Rock Candy Reviews

Being able to consume media while paying attention to themes and messages is a rare skill. Many people think that entertainment is only supposed to make them feel good and catered to, rather than something to learn from. This isn’t to say that everybody needs to drop what they’re doing to become an expert entertainment analyst, but knowing the basics can make interactions go better.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone about a movie, book or game and you had trouble expressing your thoughts? Learning media literacy can help you understand why you like a piece of media so much. Then, it will be easier to explain your opinion. People tend to not like it when another says “I like this, so it’s good”, and not provide any further reasoning.

Media literacy skills can also lead to less toxic fandom spaces. There will always be fans who ignore critiques, gate keep, and make things too personal. However, learning what writing techniques go into storytelling can create better discussions for fans who actually care about the meaning behind the art.

Example: Character Arcs

A good place to start is looking at your favorite characters and digging deeper into their development through the story. So many people will try to insult others for the characters they like. This can be stressful and hurtful depending on how aggressive the opposing party is. A way to combat this is to learn about the inner workings of how characters are written, and compare and contrast them with your personal feelings.

Forming your own thoughts about characters is important, but these thoughts can be supported with understanding the writer’s intentions and strategies. Having this to fall back on will make debating characters less difficult. This is because themes and messages fuel how characters are written. Not every character is meant to be have the same purpose or end goal. The media we consume is more enjoyable when we stop expecting characters to always match our predictions and opinions.