[LES] If you're unironically using some version of "you have to have a very high IQ to understand this" to defend Iron Lung, then you've already lost

So if you weren't aware, popular and beloved Youtuber Markiplier recently released his self-published, self-distributed, self-produced and directed indie horror film Iron Lung, featuring him as the lead. It's an "adaptation" of the short and somewhat vague horror game Iron Lung.

Personally, I thought it was fine. Just alright. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone in particular, but I'm not going to go out of my way to persuade anyone not to see it either. It got a bit muddled and/or confusing in parts, some of the writing and dialogue is repetitive, and when they go hard on shaky cam in one scene near the end, it's genuinely hard to tell what's happening.

But holy shit some of Mark's fans have unironically turned into reincarnations of the Rick and Morty fans of old when it comes to criticisms about this movie. "People are so brainrotted nowadays, they couldn't pay attention to the story", "they just don't get REAL eldritch horror", "if you didn't like the film you didn't pay attention", etc. *Do you think that Iron Lung is the first eldritch horror media ever made? Do you think that everyone in theaters is physically incapable of paying attention to films?* In general, the critical reception seems to be it's overall "fine" film and a "good" directorial debut for someone of his status and budget. It's not like this film is an ultra underdog, fighting against all odds - it came with a built-in audience of millions of fans. So where is this defensiveness even coming from??

Listen, it's okay if you like the movie. It's okay if you want to support Mark's journey into filmmaking on a bigger stage. But part of that means accepting that just because you like him a a person doesn't mean that every thing he makes is flawless. He's a grown ass man that has already said that he was just happy to get the film into theaters and that he doesn't take the criticism of his content (film or Youtube) personally.

...

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand ~~Rick and Morty~~ Iron Lung. The ~~humor~~ horror is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of ~~theoretical physics~~ eldritch horror and/or the game most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of ~~these jokes~~ the writing, to realize that ~~they're not just funny~~ entertainment and slightly stretched to fill 2 hours - they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike ~~Rick and Morty~~ Iron Lung truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the ~~humour in Rick's existencial catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub,"~~ the horror in a giant fish alien thing and/or the quiet rapture which itself is a cryptic reference to T~~urgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons~~ any amount of unusual apocalypses in fiction and/or the rapture from the Bible. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as ~~Dan Harmon's~~ Markiplier's genius unfolds itself on their ~~television~~ movie theater screens. What fools... how I pity them. 😂