[datashaman]

Every YouTube channel has a highest comment where someone describes the obvious message in the video. And everyone piles in and agrees. Many memes have a banner that says: this is funny. We are living in an age where people need signposting of basic meaning.

[dsfyu404ed]

People don't need the signposts. The signs get put up because we reward doing so. Us lemmings give these low effort comments upvotes and virtue points so the monkey brain of the sign-poster is incentivized to do it more. Even on HN is this behavior rampant.

[enkid]

This isn't a new thing. Shakespeare started Romeo and Juliet with a plot synopsis.

[telchior]

I don't think this is a bad thing. Even an "obvious" message will have a large percent of viewers who don't get it. And that doesn't necessarily mean they're idiots, as other comments imply: they might be ESL speakers, not from the same culture as the message, children, distracted, neurodivergent, or just... didn't get it. A top explainer comment is also very helpful for people who don't want to commit to watching / reading yet.

I'm all about being elitist but shaming "signposting of basic meaning" doesn't make sense to me. Signposts are great.

[HKH2]

American movies have tried to spell things out for a long time. It's pretty clear if you watch American remakes.

Also, audiences are seemingly so emotionally crippled they can't feel emotion without being played music.

That kind of handholding has been around for a long time.

[Ancalagon]

It’s like that old saying: imagine someone at the 50th percentile of intelligence. Now realize half the people in the (US/other country/world) are less intelligent than they are.

[avgcorrection]

I don’t know how to “imagine someone at the 50th percentile of intelligence”. Is this some second-order joke about how 90% of people consider themselves above average intelligence, including (most likely) the person who is asked to imagine? (This percentage is completely made up.)

[fullstackchris]

That's ironic of itself: it's signposting the meaning of a very obvious fact / statistical reference (50th percentile)

[Ancalagon]

Hah yeah I suppose so