Subjectivity - Objectivity - What's in an Anime?

Jay-Tookie said:


Oh, I apologize. Hahah, sorry. ^^; Mistakes are made x3x

Aereldor said:


I responded to that because there was nothing else in your message that I could respond to. Read through your initial post, and see how much else there is in that post for me to respond to. The following is the first part of your post-

'but what you said is a bit, well, inaccurate to me I feel. Your opinion on a subjective matter is that, subjective. And regardless of how you feel, that makes that an opinion, and one I can choose to ignore or regard as inaccurate, because the very meaning of subjective means it's debatable and arguable, to no correct answer.'.

I noticed a contradiction between your calling my opinion 'inaccurate' and then telling me opinions can be debated and argued but to no correct answer. You also told me that regardless of how I feel, an opinion is still an opinion, but you still said you may choose to regard it as 'inaccurate'. I'm not hanging on one word- this is literally most of your message.

The following is the second part of your post.

'I like to think of finding someone with similar tastes and listening to their opinions is always the best way to go for an opinion you'll likely find good for you. '.

I agree with this part. In debate, you don't learn anything through agreement, and thus, I chose not to bring it up.

As for the wording of 'worthless' and 'useless'. Sure, you're entitled to feel that way about a review, but why is there a need to come out and tell a critic that an opinion they put effort into voicing is 'worthless' and 'useless'? If it's 'worthless' to you, fine, there's no problem there- that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. However, there are better ways of saying it is not especially relevant to you than calling it 'worthless'- which would imply you don't think their opinion is worth anything- not even the respect that an opinion deserves. For instance, 'Cowboy Bebop' is one of my favourite shows. If someone is excessively critical of it and doesn't raise points that I find relevant, I can tell them that I disagree with their opinion, or find that their arguments are not relevant to my perspective. However, when I say I think their opinion is 'worthless', I'm telling them I don't think their opinion is worth anything.

I'm not overfond of telling people off, but look at how you started this thread. You proceeded to address the anime community by calling them 'toxic', and said you'd ask to have the thread locked down if anyone 'throws tantrums' or 'acts out of line'- which I'm not mistaken, is a rather authoritarian phrase that could be interpreted as condescending. I'm not going to tell you how to live, but look back on your own conduct on this thread. This is my opinion (which, as you established, can be debated and argued to no correct answer).

I enjoy a good discussion. I don't think I've extended hostility towards anyone here, nor do I have any wish to. If you believe that I have been unduly hostile and attacked someone out of malice, tell me what I said so I may correct said hostile and antisocial behaviour. If you feel I've been especially malicious and violated the community rules on MyAnimeList, please contact a forum moderator and add their criticism to yours. I have much more to learn, and I'll accept it.

kamisama751 said:

I can't imagine your post just being...

jal90 said:
Good point, but also symptomatic of the main issue that is found in this topic, the assumption that subjectivity undermines the value of things and automatically discards a consensus. I don't think that's the case on either. Consensus are useful, they help people grow standards, and they can be reasoned, discussed, put in perspective, etc. The only thing we wouldn't be able to determine is their degree of truth or accuracy, but then again, what's the matter? Discussion on art does not need to aim for truth or accuracy anyway.

On the other hand, even if we establish a flaw as an objective value, we have the problem of arbitrariness in the impact it makes on the whole picture. How much does bad animation detract in a certain work is not a clear standard at all. We will have to step on subjectivity at some point to reach a conclusion.