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Over the last year, I've put my heart and soul into this documentary because I wanted to give back to the runners who gave me so much guidance and inspiration. I wanted to share the stories of how they overcame their struggles through perseverance and dedication.
Yesterday, a vocal group began telling me I was intentionally painting speedrunning in a bad light. That my trailer sent a message that speedrunning was only about sadness and money. That I was disingenuous, did no research, and was manipulating my audience trashing speedrunning.
To put it lightly, this was beyond devastating for me. While I knew it wouldn't be universally loved, to put so much of myself to create something I feel so strongly about and to be misinterpreted in this way. It hurt more than I could ever describe.
I wasn't even given an opportunity to tell my perspective on why I did things a certain way. I was immediately painted as the villian and it was assumed there were to be no positive things to say about speedrunning. I had made a hit piece and that was that.
I'm okay with criticism but instead of communicating with me directly, people are assuming I have done everything with malicious intent. It hurts. It really hurts If you are among this group, I am truly sorry. I tried to do good, and I failed. I let you down.
I have no desire to complete this project anymore, and if i could, I'd delete the trailer and forget the whole thing, but out of respect for the runners who shared with me their incredible stories, I will see it through.
To those who have expressed support, thank you. To those unsure and have not yet presumed that I have the worst intentions like others sadly did, all I ask is you give me the chance when the project finally comes out. Let me show you what I know this project can be.
Sadly there will still be many who come to watch in bad faith. They will come to analyze every frame and sentence I say and will be waiting for the moment where they can say "I was right, this guy is trying to ruin speedrunning". And there's nothing I can do about it.
Last night was one of the hardest of my YouTube career. As a result, I'll be taking a step back from social media for awhile and from the Mario community as a whole. I need time away from everything. I need to get out of this very dark place I suddenly have found myself in.
The positive comments have not gone unnoticed. Its just very hard to see the light through the dark right now. Hopefully in time I can prove to everyone that this project was always made with the best intentions in mind.
Lastly, I hope in the future, if someone creates a project out of their love for something, I hope we can at least communicate our concerns privately one on one before blasting them in public and assuming they are only there to intentionally harm a community.
