Were you ever a fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd, and have you ever heard about the TheCinemassacreTruth? I never realized that James Rolfe (Angry Video Game Nerd) had a hate group.
I was an early enough fan that I remember the days where he was kind of the biggest deal on Youtube for a long time, and then as Youtube began to grow and diversify, Mike Matei made some angry posts on his DeviantArt about how Youtube staff were starting to snub them.
Youtube was starting to chase advertising money, and obviously, AVGN (back then still called the Angry Nintendo Nerd, I believe) was very raunchy. There was a time where I think they even disabled AVGN's monetization status because the toilet humor was so extreme. The first inkling of problems some creators still face to this very day.
Like a growing number of people I have fallen off of AVGN in recent years. I outright unsubscribed last year. James has said several times that he's going to quit doing AVGN, but he never commits. At first, that was okay, because he still seemed to have passion for AVGN. But the show has felt like its coasting on fumes for a while now. "I'm so angry at this retro game!" does, in fact, have its limits, especially when, if James tackles something newer, you get a strong sense that he really doesn't care, because he's not really a gamer by his own admission. AVGN as a character, and James himself, have struggled to grow or evolve.
This was further highlighted by the FoldingIdeas video, "I Don't Know James Rolfe."
Even though the video is framed more from the perspective of "James Rolfe hasn't grown very much from that kid making home movies, but then again, neither have I" -- it did highlight a growing distaste I'd developed for AVGN. So I pulled the plug.
I have absolutely zero interest in a Reddit called "TheCinemassacreTruth" and I would advise anyone reading this to be wary of such places. Sharing anger can sometimes be helpful to making you feel better, but building a community based solely on anger is dangerous and unhealthy. I would not take any joy in endless "ISN'T JAMES SO STUPID NOW? ISN'T SCREENWAVE THE WORST? I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE SNEAKING MIKE INTO NEW VIDEOS AGAIN" posts.
Like, its obvious James is still doing this because that's one of the ways he supports his family, and Screenwave is, for better or worse, just running a business. Petty peanut gallery behavior does not serve you or them.
I broke the cycle. Maybe you should, too. Negative engagement is still engagement to the algorithm, so just disengage.
