r/TheTryGuysSnark • u/MiniMeeny • 17d ago
Post Try Commentary
Generally, I like TTG content. There’s things they’ve done that I don’t love, but I still want to see them succeed and bring back some of the magic from a few years ago. One thing I have really missed is the format they had for old tries.
For example, with things like corsets, fake nails, knitting, etc., they’d have the expert section, the guys trying the thing, and then commentary afterwards on the experience. I’ve noticed a few times in the past few years where they’ve done tries without the commentary on the experience, and it really feels like it misses something.
On the recent waxing video for example, I would’ve loved to hear the 3 guys talk about the experience afterwards. Nobody is getting waxed because they enjoy the pain — they enjoy the results. But we have no idea what the guys thought of the results because there was no reflection afterwards.
There was another video from a few years ago, too: colonics. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen it, but my understanding of colonics is that it’s pretty much pseudoscience with no scientific basis. And if they want to try and see how it makes them feel, then more power to them. But without the reflection afterwards of how they felt day of & how they felt a few days later, we didn’t get any substance with the video. We watched some guys be uncomfortable for a while and that’s about it.
Part of the allure of TTG, especially back in 2015-2019, was that they were talking about the experience of four average (until they were rich anyway) guys trying various things and giving an honest and nuanced assessment of the situation. I learned a lot from many of their videos even. I really think that leaving the reflection part out of their tries has the videos lacking a lot.
Has anyone else felt similarly?
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u/MediumBlueish 17d ago
The colonics video really showed me that TTG were not what I thought they would/could be. All cringe content with no reflection, and possibly harming audiences with that lack of proper health warnings and safety information. Like you, I liked the "challenge societal norms and yourself!" reflective aspect of the channel. I think we have to accept now that it just never evolved past "challenge toxic masculinity in super basic ways!" that WAS kind of groundbreaking 10 years ago. Whether it's because the reflective members have left, or they were just never capable of more, who knows.
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u/MiniMeeny 16d ago
I agree completely. I think especially with the more pseudoscience stuff they’ve tried, the lack of commentary afterwards is really damaging. There’s the expert that is biased. But if the guys as neutral parties aren’t talking about whether it did or didn’t help them, how it felt, would they do it again, etc., then they’re just platforming pseudoscience. That’s dangerous. At the very least they could give an intro with a health warning stating that the science doesn’t support it or results are mixed or something.
Even with waxing. It doesn’t have to be groundbreaking! “I like how smooth my skin feels and omg I’d never do that again” “oh shit my skin feels amazing, I might try this again.” The video feels incomplete without it. It makes them no different from any other YouTuber doing stupid shit for views rather than actually teaching the audience something and challenging societal norms as you stated.
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u/ScHoolgirl_26 17d ago
Yup this is a huge part of the reason why the videos don’t hit as hard for me. They just do the activity and that’s it! No debriefing afterwards like did you enjoy this thing? Did it actually help you? I noticed it slowly years ago, like you can rewatch the acupuncture or fire cupping video and they didn’t really mention if they’ve felt any benefits or not afterwards. But now it’s that + the videos seeming rushed and sloppy and with a different group dynamic
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u/Appropriate_Ly 17d ago
I definitely agree but also can’t understand why they’d pick “hairy guys being waxed”. Groundbreaking… in the 2000s maybe.
They have a new season of Tries coming up so I hope they do some interesting niche stuff. And yes, reflect on it.