Ah. I knew Andy Weir gave me the ick, even if I didn't know why.

[fi@chaos.social]

@artemis oh no
I loved reading the Martian when it came out, but I somehow got those icky vibes too a while ago. Or at least a suspicion of icky vibes? I really wish that feeling would have been wrong.

[ashguy@infosec.exchange]

@fi @artemis Yeah I got these vibes from the martian but not project hail mary for some reason. Huge shame since I absolutely adored the movie.

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@SharpCheddarGoblin @artemis What's funny is the books very much center observation and problem solving and the scientific method and almost all of that gets glossed over and reduced to few times with Ryan Gosling drawing equations on a whiteboard. You had a bit of the same problem with the adaptation of his prior work The Martian. So has anybody actually watched this interview and seen how bad it is? Does he make any offensive or questionable statements? Is this part of a pattern?

[infoseepage@mastodon.social]

@SharpCheddarGoblin @artemis I'd kind of like to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that this is just him being absolutely slammed with interviews and spending weeks on end with a publicist doing like 20 different segments without knowing anything about the people he's interacting with.

[artemis@dice.camp]

@Infoseepage @SharpCheddarGoblin
I understand the hope.

I haven't watched myself so I am speaking from secondhand knowledge but apparently he made a knowing wink to "The Message" (Drinker's phrase for what he thinks is the "woke agenda" in every Hollywood movie) & appeared pretty familiar with Drinker & what he is about.

Tbh, given his reputation & following, I doubt Drinker is making it into anyone's press tour unless someone involved is making a very intentional choice to include him.

[mpotter@social.coop]

@artemis Disappointing. Noted.

[kcarr2015@mstdn.social]

@Infoseepage @SharpCheddarGoblin @artemis
I watched half the interview and it seemed fine - actually, it seemed very, very interesting. But I have a high tolerance for random casual political comments that causes some to take great offense.

I'm not super into policing language. Also, I may now be a subscriber to Critical Drinker's youtube feed. ‍️

[artemis@dice.camp]

Just saw someone respond with basically "I don't see what's so bad about the Critical Drinker."

What's so bad about the Critical Drinker is that he believes women are inherently weaker & less capable than men. He believes diversity in film & TV is "forced" & everything should be about cis-het white men. He whines & complains whenever anyone gets any representation or has their story told.

He also hates because it's lucrative.

He is a grifter & a bigot.

[sashin@veganism.social]

@artemis I've been hearing about Project Hail Mary from various directions and in the corner of my mind had been meaning to read it sometime. Now I'm no longer meaning to read it.

[kcarr2015@mstdn.social]

@Infoseepage @SharpCheddarGoblin @artemis
Oh goody, I've been name called and blocked. That simplifies my feed considerably.

[artemis@dice.camp]

Critical Drinker is no free speech advocate either.

He wants to shut down all media that doesn't match his narrow worldview.

You're not standing up for "reason" or "logic" by defending a bigot who hates that people can tell their own stories.

[artemis@dice.camp]

It's so weird that in 2026 some people are still playing this game where they tell you "I don't buy into that cancel culture bullshit—you're too sensitive" & then go & subscribe to a person known for hating diversity to show you they are a "free thinker."

Y'all.

In 2026.

Bigotry isn't intriguing & it's certainly not a "moderate" path. Being reactive & getting onboard with hate because you don't like seeing straight white men criticized is a bad look.

[artemis@dice.camp]

Also...the other thing about the Critical Drinker?

He straight up lies about the movies he dislikes. You can find people on YouTube who have done whole video series on the lies he tells.

You can't seriously be going to a man who tells deliberate lies about the media he's talking about for movie opinions. Even if we could set bigotry aside for a second, why TF would you do that?

Critical Drinker is not a media critic. He's a well-known right-wing, grifting LIAR.

[artemis@dice.camp]

@Quasit
He does, & he's going harder than ever on the bigoted bullshit (having by now driven off pretty much anyone he initially took in with his drivel).

I don't usually give him my time or energy because for him it's such a low-effort schtick that engaging with anything he says or does is just wasteful. He doesn't put effort into his bad takes, so I don't think we should waste much time on him.

But oh yeah, he is still there.

[thetenuousorder@meow.social]

@artemis boy i love dishonesty that really shows what a man you are

• Håvard

[amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu]

@artemis damn I was a fan since way back. his webcomic was one of the first ones I remember reading. this sucks

[401matthall@mastodon.xyz]

@artemis

I takes a special kind of deliberate deafness/blindness to not see that the guy is a rage-baiting bigot.

He wears sunglasses inside and drinks Jack Daniels from the bottle like a _winner_.

[ska@social.treehouse.systems]

@artemis Cancel culture is bullshit when it targets me. Well, not me exactly, because I have no artistic skill or talent whatsoever that would result in me getting famous in the first place, but people who look like me and whom I can identify with.

[artemis@dice.camp]

@ska
LOL. Exactly.

[401matthall@mastodon.xyz]

@artemis

Well, that hurts my feels a lil' bit.

You know what, there's plenty of other good sci-fi writers out there who can manage dialogue.