How Alex Myers doesn't know what he's talking about

[00:00:00]This video is complete dog [ __ ] So, let's get into it. Never have I seen an indie project like Obsession generate this level of online discourse where ting viewers already know that I rarely if ever talk about liveaction movies or TV shows. I usually stick to animation as my primary focus. But everyone has their exception. And my regular viewers know how rarely I even watch movies.

[00:00:21]When I do, it's usually because I fallen for the hype, which rarely ever happens.

[00:00:25]Yet somehow the indie field obsession became the internet's latest obsession.

[00:00:30]Unfortunately, Alex Meyer's review of Obsession is about as bad as that joke.

[00:00:35]It was bad enough that I went back and rewatched the entire film while taking detailed notes. Then I did the exact same thing with Alex's review. But before we get into the main course, I want to start off with an appetizer. I like Alex. I grew up watching his videos back in middle school. So this isn't coming from someone who already disliked him. Re-watching his video made me realize the biggest issue isn't even his conclusion. It's how he structured his content. The overwhelming majority of his reviews is simply Alex narrating the movie sequences of events without providing any meaningful analysis or deeper understanding. That's especially funny because the video opens with a disclaimer claiming he's going to offer a complex nuanced perspective on the themes, characters, and ongoing discourse surrounding this film. That promise is the real sin of this video.

[00:01:22]So, does Alex actually deliver on it?

[00:01:24][ __ ] no. And throughout this video, I'm going to explain exactly why I think it fails. More importantly, I think this review is a perfect example of what happens when a creator doesn't understand the medium they're talking about. Time out. Time out. Time out. It turns out a little over 90% of y'all are actually not subscribed to the channel.

[00:01:42]Either if this is your first time watching me or have already seen a couple of my videos, if you like the content I put out, you should definitely subscribe. Now, with that out the way, let's get back to the video. Warning, this video is an attempt at a good faith nuance look at the fictional movie Obsession and the characters therein, which will probably upset some of you for some reason. You know, I don't think I've seen the internet freak out about a movie like they have with Obsession. At least not in a long time. Maybe K-pop Demon Hunters was the last time where like everywhere you looked, everyone had an opinion about it. I guess you could say everyone's kind of obsessed.

[00:02:10][laughter] So, I knew I had to make a video about it, but like that kept pushing back the VLO release date, you know, cuz y'all kept on watching it. $750,000 budget and made $300 million. One of the biggest indie film success stories of all time.

[00:02:21]Now, I don't make a lot of videos about horror stuff, but I mean, a semi-romcom about a nerdy loser guy who gets the girl at the end. This is the first major issue I have with this video. Alex wrongfully identifies this movie as a romcom, even though it's clearly a psychological thriller. Don't get me wrong, I understand why someone might initially make that assumption because the opening of the film uses several tropes commonly [music] associated with romantic comedies. You have the hopeless romantic male protagonist desperately trying to win over the girl of his dreams along with awkward humor and light-hearted setups that are easy to recognize. The problem is that this facade literally falls apart within the first 20 minutes of the film once the wish begins to take effect. The movie abandons those romcom conventions and fully embraces its identity as a psychological thriller. Like I said earlier, the majority of Alex's videos are just surface level retelling of the film. Obviously, it's expected that a review will summarize parts of the story to provide context, but the way Alex relies on this makes the video feel more like a movie recap than an actual review. This is important because a large portion of the audience either [music] can't afford to see the movie in theaters or simply wants the story explained without spending an hour watching it themselves. I'm not saying Alex intentionally made his video to be a replacement of watching the film, but we should all know and recognize that in this niece, [music] there is a significant portion of the viewers will watch a review as a substitute for experiencing the movie/show [music] firsthand. And because how Alex structured his video, I'm going to skip a vast majority of it due to the fact it was just him retelling events. and instead I want to focus entirely on addressing his argument in the moment where he attempts to offer a quote unquote [music] more nuanced perspective. Before moving on, one of the few criticisms I've seen levied at Alex is his fairly inappropriate and consistent comments about Nikki's actress. Throughout the video, he makes several immature one-off [music] jokes admiring her appearance. Those comments only serve to alienate parts of his audience, particularly women who are emotionally invested in this film, in which Alex does address these criticisms with him explaining that those [music] jokes were written by his Latina writer within his apology video. My main issue with Alex's video, however, isn't those comments is that despite attempting to recount sequences of events, he fails to accurately depict [music] what actually happens within the story. What I'm specifically referring to is his portration of Bear after he make the [music] wish. Once Nikki begins behaving unnaturally, Bear repeatedly notice that something [music] is seriously wrong, the film goes out of its way to assault him, questioning her behavior, considering the possibility that the one with Willow actually worked and gradually piecing together what happened. So, while Bear may not have known the wish would work when he made it, he actually began to realize it long before Alex claimed he did it. That's where my disagreement with Alex's interpretation begins. But let's see how he thinks.

[00:05:16]>> More than anyone else, >> Shreken.

[00:05:20]>> Okay, so jokes aside, up until this point, Bear was just a dude with a crush on a girl that he was too scared to talk to. Okay, a story of my life. He pulls out this $7 wishing toy. He's like, "Golly gee, I sure wish Nikki loved me, too." But here's where everything changes. Okay, >> maybe you want to come inside. I mean, I did just lose my cat, Bear.

[00:05:38]>> You lost your cat?

[00:05:39]>> Oh, wait. Uh, I mean, I mean, you lost your cat.

[00:05:45]I'm so sorry.

[00:05:46]>> So, as you can see, Nikki is starting to act a little out of character. She's saying things that don't make sense. She also demands to go over to his house to spend the night.

[00:05:53]>> Yeah, I'm sorry.

[00:05:57]Yeah, >> why?

[00:06:03]>> My dad's dying.

[00:06:05]>> And, you know, to bear's credit, he's not immediately jumping at the chance to take advantage of her or whatever. like he gives her privacy and space. He doesn't want to make it weird. He turns around when she takes her shirt off. And like based on what people were saying about this movie online, I expected Bear to be this like horribly angry misogynistic incel dude, right? But like up until this point, he's just some super socially awkward loser who has a crush on a girl and he uses a $7 wishing toy that he assumes is not going to work. And then when Nikki starts acting like this, he's very confused and put off by it.

[00:06:32]>> What were you doing?

[00:06:36]>> I was just going to the bathroom.

[00:06:40]Can you lay with me?

[00:06:45]>> I don't know, Nikki.

[00:06:46]>> Obviously, things get different later on, but at least up to this point, Bear has like no idea that the wishing willow worked. And again, to his credit, the very next day, he immediately tells Ian that he thinks something's wrong with Nikki. Like, like he seems genuinely concerned. Just pretend like we're laugh. [laughter] >> Yeah. I think Nikki is going through something.

[00:07:06]>> What? I don't know. Dude, she was acting super weird. Like she would like like what? Is she okay?

[00:07:11]>> No.

[00:07:13]>> Man, I've seen a lot of people saying that this part is showing how Bear's trying to make Nikki seem crazy to other people or whatever. But like again, he has no way of knowing that the toy worked. Like why would you think it did?

[00:07:21]You know what I'm saying? Like it was $7. Like in any other circumstance, you'd probably do the same thing if your friend started acting like this. I don't know. Within that too many clip, Alex argues that at this point in the movie, Bear has no idea what's going on with Nikki [music] and is totally oblivious to what's happening. Here's the truth.

[00:07:35]If Bear makes the wish around the 20-minute mark of the movie, the next 10 minutes [music] contains some of the most glaring red flags that Bear is actively picking up on. For example, after Bear makes the wish, we cut to Nikki standing in the dark, creepily, [music] staring at Bear, which immediately freaks him out. The next sign comes when Nikki invites Bear into her house under the guise of saying that she needs closure after losing her cat.

[00:07:56]As we know, it was actually Bear's cat who died that day, not Nikki's. Bear me noticed the sudden shift in her personality. The normally carefree and confident Nikki has become unusually emotional and overly empathetic while also confusing a major detail that she would know. At this point, Bear looks back at the broken one Willow and begins putting the pieces together. Although he hasn't fully confirmed what's happening, this is the moment where he starts to suspect that his wish may have somehow affected Nikki. Bear asks Nikki if she's okay and we briefly see her break character [music] as she appears shocked by the way she's acting. However, she's quickly slips back into [music] her strange behavior and insists that Bear comes inside. About 3 minutes after the wish takes effect, Bear admits that he never seen [music] Nikki act like this before. He is visually surprised, confused, and scared by her sudden personality change. Nikki then drops the bombshell that her father is dying, [music] which convinces Bear to bring her back to his house at her request.

[00:08:48]Bear and Nikki proceeds to make in bed.

[00:08:50]During the moment, Nikki once again briefly breaks free from the wish influence. [music] Returning to her normal self, she realized that something is wrong and begins to panic before quickly falling back into her strange obsessive state. [music] This sudden switch furthers frightened Bear. After Nikki falls asleep, Bear starts researching the possibility that the one with Rillo actually worked. This gives us another reason to believe that Bear has a better understanding of the situation he's in. However, after reading reviews of the product, the vast majority of buyers claim that [music] it doesn't work. This temporarily convinces Bear that the woman's Rillo has nothing to do what's happening with Nikki.

[00:09:22]Again, all of this within the first 10 minutes of Bear making the wish. The point is that he's already suspicious that the wonders Rolo actually worked.

[00:09:29]And the rest of the movie is not about Bear discovering the truth of what he did. Instead, it's about him actively trying to avoid taking responsibility by searching for any other explanation other than wondrous Brillow to justify Nikki's newfound love for him. By saying Bear doesn't know what's happening, Alex gives far more grace than he deserves.

[00:09:45]By not properly condemning Bear's actions, he's effectively excusing his behavior. Alex points to Wish Nikki's lies about being on drugs and [music] her father supposed illness as reasonable explanation for Bear's confusion. However, Dis explanations don't hold up. Bear is explicitly told that Nikki never had a strong relationship with her father, making her sudden emotional attachment to his illness even more suspicious. Neither the story nor the people around Bear treat these explanations as legitimate.

[00:10:11]Instead, they're portrayed as Bear desperately grasping at any possible [music] explanation that isn't the one with Row. Rather than accepting the obvious conclusion, Bear continuously rationalized Nikki's behavior because acknowledging the truth would force him to confront his own responsibilities for what happened. The first 10 minutes of the story establish Bear as a helpless romantic who desperately wants to be with his crush. Around the 20-minute mark, he makes the wish, which set the rest of the movie into motion. By the 30-minute mark, the point Alex is referring to in his video, he argues that Bear is still acting normally and responsibly in response to what's happening. I disagree. By this point, the film is already shown that Bear noticing multiple red flags, crushing Nick's behavior and suspecting that the wonders world may actually work. His actions are no longer of someone who's completely unaware of the situation.

[00:10:56]That night, Ian apparently talked to Nikki and she said that she was on some drugs or whatever. And so maybe that explains why she was acting so erratic, you know, like when she and Bear kissed earlier.

[00:11:11]>> Oh my god, I'm so sorry. You kissed me.

[00:11:14]>> I know. I I I thought I saw something.

[00:11:16]>> So, at this point, Bear thinks that Nikki was acting weird, kissed him, freaked out, etc. because she was on drugs, right? So, again, to him, in this moment, it all seems totally above board. But then, out of nowhere, Nikki goes over to Bear's house to apologize.

[00:11:28]>> I was on MDMA. So, if I was weird, that's why. And not saying that you took advantage of me.

[00:11:34]>> Nikki, I didn't know you were on drugs.

[00:11:36]>> That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying that.

[00:11:38]>> Not saying what?

[00:11:38]>> You took advantage of me.

[00:11:40]>> I don't think I didn't.

[00:11:42]>> I know. That's why I'm saying you didn't.

[00:11:44]>> Okay. See, this is my point. Like, given the circumstances, Bear's being pretty normal about this. Okay. Given what he does and does not know by this point in the movie, like he could have slept with her or he could have taken some kind of advantage of her, but he was rather gentlemanly at the time. I mean, you know, for a guy who has this many Cosby sweaters. Wait, do you think this was on purpose? Like, do you think they dressed him like this intentionally?

[00:12:02]>> Again, it seems like Alex is only playing devil's advocate without providing any meaningful reason or new evidence that addresses the current discourse surrounding the movie. He argues that because Bear didn't rape Nikki, he isn't a bad guy while also maintaining Bear is completely unaware of what's going on. The movie, however, tells a very different story. That interpretation directly undermines what the film is trying to accomplish. It feels like Alex wants the movie to be even more explicit than it already is.

[00:12:28]Obsession isn't particularly a complex or difficult story to understand. In fact, there are several moments where the film particularly tells the audience what's happening. This isn't a criticism of the film. I'm simply pointing out how strange it is that Alex keeps missing the point. After this point in the movie, Ris Nikki continues pushing the lies about being on drugs and being emotionally affected by her father's health. The two then begin dating much to the shock of everyone else around him. These scenes are meant to show that Bear is taking advantage of Nikki in this situation while knowing every major clue that he himself has already acknowledged all because of his personal desire to be with Nikki. After the montage, we arrive at the dinner scene where Bear learns the truth about Nikki's lie about her father dying of cancer. [music] This is the moment where Bear definitely confirms that the wish came true when he asks Nikki if she loves him more than anyone else in the world. The exact same wording he used when making the wish. Alex argues that up until this point, Bear [music] still has plausible niability, making this moment where he finally realized what's going on. I think that's an attempt to sugarcoat what the movie has already established. Longing for the scenes, immediately after making a wish, Bear noticed a drastic change [music] in Nikki's personality that visibly frightens him. He's also immediately suspecting that the one wish Willow may have actually worked. [music] So, this is what we know Bear believes before the diner scene. After the wish, Nikki suddenly became more unnaturally attached [music] to him. She begins displaying behaviors that Bear immediately recognizes as out of character moments. She becomes emotionally unstable, seemingly out of nowhere, while repeatedly lying on the spot. First by acting as if she ever lost her cat instead of bears, then by blaming her behaviors on [music] drugs, and later by claiming that her father was dying, even though Bear knows she isn't close to him. Within the very next day of him making that wish, Bear goes straight to Ian and tells him that something [music] strange is going on with Nikki. Notably, he intentionally leaves out the wonders Willow, even though the audience knows he already suspects it. It may be a cause. He continues to acknowledge that possibility throughout the entire film.

[00:14:26]The dinner scene isn't a moment where Beer suddenly realizes, "Oh, that's why you've been acting this way. It's the moment where remaining doubt is removed.

[00:14:34]It's the moment where he's forced to accept the truth he's been trying to avoid." In other words, this scene isn't a realization. It's a confirmation. But I want to show what Alex says.

[00:14:43]>> Now, okay, up to this point, I feel like Bear has plausible deniability. I mean, there's no way he would have known the cheaty would work. He was genuinely concerned for Nikki the day after it started and he refused to take advantage of her even when it was like presented to him. Right. I mean she kissed him after all. I >> mean more than anyone in the world.

[00:15:00]>> Yes. More than anyone.

[00:15:04]>> Now, okay. Up to this point, I feel like Bear has plausible deniability. I mean, there's no way he would have known the cheat would work. He was genuinely concerned for Nikki the day after it started, and he refused to take advantage of her even when it was like presented to him, right? I mean, she kissed him after all, right?

[00:15:18]>> Alex is right. that Bear had no reason to believe that the one was Rillow would actually work here. However, immediately afterward, Bear does become suspicious that it did. His concern for Nikki is rendered less in confusion and more in denial about what he may have done to her. Sir, Bear doesn't sleep with Nikki immediately after making the wish, but [music] once they begin dating, he normally takes advantage of the situation despite recognizing that something is seriously wrong. Let's also not forget that shortly after the wish takes effect, bear witness the real Nikki briefly regain control of her body before sleeping back under the influence of the wish. At the time, he [music] doesn't fully understand what he's seeing, but the events that follow makes it clear that Bear had already been given evidence that Nikki in front of him wasn't acting out of her own free will. And the whole comment of she kissed him means nothing when we know Nikki is possessed and Bear [music] isn't totally oblivious to what's going on. Now, right here though, at the halfway point of the movie, he does finally start to realize that the wish actually worked. But like even then, like literally every romcom is about trying to find a way to get the other person to like you or you manufacture a meat cute or whatever, right? Like I've seen some internet comment threads where it's like he only saw her as an object and wanted to remove her autonomy.

[00:16:28]That's why he made that wish. But like like he didn't wish that she would do whatever he wanted or I wish that she would become obsessed with me and me only. He specifically wished that Nikki would love him more than anyone, which is literally what everyone who has ever had a crush want. That comment about Bear only seeing Nikki as an object is later validated by the movie. Even though he doesn't intentionally do it with malice intent, it does come from a place of ignorance. [music] The underlying implication is that if Nikki wasn't acting this way and Bear didn't know that her behavior was the result of the whis, [music] he will see no issue with the situation. The problem is that he desires to be with Nikki caused him to overlook the fact that her feelings [music] are not developing naturally and the relationship is built on something that he knowingly caused. What everyone who has ever had a crush wants. Like every single fanfic about like golly gee, I sure wish One Direction would kidnap me and fall in love with me all at the same time. Like as if half the girls who saw this movie haven't wished the exact same thing before.

[00:17:23]Hello, it is I, William Defoe, from the movie The Lighthouse, and I've secretly been in love with you for years.

[00:17:29]Like you have to look at the context, okay? If Bear had gone to the store specifically and been like, "Hey, do you have something that'll force a girl to fall in love with me?" Or if he like searched on the internet for some kind of like weird ritual that's going to make anyone fall in love with you, then yeah, that's some funky funky stuff, man. Or like later on, we find out that maybe Ian and Nikki have been hooking up, right? But Bear doesn't learn this until the very end of the movie. So like, for example, if he'd found this out at the beginning of the movie and he was like, "Oh, so Nikki's just some [ __ ] that fangs every guy except me, huh?

[00:17:54]Well, I'll show you." Then yeah, he'd be like some misogynistic insult. But for at least half of the movie, he has no idea that this would work. And in fact, he's concerned for Nikki when she does change. To me at least, it totally seems like a fanfic or whatever that he thinks would have no way of actually coming true. I'm not saying Bear is a blameless innocent victim, okay? But I think some of you are a little too quick to attach motivation and subtext to this character that is not based on the movie. Like, it really seems like some of you want him to be a horrible, incel, intentionally malicious guy, regardless of what actually happens in the movie. Even the guy who played Bear himself said this about the character. I never thought of Bear as a villain. But what really drew me to this story was the gray morals of it all. Bear has good in him and has bad in him. Like all of us, I do think that he leans more toward the bad in a lot of ways. Fully the antagonist, though, I don't think I would say fully because the key thing is he didn't know that the wish was going to work. Sure, his desires were incredibly selfish, totally 100%. But he didn't know the wish was going to work. And you have to assume that this guy was in close talks with the writer, director of the movie the whole time. So basically both of them are saying that Bear is meant to be ambiguous and you all are just over here like it's funny [music] how Alex's idea of looking at the context is mainly him arguing that Nikki isn't the perfect victim and that Bear isn't intentionally a malicious character. The problem is [music] that people aren't criticizing Bayer because they think he's some evil mastermind. They're criticizing the actions he [music] chose to take and how nearly every major problem in the movie can be traced back to the consequences of his decision. We didn't need Bear [music] to go on some revenge plot against Nikki after finding out about her relationship with Ian because that isn't the point of the story. [music] The movie isn't trying to argue that Nikki is perfect or Bear is some cartoonishly evil villain. The point is that Bear selfless [music] choices even if they came from a place of insecurity and desperation rather than malicious intent create a situation where Nikki loses her autonomy. [clears throat] And that's why many women in the audience characterize Bear [music] as a misogynist insult type of character is because they can relate to and empathize with the position Nikki is put in while dealing with someone like Bear. When a woman shares their experience dealing with a man who displays similar behaviors, they often receive major push back with those concerns being dismissed or minimized. And what this movie does is actually amplify those concerned by portraying the consequences of that kind of behavior. However, Alex's analysis [music] fails to engage with that perspective because he overlooks the clues, subtext, and brother context that the film is presenting and pushing. He even tries to reinforce his argument that people are exaggerating Bear's character [music] by citing a statement from Michael Johnston, the actor who plays Bear, as if this is the definitive interpretation of the character. [music] The problem is that this supposed great area doesn't really exist. Bear didn't need to know the wish would work before making it. What matters is that after it happens and the wish takes full effect, he quickly [music] begins to realize why he has done yet repeatedly tries accepting responsibilities by rationalizing Nik's behavior with any other explanation other than the one wish Willow. As for whether Bear is the antagonist, the answer is obviously no.

[00:20:43]He's the Phil's protagonist, but being the protagonist is not synonymous with being the hero, just as being [music] the antagonist is not synonymous with being the villain. Bear is the villain of the story because of the decisions he continually [music] makes after realizing the consequences of his wish.

[00:20:57]When the actor himself said Bayer was leaning into his badness in a lot of ways, this is a recognization that Bayer's moral decline is an intentional part of the character arc. But Alex claims that Bear's morality is supposed to be ambiguous, which is [music] strange considering that director Cory Barker explained that the reason Bear's wish went wrong isn't because the Wonders Willow is a monkeykey's paw.

[00:21:18]It's because what bear wishs for is [music] inherently wrong.

[00:21:21]>> That's the thing that's really funny is that everyone kind of treats the woman wish like it's this cursed thing. And I understand why because of the context of the movie. But the thing is the thing that Bear wishes for is cursed. Like taking away someone's autonomy, taking away someone's self, that's cursed. Like >> it's just the wish itself is is a very cursed thing. So I do think if you you chose your words wisely, the one wish Willow doesn't have to be. I mean, you see the crystal shop guy, he's like, "I already used my wish, man." You know, it's like >> forcing someone to love you by taking away their autonomy is fundamentally [music] unethical and evil. And the movie makes that clear. Bear wish is not portrayed as a harmless mistake. It [music] is a desire built around controlling another's person's feelings to an extent. Bear himself becomes aware of this throughout the story, which is what makes his continued denial and refusal [music] to take responsibility so important. Alex's argument gets weaker when he claims that we only find out later in the movie that the real Nikki is trapped when the film already established that within [music] the first 10 minutes after the wish is granted. Alex also fails to mention that Bear initially wanted to alter [music] the wish rather than completely cancelling it. He only opts to cancel it after realizing [music] that's his only option. This further challenges the idea that Bear's morality is simply ambiguous because his first instinct is [music] not to undo the harm he caused, but to find a way to keep the wish intact. [music] Alex defends Bearer by arguing that ending his own life wouldn't make sense, implying that [music] continuing the relationship would have been the more reasonable option. While Alex ultimately acknowledged that Bear's [music] actions are condemnable, the path he takes to reach the conclusion is flawed because he spends most of the discussion [music] adding unnecessary defenses for Bear and minimizing the severity of his choices with him claiming that popular interpretations of the current situation doesn't give Bear enough nuances. The [music] problem is that he doesn't actually provide anything substantial enough to justify that claim. I've been seeing a lot of people say this might either be the worst review of the year or even one of the worst reviews on the platform. And I honestly [music] understand why. Alex went out of his way to misrepresent basic plot details and events in a way that justifies his skewed perception [music] of the film under the guise of providing a nuanced interpretations. He ultimately fails to properly engage with the movie's core [music] themes and narrative structure.

[00:23:38]After watching the movie again and then watching his [music] review, I generally had no idea what the [ __ ] he was watching. Based on his retellings of events alone, I feel like he and the rest of us watched two [music] completely different movies. It's a shame that he took the cow's way out and deleted both videos after the backlash he received. [music] Once again, he avoids accountability for actions he voluntarily committed, which is similar [music] to the exact behavior we previously discussed from the character at the center of this movie. Let Alex be a reminder of how not to discuss or criticize the media. Treat this as a learning experience. [music] My name is Taken and we do a little reviewing around here. Peace out.

[00:24:32]Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] [music]