See, I'm approaching it from the other way. Funny in a messed up way, in other words. (And mind you, I'm not saying you're WRONG. Just that the approach is different.)
Here's what I mean...
The scout video has a story of an upstart kid... Who beats a man to death while he's trying to eat a sandwich, then eats that sandwich on the man's corpse.
The aforementioned soldier? He kills his enemies and collects their heads so he can lecture them like they're his troops.
The spy dismantled the entire enemy team in horrifying ways, and sat back and watched as that fear made the survivors turn on each other, and then he killed a guy, only to collect the picture of that guy's mother as a fond memory.
And then there's the medic. "And that's how I lost my medical license." That whole video was scary as hell, but in a funny way.
It's all horrifying imagery, turned humorous by the context of the dialogue and setup. The soldier, at the very least? Is likely a serial killer, to say nothing about how much of a sociopath the spy has to be to be able to do what he did.
I concur that they may have missed the humor mark with the horror of the pyro, at least for some people. But still, I liked it. ^_^ And as you say, different people like different things
To be honest, I didn't find any of that stuff horrifying imagery in the least. Yeah, sure, people are killed... But here is the thing, those people are killed while they fight the protagonist of the video. They are all action scenes, all battles, with the protagonist prevailing over his foes.
In the Pyro video? S/he is hunting down and murdering terrified people who are not even fighting back, just trying to run away and screaming for help. It's not a battle, it's a slaughter. And s/he is compleyebly unaware of it. S/he locks a screaming man in a shed to burn him to death slowly while believing that they are playing peekaboo.
This is why, to me, the Pyro video is MUCH creepier than all the others >_>
Btw, why do you think soldier is a serial killer? Sure, he is insane, but we are only ever shown him kill the enemy mercenaries who are paid to kill him (and, once, an ally mercenary because of mistaken identity). We never see him kill any civilian, on the contrary in the smissmass comic he fights the villain who wanted to kidnap children.
As for Spy, as far as we know he didn't kill the BLU Scout. He was disguised as the BLU Scout, but he doesn't need to kill anybody to disguise himself as them, the disguise kit works by itself. Plus, Respawn is very heavily implied to be canon (the characters in the game often mention dying and coming back to life, and Sniper in particular has the scar on the cheek that Spy gave him right before killing him), so even if Spy really had killed the son of his lady, it probably wouldn't have been permanent.
The whole issue I have with the Soldier is basically the Dexter principle: "He kills the right people, so nobody looks at him with suspicion ABOUT those killings." (Or, if you prefer, "The Belkar Epiphany") The fact that he collects their heads afterwards is what makes me think he's a serial killer; the fact that they're, to some degree, trophies. (They also tone WAY down on that portrayal later on, in an "evolving media" sorta way, see: Smissmass)
I had forgotten that we don't see the Blu Scout's death, so you definitely have me there. But I personally see Meet the Spy as worse than the Pyro, because both videos have helpless victims. (Blu Spy, Blu Doctor in Meet the Spy. Everyone in Meet the Pyro). In Meet The Pyro, it's plainly apparent that there's a mental issue at play, while in Meet the Spy, Red Spy is both well aware of what he's doing, and seems to revel in it. "Right Behind You" was a chilling line because he took pleasure in both what he was about to do, and the Blue Spy's hands at the hands of his teammates. It was the timing of the ending fanfare that took the bite out of the subsequent slaughter.
Note, both are horrific. And all of them show artistic and comedic genius.
(May I just note that I am loving this conversation? Nuanced analysis about the horror present in what is meant to be amusing videos.)
Here's what I mean...
The scout video has a story of an upstart kid... Who beats a man to death while he's trying to eat a sandwich, then eats that sandwich on the man's corpse.
The aforementioned soldier? He kills his enemies and collects their heads so he can lecture them like they're his troops.
The spy dismantled the entire enemy team in horrifying ways, and sat back and watched as that fear made the survivors turn on each other, and then he killed a guy, only to collect the picture of that guy's mother as a fond memory.
And then there's the medic. "And that's how I lost my medical license." That whole video was scary as hell, but in a funny way.
It's all horrifying imagery, turned humorous by the context of the dialogue and setup. The soldier, at the very least? Is likely a serial killer, to say nothing about how much of a sociopath the spy has to be to be able to do what he did.
I concur that they may have missed the humor mark with the horror of the pyro, at least for some people. But still, I liked it. ^_^ And as you say, different people like different things
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In the Pyro video? S/he is hunting down and murdering terrified people who are not even fighting back, just trying to run away and screaming for help. It's not a battle, it's a slaughter. And s/he is compleyebly unaware of it. S/he locks a screaming man in a shed to burn him to death slowly while believing that they are playing peekaboo.
This is why, to me, the Pyro video is MUCH creepier than all the others >_>
Btw, why do you think soldier is a serial killer? Sure, he is insane, but we are only ever shown him kill the enemy mercenaries who are paid to kill him (and, once, an ally mercenary because of mistaken identity). We never see him kill any civilian, on the contrary in the smissmass comic he fights the villain who wanted to kidnap children.
As for Spy, as far as we know he didn't kill the BLU Scout. He was disguised as the BLU Scout, but he doesn't need to kill anybody to disguise himself as them, the disguise kit works by itself. Plus, Respawn is very heavily implied to be canon (the characters in the game often mention dying and coming back to life, and Sniper in particular has the scar on the cheek that Spy gave him right before killing him), so even if Spy really had killed the son of his lady, it probably wouldn't have been permanent.
Reply
I had forgotten that we don't see the Blu Scout's death, so you definitely have me there. But I personally see Meet the Spy as worse than the Pyro, because both videos have helpless victims. (Blu Spy, Blu Doctor in Meet the Spy. Everyone in Meet the Pyro). In Meet The Pyro, it's plainly apparent that there's a mental issue at play, while in Meet the Spy, Red Spy is both well aware of what he's doing, and seems to revel in it. "Right Behind You" was a chilling line because he took pleasure in both what he was about to do, and the Blue Spy's hands at the hands of his teammates. It was the timing of the ending fanfare that took the bite out of the subsequent slaughter.
Note, both are horrific. And all of them show artistic and comedic genius.
(May I just note that I am loving this conversation? Nuanced analysis about the horror present in what is meant to be amusing videos.)
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