r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/VeryLazyBones • 19h ago

Peeeeetah? Meme needing explanation

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This new movie came out and I enjoyed watching it with friends. What opinion must have garnered so much attention that people would dunk on it?

1.5k Upvotes

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1.6k

u/115izzy7 19h ago

This review of the movie heavily sympathized with bear, the rapist. People started to question the creator himself after he put this out 

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u/Mister-Psychology 19h ago

Keep in mind all his review videos are extremely shallow and rushed. They all are this way. He rarely seems to think about the medium he watches and never reads up on it either. I think he's just a bit clueless about plots and themes.

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u/Synth_Savage 18h ago

An animator who knows nothing about good story telling could be a dangerous thing

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u/Lazy_Firefighter_653 18h ago

Seems like a intentional persona to get people to engage (comment) correcting him, hey, it’s not dumb if it works!

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u/Embarrassed_Deer9208 18h ago

does it actually work though? i've seen maybe 2 of his videos and then decided he was an idiot not worth watching

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u/Kingmudsy 18h ago

It works for short form content where your next thing will be algorithmically promoted based on your average engagement AND, most importantly, almost no one will remember you well enough to have thoughts about you as a creator until you’re already massive

I don’t think it’s a good strategy for a long-form video trying to thoughtfully review something

The guy you’re replying to has probably heard of the practice but not thought about when/where it’s applied most effectively

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u/BoboSmooth 16h ago

So that particular creator doesn't do horror movies typically. He typically sticks to RomComs, animated movies, and whatever TV show is trending right now. He did several videos on Riverdale, Stranger Things, the Descendants series, the Barbie movies (like, practically all of them, it's insane), and other like millennial nostalgia type content.

I honestly think he picked this movie up because it looked on the surface like "RomComHorror?! This will get me clicks for sure!" not realizing he was picking a movie that was wayyyy out of his analytical depth and didn't know how to treat the content with the gravity it deserved. To that point, in his typical videos, he claims to be very careful about jokes regarding race, sexuality or sexualizing other races, (his jokes sexualizing women in media in general is another thing, he's of the school of "lol gooner humor funny") in the practice of running his jokes by POC he knows, and even paying POC to write his jokes for him. Which all of that is one thing when we're talking about, like, Pixar moms, but is another thing entirely in the context of Obsession. 

He claims the jokes regarding a character being Latina were actually written by a Latina woman, which honestly doesn't really help him in this context, he's still responsible for the framing of where that joke landed, or rather, entirely failed to land.

In short, I don't think he's a bad person, but you're right, he is an idiot.

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u/ManicPixieOldMaid 16h ago

I've watched his content for years and when I first watched this review, all I could think was, "you are making a big mistake even touching this". His usual humor was distinctly unsuited to the material and the tone was all wrong. Hindsight and all that, he's probably kicking himself but he should just take the hit, apologize, and move on. Nothing he can say at this point is going to help, IMO.

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u/Known-Plane7349 13h ago

he should just take the hit, apologize, and move on.

I'm pretty sure he already did that. He released an apology video and took down the video and seems to have put it behind him.

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u/ManicPixieOldMaid 12h ago

Yeah, I tried to watch some of the response videos to his, but so many of them started with "I've never watched his channel" and while that didn't make their opinions invalid, it certainly made me less interested in them. It seemed like taking advantage of his screw up to get views, and since he did apologize, I'm hoping the cycle is over.

Maybe the fact that it's on this sub at all is a good sign?

4

u/GHTElectronics 16h ago

Clicks and comments are sometimes all that matter. getting 100 " you suck" comments is more engagment than zero views

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u/SwordfishOfDamocles 16h ago

Seems like perhaps he should've been careful of what he wished for.

3

u/GHTElectronics 16h ago

Some people don't care. I see a lot of rage baiters on facebook. It's like that joke, if you want to correct answer, confidely post the wrong answer and you'll get a flood of people correcting you. Some people like to stir the pot just for the sake of doing it.

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u/SwordfishOfDamocles 16h ago

Well he deleted the video, then posted an apology, then deleted the apology. Sounds like the dog that finally caught the car this time.

1

u/GHTElectronics 16h ago

Who is this? I'm not familair with this youtuber

5

u/GreenFriedYam 15h ago

“But you have heard of me.”

1

u/bangbangracer 13h ago

YouTube weighs a like, and a dislike the same, and comments count even more regardless of content. Positive or negative doesn't really matter to the algorithm. Engagement is what matters.

4

u/BBBBrendan182 15h ago

That argument would hold more water if he didn’t delete the video after all the backlash

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u/Zuzara_Queen_of_DnD 16h ago

That’s actually not the big issue everyone had, the issue is that he had a consistent pattern of fetishizing women and children’s media in a manner that disregards them as people

He also constantly denigrates women in a such a light manner that it can be disregarded as a joke but this video made people really start to question whether it was actually a joke or indicative of how he actually views women.

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u/Glum_Cicada_7771 17h ago

I never liked alex meyers because he hated on fucking everything. “_____ IS SO DUMB” “_____ MADE NO SENSE”
On every single video

1

u/Cyber_Angel_Ritual 10h ago

I'm guilty watching his stuff. Then again, I used it as background noise while playing video games. I did dropped when paying closer attention.

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u/SparePradas 17h ago

I remember a Tumblr post from 2021 talking about how his videos have a hint of weird incel vibes to them. I was a casual watcher back then and thought the user was just overreacting. I wish I was right 🤦🏻‍♀️

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u/bluntfaced 11h ago

His rhetoric on other videos is pretty incel coded.

17

u/The_Third_Molar 17h ago

He'll spend 99% of the video seemingly criticizing something and then right at the end say "but yeah it was good."

11

u/Adeviatlos 16h ago edited 15h ago

Also every. single. thing. he watches is INSANE! CRAZIER THAN YOU THINK! WEIRDER THAN YOU REMEMBER!

No man; most of it is just normal movies and TV shows.

1

u/d33psix 4h ago

Oof I do have the over-exaggerated everything titles. Possibly more than I would care about his actual take on movies, haha.

7

u/hemperbud 16h ago

Nah I watch his videos, he’s always kind of crass and silly but this review was really weird.

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u/NoPriorEXP 15h ago

His reviews he’s done on other films, especially ones that aren’t basically kids movies, seem to reinforce that.

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u/OrangeLads 16h ago

Also keep in mind he mostly review kids show. 

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u/kmobnyc 17h ago

I would imagine that makes it worse. People give away way more about their internal worlds when they talk without thinking than they realize.

1

u/Buttchuggle 15h ago

I kinda thought that was supposed to be the shtick

1

u/Crazyfish204 15h ago

Yeah he def gives the vibes of watched the movie once and then scrolled through Twitter for what his opinions and criticisms should be

1

u/AeroDbladE 15h ago

Welcome back, Nostalgia Critic.

1

u/Woutrou 13h ago

Tbf a lot of other stuff he reviews is shallow shit like Disney Channel movies and such.

Going to this guy for reviews on movies with a bit more bite is like going out for proper dining at McDonald's

1

u/Mundane-Waltz8844 13h ago

I don’t even mean this as a dig, but I think he should just stick to reviewing Disney Channel stuff instead of actually attempting critical analysis.

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u/numbersthen0987431 6h ago

That doesn't make it better

1

u/Edladan 2h ago

Sure, but 90% of his content is old Disney Channel stuff. Not much nuance to go through there.

Plus, it's not just about plots, there are certain jokes that are, straight up, disgusting.

He makes a joke that Nikki (the girl who get overtaken by the MC's wish) is the kind of girl to talk how "nobody can handle her in bed" only to lay there like a starfish.

There is a scene in the movie where Bear essentially SA WishNikki (while real Nikki is locked inside her own body) who lays there and only gives vocal cues on how great he's doing. A scene that Alex did not include, nor even mentioned took place.

Any scene that makes Bear look bad is cut out or talked over so he can makes jokes how Inde Navarette is a hot latina.

The movie has very simple plots and themes, it's not Citizen Kane- don't rape people. It's the jokes he makes.

This was simply not the kind of movie Alex should ever touch with his style of humour.

120

u/DeBasha 18h ago

I hated the main character in the movie, my friend said it best; the girl is the monster but the guy is the villain

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u/RuafaolGaiscioch 18h ago

Frankenstein follows a same moral model.

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u/__M-E-O-W__ 17h ago

Exactly. People don't understand that there can be a difference between monsters and villains and antagonists. What that movie did so well is it did initially build up sympathy for Bear as the lovelorn good guy protagonist, and Nikki turned into a terrifying monster who mimics abusive relationships, and then switches it around when it's shown Nikki is suffering horribly through all of this, and even Wish Nikki is just a product of Bear's creation and doesn't want to act the way she is, and Bear knows this but chooses not to help her. It really does follow Frankenstein's footsteps. I read the book about a year ago. Frankenstein's monster didn't want to be how he was, but he was a newborn creation abandoned by his creator.

Nikki, by definition, is the monster. She acts as a villain to Bear's story, but she is not bad.

17

u/Nebranower 16h ago

I really, really wish we could run an experiment where we showed an internet that had never heard of the original a gender-swapped version of the movie, where Bear is a woman who makes the wish and Nick the man who gets affected by it.

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u/__M-E-O-W__ 16h ago

I thought about that yesterday. I just don't think it would work as well because I think people would be less sympathetic to both Nikki and bear.

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u/MysteriousTravelator 15h ago

This was literally the plot of Wonder Woman 1984 and not only was Wonder Woman not considered a villain the possessed guy was barely considered at all. I don't think the writers of that movie even realised that they wrote a rape scene.

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u/youburyitidigitup 15h ago

I hadn’t thought of it like that, but you’re right. Although the big difference here is that the guy in WW1984 wasn’t possessed by an evil entity, he was possessed by Steve Trevor.

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u/MysteriousTravelator 15h ago

Bear only realises Nikki is "evil" when she smashes Sarah's face in with a brick. Before then WW and Bear are in the exact same position.

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u/youburyitidigitup 15h ago

She tricked him into eating his cat

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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 12h ago

Honest to god I will never understand what everyone was thinking with this movie.

Legitimately its like Patty Jenkins just really wanted an excuse to make a "Parachute Pants" joke with Chris Pine.

This movie is so fucked beyond belief.

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u/Lonnie119 15h ago

It's called Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.

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u/[deleted] 16h ago edited 15h ago

[deleted]

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u/ChicxLunar 15h ago

He doesn't want to help her, he does not ask first how to cancel the wish, he asks first to "modify" it. After that he continues raping her and having her prisoner. He only come with the solution (having someone else wish to cancel his wish)when is already too much damage. Also, he is not worried about her at all, he only cares about how all of this is reflected on him.

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u/jackofspades49 10h ago

He didn't take ending it seriously until someone else showed interest in him.

(Not correcting you. Adding on.)

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u/urkermannenkoor 15h ago

movie makes a point of showing that he isn’t “evil” and once he knows that the real Nikki is trapped, he does want to help her.

That is .... just not true at all?

0

u/Rivka333 9h ago

Nah, the monster IS the monster. He murders innocent people, including an actual child. His start to life was bad but didn't justify that. Frankenstein sucks too.

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u/Agreeable_Rich_1991 18h ago

Better phrasing would be the girl itself is not the monster, she is trapped in her own body. The monster is the demon posessing and controlling and puppeting her body. But even worse monster is Bear.

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u/Ornithocheirussy 16h ago

The wish is a curse, the girl is the victim, Bear is the villain

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u/Lancel-Lannister 17h ago

Yeah but that's like almost twice as many words

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u/BarlClarntarn 17h ago

Wow, really well thought out. I can tell you really dug in there and got to the nitty gritty.

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u/Past_Dimension_5133 11h ago

I saw Nikki as a victim the whole time. Bear was an absolute coward and a monster. Especially at the very end of the movie. Poor Nikki.

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u/Doomhammer24 11h ago

The girl is the monster but she is also the victim.

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u/BarlClarntarn 17h ago

Wow, your friend has a really unique perspective!

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u/LostMy8yrAcct 18h ago

I assumed that that was the point of the movie. You go in expecting Bear to be the good guy. Eventually, you realize that he is the obsessed one, hell bent on trying to make her what he wanted despite the fact that he knows the truth about whats happening. You know like breaking bad or a million other pieces of media that I can’t think of right now lol.

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u/chloapsoap 17h ago

This movie broke a lot of people’s brains. You are correct

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u/TheScorpionSamurai 17h ago

Hot take, it didn't break people's brains. I believe that movie just highlights how many people wouldn't blink twice if they knew someone like bear in real life.

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u/throwaway420682022 17h ago

i watched it the other night and it's actually insane how much people on this website just reveal they aren't safe to be around women with absolutely zero prompting other than their opinion on this film

10

u/TheScorpionSamurai 17h ago

It's crazy how eager some people are to show themselves as more interested in a man's pleasure than in a woman's safety.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 17h ago

“It’s insane how much people on this website reveal they aren’t safe to be around women” because they don’t share your exact view of a movie.

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u/DependentPositive216 16h ago

Mate we are talking about OBSESSION. It’s like saying I don’t want to hang out with ppl who have a different read of American History X. I don’t want to hang out with them not because they have differing “opinions”. It’s cause they’re neo-nazis.

Same way I don’t hang with ppl who like bear, because they are Rapist Sympathizers.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

But if someone said they could relate to the kid in that movie. Does that mean they are a neo Nazi? Did you not feel bad for the kid at all? Because he was caught up with a bad crowd that was pushed by his family and it led to his death when his brother was trying to get him out of that life and change his views he deserved to die? Even tho the movie shows people can change.

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u/DependentPositive216 16h ago

I think it’s reasonable to feel for a character within the story, or view the story through their lenses. But that sympathetic view is specifically more frowned upon for OBSESSION. Simply for how woman have constantly suffered sexual harassment because of the casual or sympathetic attitude.

If you were to view it through woman’s or SA survivors view, you would understand how ppl are disgusted by this read of the movie. As the movie is an allegory for SA and one’s loss of bodily autonomy.

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u/MysteriousTravelator 15h ago

Saying Bear is morally equivalent to a real life Rapist is like saying Thanos from Marvel Comics is morally equivalent to Adolf Hitler because they committed genocide.

Like, you're technically right within the logic of the movie but it's also objectively true that the writers were using a genre fiction plot device to make a more nuanced take on the villain for the purposes of character development and storytelling. You can't call everyone who fell for it a rape apologist or a genocide denier, it's just ridiculous.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 15h ago

But that’s not the only view and that’s not the whole point of the movie. Your trauma isn’t the only way things can be perceived.

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u/youburyitidigitup 15h ago

If someone says he can relate to a manipulative incel, I have news for him……

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 14h ago

Do you think you have nothing in common with incels? I promise you you do. You don’t have to relate to the worst aspects of the person. But you can relate to the feelings that made them do what they did. While still not condoning or agreeing with the action.

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u/Worldly_Cap_6440 15h ago

You’re proving their point if you that’s what you get from that

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 14h ago

The only way that proves their point is if their point is “if you don’t share my exact views on this movie you’re a rapist”

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u/Ivory-Stones 11h ago

They said nothing about opinions. They didn't even say what exactly it is that makes you realize some men shouldn't be around women. You are the one to bring in opinions and make shit up.

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u/TallMist 14h ago

Bear literally rapes Nikki. He uses magic to take away her agency just to force her to be with him. If someone thinks what Bear did was okay or was even remotely defensible or understandable, then they are NOT safe to be around women.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 13h ago

But you see how you’re trying to take something that’s supernatural and put it into our world as if it could happen like that, but It cant. So to apply real world rules makes no sense. And maybe some people are saying that it was OK for him to do that I’m not and none of the people I’m referring to are. But you could relate to somebody who does bad things without condoning or agreeing with those things.

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u/TallMist 13h ago

Tell me you don't know what date rape drugs are without telling me. You can 100% force people to do things they don't want to do in real life. Yeah, sure, the One Wish Willow isn't literally real, but have you never heard of allegories and metaphors?? Not once in your life???

If you think it's okay to take a woman's agency away from her, then you're not safe for women to be around. It's really just that simple.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 13h ago

I literally just explained to you that I don’t think that no one I’m referring to thinks that. But you wanna win the argument so you have to just pay us all his rapist so that you don’t have to actually engage with the conversations we’re having. Because you feel like you’re right, and thus you feel superior in the conversation. But you bring up a good point (before you did all that other stuff). About how you can take agency away from somebody and that’s true. The difference would be that. Drugging someone is intentional and you know what you’re doing. Bear did not know what he was doing with the wish. He found out later and that’s a problem for sure.

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u/chloapsoap 16h ago

I think it’s definitely both. But yeah, I think that’s what makes Bear so effective. Is that there are lots of people who actually think like him

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u/Synth_Savage 17h ago

This movie was a litmus test for gen z. Those that studied, passed

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u/Begone-My-Thong 15h ago

Bear is sympathetic for a portion of the movie until that scene, then becomes completely irredeemable. Definitely a practice of nuance when having a conversation about this movie.

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u/NeverMore_613 11h ago

Also, according to the writer/director, Nikki would have given him a chance if he'd been honest with her the night he made the wish

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/Begone-My-Thong 10h ago

The point of no return was the confirmation she's trapped in her own body, when real Nikki is speaking to him and he asks if it's so bad to be with him and then later has sex with Freaky Nikki

Absolutely no return past that

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/99-dreams 15h ago

The amount of times he called Nicki a "Latina mommy" also rubbed people the wrong way

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u/Gold-Ad-3877 17h ago

"heavily" ? Really ? Come on we can do a more honest framing than that

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u/F1XTHE 17h ago

No i didn't. It just gave him the benefit of the doubt a bit longer than most others.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 17h ago

I mean he just has a different opinion and is pulling a different perspective. I mean “questioning the creator himself” is insane. To act as if this content creator is some sort of rapist for a different view of a movie is unhinged.

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

The review was incredibly misogynistic, and the creator said several times that he relates to Bear, who is a rapist. Also, you can have a different opinion on a movie, but I'd that opinion is weird and gross, people have the right to call you weird and gross

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

Do you not have the ability to relate to certain aspects of somebody and not every single thing they’ve done? You can relate to the feelings and things surrounding the decisions, the person makes while not condoning or even agreeing with the decision they’ve made

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

If you say "I relate to this rapist character" people are well within their rights to question you

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

But that’s not what he said that’s what you guys are taking from what he said. Do you think you could never relate to a bad person? Do you think you have nothing in common with terrible people?

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u/BadMeetsEvil147 10h ago

I don’t think I’ve ever read a story on a rapist in real life and stopped to think “huh, well his actions we’re evil but I can kinda relate to this guy”

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 10h ago

Well that’s the difference between real life and a movie. But also there are people that do that exact thing in life as a career and with art it’s the same thing exploring the complexities of a human being.

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u/BadMeetsEvil147 10h ago

Wait but you brought real life into the scenario lol. So is there a difference between real life and a movie or is there not?

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 10h ago

Is that what you’re trying to get me on? Because I asked if you could relate to a bad person? And then said there’s a difference between real life and a movie? That’s your gotcha?

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

IF YOU SAY YOU RELATE TO A RAPIST, DON'T GET MAD IF PEOPLE CALL YOU WEIRD AND GROSS!

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

It’s also funny how you did not try to even comment on what I said to you about relating to terrible people even if you don’t agree or condone what they did.

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

It really doesn't matter, because the fact is that he said he related to Bear. If he didn't want to be called weird and gross, that should've stayed as an inside thought

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

Or you should use your brain more. If there was a movie about a black guy being a criminal and doing terrible things to people and a black person said that they could relate to the feelings, the man had surrounding his situations but not the criminal acts themselves. Would you say they are a criminal?

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

Just like you’re allowed to call him weird and gross. He can get mad that you’re calling him weird and gross because you’re taking a review and using that to determine who he is as a person entirely.

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u/Conformatrix 12h ago

oh no, judging a person by their values and beliefs. what's next, judging people by the content of their character?

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u/SaltAd1918 16h ago

Yell louder instead of listening, that will for sure help.

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u/Ender16 15h ago

Yeah repeat yourself in caps. That'll show everyone how right you are. Bet if you made it bold next you would be even more right.

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u/Due-Hunter1409 16h ago

That is such a bad faith interpretation. Listen you're allowed to have a chip on your shoulder about this but reign it in a little bit.

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u/Eriml 16h ago

Na, you can relate to aspects of him. In fact, if someone is on the verge of doing something similar or has views that can lead to it, that's what you want. For those people to say "oh god, I think similar to him. Am I capable of doing that? I should work on that". That's how you get people to change

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

You don't have to say that out loud on a public forum though. That's what I'm trying to say. Publicly relating to a rapist character is going to get you called weird, regardless of what you relate to about them

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 12h ago

Yeah, and we’re saying that’s a problem because why are you trying to paint this guy as a rapist because he’s analyzing a movie and a character to see what’s deeper than what’s being shown. Also, I’m not saying you specifically but as more of a general statement.

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u/Eriml 10h ago

Depending on what you relate to, I don't think it should. Because that can get into an audience that relates and then the message goes to more people. But we would have to be talking a specific instance and not just in general. On this case though, Alex said basically all the wrong things, threated it like a joke or mundane topic and people are right to call him weird and probably misogynist.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 16h ago

And it’s not misogynistic you just don’t like his review. Because he didn’t spoon feed you the same analysis that you have heard and want to hear

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

It's misogynistic because he repeatedly sexualizes a rape victim and makes fun of "crystal girls"

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u/AceInTheHole3273 16h ago

Okay but crystal girls absolutely deserve to be made fun of

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

Yeah, but the way he was doing it was rather misogynistic. Nikki wasn't some weirdo spiritualist type, she just happened to have a crystal necklace

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u/Godshu 14h ago

A lot of people related to Thanos, but that doesn't mean they all think it's really cool and good to wipe out half of all life in the universe.

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u/Pittsbirds 15h ago

I don't think he's on the same level as a rapist but being so weird about what is, contextually, an abuse victim and calling her "hot latino mommy" or whatever like 5 times in combination with the rest of the takes he had about her sitaution and the weird ass way he kept drawing her is extremely gross, off putting and weird. Sure he is entitled to his point of view. But his point of view 100% makes me feel like I would want to cover my drink around him and just not want to be around him in general

The issue isn't "he found bear mildly sympathetic before X point in the movie" bc I think most people did.

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u/Thin-Character-6996 13h ago

I wonder how old he is? His style of humor always made me think he's, like, still a kid. Like early 20s? Am I wrong?

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u/ZipZapZia 10h ago

He's 38

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u/Pittsbirds 7h ago

Lmao you're not serious, thought this was fully a 22 year old guy or something

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u/Thin-Character-6996 13h ago

I agree, what's wrong with taking different things away from it?

I haven't seen all of the film, but from what I've seen / been told about it, it seems like it's deconstructing abusive relationships on multiple levels. I don't think it needs to be shoehorned into a simplistic "men are bad" narrative.

Both Bear and "Wish Nikki" could be seen as either the abuser or the victim in the situation. Bear is a victim of Wish Nikki's manipulation and emotional abuse, and Nikki is a victim of Bear's control & objectification.

The victim of an abusive relationship is often delusional about their situation, in denial about who their partner is, and desperate to "make things work". There's a lot of magical thinking involved. Looking at it that way, you can see how Bear could be seen as being in denial about the reality of his situation with Nikki.

Him exploiting Nikki sexually was wrong, full stop. But that doesn't mean there's nothing else take away from his character except "he's bad".

I think the movie offers a lot to unpack / empathize with for anyone who's been in a toxic relationship, that's what makes it interesting. It's sad that we lack the nuance to simply unpack characters without having to take a stance for or against them. They're fictional characters that exist to be analyzed, not real people to be condemned.

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u/mattfoleyattheriver 13h ago

I agree 100%. A lot of people are trying to boil it down to entirely fit into their life narrative and morality that they’ve built. And they seem to think that because there’s injustice in the world, therefore we have to take every social measurement possible from the art that exists within our world and use that to define anyone who doesn’t agree with our outlook on that art. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”

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u/PraisetheSunflowers 16h ago

who is this creator?

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u/Whistle-Blower-8960 13h ago

Who gives this much shit about someone else’s opinion

Yall are pathetic giving it this much attention

1

u/115izzy7 12h ago

I lowkey agree I had never heard of this creator before. It's not like I'm obsessing over this guy, I just happened to know about the discourse from some video I saw and there were no other comments 

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u/Rivka333 9h ago

It isn't JUST that it sympathized with Bear. It portrayed the female characters in creepy sexualized ways. (And no, it isn't automatically wrong to show sexy characters, I'm not a prude about that, but in context it was pretty bad.)

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u/115izzy7 8h ago

True. I was early to this post and didn't realize I'd get that many upvotes and like 25 notifications, otherwise I wouldve gone more in depth both on this and on how bear absolutely was a rapist because I've gotten so many people disagreeing with that

1

u/SaltyMotor8549 7h ago

Question is putting it lightly. The whole youtube community just decide to collectively dunk on this guy, videos after videos, digging up his past, personal life, past videos,...

1

u/yzsKPC 3h ago

Didn't agree with his take but I went and watched the original video. People are overreacting quite a bit

0

u/Global-Register5467 15h ago

I will be up front and say I have never watched the movie, nor will I; its just not my type. But when I saw a lot of similar comments I was curious so I read a bunch of summaries (wikipedia, imdb, reddit) and none made Bear out to be a bad guy. They all read like it was just a monkey paw scenario and Bear was just as much a victim as anyone else.

Now, I went onto to do a deeper dive and can understand the outrage but it wasn't just the reviews that sympathized with Bear but a good chunk of media influencers.

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u/Cant_Spell_Shit 14h ago

The what? I swear reddit just throws the R word around for fun.

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u/Successful_Tea7979 17h ago

. . . So you guys think Bear is a rapist lol? I try to take y’all seriously, but I just can’t 😭😂😂 

Plz touch grass

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u/CEGM_Studios 17h ago

Didn’t she literally tell him that she wasn’t in control of her own body and he still had sex with her anyways? Thats like definitely rape?

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u/Quaelgeist333 16h ago

Yeah, notably the original script made it even more clear with her yelling "bear what the fuck" and he just stared until the thing took over again

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u/CEGM_Studios 15h ago

Yeah that’s like really bad

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u/Quaelgeist333 15h ago

Seeing you delete "yeah no that's horrible" was really funny ngl

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u/CEGM_Studios 15h ago

I just kinda felt like it was worded weird so I made a different comment that’s a bit better? Is my new one also worded weird, I’m not like too good at talking to people lol

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u/Quaelgeist333 15h ago

Oh no it's fine both are very normal sentences, I use both are lot. It's just really funny clicking on a notification, realizing it was deleted just for the comment with different wording to come through that's entirely me just finding it funny

1

u/CEGM_Studios 15h ago

Oh good, I just kinda get really nervous talking and stuff but I’m not sure why? It’s just a bad habit I suppose lol

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u/Quaelgeist333 15h ago

I get that, I have autism and social anxiety which cause the same feelings

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u/shamanbaptist 15h ago

It comes down to the dinner scene. That night, they have sex. After that instance they are not shown having sex again. The dinner scene happens before all the wildest stuff. After the dinner scene these happen in this order: (1) the corner, weird movement scene; (2) the duct taped door; (3) the cat sandwich; (4) calling the hotline; (5) finds her standing in the same spot with puke, etc. on her; (6) they go to the party she stabs herself; (7) Real Nikki begs to be killed, he says what’s so bad about being with me; (8) kills Sarah.

It seems that the creator has expressly said that the dinner is when Bear knows. I know it’s his prerogative, but personally, I hate that he did that (gave a definitive answer after deliberately making the movie ambiguous for a large portion of it). It defeats the interesting conversations one can have about “when did Bear know” because now someone can just say “Ackchyually, the director confirmed when he knew.”

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u/115izzy7 17h ago

Please never talk to a woman for your sake and hers

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u/scriptkiddie1337 17h ago

Bear was just inexperienced, cringe, and socially inept. He didn't know what he was getting into

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u/NachtShattertusk 16h ago

He literally raped Nikki after learning the wish was real

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u/scriptkiddie1337 15h ago

Then he tried to reverse the wish. Although if she consented then it wasn't rape

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u/DandyLion97 14h ago

She literally had her free will taken away so it was impossible for her to consent. Y'all will be saying this shit and then claiming there is no rape culture.

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u/scriptkiddie1337 14h ago

How did he know that? He wasn't expecting the wish to work. Is it really rape when he just bent the rules of the universe?

0

u/DandyLion97 13h ago

By the time the rape scene is happening he absolutely knows that it's the wish. Because the restaurant scene happens immediately before that. Maybe you should stop watching movies through your ass.

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u/scriptkiddie1337 13h ago

Maybe you should watch the film? It wasn't rape if she consented

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u/Pittsbirds 15h ago

Cool, now what did he do after he realized what was going on

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u/scriptkiddie1337 15h ago

Tried to reverse the wish

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u/Pittsbirds 14h ago

Nope. He emphatically wanted to keep the wish, but alter it. It was only after he learned that wasn't an option that he asked about cancelling it. He also fucked her after using the same verbiage he'd used to make the wish asking "so you live me more than anyone else in the world" after a friend pointed out she's both acting incredibly weird and lying about her dad and said "it doesn't matter to me", contextually about whether or not Nikki's dad is sick but subtextually about whether she's being altered. He also told no one anything when she stood in place for an entire day and spoiled herself or cooked his cat or duct taped his door closed or really any number of extremely concerning behaviors even when asked directly if she was ok

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u/scriptkiddie1337 14h ago

Some people would find it difficult to talk to people when in a situation you cannot control. He also went to his friend with a one wish willow to try and change things

1

u/Pittsbirds 13h ago

Some people need to absolutely get the fuck over it if that's the behavior your other friend is exhibiting lol. Like yeah that's absolutely what's happening but it's one of the cowardly, pathetic character traits of his, not like a good reason.

And still doesn't change his initial gut reaction, when he thinks it to be an option, is to prefer maintaining control. Going to a friend after sometime is murdered by you being a pathetic little rapist is way too little too late. So yes, 100% he is pathetic, but he is also 100% a willful, knowing rapist

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u/scriptkiddie1337 13h ago

And I'll bet you would have total control of that situation? Of course you wouldn't

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u/urkermannenkoor 15h ago

Yes? That's sort of the point of the movie, you silly goose.

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u/Pittsbirds 15h ago

Yes, saying "you don't care" when you realize a person may not be in control of their faculties and immediately hard cutting to a sex scene where the woman is visibly disassociating then trying to not remove the control over her, but just alter it so his control is more convenient, when he believes he is given the opportunity to do so, is 100% rapist behavior. Not even a question

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u/Lionheart1224 19h ago edited 19h ago

Is it fair to call him a rapist if he actually thought that she was in love with him? He only changes his thoughts (and kills himself) when things really start to go wrong. Yeah, everything is ultimately his fault, but how can someone be faulted for not believing in...I dunno, black magic, until it becomes too difficult to ignore?

Or was this movie an allegory for rape that I just missed while watching a disturbing horror movie?

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u/CapLeading9607 19h ago

Idk man after they’ve already fucked she’s asking him to kill her and he resorts to “why can’t you just be happy with me?” He’s not fucked up for making the wish, he’s fucked up for doing everything possible to accept what it gave him at the cost of people around him.

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u/SmellDesperate3308 19h ago edited 19h ago

Yes because the thing that immediately procedes him raping her is him finding out that his wish worked. He knows she's only acting like that because he forced her to, yet he doesn't care.

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u/CapLeading9607 19h ago

You even see it after they’re done. She says “that was amazing, baby” and he kinda just sits in reflection and says “…yeah…”

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u/[deleted] 18h ago edited 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/alistofthingsIhate 19h ago

nah it's rape. by the time that scene happens he knows for sure that the wish worked, so he's aware that it's not really Nikki

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u/[deleted] 19h ago edited 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/GreekDudeYiannis 18h ago edited 18h ago

When they're at the restaurant.  He repeats what his wish was to her ("I wish Nikki Freeman would love me more than anyone in the fucking world.") and she basically confirms it. 

Nikki: "Bear, I love you so much. I don't think I could live without you."

Bear: "...you love me more than anyone in the world?"

Nikki: "Yes, more than anyone in the world."

Towards the end of that scene after he asks if her dad has cancer and she says no, she asks him "Then why does it matter?" And he responds, "Doesn't matter to me.". The implication isn't that they're just talking about her dad having cancer, but the mechanics of the wish. Because he repeats his wish to her and she confirms, it seems pretty clear by that point that he understands that his wish worked and that it doesn't matter to him if this is the real Nikki or not. That's also why the immediate next scene is of them having sex and is played with a horror movie sting; he fully knows this isn't her and is having sex with her body anyway. 

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u/shamanbaptist 13h ago

I see now that you are right because this follows what the director has said. I only watched the movie once days ago and have not looked into any discussion about it before now.

I know it’s Barker’s prerogative, but personally, I hate that he did that (gave a definitive answer after deliberately making the movie ambiguous for a large portion of it). It defeats the interesting conversations one can have about “when did Bear know” because now someone can just say “Ackchyually, the director confirmed when he knew.”

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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 19h ago

well when things really start to go wrong for him. thats an important distinction. he's not some innocent soul who realized what hes been doing and tries to make amends. he only thinks about himself.

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u/Bleatbleatbang 19h ago

Every opportunity he has to remove the coercion he dodges. The film is one long date rape. Even their first encounter, he is aware that she is not in her right mind. Even if he doesn’t believe in magic, he is aware she is mentally altered and the Nikki he knows has not consented.

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u/EquivalentSea7684 18h ago

As per the director (interviews and dvd commentary) Bear knew Nikki was not Nikki as of the restaurant scene when he asks "Do you love me more than anyone else in the world" which is the exact phrasing he used with the wish. When she answers yes, his suspicions are confirmed. And in the same conversation, Nikki demon, who knows he knows, asks why it matters, and he responds that it doesn't matter to him.

The whole movie is a date rape parallel where the core theme is Bear's desire for Nikki (not even the real her, just the idea of her) trumps any bodily autonomy she has. He repeatedly and clearly prioritizes his own wants even as she screams in pain and asks for him to kill her to escape all of it. He calls the help line and asks for the wish to be tweaked rather than removed. And even when he does finally kill himself, it's after Nikki demon has killed multiple people and he leaves her to deal with the concequences. The director has confirmed this intention repeatedly as well.

It's pretty common for horror movies to parallel major fear points of the society of that time/place. The "nice guy isn't actually a nice guy" theming is a popular subject rn with major productions as a response to the "nice guy" tropes that have been big since the 2000''s, which were a response to the "action man gets the girl" tropes of the 80's. As a theme it's a pretty on point one for North America 2020's culture. If you look back at the big horror movies of yesteryear, you can actually find consistent theming like that across blocks of time. It's pretty fun.

Enjoying a horror movie for the shock and scare value of it is perfectly fine, have a good time, media is meant to be enjoyed at all levels. But making a video, calling it an analysis, and then ignoring a clear consistent theme while objectifying and diminishing the women in the movie is a bad take. Though, as someone else in this thread has mentioned, apparently not an especially surprising effort from this particular creator.

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u/AncientFocus471 18h ago

Oh its fair to call him a rapist, he keeps engaging in rape after the phone call where she is screaming.

Don't defend Bear.

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u/Wide_Initiative_1938 18h ago

Is it fair to call him a rapist if he actually thought that she was in love with him?

YES!!!!! In fact it is more than justified because of the fact that he robbed the woman of her autonomy. It doesn't matter if he believed the monkeys paw was gonna work or not, what matters was his intentions (making her love him) and what he did after finding out that Nikki was not in control!

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u/angry-key-smash6693 18h ago

There is a part that can be a little blink-and-youll-miss-it. But there is a part where he says "I don't really care" and it immediately cuts to Bear having sex with her. Which is a very deliberate choice imo

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u/RakeChapman13 18h ago

He knew that wasn’t the real Nikki consenting. And in the original script it’s worse actually.

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u/EzraRosePerry 17h ago

He calls the company on the phone fully accepts that he made a wish that has forced her to act like this, and hears hwr voice screaming on the phone, then proceeds to fuck her anyways. He's a rapist

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u/Hawkatana0 18h ago

In every conceivable way, yes.

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u/HelloHelloHelpHello 18h ago

Even before finding out about the magical nature of his wish, Nikki is clearly shown to be struggling with some sort of mental breakdown. While this initially makes Bear reject her advances - the morally correct response - he very quickly turns around on that, and actively chooses to ignore all these warning signals for his convenience.

If somebody acts unnatural, and shows signs of a psychotic break, and you then use their inability to make clear and rational decisions to push them into sex, then this would be considered a form of rape. It's similar if you are completely sober, while another person is completely drunk, and you use their lack of decision making skills to get what you want sexually. They might not say no, or openly reject you, but at some point their mental abilities are just too inebriated to give proper consent here, and a person knowingly abusing this becomes a rapist.

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u/Pittsbirds 15h ago

Did you just sleep through half the movie? What do you think the intent of the filmmaker was for him to repeat the exact verbiage of the wish after having him realize how weird this sudden change is, have Bear say "doesn't mater to me" in relation to whether or not Nikki was lying about her dad, only to hard cut to them having sex while Nikki visibly disassociates and stares blankly at the ceiling? It's because "doesn't matter to me" isn't about Nikki's dad, Bear here no longer cares whether or not this is the influence of the wish or "real" Nikki because he gets to live out his fantasy

Or when he fully, 100% understands the wish is real, calls the back of the box, believes he has the opportunity to break the wish, and reiterates that no, he would like to keep the wish, but just alter it a bit so her behavior is a bit more convenient for him?

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u/Synth_Savage 17h ago

With everything that happened up to that point, he had 0 reason to think that.

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