Skibidi Toilet Is Cool

Subtitle: Get Off Gen Alpha's Back

I think the rampant hate for those Skibidi Toilet videos is strange. I understand not caring about it, or not wanting to watch it- whatever, you do you. But let the kids have their toilets!

Creative Merits

Ultimately, anything that has kids engaging with a story and making their own OCs is cool in my book. Do you know what Skibidi Toilet is about? Essentially, it's about an invasion of these evil guys in toilets, and you kill them by flushing them. Cool. But then, there are also the good guys- a bunch of objecthead characters with a variety of audio/visual equipment for heads. Mostly cameras, televisions, and speakers. Cool! These two groups wage war, and each of the little shorts typically depicts some sort of attack or fight between them. There are also giant titan-esque characters on both sides, and a shit ton of cool powers and abilities, and it's all just... Cool!

I bet a ton of little kids have skibidi toilet characters. Little OCs that they draw in their notebooks or play pretend as at recess. Isn't that cute? They probably have lore for their OCs, and custom powers and shit. I would pay to watch the epic battles these kids are probably LARPing.

There's also the fact that the pacing, sound design, characterization, and aesthetics of the later Skibidi Toilet episodes is actually pretty solid. I mean, it's still a YouTube Shorts series, it's not hollywood quality or anything- but it really leans into the weird web humor, and it's nostalgic in a way. I mean, it uses old video game models! There are legitimate story arcs, with legitimate character arcs. There are recognizable themes and musical motifs. There are really fun character design choices, like the fact that the good guys have camera heads because you're watching it from a first person POV. You are watching the video they're recording! That's sick!

There are quite a few female characters, many of which feature prominently in the action, which is unexpected and really cool. None of the characters speak, which means kids worldwide are watching it and forming international communities around it. There are countless fanworks, reanimated videos, analysis videos, and more- and while the argument could be made that the content farming around this little series is predatory, I would say that means you have an issue with content farms, not with Skibidi Toilet itself.

And it's just funny. It is! It's cool to watch an in depth fight scene between huge armies of toilets and cameras. And it's cool when one of the camera guys saves another one's life and they give each other a thumbs up. That's cute! And it's cool when they all win a fight and they start doing fortnite dances. Genuinely, it's hilarious in its absurdity and surrealism. And it's still unexpectedly dramatic- corruption arcs, changing alliances, new and improved toilets and cameras dropping all the time. There's a lot of work put into this, and I would argue, a lot of love!

Qualms

This is the part where I argue with you before you've even had the chance to type out an argument.

"Is this series appropriate for kids to be watching?"

Sure. I mean, for elementary-aged kids? Yeah! Why not. There are guns and rockets and stuff, sure, but it's all cartoon level violence. It's not like it's gorey. And, for kids any younger than that, I think it's really on the parents to keep them off of YouTube unsupervised. This series isn't available on YouTube Kids.

"I think this series is brainrot."

Okay. I mean, I just typed several paragraphs on why I don't think it is, but fine. Look me in the eye and tell me you've never consumed content that was purely entertainment. What are you, the Children's Television Act? Does everything kids watch need to be catered towards educating them in some way or another? Maybe your answer is yes- and that's fine.

Look, I love educational programming. I work at a PBS station, for fuck's sake. It's incredibly important to offer kids content with substance- content that will help grow their minds! I believe that wholeheartedly! But there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a little fun, either.

People are always gonna say whatever the younger generation is doing sucks. Always. Sorry if you think that kids' interests are cringe or annoying or a waste of time. But, remember when older folks said the same thing about your pokemon or whatever? You're doing That right now.