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Why are there so many "...Explained" YouTube videos?


zslane

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So why have "...Explained" videos become such a big thing on YouTube? Like, "The ending of <fill-in-the-blank> explained," or "Every ending of Love, Death + Robots explained," etc. Today's movies and tv shows aren't that complicated. They--and in particular, their endings--don't need to be explained to us like we're idiots. Why do so many video makers on YouTube think we're so stupid that we need this stuff explained to us? I find the insinuation rather insulting.

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Ultimately, I think it's all down to getting the most clicks/hits for the least work.

Which is probably a bit mean to say, but many youtubers are now financing themselves by that means. It doesn't matter if folks comment below "Nope, saw that a mile away" or "I noticed that too!" … they have the hits. You watched the ads. Etc.

 

Now, that's not to say no work is put into it at all. And sometimes they can be insightful to enough people that it's worth the time, or it's put in such a humorous way you're glad you watched even if nothing insightful WAS Said. If folks find themselves enjoying that sort of thing, they'll click for amusement, curiosity, validation or whatever.

 

It's kind of like newspaper headlines- Attention grabs are more important than accuracy at the start at least.

 

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Books?

 

I saw a video called, "The ending of Beyond the Aquila Drift explained," and my immediate thought was, what needs explaining? The animated short was perfectly understandable without assistance from YouTube, tyvm. No special research or book-reading required. In fact, I'd argue this is true for 90% of these videos, just on the basis of the titles alone (and what I already know/understand about the thing they claim to be "explaining").

 

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3 hours ago, zslane said:

So why have "...Explained" videos become such a big thing on YouTube? Like, "The ending of <fill-in-the-blank> explained," or "Every ending of Love, Death + Robots explained," etc. Today's movies and tv shows aren't that complicated. They--and in particular, their endings--don't need to be explained to us like we're idiots. Why do so many video makers on YouTube think we're so stupid that we need this stuff explained to us? I find the insinuation rather insulting.

 

It's not that you cannot draw your own conclusions, it is that you may not draw the proper and approved conclusion. 

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6 hours ago, zslane said:

So why have "...Explained" videos become such a big thing on YouTube?  

 

4 hours ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

So, what you're asking for is a "Explained Videos Explained!" video? :whistle:

 

Sounds like I should start my own YouTube channel and make money. I'll start with the Explained Videos Explained! video. 

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I hate those videos so much! 

Hhaaaaaattteeeee..

 

Especially when you go into a wiki to look for info on something else and an irrelevant youtube video about something else in the same franchise pops up and starts playing without being clicked on. 

Its swindling youtube and google out of advertising money since it counts in their algorithms as a view and they pay the owners of the video out from that. 

 

Swindle! Annoying! CRAP! Get rid off them close it all down! 

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The purpose of these videos are a jumping in point for others not familiar with the background source material. Eg Carol Danvers /Captain Marvel explained, so non-comics reading people can understand the character and her history without reading years of back issues. 

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I'm not talking about videos that discuss a character's comics history, or those "Everything you need to know before seeing <movie>" videos. I'm talking about the videos that feel the need to explain the ending of a movie, as if the movie is so complex and/or confusing that virtually nobody could "get it" without having it explained to them in a YouTube video. It's as if they think every movie being made today is Inception, and that every movie goer is an idiot with the intellect of a 6-year old.

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Think about things like the Flerken debate:

 

Some people think that needs explaining; someone's going to try to cash in on explaining it.

 

For what it's worth, my first though was "pan dimensional being."  It explained how so much insides fit into such a small volume, and why Nick Fury was at no time supporting the weight of the things being eaten (of the rest of the Flerken).

 

No; I'm done with that-- it was simply the most recent example I could think of without falling into the youTube hole.   :lol:

 

It's kind of depressing, but some people _want_ everything explained because they don't want to come up with something on their own. 

 

 

Great.  Now I feel all mopey...

 

 

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7 hours ago, archer said:

My daughter watches these so that she can understand pop culture and talk to her friends without having to actually sit through various movies that she has no interest in seeing.

 

If I have no interest in seeing a movie, I likely wont have any interest in the pop culture discussion of it.  (unless maybe to bash it :P)

 

 

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