Do these gross YouTube guys know they DO NOT have to talk about ‘Wicked’?

We live in a society where men love to get on YouTube and share their opinions on things that nobody asked for. It has been an issue for a while now. Many of them attack media as “not for them” and continue to review it. You don’t have to!

These men often attack others, yell if their opinion strays from their own, and generally make it hard to share our appreciation for things online. They’re the kind of men who attacked those who liked The Acolyte or refuse to allow people to just simply enjoy something. The latest victim of the “man must speak on this” trend is Wicked.

Before we begin, let me clarify a few things. I do not think men cannot enjoy Wicked. I know for a fact that they can. I am referring to the type of man who knows he will hate it and goes out of his way to trash talk it for his own enjoyment. That is the target of my anger. This time, it was the Critical Drinker.

The insufferable YouTuber posted a video about the film that is wholly unnecessary. Titled “Wicked – I Can’t Believe I’m Reviewing This Movie,” his actual review is shockingly positive. Riddled with caveats of course. He even starts the video by saying he felt the need to review it because he made a snarky video about Cynthia Erivo.

“It’s pretty entertaining for what it is,” he remarks in his video and that is the kind of dishonest trash that is absolutely frustrating. Men like this refuse to admit they like something and if they don’t like it? You won’t hear the end of it. The video also features a LOT of bootleg footage of the movie so why hasn’t Universal taken it down?!

This review also just misses the entire messaging of Wicked

One of the most annoying things about these YouTubers is their inability to understand the messaging of something. If something has a clear point, they call it aggressive. With Wicked, the musical is heavily connected to the George W. Bush era politics from when it was created. In his review, the Critical Drinker said that the film’s messaging wasn’t in your face. Sure…

He dragged multiple other popular and brilliant films to try and justify liking Wicked. He brought Barbie in for no good reason and seemed to find ways to try to justify why thinking Wicked is a good movie is okay. So why exactly then should you both reviewing it?

Is the trick here that every movie must prove to you it is worthy of your admiration? Therefore if a movie is not up to your standards, it is worthy of being trashed on? I will admit, this is the first of his videos I ever watched just to make my point but I think there is an important message for the Drinker to learn here: We don’t always need your opinion on something.

Especially if you’re going to hear songs and see bright colors and miss 90% of what the story is telling you.

Sometimes, it is okay to just like something

Part of me is happy a man like this can watch Wicked and enjoy it, even if he is clearly woefully misunderstanding the messaging of the film itself. But I also think that we don’t need his commentary! Call me whatever name you want but not everyone has to have an opinion on things. Especially when his end conclusion is just: If you like this thing, you’ll like it. Otherwise, you can watch something else.

That’s, quite frankly, not a criticism. Being contrarian in film criticism isn’t rare. But pretending like you secretly liking a musical you wanted to hate is some magical thing is…not the same thing. The video says nothing bbut a lot. It shows that these men sometimes do want to like things and they do end up being honest about it. But not without being snarky and mean and sexist for no reason.

His video still mocks to women and belittles the talent of both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo unnecessarily. Which brings me back to the main point of this: He didn’t need to review it. We live in a time when people think they have to talk about everything. And the reality is: They don’t! Even I don’t and I love movies and television shows.

So the next time men like this are SHOCKED they’re reviewing a movie they never thought they would be, they can simply skip the YouTube review with a bad screen grab. Especially if they’re just using bootleg footage to talk about it. Oh and missing the entire point of the film.