In lieu of the typical pinned Patreon link, please consider directing any spare change to The Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.net/ - Blue Beetle is, obviously, far from a perfect film. I’ve talked about its limitations myself, in previous videos - as have a great many other reviews/analyses here on KZfaq. The point here isn’t to argue otherwise - it’s to look at the way a film is contorted, misrepresented, and nitpicked mercilessly into a launching pad for anti-fan content & narratives. Footnotes: (8:43) 1: It’s also worth noting that Jaime’s Blue Beetle was created concurrently with 616 Spidey’s Iron Spider suit (both appeared for the first time in February 2006, with the similarities, the ‘arms’ and the nanotech basis, being unveiled for each character over the next couple of months). There is truth in the claim that Blue Beetle (as a character) was partially a response on DC’s part to Spider-Man, but it's _not_ true in the way it’s being leveraged here - accompanied by the the visual/tech comparisons to MCU Spidey, the true claim is being saddled with some sneaky subtextual baggage. (21:46) 2: Fans tend to protest claims that Mauler has any role in the alt-right/anti-woke pipeline by denouncing points like the ones I mention here as ‘guilt by association’ - and, solely because I know that otherwise I’ll get approximately ten billion comments on the matter, I think it’s worth laying out why I think that’s a silly response (and why the section from 21:24 to 22:00 is in this video). Guilt - nor any judgement on character or beliefs - is not what’s being asserted. What’s in question when people make this point is whether or not Mauler is playing a part in that radicalising algorithmic funnel. It doesn’t matter if he’s ‘guilty’ or not. It doesn’t matter if you’ve spoken to him and he seems politically moderate. It doesn’t matter if he _is_ politically moderate! It doesn't matter what his _intentions_ are - it matters what he does, where he does it, and who he does it with. If you grant that such a pipeline exists, and if you grant that Nerdrotic, Geeks + Gamers, et al. are part of it, then you must also grant that by repeatedly appearing on podcasts like FNT, and by having FNT’s regulars on EFAP (to say nothing of the way EFAP appearances have helped build the profile of some of the anti-woke neophytes), Mauler - as a personality, not as the sum of his main channel videos - is a _de facto_ part of that pipeline. A minor part, perhaps, but a part nonetheless. As a well-established personality in his own right, appearances draw more viewers, thus better analytics, thus more recommendations, and so on. Now, if your objection to all that is that _none_ of these characters are part of the pipeline, nor even EFAP guests such as Sargon, then congratulations - you’re not a hypocrite! But you _are_ an idiot.

Jaime returns home, gets tacos. Tony returns home, gets a cheeseburger. No difference.

The fact that he called his truck a Taco, may be because he is Mexican, or because it is a Toyota TACOma. Taco is a common nickname for the truck. I used to work at a Toyota dealership, and we had plenty of people call them Tacos, because when you are talking about a thing over and over again, it’s pretty common to give it a nickname.

As someone(from Greece) who has eaten Mexican food, Mexicans should be proud of their cuisine, because it is delicious.

For those who don't know: almost 4 years ago Nerdrotic invited an open white supremacist Bowlestrek. A guy who has said this gem: "In good old days cities like London and Toronto were mostly white, but now they have become a victim of a massive social experiment. The goal of that experiment, is to wipe out the white Christians. For a review (read: a conversation about how the Jewish plot has destroyed the show) of Doctor Who.

the "real fans" crying about something they never read not being accurate is probably my favorite trope of these goobers

“Let’s talk about Nerdrotic.” Do we have to…?

If you see a video from these outrage merchants on your home feed, remember you can click/tap on the three dots and say "Don't recommend channel", you won't have to see anything from them again, and I imagine it's one of the worst things you could do to them: non-engagement.

Are they just as upset about Tony Stark wanting a cheeseburger when he gets back to murica?

wait, the pronouns guy, the guy who got angry over Peach wearing pants AND the guy who was angry over black people being in the batman? What a stacked cast of clownery.

The truck is a Taco! It's a Toyota TACO-ma. That's a common nickname for that truck.

I like how my first thought upon seeing the podcast was "OMG ITS THE STARFIELD PRONOUN GUY!"

Name a more iconic duo than anti woke fake nerds and being completely wrong about comics they claim to love. You can't do it.

I didnt see this movie. My 45 year old, Mexican dad did. When he got home he wouldnt stop talking about all the small details and elements he loved about it. This was surprising to me since hes someone who doesnt really watch movies and doesnt really care for superheros so to hear him say how much he enjoyed it made me glad. The people on that podcast have no idea what theyre talking about when they say that this movies 'racist' or whatever

That's why I never click on any Nerdrotic videos. I refuse to give them with any clicks.

Jaime's reaction to eating a taco after going to college for years is honestly the most relatable scene I've ever seen from a modern superhero film. I'm not Mexican, but I am Indian and being away from home for so long then coming back, it changes how much you appreciate the food that you took for granted before.

The dad being a chulo boomer with a ultra decked out truck is so on brand. Same as with the suburban dads who cosplay bikers on the weekend.

The worst part about these kinds of “fans” is that KZfaq puts them in the spotlight. I’ll watch trailers of movies/tv shows even just one time and my recommendations for the next few days is flooded with freaks like him…it’s ridiculous

this actually makes me want to watch blue beetle, i'm not latino but the characters seem so charming and the art style's colourful but muted palatte and fun looking gadgets vaguely reminds me of spy kids but made with more modern cgi

Are we gonna ignore how by they imply that Peter wanting to kill the man who murdered Uncle Ben is the right thing to do with their logic?

I'm not mexican, but I'm south america, and like all my brothers and sisters of this beautiful continent I grew up on Chapulin Colorado. and blue beetle was the shit. fuck them fascist fake nerds. jaime reyes made me actually excited about what the next dc movie might be.

Oh hey the Starfield pronouns guy is there. Truly an all-star cast of embarrassing.

These “anti woke” or whatever content creators always claim they aren’t racist but then do stuff like this and it genuinely makes my blood boil

I wonder how many of them actually liked the movie, but have to publicly hate it because that’s their brand, and they have the keep the grift going. I also really like how the two women in that podcast are relegated to being alone at the bottom of the screen. Definitely on point for that group. 🤦🏽‍♂️

It's unfortunate that so much of KZfaq comics and nerd culture is this racist right wing Fox News influenced thing. Pillars of Garbage is one of the best things to exist in this space. I appreciate your insights on comics and TV and film.

I can’t imagine viewing every single piece of media through the lens of wether or not it’s “woke” instead of just, idk, judging it based on the writing, editing, performances, cinematography, and things that actually matter?

I am a Mexican-American nerd and a big fan of superheroes. Blue beetle (Jaime reyes) was one of my favorite superheroes as a kid, just behind Spider-man and Static shock. I was first introduced to him in the cartoon Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Since seeing him as a kid, I have read some of his comics and enjoyed his portrayal in Young Justice. I even remember in middle school drawing my own superhero who was basically a rip-off of Blue Beetle named Red Ant. I went to see the Blue beetle movie in theaters and I enjoyed it. Not the best movie ever, or anything, but I still had fun and enjoyed myself. Very funny, decent action and some touching moments, especially with the dad. Id probably rate the movie as a 7/10. In my personal opinion, I think the Hispanic rep in the movie was fairly accurate. I think the characters felt like real people and some of the struggles they faced are real struggles that many real Hispanic people deal with, including racism, gentrification and being undocumented. Jaime's dad, in some ways, reminds me of my own dad, who also immigrated to America to make a better life for his family. I can relate to the pressure Jaime feels to try to make it big because of the sacrifices his family made for his sake. Jaime's uncle in the movie also reminded me of people I've met in real life. And of course, Jaime's Nana was awesome. She was very funny and cool. Overall, I can tell that the creators of this movie know their stuff in regards to Mexican American culture. This isn't like a documentary, of course, but it felt like an authentic portrayal to me. Of course, this is just my opinion. Some people might feel differently and thats ok.

A lot of bad content creators will lean into the trendy culture war BS to boost engagement like "vaccines are killing you!" or "OMG trans people exist?!?" Unfortunately the classics, like overt racism, will still give ya clicks.

I’ve heard even Mauler has gotten annoyed with Nerdrotic’s takes before. Shows how bad he is. Edit: apparently they’re writing a book together, so Mauler couldn’t even pass the lowest bar of not supporting Nerdrotic as much anymore.

This group has the guy who bitched about pronouns on a videogame. No way you can take them seriously.

Let's face it. As long as the cash keeps flowing for these "critics", they will never EVER listen to us. They'll just continue their stuff.

We need to start calling these people for what they are - culture leeches. They don't hate Marvel and DC. Heck no - they LOVE them more than the average fan, if not for Marvel and DC, these leeches won't get fed well.

The hate flow is the most annoying part of this kind of channels. If i had a channel for movie reviews I'd post mostly videos about films that I liked or loved. If there aren't films to enjoy I'd simply leave the movie review job and talk about any other hobby i like.

I find their focus on the receptionist being racist to be so odd. The bit in that conversation that really stuck out to me was her insistence on mispronoucing his name despite only hearing it and having no indication that she was reading it wrong. I still wouldn't go on a rant about how racist that was, it just felt out of place.

I had to block Nerdrotic. It’s not only his values that are bad. He’s just an OBNOXIOUS person. Real “I’m the bully now” vibes.

You ever hear a little kid start talking about something they only have a little kid's POV. You ask a question about whatever the something was about, they're not prepared for it and the kid's brain has to do a soft reboot. Then they just start making stuff up, cause it's funny goofing around like that when your a kid. And they kinda know they're BSing you...... Nerdrotic not even close to being that fun or engaging....

Nobody would EVER say that to a sharply dressed Latino. Oh, but superheros are real.

Mauler complaining about how the horror-adjacent transformation sequence doesn't work well tonally because its inconsistent with the rest of the film while in Spiderman 2 which is widely regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time, features the iconic mechanical arm surgery sequence which is classic Raimi horror juxtaposed with camp and corniness (in the best way possible, mind you) for the rest of the film. There's something just really unnerving about how clinical their consumption of media is, its less like a human being engaging with a piece of art and more akin to a college professor grading term papers.

I hope you talk about his blatant racist response to the Spiderverse movies. They have this whole thing where they go Miles Morales is....Miles Morales and they refuse to call him Spiderman. It makes no sense whatsoever, literally just because he's black.

Nerdrotic? Racist? Colour me shocked. Next you'll tell me water is hydrating.

Is that the Starfield pronoun tantrum guy in that group call? Very embarrassing company for them to keep lol Edit: lol yes I got to the point where PoG confirms it

Pre Watch: He doesn't know how to read subtext and take every opportunity to makes scenes into White, Straight Males VS Political, Political and Political no matter how flimsy. And he might maybe be a little bit, tiny racist, a bit. Post watch: Shouldn't have limited it to "he".

The most hilarious thing about Gary is as well as getting his information along with Doomcock from 4chan he is a failed comic store owner who blames "Woke" comics for his bankruptcy not that he was probably scaring people away with his ranting bullshit that was actually a parody in Space back in 2000 "You didn't understand Star Wars You Weren't there" Gary is also a Quanon Believer along with Krissy Mayr who is constantly dogwhistling that all of Hollywood is run on child napping, really the funniest of the sad collection of broken toys on the stream is Heel Vs Baby-face who is a failed Writer who made a big deal about his failed job applications to the BBC claiming it's Wokism not he's a bad writer it's actually something you see with alot of anti woke film reviewers the hate is usually linked to a an IRL failure.

I used to watch Nerdrotic, I'm sort of embarrassed how long it took me to unsub. But one day, I guess I was tired after work or something and I pulled up KZfaq and it was like the first video I saw. I just looked at it, like, "why do I watch this crap? It's nothing but negativity and I'll probably never see 80% of these movies anyway."

He is the definition of “well I have a black friend so how can I be racist?” and “well I have a wife so how can I be misogynistic?”

your level of patience for these guys is outstanding. my version of this vid: man................................F THOSE RACIST PRICKS!!! THE END lol

18:08 oh well. Oh shit Jamie is a murderer who killed his own father… Well I guess Peter murdered Aunt May in No Way Home. I guess Star Lord Killed Gamora. I guess Hawkeye killed Quicksilver. Miles Morales Fucking Killed Uncle Aaron

I grew up just as obsessed with nerd media as this guy and was likely just as socially ostracized to the point where I frequently considered taking my own life. All that being said, I believe in empathy and building bridges and understanding peoples' pain to help them become a better version of themselves. I've come across lots of media from him and his ilk, and the consistent throughlines are all mentioned here. The whole vibe of him and his other cohorts (hi TCD et. al!) is "girls ruined my childhood and now I have no identity except anger!". So Nerdrotic, my dude, my brother in fandom: GROW UP.

Wokespotting is a hell of a drug, isn’t it? Desperation for whatever fix they can get no matter where.

*0:15** FINALLY! Someone Says it* _The worst part is that THE PIC WASN'T OF A TACO, WAS OF A CHALUPA_

It's weird how all these racists look the same. Beard, black glasses, a bunch of toys in their room that they proudly display

When people show you who they are, believe them. This is a group of bigots hiding behind comic books; bigots nonetheless.

These people aren’t critics. They’re politicians, persuading they’re audiences that the issue is representation and not writing as much as they pretend otherwise. They only give genuine critique to save face

Nerdrotic channel and claims (and clickbait titles) are just bewildering. I tried to take him seriously at first, but when things just boil down to "M-She-U" and similar stuff (racism, basically), I can't. I've loved all your content. Your Superman isn't Jesus 3 was excellent and now, this is a video I have been expecting from ANY content creator in this platform. Someone who isn't afraid to speak up on these topics or channels, and still does so maintaining a calm reasoning persona. That's why you're one of my favorite channels. You aren't afraid to go out there and speak about things like misinformation or different interpretations of a character

I stumbled across Nerdrotic when the first episodes of Rings of Power came out and, well, they were infuriatingly stupid. But all his criticisms were about WOKE BAAAD and Strong Female Protagonist baaad with sprinkles of racism. Like, does he believe if Galadriel was a guy she wouldn’t be the same unlikable, clumsily written character? 😂

I remember watching a Nerdrotic video on Venture Bros, and really enjoyed it. Then I found out how terrible they are and that was just a bubble of non-toxicity.

I’m thinking Nerdrotic is on the Comic book version of the “Jews will not replace us” vibe. I wrote him a long message about “Woke” simply being African American vernacular for AWAKE, since the 1930s Blues song it was first used on, warning Black people about Southern Sundown Towns (where they kill Blacks caught after dark). He could care less about what it really means and reminds me of the Trump era right wing redefining what KAP was kneeling about. Complete redefining and Scapegoating of Black American slang, that was always used positive by us but negative by the White supremacist.

I forgot who Nerdrotic was until this crap came up… Speaking of which; I’ll keep forgetting who nerdrotic is because I don’t care enough to remember.

I wonder if any of these people had a problem with Tony Stark instantly asking for a cheeseburger after the beginning of Iron Man.

All these anti woke grifters blow my mind. Imagine regurgitating the same 4 talking points to cater to a specific demographic that would otherwise have nothing to do with you. Kinda like the way they see modern media....OH SHIT I GET IT NOW!

These dingbats didn’t know that Salsa is also a type of dance?😅

I think you've articulated exactly what him and his gang are all about. It's an economy of rage, and they're making bank off of people who are probably frustrated with the state of things but have fallen into the pipeline. I used to be a part of that "crowd." Once you get out of it, their motives are so obvious that it surprises me when others fall prey to it. Anyway, sorry for the ramble. It's an excellent video!

If I knew Blue Beetle triggered the RW react-squad, I'd have seen it,

Conservative media illiteracy is a common joke these days because it never stops being funny. It's truly bizarre how much difficulty they have understanding themes and how easily they get distracted by surface features.

Real nerds don’t call themselves nerds. Also, real nerds are open-minded and accepting of others. These losers just want to feel superior to someone.

Every time Nerdrotic posts a video, media literacy dies. Every time someone corrects his mistakes, media literacy is reborn.

Literally the only time I ever seen these kinds of people on KZfaq are when you talk about their bullshit. It's enough exposure to help me know that I never want to lol

Nerdrotic and his squad of losers like to bash people for enjoying something yet the moment anyone criticises older movies they suddenly say we’re fake fans

Getting mad over a Mexican family eating tacos is like getting mad at a Scotsman for eating haggis.

22:04 Mauler and Co. were surprised by the fact that a superhero movie had a body horror moment in it…despite the fact that that’s actually quite common in the genre, since several superheroes and supervillains have their origins in horror/body horror. Panels to Pixels did a whole video about the topic, I highly recommend everyone watch that to see what I mean. But to give a few examples: Hulk, Venom, Ben Grimm, Iron Man, Captain America (yes, he counts), Dr. Doom, Plastic Man, Abomination, The Leader, Ghost Rider, Etrigan, The Spectre, Darkchylde, Spawn, Deadpool (Hell, The X-Men just in general), Werewolf By Night, Morbius, Hannibal King, Blade; the list goes on.

Once again an amazing and insightful analysis!! I try to never click on videos from nerdrotic, shad, pronouns guy etc. cause I don't want to give them views and also I wanna keep my sanity. Having you go through them and analysing them is great though, for us at least not so much you. ( I hope you didn't get too many headaches from all the insane and racist things you had to hear) You're doing a great job Pillar!! Keep it up!! We love you!!

Amazing analysis video ! watching blue beetle as a mexican american with my family was very fun and it was the most accurate way i’ve seen a mex-american family shown on the big screen to my personal experience especially the struggle the older members of the family had with trying to make something in a country they weren’t born in from nothing felt very real to hear and see even with they way they spoke both english and spanish felt more natural than in anything else i’ve seen as well (sometimes it’s hard to show how a conversation can flow using both languages) sad they didn’t even try to understand the movie biased but it’s A+ superhero movie to me

Why is it always these youtubers that get together and do crossovers. Where’s my Pillar of Garbage, Nando v Movies, Full Fat Videos, Mr Sunday Movies, Nerdsync, Friendly space ninja five hour movie discussions

37:36 Bro has no right to call her fat.

fun fact: the name of his uncle's truck is likely a double meaning, since Toyota Tacomas have been lovingly nicknamed "Tacos" by the car community.

Babyface complaining about someone else being fat is certainly one of the takes of all time

Wow, Nerdrotic and his idiot friends comment about Blue Beetle not killing someone clearly show how they devalues human life in general.

These guys are not "nerds" or "fans". They're people without talent who realized how easy it is to milk outrage for clicks.

One of the commentators brought up "Blue Beetle doesn't kill people.... Spider-Man doesn't kill people.." Like.. Yes??? That's.. the thing with heroes, usually??

I see that AZ AKA Starfield Pronouns of Akkad is on the stream being as cringe as ever.

It's sadly some people take these people seriously or gospel

I'm glad the general public reacted the way they did to that Nerdrotic video. They've been a blight on the website that survives by remaining just obscure enough that the moderate masses don't cancel them. The type of people that search for those videos have no interest good faith media criticism - they just want to hear the sounds like they like to hear while playing a game in another monitor.

Nerdrotic thumbnails are the greatest nightmare known to man

Nerdrotic makes me feel sorry for walls, like seriously the action figures make it feel like a mix between a pawnshop, an attic and a robot chicken set.

People that complain just for the sake of complaining. Because saying something nice is not cool somehow. Those people bore me.

People calling out Nerdrotic gives me hope for humanity.

Aaaand the racism doesn’t stop! HeelVsBabyfaces’ title for his The Marvels “review” literally has the n word in it!

These people are political grifters but for nerds. Always complaining about stuff they constantly consume. "Movie/show is bad" *watches next movie or show* "Movie/show is bad" Wash and repeat.

I used to watch this content, but the constant negativity and complete inability to enjoy anything got to me. I’m a very positive “glass half full” kinda person, that level of negativity was draining for me. These people hate something and then argue for hours to justify it. It seems to envelop their lives, and I honestly find that kind of sad.

That thing trying to connect the tech and A.I. of the suit as something from the MCU pissed me off. One of the most basic things about Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes someone should know is that the suit materializes around, and that voice exists as a part of the suit. It's in the cartoons and even fucking Smallville. Also, Shadiversity fans will swear Shad wasn't in this video. Sorry, I can't get over that. Shadiversity fans actually think that the video of him making stupid Alt-Right comments and voicing those views doesn't actually exist. Also, I can't watch Blue Beetle yet. I can't afford to rent or buy it, and it's not on Max.

Don't forget, this is the guy who went to prison for selling meth to kids

I'm very glad I left that sphere

I personally hate and despise all of these "Nerd" channels. They all act as if they are "real" fans of whatever IP there is and all they complain about is whether its WOKE or Not Woke and sprinkle their subtle or less than subtle racism. I love nerd culture, I enjoy different points of views of certain films, cartoon shows, video games and other projects that I love. But these channels spread nothing but hate and ruin the nerd culture all together with their shit grifting.

I live in Mexico, My parents and siblings live in the US. Nothing was more accurate than the son going home and the family getting tacos. When they visit we always go for tacos. When I visit we will definitely be going for tacos. You're right, Friday night tights just don't get it.

one of the reasons as to why I ignore those podcasts (you can guess many of the others) is because it really feels like there's no value in watching, if you put a group of people in a room that all of them share the exact same political views, and make the same type of videos, to the point that their thumbnails all look the same despite those videos been made by 5 different people, then of course they're gonna agree on everything, it would be almost like talking with yourself, you get almost nothing, and just because a bunch of people agree on something doesn't make them right, if you put a bunch of racist in a room and have them talk about how black people suck and they all agree that won't mean they're right. If the invited people with different views than them, like the reel rejects, dan murrell, or maybe even you, then it could be interesting, but because they don't, hearing them is like hearing just one person talking... also, did you know nerdrotic was in jail?

What frustrates me with these guys even more is that they like to push the "OH, Hollywood is bad. Hollywood is woke. Superhero movies are terrible." narrative, when they could just stop watching altogether. OR EVEN BETTER, look for different movies. There are lots of amazing fan films on KZfaq, 2D/3D animated films, or even straight up features on the platform. If you really don't like the stuff Hollywood puts out, then stop watching. But, alas, the only reason they're even talking about it in the first place is to get some sweet internet clout.

How long until Nerdrotic fans storm the comments section and accuse you of being jealous of his "success"?

The uncle called his truck “Taco” because it was a TACOma. Only those who speak Spanish got the joke

The scary thing about seeing yourself as a warrior on the frontlines of a culture war is, it absolutely self-justifies any bad acting, bad faith, and bad takes.

I'm confused how they thought this movie was woke?? I thought they loved traditional heteronormative family values? I thought they loved Chri stianity? I thought they loved it when the guy kisses the girl at the end? I thought they loved male leads? (Oh its because they're brown) And also how does he consider One piece the best show of 2023 when the whole theme of the show is explicitly about raycism, classism, an extremely diverse cast and has a few gender swapped and race swapped characters (all things these people hate)?? Oh it's because Blue Beetle didn't perform well while One piece did. I just know if One piece didn't get as many views, all the thumbnails would be "JUAN PIECE WOKE FAILURE" with a picture of inaki godoy as a racist Mexican stereotype.