Film Crit Hulk Smash: A Quick Addendum To Hulk’s BLACK MIRROR Article

WHEN HULK SAYS THAT COLUMNS ARE "THE START OF A CONVERSATION" HULK GENUINELY MEANS IT. HULK WROTE YESTERDAY'S BLACK MIRROR COLUMN, THINKING IT WOULD HAVE PEOPLE WHO AGREED AND DISAGREED, BUT WHEN THE ARTICLE WENT UP IT REALLY RECEIVED A LOT OF ECHOES OF "WAY OFF THE MARK, HULK!" EVEN THOSE PEOPLE WHO KIND OF AGREED RAISED A NUMBER OF SALIENT POINTS ABOUT THE TONE AND REDUCTIVE QUALITIES. IT WAS NOT HULK'S INTENTION. IT NEVER IS. AND HULK STANDS BY A LOT OF POINTS. BUT HULK WANTS YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT HULK GENUINELY LISTENS AND CONSTANTLY RE-EVALUATES NOT JUST WHAT HULK THINKS, BUT HOW HULK COMES AT IT.

FIRST OFF, MISTAKE ONE WAS THE CONFRONTATIONAL TITLE. IF HULK'S INTENTION WAS TO REALLY ASK THE QUESTION: IS BLACK MIRROR KINDA BULLSHIT? THAN THAT'S WHAT HULK SHOULD ASK.

SECOND OFF, THERE IS A VALID CONVERSATION TO BE HAD ABOUT THE QUESTION: HOW MUCH DOES THEMATIC COHESION HAVE TO ACTUALLY MATTER? CAN AN EPISODE LIKE "WHITE BEAR" PLAY ONE WAY, FLIP THE SCRIPT, AND NOT HAVE THOSE THINGS NECESSARILY BE A COMMENT ON THE OTHER? HULK COULD MAKE AN ARGUMENT IT'S AT LEAST IMPORTANT, BUT HULK TAKES ITS GIVEN-NESS FOR GRANTED.

THIRD OFF, HULK REALLY DOES THINK THERE ARE SOME WEIRD PROBLEMS WITH BLACK MIRROR THAT WERE HOPEFULLY BROUGHT TO LIGHT, BUT HULK WENT OVERBOARD IN TERMS OF THEM BEING THE DEFINITE THEMATICS OFFERED BY THE SHOW, INSTEAD OF THEM SOMETIMES BEING THE WEIRD, SOMETIMES-ACCIDENTAL UNDERCURRENT. IT SHOUD BE FRAMED AS: IS ANYONE ELSE GETTING THIS WEIRD VIBE? THE SAME GOES FOR THE WAY HULK TALKED ABOUT THEM AS A FATAL FLAW VS. MERELY STUFF THAT LEAVES HULK WITH WEIRD HANGUPS. AND IN NOT SPENDING ENOUGH TIME ON WHAT WORKS, IT UNDERMINES THE PARTS WHERE HULK TALKS TOO MUCH ABOUT WHAT DOESN'T. IT, IN ESSENCE, UNDERMINES THE VERY POINT HULK IS TRYING TO MAKE.

FOURTH OFF, IT IS NOT JUST HULK'S JOB TO SAY WHAT HULK THINKS, BUT TO GET YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHY HULK THINKS WHAT HULK THINKS. SOME WRITERS WILL DISAGREE WITH THAT, BUT HULK HONESTLY THINKS IT'S CRITICAL. AND THE COLLECTIVE RESPONSE IS EVIDENCE THAT HULK DIDN'T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB. TO COMPARE TO WHEN HULK TALKED ABOUT THE STRANGER THINGS PLOTTING, THERE WAS A LOT OF "I disagree, but I can see your point." WHICH IS OFTEN THE BEST THING YOU CAN HOPE FOR. IT'S ABOUT WHAT WE CAN LEARN. IF THERE AREN'T A LOT OF PEOPLE SEEING WHAT HULK'S POINT WAS, THAT MEANS HULK DID A BAD JOB IN EXPLAINING IT. MORE THAN THAT, HULK NEEDS TO PUT THOSE THINGS INTO A BIGGER CONTEXT OF WHAT WE CAN AND CANNOT LEARN. THE DISCUSSION OF GENRE DIFFERENCES NEEDS TO BE STRONGER. THE CONTEXT NEEDS TO BE STRONGER. EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE STRONGER. INSTEAD, THE EPISODE BY EPISODE BREAKDOWNS JUST FELT LIKE HULK SHOOTING FROM THE HIP.

HULK TAKES THIS STUFF SERIOUSLY. THIS ISN'T THE FIRST ADDENDUM HULK'S WRITTEN TO AN ARTICLE. HULK ALWAYS WANTS TO DO THE BEST JOB POSSIBLE (PART OF THE REASON COLUMNS TAKE SO LONG). BUT THE ONE THING HULK CAN HOPEFULLY SAY IS THAT HULK HOPES YOU UNDERSTAND THE COLUMN REALLY IS MEANT AS A CONVERSATION STARTER. BECAUSE THERE IS SOME REAL VALID STUFF TO DISCUSS ABOUT HOW BLACK MIRROR WORKS AND THE WAYS IT MIGHT BE PROBLEMATIC. AND HULK STILL BELIEVES IN A LOT OF THE THINGS HULK SAID, JUST NOT THE WAY HULK SAID THEM. BUT HULK'S NOW 100X READY TO WRITE THE BETTER VERSION THANKS TO YOU (THOUGH HULK IS GOING TO MOVE ONTO THE NEXT THING, BUT YOU CAN SEE WHY THAT MATTERS). AGAIN, IN THIS PROCESS, YOU ALL REALLY MATTER. EVERY TIME. IT'S NOT JUST IN THE WAY THAT YOU RESPOND, BUT BMD HAS THE BEST FILM COMMUNITY ON THE PLANET BECAUSE YOU ENGAGE WITH THOUGHTFULNESS AND KINDNESS. IT'S SO CRITICAL TO EVERYTHING HULK IS TRYING TO DO HERE.

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT CONVERSATION. IT MEANS A GREAT DEAL.

<3HULK