Media Essays: Vivienne Medrano's Helluva Writing Issues

ft. The Wandering Fox

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This post is NOT an attack against Vivienne Medrano or her fans. This is NOT a hate post. This is an essay meant solely to cover Vivienne's writing issues and talk about her work from the perspective of a creator and writer, not about her as a person. Do NOT take this post as slander or a means to attack her. That is NOT the intention behind this post whatsoever!

Hazbin Hotel Season 2 has come and gone, and opinions are very split on the matter. Some see it as an improvement over Season 1, some see it as a complete ruination of what came before. Where do I stand? I haven't actually seen Season 2, but reading about it, talking to a friend who has seen it and seeing some video essays on the matter...yeah, I'm NOT impressed. It seems like Season 2 is a collection of things I can't stand when it comes to bad media: overstuffed plot, overcrowded cast of characters, the plot only happening because everybody is an idiot, the villain only succeeding in his schemes because everybody's an idiot, poor handling of serious subject matter and many more problems. Season 2 sounds like such a trainwreck that I've outright refused to ever watch the season in full. I'd rather not ruin my enjoyment of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 by watching this pitiful season, thank you very much.

So this is why we're at the subject of today's post: namely that Vivienne Medrano, aka Vivziepop, is NOT a good writer. I'm sorry to say this, I REALLY am, but she just isn't. She's a talented creator, that is a fact. But there's a difference between being a talented CREATOR and being a talented WRITER. Vivziepop has shown an incredible ability to create a whole animated series from scratch, come up with creative and iconic character designs, deliver solid animation with her projects and most notably, create show-stopping musical numbers that feel like you're in a Broadway show. But when it comes to actually telling a story? That's when she fumbles in my eyes. Vivziepop is the epitome of "great ideas but no idea how to execute them". As such, we have two very flawed shows that fall apart the further they continue and it's led to numerous upon numerous video essays out there dissecting why the writing is so bad in her shows. It's similar to criticisms I've heard about Steven Universe in where Rebecca Sugar is seen as a talented creator, but not a talented writer. You get people like Dana Terrace where they can both create AND write excellent stories that impress and entertain audiences. But then you get people like Vivziepop where their creations are interesting, but the actual storytelling lets them down.

And this post is me delving into, in my opinion, the biggest issues with Vivziepop's writing. Oh and before anyone points out, yes I AM aware she has a team of writers and it's not just her doing all the writing. Guess what? That doesn't exempt her from criticism! She's still in charge of the story and characters. She's the one in charge of the show, ergo most of the writing issues are HER'S, ergo most of my criticism is going towards HER writing! Before I begin, I'd like to welcome my close friend and colleague who has agreed to join me for this essay: The Wandering Fox!

(The Wandering Fox came in with the Cynical Crown on his head, looking to the Media Man with a frown.)

I just got done rewriting Hazbin Hotel, didn’t think I’d be doing this but hey, who am I to turn back from a friend who wants some help? Especially on Hazbin Hotel.

Ooooooh blimey, this is gonna be a stinger! To give you guys a quick bit of how I became involved with Hazbin Hotel, I remember watching the pilot years ago and thought the concept of the princess of Hell trying to redeem sinners was good. In concept it was because what we got here was a blooming mess I tell ya! From too many characters in there, a big lack of focus on the hotel, turning potentially interesting characters into one note jokes, not exploring who truly deserves to be redeemed, oh goodness! I think these evil buggers deserve a bit of time with Leviathan after Pinhead takes them away!

By Leviathan I mean this guy:

Though still, care to start us off then, Media Man?

Media Man: Will do. Let's descend into Hell and figure out what Vivziepop's biggest writing issues are...

Issue 1: Her Shows Never Deliver What They Promise

This is a point of criticism I don't think anyone is going to disagree with me on, because I've seen so many people making a point of this. I think even some of her fans agree that this is a problem Viv has as a writer: she delivers a great, fun, intriguing sounding premise for her shows and then just suddenly turns in the opposite direction and gives us a completely different premise instead.

Case in point: both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. Hazbin Hotel was set up to be a story about redemption, the daughter of Lucifer running a hotel that's meant to redeem sinners and get them up into heaven. What do we get instead? A war story where it's Heaven vs. Hell and the hotel itself is reduced to window dressing while the actual story has barely anything to do with it. I remember in my review of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 how I felt the plot of that season should've been saved for Season 2, not be the story of the first season, and that's how it feels. It felt too early to be giving us this big plot about gearing up for battle against Heaven, especially since it's the first season and we've not even set up a status quo or really introduced the characters yet! Why the hell did Hazbin Hotel set up this premise of a hotel to redeem sinners and not follow through with it? Wouldn't the show have been better if say, for the first two seasons or something we had a Sinner-of-the-Week formula and the show was light-hearted and character driven and only LATER in the series, we eventually get the war story?

Helluva Boss is no better in that regard. This show promises a fun, wacky, gory series about imps being hired to kill people. That definitely sounds like a show that should have Villain-of-the-Week formula and focus on just the characters dealing with a threat they're hired to take down. What do we get instead? Soap opera-style relationship drama BS, that's what! Yeah, that's such a better idea than what the show's premise suggested, am I right? Who wants to watch badass imps on badass missions when we can watch Stolas and Blitzo talk about their relationship issues? That'd just be stupid, am I right? (sarcasm) I was even turned off of Helluva Boss because of this. I was like "I didn't sign up for this soap opera crap!" and called it quits.

WF: It doesn’t help either that Hazbin Hotel also shifts focus from its premise to family drama like how the real driving force in the series is not the hotel, nor is it redemption, it’s just the drama between Charlie, Lucifer and Lilith and even then that is wasted what with Lilith wasting her appearances especially after all that setup with Lilith at the end. Then there’s how the war between Heaven & Hell is such a big factor that it takes up the first two seasons with Velvet trying to force Carmilla in admitting she killed an Angel, the Angel’s death being a primary subject for the first season other than redemption, Vox and the Vees trying to bring Heaven to its knees. The only times the hotel gets any focus is for about one or two episodes in Season 1 and one in Season 2, Season 1’s “Trust Exercise” or Sir Pentious spying on the Hotel, to Charlie dumbly inviting Vox and Velvet in the Hotel to try and explain how it works. The fact Charlie was tripping over herself struggling to explain the hotel didn’t help her either.

It’s why though I like Sir Pentious, the “effort” to redeem him was just lazy as we didn’t get much with him apart from singing a song with Charlie and going out with Husk, Angel and Nifty having a fight to form a strong friendship, that isn’t enough. It doesn’t help either as we find out about his past that makes me think of why they didn’t try to touch upon it in Season 1.

I know Viv will argue that having eight episodes meant she didn’t have enough time to focus, to which I say to her “You should’ve argued for more episodes or cut out a lot of the chunk you tried sticking in there”. Look, if The Dragon Prince’s first three seasons could tell its story as well as it could with an extra episode in their seasons, why couldn’t you? You just had to stick to the premise, cut back on the Exorcisms and the Overlords and focus on Angel Dust and Sir Pentious being helped by Charlie in the hotel?

Media Man: Quite so mate. Viv is one of those examples of how you need to pick a lane when it comes to story-telling. Pick a lane and stick with it, don't try to do so much at once or else you're only causing problems for yourself. Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss should've stuck to their premises for a couple of seasons first and THEN changed direction, not done it immediately within a couple of episodes. As Linkara once said, you need to have a status quo before you can shake it up, and these shows don't do that. They shake up the status quo before it's really been set up, and that just hurts their potential in the end.

Bottom line Vivienne, if you're going to make a show, then make your shows ABOUT the thing you said they're about! Don't just change the premise after a couple of episodes, or else why even bother saying your show is about this thing when it's about something else entirely?

Issue 2: Too Many Characters, Not Enough Time To Develop Them

This is something I'm REALLY getting sick to death of with modern TV shows. It really feels like TV shows nowadays keep having this same damn problem: too many characters to juggle. I just...what goes through writer's heads when they think their shows need to have a million characters at once? It doesn't make your show's writing any better, it makes it convoluted to follow because there are just too many characters to take track of! RWBY, Wednesday, The Dragon Prince, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V (actually, Yu-Gi-Oh! shows in general have this problem), Young Justice Seasons 3 and 4, modern Doctor Who, what do they all have in common? An overly bloated cast that causes the writing to suffer because there's too many characters to juggle at once. Vivziepop's shows are no different in that regard.

WF: Like I said, the first three seasons of The Dragon Prince worked thanks to them staying focused on Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Zym, Viren, Claudia and Soren. While there was newer characters introduced they had a supporting role that didn’t take away from the main story of those three seasons, which was getting Zym home, and even then they managed to do a sub story with Aaravos, Soren and Claudia really well as well as Callum learning magic.

The difference here with Hazbin is that cast is over bloated. You’ve got what is supposed to be the main cast of Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor, Husk, Nifty, Angel Dust, and Sir Pentious. They work fine, completely fine, but then suddenly they throw in loads of characters including.

Carmilla Carmine

The Vees

Emily

Rosie

Adam

Lute

Zestial

Katie Killjoy

Sera

Mimzie

Baxter

Cherri Bomb

Saint Peter

Abel

Lilith

That’s a lot of characters who have their own stories to tell, especially Carmilla, the Vees, Emily, Rosie, Cherri Bomb and Baxter, and not all of those characters get the story they need because of the bloody short episode count, I mean Carmilla has her own story of trying to protect her daughters from the Angels while being forced to work for Vox, Rosie is the boss of Cannibal Town and has a past with Alastor that takes up an episode with a bloody racist musical number, Cherri Bomb is hardly a character who is just there as the enabler who keeps buggering up Angel Dust’s tries to be sober and is a love interest to Sir Pentious, Emily and Sera have their dilemma of the Exorcisms, then there’s Adam chewing up the scenery with him turned into a modern frat boy with a guitar solo, then there’s the first episode of Season 2 where we get that flipping shark reporter doing the same joke repeatedly. Then there’s Vox’s backstory taking up a lot of Season 2 and that itself is a mess with how he went from being a television cult leader who ruthlessly murdered his way to the top to being a shy guy who had a crush on Alastor. How on Earth did this get the all clear from the editors? Is RTD working beside them or something?

There’s not enough time to focus on the main cast, nor do we even have focus on Charlie trying to develop as a character. If you wanted an antagonist for the first season it had to be the Vees, Vox hates Alastor, Val abuses Angel, Velvet makes date rape drugs which Charlie is against, just have them as your baddies as they try to tear the hotel’s reputation apart, that’s what you ought to do

Media Man: Oh indeed-y. They should've stuck to the staff of the hotel, the Vees and maybe Adam and the angels at first and started bringing in more characters in later seasons, not have them all at once.

Helluva Boss isn't quite as over-bloated as Hazbin Hotel in terms of characters, but it still has a few too many and at times seems confused over who to focus on. Now it's clear Blitzo's the main character, yes, but the show also spends a disproportionate amount of time on Stolas and even dedicates several episodes to Fizzaroli, who's subplot takes up about two episodes of Season 2, a season that otherwise has NOTHING to do with him! The focus should be squarely on the members of I.M.P., not wasting so much time on side-characters like Stolas and Fizzaroli!

I do wish modern shows would stop doing this, because it's really getting on my nerves at this point. If you have a story to tell, that's fine, but don't have a crap-tonne of characters to tell said story! Having a large cast doesn't make your story any stronger or anything like that, it just makes your job even harder as a writer and when you have too many characters to focus on, at least a few will get screwed over as a result. Hell, I even wrote an essay of one of the biggest examples of my point regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V's overcrowded cast. This is a message not just to Vivziepop, but to writers in general: LESS. IS. MORE! Focus on the characters that matter to the story and don't overcrowd your cast!

Issue 3: Her Villains SUCK!

Another point I doubt many will disagree with. If there's anything that Vivziepop has proven with her writing, it's that she can't create a decent villain to save her life. Every villainous character we've had in her shows so far suffer from being one-dimensional bad guys who are evil just because, get screwed over by the plot or they nonsensically become super capable villains who achieve their goals because everybody else around them is reduced to a moron or has been nerfed in some way. Let's cover them one-by-one starting with the Hazbin Hotel villains and ending with the Helluva Boss villains:

Adam: He's a bigoted asshole...just because. He has no reason for it, he's just a bigot. That's the beginning and end of his character.

Lute: She's Adam's loyal toady and also a bigot...just because. Oh and Season 2 teases a lot with her but then proceeds to do nothing with her, thus making her feel like a waste. Somehow, we're supposed to believe this nothing character will become the new big villain of Season 3. Yeah, I don't buy it. Lute isn't main antagonist worthy, just like Vox wasn't. Speaking of...

The Vees: Vox is introduced as a joke villain who gets owned by Alastor in his own musical number, but then suddenly come Season 2 the writers flip a switch and now he's suddenly not a joke anymore and is promoted to main villain despite nothing about him suggesting he's main villain material. Oh and his competence comes at the expense of everybody else (except Alastor) being incompetent. He's that kind of terrible villain where he only wins because everybody else is a moron, which is lazy writing and a terrible way to make your villain look capable. It also doesn't help how Vox's evil plan is so poorly thought out that the story doesn't even bother to explain how he plans to invade Heaven and attack them, which gives the impression he has no idea how, thus meaning he's such a dumb villain that he has no idea how to achieve the first step of his plan! Velvette and Valentino are just scummy people who are either rapists or rape enablers and have no redeeming qualities to them. They're just terrible people for no reason and the show actively refuses to give them the comeuppance they so richly deserve.

Stella: She's Stolas' wife from an arranged marriage and is just an abusive asshole...just because. She's way too cartoonishly evil to be taken seriously and is so incompetent that she needs her brother to get the job done for her. Oh and her brother seems to be into her too...gross. X(

Andrealphus: He was introduced far too late into the show, so we barely know anything about him and he's one of those incompetently written villains who's plan only succeeds because of pure chance. Seriously, his stupid plan only succeeded because Stolas just happened to find out about Blitzo on trial and stood in to defend him. He literally needed sheer dumb luck to hand him an opportunity to win! Pathetic writing if you ask me...

Striker: He was actually pretty cool and proved to be a capable foe for I.M.P., but I've noticed a lot of fans feel he's gotten dumber and less capable as the show goes on.

Crimson: He's Moxxie's abusive dad...and that's all there is to him. He's just an abusive asshole.

Seriously, not one of these villains have any charm, charisma, depth or anything likeable about them. They're either assholes just because they're assholes or lame villains who achieve their goals because of bad writing. And I thought RWBY sucked when it came to creating villains...

WF: They may as well lump in last series’ Doctor Who baddies in with these lot :/

I do think Striker lost his badass status after he was defeated by Moxxie, who shocked him by being kinky on being strangled, then there was how Fizzaroli defeated him and he was sent scurrying away with his tail on fire.

Can we just throw Mammon in there as well? I get he’s the Sin of Greed but come on.

I also noticed a lot of Viv’s bad guys have this in common: they’re bigots. Adam and Lute hate gays which is strange cos I’m sure there’s plenty of gay people in heaven, then there’s Adam being a misogynist which I think they took a look at how Lilith left Adam cos he tried to make her obey him and thought that means misogyny. You’d think being alive for hundreds of years and seeing so many people come and go would’ve humbled Adam before he went to heaven. Crimson hates gays and women, he hates bis. It’s implied Stella hates gays and she clearly looks upon the Hell-born with hatred. Rosie is a racist as she’s a white woman who has a Creole man under her control. It’s ironic though Viv tries to make these characters so evil for being bigoted but when it comes to the rapist villains, she tries to woobie-fy them, I mean look at Val in season 2! :/

It doesn’t help either Viv can’t make up her mind on these baddies. First it was said Val was abusing Vox, then it’s the other way around. Vox is a cult leader, then he’s a TV celeb who wanted complete and total power, then he’s a shy guy with a crush on Alastor, then he’s an idiot who’s so insecure about himself that he lost to Alastor in his first song. Make up your mind!

Media Man: It's just sad really, cause a lot of these villains tend to look cool or have a cool edge to them but when you look past their appearances, there's just nothing else to them. They're either one-dimensional or they're inconsistent. There's no nuance or consistency to them. They're just bad characters. It says a lot when the only decent villain we have so far is Alastor, and he's not even an ACTUAL antagonist yet! He's at best the Token Evil Teammate of the Hazbin crew! The day Alastor becomes a full-on villain will be the first time Vivziepop has EVER given us a good villain I say...

Issue 4: The Subject of Rape Is NOT Handled Appropriately

TRIGGER WARNING: This section will cover sensitive topics like rape and sexual abuse. If you're uncomfortable reading about such things, feel free to skip this part of the essay and keep scrolling.

I really feel uncomfortable having to bring this up, and I especially don't like the fact I have to talk about this on this blog, but it needs addressing. The Hellaverse is pretty awful when it comes to the subject of sexual abuse and rape. I'm not the only one that's noticed that Viv's shows do NOT tackle that subject with the nuance and seriousness it deserves. It's actually pretty inconsistent on that front. Sometimes it's treated as a bad thing, but then sometimes it's treated as a joke. Like...which one is it Viv? Is rape a bad thing to you or not? Pick a lane! No actually, don't pick a lane, because when it comes to this subject, YOU SHOULDN'T NEED TO PICK A LANE! THERE IS ONLY ONE LANE OUT THERE, AND THAT'S THE FACT RAPE IS A BAD THING! It's the most unforgivable crime anyone can commit and the one thing that should ALWAYS be treated seriously! But as is sadly the case with adult animated comedies, they flip-flop on whether rape is bad or comedic, and that's so goddamn aggravating. Either take it seriously, or don't tackle the subject at all. If you're going to play rape or sexual abuse for laughs, then you shouldn't be tackling such a sensitive subject in your story. Simple as that. Also you're a disgusting person if you ever play something like this for laughs. X(

WF: It’s a touchy subject and it’s incredibly iffy. Stolas himself is a HUGE uncertain character in regards to this. While Stolas himself is said to have been a victim of rape by his wife Stella who said that he “Looks up at the ceiling doing nothing while I did the hard work!”. But then there is his relationship with Blitzo for how many have argued he’s coerced him into having sex with him when Blitzo didn’t even want that, or how Stolas takes pleasure in making Blitzo nervous. But that is portrayed as “romance” to Viv. That isn’t a healthy relationship. Then there’s Blitzo saying he would rape Moxxie and Millie for buggering up his job. But that is portrayed as a joke to Viv.

Then there’s Angel Dust. Oh my goodness, that guy is a rape and abuse victim who’s soul is owned by Valentino who makes it very clear he will utterly ruin Angel’s life for disobeying him, that includes raping him, beating him or gaslighting him. Viv first tries to show it for what it is, that Val is evil and he’s a sickening Sinner who should not be sympathised with. But then the most dumb thing is this: they’ve played his abuse of him as a comedy, such as that montage of all the times Val has beaten him that Vox showed in Season 2. Then they go back to “Val’s evil, he’s abused Angel Dust in Season 2!” Then there’s how Val is portrayed sympathetically in Season 2 as he’s hurt by Vox for leaving him and Velvet for wanting to be the powerful Sinner and he’s the guy who gets to defeat Vox, not Alastor, him! Oh and then there’s him joining in saving Hell which earned him a smile off Charlie which is horrid as she’s seen firsthand what that guy has done to Angel. Then she, Husk and Cherri let Angel go back to his rapist. I’ve seen excuse after excuse for this character and how they treat Angel but I’m gonna ask:

If that was your son or your daughter, grandchild, brother, sister who was being abused, would you laugh? Would you think it’s funny? Would you just “Let them go cos it’s their life, their choice”? Uh. Let me guess.

NO!

“B-B-B-But Val is a fictional character!”

Don’t pull that on me. If Viv is going out there saying “I respect SA victims!” but then makes rape as a joke or plays a rapist sympathetically, then I can go after him. Or how she’s trying to make people question things. It’s why I go after Scourge the Hedgehog and Ian Flynn. Scourge was a rapist and Ian Flynn twiddled his thumbs sidestepping that whole thing because he didn’t want his boring Evil Green Sonic character to look bad. Besides, with Viv trying to pitch this as a show to redeem sinners, she’s now sending a gross message that a rapist should be redeemed and forgiven. So Viv, you saying the rapist should be rewarded a ticket to heaven!? You saying he or she should go back up and reunite with their victims who thought they were having a happy afterlife but are reunited with these guys!?

Media Man: The fact Charlie herself thinks "anyone" can be redeemed doesn't exactly help Viv's case either. No, not everyone can be redeemed at all. Some people really are just the worst and deserve to suffer in Hell for all eternity. There are crimes out there that can never be forgiven and there's no redeeming the ones who committed them. Rape is one of them.

Bottom line: if you're ever, EVER going to tackle the subject of rape in a story, ALWAYS portray as a bad thing! NEVER play it for laughs and NEVER let the rapist get away scot free in the end! All you're doing is laughing at the pain and suffering of rape victims and giving them the middle finger by doing this. Viv should've known better, and so should all the other writers working for her. It's disgraceful how horribly her shows have handled such a sensitive and serious topic...

Now onto the final category.

Issue 5: Her Shows Are Style Over Substance

Does anyone other than me genuinely think Viv's shows are only as beloved as they are because of the show-stopping musical numbers they often feature rather than the story and characters? Cause half the time, it does feel like that's where most of Viv's efforts go when making her shows. She over-prioritizes big, flashy musical numbers over making a good story, and sadly it distracts many fans from her writing issues and makes them think her shows are "good" because of how entertaining they are. Take away the musical numbers and I guarantee, people wouldn't have cared as much for her shows....

WF: I’d argue it’s not just the musical numbers, it’s the fight scenes. The fighting is good, especially in cases like Alastor, Husk and Nifty battling the Vees, but even then those get a bit over the top like Alastor being chased by Vox’s shark.

The sad thing is that with all this, the character works are mostly lazy or forgotten, even the lore. For example, Vox says Luficer can’t get through angelic steal, but he himself can scratch it. Then there’s how Lucifer can’t kill Sinners, but then his energy that is filling up the canon kills a few Sinners. Then there’s Alastor’s supposed twisted feelings towards the hotel staff, whether they’re friends to him or not, it’s mostly left undercooked or thrown aside for a big fight scene or a musical number.

Media Man: Quite so. Because of the short episode counts for these shows and how Viv's priorities seem mostly geared towards musical numbers or chaotic fight scenes, it leaves the actual story-telling and character development to feel weak and like not enough time was devoted to them. It just shows that Viv's priorities are all wrong and that she needs to stop focusing on being flashy and big with her projects and focus on the actual story and characters at hand.

Now one might argue "But the purpose of a TV show is to entertain, Vivienne's focusing on making her shows entertaining!". Yes, that is true. But you can make your show entertaining AND still make it good as well! You can have flashy fight scenes and show-stopping musical numbers AS WELL as a good story and characters! If you're focusing so much on the musical numbers as your primary entertainment factor, then just make a musical show instead. And wouldn't you know it? We actually DID get a Hazbin Hotel musical show this year! Viv's ideas really do seem better suited for musical theatre rather than a TV series. Musical theatres prioritize being flashy, bombastic and entertaining over the story and characters, which is just what Viv's shows do. This style of story-telling and creating entertainment may work for a theatre production, but it doesn't work for a TV series...

WF: I want to add as well that the musical numbers and fight scenes take away big chunks of information that could’ve been helpful but left us asking

Why didn’t Vaggie tell anybody Angels can be hurt by their weapons? Vaggie had her eye cut out, so she’d know. Then why didn’t Vaggie feel any remorse for her former Exorcists as she killed them? Who was the Exorcist she was a friend of? Wait, never mind, let’s do a musical number in Heaven and with Carmilla!

What did Baxter do at the hotel? You trying to tell me the staff folded his sheets to his liking that much that he joined them? Get lost, let’s focus on a big musical number!

Why don’t we get episodes of Loona and Blitzo bonding if the former is just gonna kick him in the balls despite telling Octavia she needs to love her dad cos dads do their best? Oh, never mind, let’s just focus on taking the Mickey out of Los Angeles!

Why don’t we get an episode of Octavia finding out just how buggered up her mum and dad’s relationship was before he slept with Blitzo? No, let’s have Stolas listen to a song Verosika is singing cos we gotta get Cristina Vee to sing!

There’s so much things lost thanks to Viv trying to shove too much stuff in these small episodes. If you have a shorter episode count, focus on smaller things, have only the single musical number, establish how things work in this universe, let that be it!

Media Man: Exactly so. Now yes, a musical often tells its story through song, which is at least one point to these musical numbers. I get it. But the way these musical numbers tell the story doesn't really add anything to said story, nor do they feel like they're being used as a means to tell the story. They just feel like a gimmick to distract people from the writing issues and think the shows are great because "they're entertaining". Of course, the purpose of media is to entertain, but you can be entertaining and have good writing at the same time. Why do you think classic Disney films hold up so well? They have big musical numbers AND great story-telling and lovable characters to go with them! Viv's shows on the other hand have big musical numbers but messy story-telling and characters that range from being fun, being one-dimensional, being inconsistent or being insufferable. If I were to use an allegory here, I'd say classic Disney films are like a well-prepared steak dinner and Viv's shows are like junk food. Classic Disney films are well-prepared and everything goes well together to make a full meal, like a steak dinner. Viv's shows give you something quick and tasty but otherwise has no real quality to it, just like junk food.

Overall, Vivziepop needs to stop prioritizing big musical numbers and flashy fight scenes and give the writing more focus, because when you take away those musical numbers and fight scenes, you're left with nothing else to really get out of her shows other than disappointment because of how they fail to live up to their potential...

Conclusion

And that overall sums up my biggest problems with Vivienne Medrano/Vivziepop as a writer. Both her shows have the same writing issues: they never deliver what they promise, they're overstuffed with too many characters and concepts, the villains are terrible, the subject of rape is handled tastelessly and they're very much style over substance when all is said and done. I cannot stress enough that despite all these criticisms, I'm NOT trying to attack Viv or put her down (except for the rape stuff, she deserves a good talking to about that!) or anything like some kind of hater. Reminder: I LIKED Hazbin Hotel Season 1 and consider Alastor to be one of my favourite fictional characters of all time! I'm only making this post to say why I don't think her shows have good writing and suggest how Viv can improve her work. If she focused more on the story and characters, cut down on the musical numbers, shrunk the cast, delivered on the premise her shows set up and, most importantly, handled rape in a mature and serious manner, then her shows could be downright excellent! But from what I've heard, she's not very good at handling criticism against her work, so I doubt she'll learn anything from me or any other critic out there...

WF: It’s always the same with these people. They are meant to be writers and they’re meant to expect criticism, it comes with the job! But no, whether it’s this girl who needs to stop encouraging her fans wanting to harass critics, or Thomas Astruc getting his knickers in a twist at being criticised, or a old guy acting like a sad little teenager over how people have left Doctor Who, it’s always the same! They think they’re gold, they do no wrong, then when they are met with intense criticism they just start acting like immature little kids.

Grow. Up. All of you. Just grow up.

(Takes the Cynical Crown off)

Well thanks mate, that was quite interesting to talk about. I will say that I’m done with both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss but I’ll keep an ear out for what’s going on.

Media Man: No problem mate, it's been great having you onboard to give your perspective too. Thanks so much for joining me. ^^

And that's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you'll at least be mature about our opinions here. Do you guys agree or disagree with what we've said? Comment below and let me know.

Next week, I'll be reviewing Zootropolis 2. See you then media fans!

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