The Video Essay Formula

not to move off of the subject too much but has anyone noticed how youtube video essays/deep dives have gotten shallower? like not even targeting this one creator here, i just feel like so many people do really minimal research and make superficial observations https://t.co/LvIfCxblcl

— dust 🍉 (@dust_rambles) August 9, 2024

Just saw this Tweet and I feel like making a private review of the video that's a topic on Twitter and talk about video essays as a whole afterwards.

Sorry for dog-piling.

Video

The video is called "Deconstructing the Neurotypical vs. Neurodivergent Gaze", which is about comparing how neurotypicals and neurodiverse people see the world, for example, how they dress, how they see romance, and how they resolve conflict.

The main flaw of the video is generalization of both sides of the framework. The video opens with a disclaimer of "allow yourself to generalize a bit", which, to be honest, turns into the video's crutch. While it can be assumed to just skip the parts that don't relate to you, it's still weird to see these statements of "neurotypicals are think more about their partner's salary than their interests, unlike neurodivergent people, who are less likely to care", and "neurodivergent people are better at conflict resolution than neurotypicals", when it doesn't apply to everyone.

Generalization is the detriment of this video because neurodiversity is, in fact, diverse. It's not just autism and ADHD, it's dylexia, it's dyspraxia, it's Tourette's syndrome, it's OCD, it's dysgraphia, it's synesthesia, etc.

A bit of a nitpick but the thumbnail has Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, though I think they were barely talked about in the video if at all. I think it would be interesting because Chappell Roan is neurodivergent, she has Bipolar II disorder! Though if Sabrina Carpenter was discussed in the video, she isn't neurodivergent as far as the public knows I think, so the biggest thing is the Girl Meets World episode where her character Maya immediately denies someone being tested for autism, though obviously she didn't write it, she was a teenager in the mid 2010s. It kinda diverges from the video topic though so it wasn't mentioned.

That's another problem. The film should've discussed more movies. As the video explains when explaining the term "male gaze" (and "female gaze"), it comes from cinematic critiques. It can definitely apply to other minorities, including the main topic of this video. Talking about movies made by neurotypical people vs movies made by neurodivergent people would be interesting.

I'll research it on my own time but a discussion of movies like Forrest Gump and Rain Man would be cool.

I'll continue my thoughts on it once I can make it sound clear.

Intermission

I'm gonna be honest, the videos with the thumbnails of all the random people in the background and the YouTuber in the center with a glowing outline never felt like video essays to me, though it's just me dissing a style. If it calls itself an essay and smells like an essay, it probably is an essay.

Video essays

One thing some videos suffer from is not talking in depth enough about their topic, even though, with essays, especially deep dives, you're supposed to know everything you're talking about. That's why week 1 TV show reviews still begin with "I have only seen the first episode so far" or why people don't cover topics they don't know anything about (ex. I will never understand indie sleaze). This is especially the case of iceberg videos, which are specifically made to talk about the depths of the series they're talking about to a level further than a review. Yes, Toy Story Iceberg video (no specific one the one I saw probably knew these two things before they even made the video), you should know Woody's last name is Pride and that a toy company sued Pixar for Lot's-o-Huggin' Bear.

Something that many videos suffer from is people going into them thinking they're video essays when they're actually summaries. You got to a 1 hour and 10 minute video called "The Fever Dream That is Thumbelina" and you watch it and it starts with "So first we see Thumbelina being born and then the animals sing about her really badly and then Thumbelina starts thinking about-" and then you realize you're not watching a video essay but a video summary with funny jokes but barely any analysis. Some essays are also just opinion pieces and rants disguised as essays. Not any real deconstruction.

The reason for these quickly produced video essays is because they are lucrative. They rely on high watch times without clicking off the video, which in term, gives the user, and YouTube, more money. Though they also rely on consistent uploading. Some users deal with this by getting a whole staff and reading the scripts, others do it by doing barely doing any research, and some do it by only talking about trending topics.

 

I don't think that's what the video above is doing. The female gaze isn't trending anymore and neurodivergence is gonna be "lucrative" for a prolonged period of time, so mid-August isn't "perfect" timing for this video to come out.

Maybe I'm just jealous. I just found out my part of fortune is in the 6th house, the house of BAD fortune. And I realized I was one month too late to get my financial aid, and I should've applied for it 30 days before school started.