a dinner. There are still modern stories being written like that such as Pond by Claire Bennett but they tend to be very short comparatively.
@spider-spectre3 жыл бұрын
Bioshock Infinite held back too many punches in some areas and tended to overthink certain story or gameplay elements.. Edit: I genuinely enjoyed listening to you talk about Edwardian books and completely forget this was about Elizabeth from Bioshock
@williamcrawford76215 жыл бұрын
This was a beautiful video and a much needed one to remind the modern West of what it has lost in its endless quest for "progress." May we return to virtue, grow a heart, and humbly tend the hearth.
@D_A425 жыл бұрын
i remember skipping bioshock infinite when it came out. For me, vidya peaked at Borderlands 2. Who needs a ham-fisted story when you have a perfectly good meat-bicycle?
@BenjaminCD4 ай бұрын
This might be my favorite video essay on KZfaq
@TheDistributist4 ай бұрын
Cheers
@tashengovender16655 жыл бұрын
I still like Bioshock 2 better than Infinite
@00Boogie5 жыл бұрын
As unnecessary as BioShock 2 was from a story perspective, still had much more going for it. The sure as hell did the daughteru thing better than Infinite.
@rambles17895 жыл бұрын
Ayy Lmao are either of the Bioshock games after the first one worth playing?
@00Boogie5 жыл бұрын
Second is pretty fun to play. The multiplayer servers are probably closed by now, but that part was dumb fun.
@rambles17895 жыл бұрын
00Boogie so it’s not that special? If so I will just avoid it. It’s very rare for me to play video games these days let alone seek one out. I do have the first one which I would like to get back to someday.
@bbnoblebright3 жыл бұрын
Love the channel. Your cultural commentary is a breath of fresh air in the age of "acceleration or bust". Pax et bonum.
@SwanTonBon5 жыл бұрын
This is beautiful Dave. The right video at the right time (that's subjective, I know).
@artemisarrow1795 жыл бұрын
Something tells me Bioshock Infinite’s credits look like a Tel Aviv phonebook
@TheDezedez2 жыл бұрын
Brilliant review! Summed up alot of my thoughts about the game
@hamter53492 жыл бұрын
Look up Tartaria
@loscopihues23435 жыл бұрын
system shock will always remains superior
@jarlnicholl14785 жыл бұрын
Yet so many people shall never play SS games due to them being PC exclusive. :(
@MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI-15 жыл бұрын
Just wow 😮
@Gew2195 жыл бұрын
The radical change in global culture that occurred in the late 2012/early 2013 brings me to belive that Mayan calendar is metaphorically right and we now live in the new era of human history. The former 5125 years marked by order, commonalities and respect towards the people that came before came to pass. The next five millennia will be the time of chaos, uncertainty and uprooted, atomized individuals.
@radaroreilly95025 жыл бұрын
The world is actually over, we are just of to narrow a view so we can’t see it: This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.
@michaelpisciarino53485 жыл бұрын
0:00 “I wanna tell the story of the worst movie adaptation I’ve ever seen.” 1:26 Last Time: Bioshock This Time: Bioshock Infinite ♾ 3:30 “ It was game that really could only be made in 2013” Protagonist: Booker DeWitt, gruff Detective 5:07 The Plot builds to a _Surprising Twist_ 6:52 Why did The Distributists Opinion of the game change? • Good elements, poor mixture 8:34 • Mismatch between gameplay (1st person shooter) and story ( redemption and change) (I’m Progress, Be Back In a bit) 11:30 A Turning Point For Video Game Criticism 15:23 False Equivalency? 17:40 Elizabeth, Compassion and Grace. The Angel, The Mary Sue. 22:53 _In search of an Edwardian Archetype_ 30:00 *_The Secret Garden_* 34:30 The Bhramin And The Aristocrat 35:54 *_Alice In Wonderland_* by Lewis Carrol • Alice, The Supreme Rationalist, Common Sense And Sensibility 40:00 Tim Burton’s _Alice In Wonderland_ (Underland) • An Inferior Product • Boring Alice 45:25 • An Insult To Viewers 47:00 • Rebel Alice 48:45 *_Despite The Many Evils, There Was A Code Goodness Within The West_* 51:24 Alice Little • Upper Class English Girl • Married, had some kids, • Renowned Hostess 52:54 • WWI Took Her Children Away 😭
@ganjiblobflankis65815 жыл бұрын
I had good teachers at primary school in the 80s. They read good book like the secret garden. Strangely, the only detail I remembered when you first mentioned it was the gardener referring to "Daffydowndillies". However, it all came back to me like a bow-wake as you gave your synopsis. Regarding Alice in Wonderland, John D Barrow puts forth the idea that it is, in part, a mockery of modern mathematics and physics.
@miguellemir2425 жыл бұрын
This is probably the smartest thing Ive seen in the Internet
@plopolp98185 жыл бұрын
Background music and projector sound are a tad too loud.
@rambles17895 жыл бұрын
Lewis Carroll wasn’t a pedophile but Sir James Barrie the author of Peter Pan probably was
@jamieyoung93925 жыл бұрын
You want Edwardian femininity? Jenny Agutter in the Railway Children (1970). The impact of seeing that film as an adolescent lives with me to this day :-)
@thuglifebear52565 жыл бұрын
Somehow it doesn't surprise me at all that the makers of Bioshock infinite don't ... Know history at all ...
@00Boogie5 жыл бұрын
About Elizabeth's Mary Sue status, do the flaws count if they are from a blindspot or incoherence on the part of the writers? It poked its head on rare occasions, but she definitely had a lot of spite in her. Then there was that part where she first gloms on to the revolution cause she was reminded of Les Miserables. My immediate reaction was to recall The Reign of Terror and Emperor Napoleon. Not sure if this was naivete set up for a harsh dose of reality or the dissonance between progressive wank fantasies of revolution and the game needing more hostiles for you to shoot.
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
Elizabeth was deliberately set up as naive. It's why you have Booker trying to warn her not to get her hopes up, as well as why you get Elizabeth reflecting on the situation once she sees the Founders' scalps. Not to mention, there is a serious change in her character after the betrayal and death of Fitzroy. Elizabeth changes from being hopeful and idealistic to being cynical and jaded like Booker, to the point where she unironically considers mutilating her mother's corpse.
@monarchofthesea93955 жыл бұрын
History is complicated, there are certainly virtues that existed back then, which exist less these days. But these were fundamentally flawed times too. My own town's history is a testament to the virtue and the deep rooted problems of that society. It was built and developed in the 1860s by an aristocrat industrialist who developed it into the largest slate producing town in the world. He was a deeply competent man, and an aristocrat who exemplified Victorian virtues by treating his workers very well, and ensuring that he listened to the association of quarrymen. He'd set fair wages, he built a hospital that provided free healthcare and was generally a shining example of the virtues you speak of in this video. His son on the other hand, ignored his people and treated his workers preferentially on religious grounds. He changed the system of wages, and the end result was the longest industrial strike in history followed by over a century of resentment. Such degrees of unchecked power leads both to great things when wielded well and awful things when wielded poorly. There's truth to your rosy eyed nostalgia for the Edwardian period. But that doesn't mean Bioshock Infinite's critiques aren't also a fair reflection on that time period too. History is complicated.
@notana.i94235 жыл бұрын
The issue isn't to view pre WW1 Western society with romantic memories. After all every age has had it's fair bit of issues be that social or economic. The problem steems from the unwillingness of Modern Culture to view the past with more respect and dignity.
@monarchofthesea93955 жыл бұрын
@@notana.i9423 I think that's the way history works. We often violently reject what was before us, before eventually taking a more nuanced view of history.
@notana.i94235 жыл бұрын
@@monarchofthesea9395 While in part I agree. The difference is that prior to our contemporary society, The (Some parts) Past was viewed as a model to build from Be that with Neo-Classicism during the Enlightment or the Gothic Revival during the (roughly) Victorian Age.
@monarchofthesea93955 жыл бұрын
@@notana.i9423 Well stylistically, there's always a continuity. I have a book of clothes from 1066 to 1930 and the styles change so gradually, even if they look completely different from one end to the next. Historically people have always rejected the past to bring about what they saw as progress. In the past it was capitalism rejecting archaic principles of aristocracy. Now we often see them as being one in the same, and that's because they did ultimately fuse together, as the capitalist class wished to earn the prestige of the ancient aristocracy. Nevertheless there was conflict. Currently we're rejecting a lot of good from the past, but I'm sure in time we'll learn to appreciate it and have a more nuanced view. The history of history is fascinating
@notana.i94235 жыл бұрын
@@monarchofthesea9395 But after the advent of the modernist movement where the West truely started to reject history and culture is where it all started to go down hill. This is perfectly exemplified by Modernist architecture. And the post modern responce is at least in my opinion any better. But like you said one can only hope that there will a change of heart.
@loscopihues23435 жыл бұрын
the best Game from irrational was swat 4
@tommygunjonney5 жыл бұрын
Excellent analysis. I loved the credits too. It was a very nice touch, I teared up a bit.
@Atamanxxxvii5 жыл бұрын
Another great video. I saw a video a few weeks ago where someone referred to Bioshock Infinite as politics in games done right, I knew he was wrong, but I couldn't put into words as well as you can.
@anthonyhough53655 жыл бұрын
Not gonna lie didnt think distributist gave this much of a shit about video games.
@nachofilament2945 жыл бұрын
After playing Bioshock Infinite, he doesn't anymore.
@kyleelam78295 жыл бұрын
This was mainstream culture and culture is downstream from politics. Videogames are played more than people people watch movies. If you care about politics; you have to care about video games.
@Augustinephillips4 жыл бұрын
This is a master piece, Dave!
@TheDistributist4 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@giggletushjr5 жыл бұрын
You always pick the best music for your vids.
@YusufRaul5 жыл бұрын
I hope this comment doesnt get lost in the hundreds below and above. To put it blunty as a leninist-marxist I agree with you. The general consensus in commie academia up to the 80's was that from economic, military, cultural and even spiritual point of view the capitalist world reached its height in the Edwardian era. From Bismarkian Germany to Meji's Japan and of course the edwardian empire itself the capitalist world was the most cultivated form ever achieved in most of the world (it can be made the case that muslim and hindu worlds faced decline at the time, but this is already repeted ad nauseam by the liberals and does not dismiss the fact that it represented the highest form of society across most of europe, the anglosphere and Japan). This position defended by imtelectuals such as Rose Luxemburg, Lenin (related in present tense as he lived it) David Harvey, Eric Hosbawn, Peter Anderson, Carlos Mariategui and so on was even seen as an argument for the socialist revolution as the only way forward was breaking the system as the french revolution did with the feudal absolutism of the xviii century. Even more, I share your disgust for the progresive intelectual blindness to the past. Whereas the soviets could not but behold the inner beauty of late german opera and french ballet declaring that they should not longer be the privilege of the elite but socialized for all; the conteporary SJW sees it all and discards it as reactionary racist propaganda. No words can express the level of ira one develops against them. Yet, having shared with you this marxist comment on the subject, I must declare too that this edwardian world was doomed to fail, as the intrinsecal reasons that allowed the rise of the european world to this power were the same that pushed for the final war for supremacy. In all its sadness that beautiful era opened in 1815 could not end otherwise than in the bloodbath of verdun. Awesome video, you have earned a suscriber.
@comradecthulhu60525 жыл бұрын
Your comment is pretty well put.
@OsmSkylandersCheats5 жыл бұрын
Maybe instead of being a flying history lesson, Columbia should have been its own society. Rapture wasn’t what the 50s look like, right?
@Varsnake5 жыл бұрын
Truly devastating critique. Lovely
@GameCat165 жыл бұрын
Elizabeth is not intended to be the judge of Infinite. You're thinking of Tenenbaum in Bioshock, who acts as your conscience throughout the game. Elizabeth is a reaction fo Columbia. She starts off as innocent, naive, and idealistic, dreaming of a better world. This is why she cares so much about the Vox. Because she's naive enough to think that there are no downsides to a revolution and fails to consider anything that might go wrong. Once she sees the Vox attacking innocents, scaring them away from their homes or else taking them hostage to torture them, she begins to take on a different opinion. She becomes broken and disillusioned. She becomes a cynic like Booker and, eventually, begins to internalize and incorporate the hatred that she sees coming from the Vox, this time hurling these feelings towards her mother, who she believed abandoned her and was the cause of her isolation from the world. She tried to mutilate Lady Comstock's corpse with the justification that removing her hand will get them through Comstock House, but even Booker can tell that she's just using this as an excuse to revenge herself upon the deceased woman. After finding all the Tears that show them what happened between Lady Comstock and the Prophet, if the player saves the Lutece Lab Tear for last, there is a conversation between Elizabeth and Booker regarding the purpose of the Tears and what the Luteces wanted Elizabeth to find. Elizabeth thinks that there is some sort of scientific reason for them needing to find the Tears, only for Booker to say, "They want you to understand her." Upon hearing this, Elizabeth realizes that she has been mistreating her mother, as well as her mother's memory (as there is an implication that the living version of Lady Comstock is based on her misconceptions of her), and makes it a point to apologize and finally make amends. Your attempt to equate Elizabeth to the Mary Sue is poor. Elizabeth's character is flawed, and it remains open to growth. Elizabeth's story is not one of judgment over Columbia, but a response to humanity in general, as well as a warning to Booker as to what might happen if he fails to prioritize Anna over his attempts to numb the pain of his past, as the Comstock House level is a somewhat heavy-handed metaphor for parental abuse/ abandonment. On a final note, neither Infinite nor Bioshock are critiques of what you think they are. Infinite is not a critique of the West, Bioshock is not a critique of Objectivism. Both are a criticism of people, much like Southpark. In Bioshock, while there were criticisms of Objectivism in it, ultimately left the fall of Rapture open to interpretation. Every character had a different explanation for it; Ryan thought it was in a transitional period, Tenenbaum thought that it was her only scientific research that ruined the city, Fontaine (being a cynic) thought that Ryan's ideals were doomed from the start, and various Splicers blamed the lack of religion. The truth is that they were all wrong (except for maybe Fontaine). As Ken as put many times, Utopia "still had the people." In a similar vein, Infinite is about the Horseshoe Theory, declaring a warning that both sides of a conflict might begin to prioritize winning the battle over the ideals that they began fighting for. While Infinite does focus heavily on the dark side of American history, its goal isn't to say "America is bad." Its goal, much like the franchise as a whole, is to say that people are bad and are capable of ruining any ideology, no matter had strong. As such, it had to show the worst sides of America just like Bioshock had to show the worst side of Objectivism. I'd hardly call it anti-American propaganda, especially when the character's goals focus primarily on saving themselves in the end, and no one else.
@jonolas16263 жыл бұрын
*THIS* , one of the best comments I've ever read
@triplehelix32073 жыл бұрын
hmm, i hope Distributist saw this
@declanm68875 жыл бұрын
Your discussion of the difference between the aristocrat and the Brahmin made me think of the Poldark novels (And the TV show). Was wondering if you were familiar with that story?
@sweetparalyzer5 жыл бұрын
Very good critique, thank you for sharing
@theexpert7585 жыл бұрын
Oh the Edwardian era....what could've been....
@Miseric0rde5 жыл бұрын
Oh boy, what a magnificent conclusion
@josiahcopley49083 жыл бұрын
Powerful video, very well done
@edwardlecore1412 жыл бұрын
Incredible take, of great personal resonance for me. I am attempting to bring back the Victorian girl archetype in a series of novels, so we shall see if certain cultural trends can be defied.
@camwg5 жыл бұрын
Always thought provoking, thank you. Are you familiar with Gertrude Himmelfarb?
@CaptPanOfSteel5 жыл бұрын
You keep on saying that Columbia has an "Art Deco" look. Rapture is the one with an Art Deco look, in 1912 art deco wouldn't pop up until 30 years later. Columbia has a more colonial art style.
@TheDistributist5 жыл бұрын
That was a mistake I meant Art Nuveau
@Gew2195 жыл бұрын
For the n-th time Dave, "infamous" means "living in infamy", not fame. "Famous" and "infamous" are opposite, not interchangeable.
@livingbeings5 жыл бұрын
Well done sir
@jealousyofthesun5 жыл бұрын
list of music?
@MBKill3rCat3 жыл бұрын
Never read the book, but as a young boy I watched the film adaptation of 'The Secret Garden', and found it similarly enchanting.