In The Spirit Of "Problematic Media," I Want To Bring Up My Personal Pros And Cons Of Hazbin Hotel Before

In the spirit of "Problematic Media," I want to bring up my personal pros and cons of Hazbin Hotel before it gets lambasted into oblivion. I loved this show, but it's earned some criticism.

NOTABLE cons:

1) Strangely puritanical views of sex and putting Charlie in the position of a savior through a Christian fundamental lens. The show portrays sex as a sin, and Charlie is weirdly chaste/pure for a character in her position.

2) Rushed writing. I think this was a corporate boardroom decision bc "kids these days don't have an attention span and if it's longer than 8 episodes we won't get any ratings." Each episode feels like the beginning AND the end of a 3 episode arc with none of the story in between.

3) The last battle/season finale was just...bad. Only one Big Lazer, not enough time to enjoy the new outfits, no concept of power scaling. I still have no idea how strong any one character is relative to the universe they live in. Also, Sir Pentious NEEDED a competent battle moment. His death just felt underhanded.

4) So far I'm a bit of an apologist, but there's some interesting accusations about Viv in the workplace. Waiting to confirm more.

These are all huge dings to the show, but I'm at least slightly media literate and I can acknowledge it's flaws without having a meltdown. For me, the pros make it worth watching and rewatching.

PROS:

1) We've never seen this before. "Ooh this should be a show!" Has never ever been serious like this. Vivzie Pop actually fucking did it, and if she can, so can the rest of us. She's a breakthrough for indie creators and that's never been more important.

2) STUNNING characters. Yes, they're pretty monotone red/black and carry a sometimes same-y shape language, but the personality in their designs is so expressive and striking. I love looking at them and they're honestly iconic in their own way.

3) The music beyond fucking slapped. Electroswing at it's finest, brings out all the edgy stuff my younger self was too cringe to engage with. Living tombstone hits the big screen and it BANGS.

4) Again, THIS IS HUGE. We as artists can make it despite everything with AI and corporate filth. We CAN do it and Viv has showed us, problems or not.

@vvictuss

Yesterday I came across a translation of spoilers from a new book, and I don’t know how true they are, but so far everything feels that way...

Today marks one year anniversary of this drawing 🥳 And it might be the one that solidified this mural-like style as my comfort style. Such "flat" and angular figures help me battle my anxiety of drawing figures at their full height, not cropping them to portrait mode.

Two brothers showing off their smithery skills somewhere deep below the Narodnaya mountain. Or was it Huascarán? 🤔

Added a song that I listened to a lot during my uni years and which served as part of the inspiration to finally try and draw my favorite brothers :')

Okay thank god someone pointed out the way Viv’s approach to sex and sexuality isn’t “sex positive” in the slightest. It has a bizarrely conservative perspective on sex and being sexually active.

(Source)