Ladies and Gentlemen… David Willis made a flawed argument.  Listen in, read his argument!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I will be at the Dallas Strip-Con this Saturday for anyone who wants to meet me.  We may even record a live episode there!  Come see me, I may even draw something for you.

But back to the topic at hand:  Nostalgia being used as a weapon.  Nostalgia is a funny thing; something that can’t be measured, intangible, and full of good feelings.  But, because it cannot be measured, it should never be used as a way to rate a show.

Believe it or not, there is actually a way to measure how a story is written:  It’s by using things like plot points, characterization/character growth, plotholes or lack therefor of.  And no, there is no “And that’s fine, but…” because a story is a story is a story.  Ultimately, we go into these cartoons for the story.  Even if the animation gets dodgy, if the story is good, we stick around.

As I detailed in a comment earlier, using Nostalgia is a weapon against criticism is like using a feather pillow against an armed attacker: it’s full of good feelings, may actually feel heavy in your hands, but will have a feather-light impact.  I know what nostalgia is, and believe me, I have felt nostalgia in the past.  I had great memories of watching the Critic when it first aired…

Then I watched it again and I cannot believe what dreck it was.  Badly timed jokes, full of ‘Murphy Brown’-esque period jokes, and bland animation.  It’s not Family Guy bad, but it’s certainly not good in the least.  The difference is, when watching The Critic again, it’s badness was so apparent, that nostalgia withered away on the vine.  For anyone else, that nostalgia will somehow, magically, elevate a turd into gold.  I’m just saying that, looking at the actual work itself, minus the nostalgia, that won’t happen.

The same for Fox’s X-Men.  Someone not blinded by Nostalgia cannot possibly say the animation was ‘as good’ as Evolution.  Like storytelling, animation can be judged by scientific qualities such as being on model, good use of frames per second, good color models, good use of backgrounds….  Against Evolution, Fox fails in all these properties.

So we ask you, listeners and future guests, that when we rate a show, you keep in mind that nostalgia doesn’t exist for a new potential viewer.  A new viewer will not absorb your childhood feelings from Saturday Mornings long past through contact.  If you insist on making someone new watch these shows simply due to your own nostalgia, you will put them through a lot of pain.

— Ben the Host(NOT a Nostalgia Critic).