Slender Man (2018): Misunderstanding Ten Years Of The Internet (Essay)
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
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/ evansantiago
In my most ridiculously-produced, overlong video of all time I talk about the 2018 Slender Man film - but not before diving into what I consider to be the most important pieces of its creative history in order to discuss what I think the movie ultimately "gets wrong." Or I guess... not "gets wrong," necessarily... more like... irresponsibly ignores? Sure.
Special thanks to Blythe Pilcher for captioning this video! Click on the CC button (just regular "English") to see the captions!
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SOURCES [HIT THE CC BUTTON (ENGLISH: UNITED STATES) ON THE VIDEO FOR SPECIFICS]:
Wisconsin: www.cnn.com/20...
Something Awful Forums: forums.somethin...
Create Paranormal Images Thread: forums.somethi...
Original Mythos: slendermanarkiv...
Marble Hornets: / marblehornets
EverymanHYBRID: / everymanhybrid
TribeTwelve: / tribetwelve
MLAndersen0: / mlandersen0
Whispered Faith: / whisperedfaith
Keratin Garden: / keratingarden
ICANSEETHEGIANT: / icanseethegiant
Tulpa Effect: / tulpaeffect
Dark Harvest: / darkharvest00
Osiris Chronicles: / osirischronicles
Apple Of Our Eye: / appleofoureye
Project Croatan: / projectcroatan
PRiFReal: / prifreal
PhotoFugitive: / photofugitive
One Hundred Yard Stare: / onehundredyardstare
TJAProjects: / tjaprojects
Strange Aeons; / strangaeons
5zer02: / 5zer02
OurGodEvil: / ourgodevil
Stan Frederick: / stanfrederick
"Know Your Meme" page: knowyourmeme.c...
SLENDER: THE EIGHT PAGES: slender.en.sof...
SLENDER: THE ARRIVAL: www.slenderarri...
SLENDER MAN'S SHADOW:
Trender Man: theslenderman.w...
"20 Dollars": • MARBLE HORNETS ENTRY #...
Splendorman: • Splendorman
BlackBoxTV SM Urban Legend: • SLENDER MAN - Hallowee...
Always Watching (2015 Film): theslenderman.w...)
Slender (2016 Film): www.imdb.com/t...
Beware the Slenderman (2016 Film): www.hbo.com/do...
Windigo (2011 Film): • Windigo [A Slender Man...
Slender Man (2018 Film): www.slenderman...
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Invariance by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: incompetech.com...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Classic Horror 3 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: incompetech.com...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Thanks for watching. More videos coming soon.
What am Slenderman.
Fun fact about the Endermen: If you use the Halloween theme in Minecraft, the Endermen are reskinned to look like Slendy, paying further homage to the source material.
This video is fantastic my guy, great work
a vampire?
This is the documentary Beware the Slenderman should have been. They had so many resources, and yet failed so hard, and then there's THIS, which is INCREDIBLE. A+ job! I'll be checking out the rest of your channel!
My friends and I went to watch the new 2018 Slenderman movie when it came out, on opening night. Being a diehard Slenderverse fan from essentially day one, fifth post from Troy, I HAD to see this. I dragged my friends along to try and get them into the verse via a blockbuster movie. What a mistake. The movie was disappointing, and my day was ruined. My friends laughed through the whole thing, and I felt completely crushed, even if the movie was ultimately shit.
And then you released this essay. I am forcing them to watch this with me, just so they know how deep and wonderful the Slenderverse actually is, because you did a wonderful job conveying that.
This video summarized, in my opinion, is: “this shit film is not indicative of what the Slenderverse actually is, give it another chance”, and I think that’s beautiful. You’ve really outdone yourself here, and I can’t compliment you enough on how you handled this. Your editing is phenomenal, your shots are incredible, and the little nods and nudges are so good.
I especially loved when you “went out” and basically reenacted a typical Slenderverse entry whilst giving your commentary. That was literally flawless. I was so impressed.
I also loved your segways/title screens. Slapping an image onto our faceless friends’ “face” was such a good touch.
I also agree with you wholeheartedly. The Slenderman isn’t just a faceless creature, he is a canvas. He is meant to be taken and used to make new, wonderful pieces of art- in any and all forms. You really expressed my feelings perfectly.
All in all, thank you for this, Evan. This in of itself was a beautiful essay, and honestly, is now one of my favorite videos. I’m sharing this with anyone who is interested.
I’m subbing immediately.
Incredible commentary! We get a lot of backlash for having long breaks in between our episodes due to it being an anthology rather than it being more episodic. It really has to do with making something you love. The passion has to be there. One episode takes months to plan and film and after it’s uploaded it’s so hard to get back into. It takes awhile for that spark to re-light. Our biggest goal was to do something different with this character that we were worried was a dead horse. Watching this video has really inspired me to try and get back to writing and create for the series. Awesome video again! Thanks for the re-charge!
Definitely one of the most high quality “history of” slender man videos in the past almost decade. Everything from the editing to the tone to the references in this essay are completely reflective of the slenderverse itself, it’s as if you took everything from the past nine years and made it into something beautiful .
I like it that you refer to the Marble Hornets Slenderman version as the Operator since many People don't know or forget that the Operator is a whole different being than Slenderman
People can say what they want about Slender The Arrival, I know it was a very divisive game at the time of its release, but the developers made a smart move to include the Marble Hornets creators in writing the game’s story to provide an experience that pays tribute to the original web series, but is still unique from it.
It’s always bugged me how Screen Gems and Sony turned a blind eye to include those three in writing and producing the 2018 movie, but included Victor Surge, who outside of creating those original photoshopped images, had barely anything to do with Slender-Man’s cultural impact.
You did a fantastic job on this video, you are a blessing to our creative community.
When is the new EveryManHybrid
when is stan frederick season 7, the marvel cinematic universe crossover
This essay is very well done and I think you bring up an excellent point on how Slender Man can be reinterpreted in so many ways.
I was never involved in the Slender Man fandom, but I had my own take on him. I believed that since he was a faceless man in a suit, he represented all the negative aspects of corporate greed and capitalism. I thought he was the hallucination of a man who went insane due to the pressures of his office job and tried to run away, only to be pursued by this nightmarish "businessman".
Evan Santiago 2 Thanks! I'm glad an actual fan of the mythos likes my idea!
i like it
I must say, I've rather appreciated the amount of effort you've put into this. It had an enjoyable mix of comedy and seriousness that really goes well in hand with the versatile nature of the Slender Man Mythos [which you referred to as the Slenderverse].
Couple of things I'd like to mention about the video: the first is the Slender movie, one that I actually happen to own on DVD. It took the curious direction of "what if these amateur filmmakers encountered a missing child case with a lot of Slender Man iconography, but they're able to look up this creature on the internet," and it basically takes a very character-based story that when you realize the point isn't seeing Slendy every five minutes like most other iconic horror creatures... is actually pretty good, imho.
Second, I [among several others in the community] noticed that you didn't mention the blogfiction Slenderverse that existed, nor the splintering of said blogverse into what is known as the Fear Mythos. I'd be pretty interested in seeing a possible future essay on that history.
i just watched that entire essay and what do i have to say? i have never seen something so brilliantly written about the slenderman, something that perfectly summed up the entirety, and something that beautifully captures the essence of what makes this such a wellrounded area for all people who create media, ive thought similar things for some time now, and ive voiced partially similar opinions to all of the people i have watched the slenderverse, movies, gameplay etc with, and what can i say, i love evan's work. i just found it a fitting piece of addition for the slender brand, the slender name. while this may seem unnecessary to some i find it masterful and exactly what is needed to show not only support but some history behind this creature, in the possible event that someone new would like to get knowledgeable, hell as evan said, that one video by blackbox helped him get into slenderman, maybe someone will use this vudeo as the same tool and we may have another great series from someone just getting into it, ive been passionate about the slenderverse for a while and the slender mytho for even longer, and im finally proud to say that someone has enternainingly captured the history, im so proud that i got to see this and i love it, thank you ~VirtualFreek
I never really saw it as a subculture but after watching this video i saw that i actually is . I really like slenderverse , slenderman and all but there were a few things in this video i didnt even know yet , i really enjoyed watching it and also learned more from it
We all know Marble Cutboys is the true definitive representation of Slenderman.
Evan, thank you so much for creating this wonderful essay. Your love for this community shines out of you, and your aptitude for creative flair is something that deserves to be acknowledged by far more people. Thanks for such a heart-wrenching nostalgia trip. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavours, and your life as a whole
This is honestly amazingly done, great video and analysis. Really glad there's a proper video talking about the evolution and eventual misunderstanding of the culture from someone who is part of it all. The balance between humour and professionally executed research just perfectly tops it off for me :')
I have been saving this all day until now, sitting in the dark, eating dinner with this on full screen. That's given this a very good atmosphere to view this amazing video. The amount of work and love you've put into this is so apparent and it just makes me fall even more in love with the 'verse. You're so passionate about this subculture and it's so contagious, at least for me. This is a wonderful video, and thank you for making it.
I was waiting for this ever since hearing Night mind's and the other slender series creator's opinion. And I was not disappointed.
Absolutely excellent, as I am always to expect! I really enjoy the breakdown and analysis and the fact that you focus on how Slender Man is used as a device to move a story. I think that's such an important thing to impart--he's not a character. I know sometimes people who write or film or tell stories focus a lot on just character and don't really try and make a "character" an idea. Often times, especially in horror or mystery or dramas, using characters as devices actually helps tell your story better than just a character.
I don't know, I'm rambling at this point. I just really like how you mentioned that, I think it's a valuable thing for creators to know and ruminate on. As always, love your work!
As a veteran of Slenderverse content (not in terms of making, rather just as an audience member) I'm honestly very impressed with this video. Couldn't have said it better myself, and this also had some truly inventive composition in regards to the flow between information and visual bookends. Nice touches all around, great job.
Super cool
Slenderman:bad
Slenderverse:good
Very well paced and enjoyable.
Thank you Evan for a great and informative video
This just re-sparked my love for the mythos. It's clear to see how much you love the community with all the easter eggs and thought you put into this. The last shot with Slenderman put a smile on my face, fantastic work!
Absolutely superb! I'm glad I finally saw a "review" for this movie that was done by a slenderverse content creator rather than someone who just saw the movie for fun. Great job, I can't wait to see more from you!
Evan Santiago 2 Ooo that sounds awesome. I definitely check that out, thanks for the heads up!
4 years late to this but wow! this contextualizes a lot of the mythos that i grew up around (being a kid on the internet in the 2010s). incredible work!
This video feels very professional and well done for such a small channel. I hope it gets way more views!
I am quite late to the party on this one but I really appreciated this insightful, nuanced take on Slendy. Thank you!
This is probably one of my favorite Slenderman related documentaries/ essays! Great commentary, interesting viewpoints, incredible job my friend!
I fell out of the slenderverse awhile ago and since kinda wrote it off as just something spooky I was into when I was younger. But this video truly inspired me and almost made me miss the intense, frenzied creativity of that time. It makes me want to bring slenderman back into 2018. :)
I found Slenderman from LittleKuriboh's "Concrete Giraffes" video, which led me to look up what Marble Hornets was, and then I discovered Nightmind from his "Marble Hornets Explained" videos, which led me to finding Stan Frederick.
"hey guuuuuys, can i be in your moooooovie?"
The movie just does a disservice to the limitless creativity of the Slenderman character. Slender never really had in set in place lore to me, he was one of a kind. I remember I was grounded just for watching Slender-related content. I live in Wisconsin, as that's where the stabbings occurred. So my parents were probably paranoid that I would get influenced negatively by it. Now that I'm more interested in horror and grown up, I don't think i would be chastised for watching slender-related content. To this day, I still love the slenderman, despite it not be popular anymore.
After being a fan of the Slender Man lore for so long (and being so young), I appreciate this video. I was too little to remember TwelveTribes or Marble Hornets, but I do remember the Creepypasta fandom that I contributed to. I loved this video and how much research you put into it. And I also didn't like the movie, you aren't alone.
My friend just linked me this not too long ago and I'm so glad to see a take on the culture that spawned from Slenderman and why I always enjoyed it. Not for the figure itself but for the stories and creativity that spawn from the people working with, as you stated, a blank slate that's easily shaped to whoever is working with it. This is why I disliked the new movie so much.
It just felt like a Hollywood cash grab rather than a passion project that made Marble Hornets, TribeTwelve, EverymanHybrid, etc. so memorable.
Thank you for such a good video
This video was very interesting! I knew beforehand very little about "slenderverse" so even for someone who isn't "into it" as you are, you made your points very clear and explained it all very well. And it was all well-edited with a good video length for the subject, great quality as a video essay in general. Keep it up! :D
I saved this until Halloween. Definitely worth the wait. Great work, Evan!
when you reached into your pocket, i assumed you were going to give him $20 from your wallet LMAOO
i love how beautifully made this video is. all the little gimmicks you put into this is just so amazing
So good. Thank you so much for making this. It placed the whole history flat out on the table, the things I've personally thought about for a long time. When I head Sony was coming out with the film, I hoped for the best, but I knew it was going to be trash. But I was wrong, at least trash is something to laugh at, the movie is just sad, a waste of time. It didn't have to be like the many series online, or even the games, but it was worthless, especially being released after the peak of Slender Man's popularity. There was literally no purpose artistically. Only a cash grab.
I'm glad you're a part of this community and you among a few hundred people had the greatest right to speak about the community and the art it's created. Anyone can tell this video, your other essays and your very own series is reflective of genuine creativity. Thank you for being you.
Wow. Honestly, it's the most amazing summary of what the Slenderman is I have seen. Not only because of many interesting facts and huge, well-made research but also because of the great editing, humor, and wording of Your opinion. I have to share this to my friends! Thank You!
Just found this video, great job with it!! I was SUPER involved in the Slenderverse/Marble Hornets fandom in high school and college and watching this took me way back; the Splendorman pull especially had me cackling. Fantastic overview and analysis!
Over the months, I keep coming back to your essay videos, back to this one in particular. It’s well-made, focusing on the subject matter in a clear and easy-to-follow format. I love this character, and I really want to see more stories depicting him. Good work on this, man, and good luck on your future endeavors.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about Mike Diva's Proxy video any deeper. The dude is pretty much an effects god and I liked his interpretation for what someone under the influence of Slenderman experiences.
Hard to leave a comment here without repeating what everyone else said, but this video is one of the best Slenderman videos I have seen so far, you really understood what the whole point of the character was and what made it so great. I’ve seen more than one video reviewing the Slenderman movie in which the reviewers kinda didn’t get the point and were just criticizing the movie for what’s bad overall and not what it means to the Slenderman community, and when they do talk about the Slenderman himself, they say he should be given explanation, a backstory, which is totally missing the point. I really hope this video gets more attention, to more slender fans and even non-fans. Maybe one day people will understand what makes this character so great and make something big out of it, like what this movie could have been, the return of Slenderman, and bigger than ever before, introducing new people to the character and expanding more on the possibilities with him. This video really deserves a lot of praise, amazing job! (Btw I like how Slenderman is pretty much your roommate in this lmao)
21:24: “Many would rather he not be treated as a character, so instead we’re encouraged to treat him as a device”
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a new take on him that actually makes him more of a character. And if the majority opinion is that we shouldn’t, then doesn’t that go against the whole point of him being a canvas to use in interesting ways?
I think this could be fun for a bit! There’s def some works that do treat him as a character, but not nearly as many as his treatment in other formats, so why not? Make him Some Guy
@@VLuisaSantiago2 Yeah, if he’s “not scary now” as some people claim, which even then, is subjective as hell and heavily dependent on which version you’re talking about, than why not embrace that? Make him a new kind of horror or, fuck it, make him like a creepy anti hero or some weird shit idk just get creative without losing all the horror roots
Btw love this video you did a great job
Holy moly dude. Youre doing some quality work here
Alright, I wasn't gonna watch this right now, but the cigarette bit at the beginning got me hooked.
EDIT: FUCKING HELL! GODDANG JEFF THE KILLER PICTURE GOT ME UNEASY!
Holy hell this essay was amazing. Keep being great in what you do Evan.
Absolutely fantastic. I miss you bud, all this talk been givin mad nostalgia lately
I was wondering why you looked so familiar until you said Stan Frederick and then it rung a bell 😅 Love the video
I really wish slender man stuck around. I feel like he's a lost gem of the internet that meant so much to all of us.
This is an amazing video. It's a great companion piece to the HBO documentary from a while back (though, for a mythology junkie, this video is more fulfilling)
Evan Santiago 2 Ah, I hadn't seen that. What you say is fair. I'm biased because a writer I like, Jack Zipes, got a long monologue featured in there (about the Pied Piper of Hamlin) and I enjoyed the comparison.
While Tribetwelve would have to be my favorite Slenderverse series, especially for being the last of the Big Three to still not be finished yet and for having such amazing visuals, two Slenderverse series that stick out in my mind have to be Whispered Faith and 5Zer02. In terms of sheer quality, I just adore Whispered Faith for having a very likable cast of characters, doing something unique by focusing mainly on the Rake with Slender Man's only appearance in the channel inadvertantly helping Lee and Moe, and just doing some interesting stuff. I especially love how badass and capable Lee and Moe are throughout the series. (Honestly, with the premise and main characters being rather similar, I can't help but feel like it's Darkharvest00 but with competent main characters.) 5Zer02, on the other hand, I can't help but enjoy for some seriously delightful narm moments 'HE'S IN! YOUR HOUUUSE!' as well as featuring Kaiju Slender Man at one point.
In any case, I found this video to be a blast to watch and found your gags involving Slender Man to be really freaking funny.
I'm impressed about your slender series. great work!
Yup. 2012 was when I got into the game and 2013-14 was when I watched Marble Hornets and 2017 was when I began watching EverymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve and WhisperedFaith and DarkHarvest and then 2018 was when I began looking at other Slenderverse series. But my number one favorite is EverymanHYBRID.
This is so good man, why aren't you doing any more of this?
What-essays? Working on a new one right now!! :D
you wasted a perfectly good cigarette for a gag and i applaud you my good sir
I know i'm now really late but, this video is really well made and as a person that is new to slenderverse beacuse I was in different parts of internet when it was the biggest deal across the platforms, this really helped me to understand how was this whole thing created since I watched only Marble Hornets. I think that this is very underrated and I wish that more people as me, saw this earlier. Thank you :)
Such a shame. The poster for the movie was so fucking cool.
Nice! I didn't know about Slendy until the Eight Pages did a little research but I had no idea about the Slenderverse. Very cool, I didn't see the movie and I don't ever intend to.
absolutely stunning! i'm glad to finally know what went wrong with the movie. even if the movie was bad, it didn't stop me from liking slenderman!
Really loved the video, it gave me a new perspective to Slenderman. It looks so profesional ,congrats!
Thank you for blessing my evening with that video!
Excellent work, great job mate.
I love this sooo much! You've completely summarized why i love the slenderverse so much!
All of this is simply genius!
The talent, passion and effort you put into this is amazing. Keep up the great work. ❤
"Wait a minute, I don't smoke. WTF?!"
Super high quality vid like damn. It'v been said before but like you've done such a good job there in addressing like everything about the culture and presenting it this way. Seriously thank you
I love that Slenderman only gets mad when speaking about the 2018 movie
Meanwhile he just helps out with the vid even holding some clothing for a bit
I love this video and thank God you made a video about this... The story of slenderman has its begging and they could've done anything about slenderman story for their movie but they didn't, or at least do a little research about slenderman.
Again your video is amazing, great job!👌👌🙌
idk about you, but I'm hella excited for the next few years of P O S T S L E N D E R M A N content, hell Stand Frederick is already kinda that in ways. I want more works about slenderman works than I want new works about slenderman right now.
Very well explained! I agree with a lot of this and it's great that you could put the history into a memoir of sorts.
My childhood
Holy hell this is fantastic dude!
Another good video mate well done
There were some movies you forgot to mention. Also you forgot to mention the entity movie which got cancelled
Great work, keep it up 👍
Love ur style
Holy shit! This is awesome!
You speak as though you have qualifications for all of this supposition….
Contextualizing the “slender (failed) murder attempt” is bananas. And I have under grad degrees in criminology & sociology & my post grad work was (mostly) in abnormal psychology. Making claims about the internet’s effects on society is irresponsible at best… especially seeing as how I remember my years on the something awful boards and, forgive me for “judging a metaphorical ‘book’ by the cover”, but you look far too young to have experienced any of this…
how many more years until you complete your degree in shutting the fuck up
I thoroughly enjoyed this essay but i do have to ask. Isn't the fact that this movie puts the perspective on Slender Man as a cheap horror monster also a different take on it? It might not be a good take. But a different one none the less
I wish blum house productions would make a slender man film
Fuck that was good
Great video you talking about of the Slender Man! And this stupid movie for Sony
Wow