u/Lena_Animation

Lately, I’ve seen so many people complaining that the community only talks about Jax. But honestly... isn't that completely normal????

Gooseworx literally made Jax take up 70% of TADC’s screen time (on top of him/her being an extremely controversial character). I mean, yeah, OF COURSE people are going to talk about him/her!

Don't get me wrong, I would have LOVED for the community to talk more about other characters who had huge potential. But compared to Jax, they have so little characters development and screen time that you quickly run out of things to say about them.

Whether you like it or not, Jax is the most important character in the story. I can’t blame the community for talking about him/her. Goose is the one who gave him/her this much focus.

This post isn’t here to critique Episode 9 itself, but rather the behavior of the community during the theatrical screenings.

As an animation student, I feel like I'm in a good position to say that TADC, an indie series, making the jump from YouTube to the big screen is going to shake up the animation industry in a hugely positive way. It’s opening so many doors for the future.

However, after attending a screening myself, I’m not convinced that releasing it in theaters was the right move. Not because of the episode itself, everyone has their own tastes, but because of the fandom.

I went to a Sunday screening, and the theater was completely packed. That in itself isn't a problem, given all the hype surrounding the show, it was totally expected.

Unfortunately, my experience was completely ruined by a group of people sitting right behind me (clearly high schoolers) who kept loudly sharing their opinions on every single thing happening on screen. Stuff like, "We need to talk about this, I totally disagree with what just happened." Without wanting to be mean, I honestly do not give a single fuck about what you think. Just shut up and let me enjoy the damn episode, I don't need your live commentary.

Then there was a group of younger girls (probably middle schoolers) who screamed out every time a character showed up on screen: "Look, it’s Jax!" Like, thanks, I have eyes and I know the show, I don't need audio descriptions.

Because of all this, I couldn't even enjoy Episode 9. What shocks me the most is the total lack of respect for other viewers and for the entire production team who worked their asses off. If you're going to commentate on every single second of the episode, watch it at home and let others appreciate the work behind TADC.

At first, I thought this was just an issue with theater etiquette in my country, until I stumbled across these Reddit posts that proved me wrong:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/gTmZKuIYf4

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/2D1UcNulKM

https://www.reddit.com/r/tadc/s/ayhzsO4pKK

These posts and comments prove it: we’ve all had a bad experience in the theater, no matter where we live. The problem comes down to a fandom that only thinks about themselves, completely disregarding the experience of the people around them.

I honestly think this fandom is cooked. And I also think Episode 9 shouldn't have been released in theaters. As for the writing, I personally didn't enjoy the episode.
However, in terms of animation, staging, and sound design, it was top tier. I think a lot of people would have had a much better first-time viewing experience without this theatrical release.

I still hope some of you got luckier and managed to enjoy the episode in theaters, though!

What do you guys think?

Jax is literally an abuser, a harasser, a misogynist, and an asshole given what he did to Ribbit, Gangle, Ragatha, Zooble... He knows he's a dick, and yet he doesn't change one bit. And yet, we're supposed to feel bad for him in episode 9?

The fact that Jax is Gooseworx's self-insert makes me think she just wants to "justify" all the mistakes she's made under the guise of "I've suffered too," when that kind of behavior shouldn't be normalized.

No suffering should ever justify another. Plus, considering that apart from the trauma Jax had with his mother, Jax brought all of this on himself, so why feel bad for him then?

DISCLAIMER :Just to be clear right off the bat, this isn't a critique of the trans community at all—I support you and have absolutely nothing against the trans community !

But what's the point of having Jax transition at the very end?

Jax didn't even transition in the show itself; it only happened through Gooseworx's tweets. Without those tweets, everyone would still be referring to Jax with « he/him » pronouns. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

I mean, Jax didn't even have time to transition before abstracting. Jax « died » as a « he ». Sometimes Gooseworx's self-inserting goes too far and overrides story coherence.

A huge part of the TADC fanbase doesn't necessarily follow what happens on social media, so they are completely unaware that Jax is now identified as a woman.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion—no hate!