Hideo Kojima is the Internet’s Biggest Lover—We Need That
I’m sorry I wasn’t familiar with your game, Kojima.
I started following Hideo Kojima on X (formerly known as Twitter) recently, and I’m surprised by how fond I’ve grown of the 60 year-old video game designer behind legendary and beloved video games like the Metal Gear Solid series and Death Stranding.
To me, his social media presence is endearing, and more often than not, a little silly.
On X, Kojima reviews films he watches, and typically, the longer his review, the more he enjoyed the film. Last year, his review of controversial film Saltburn garnered quite a bit of attention, 13k likes and 1.2k retweets to be precise.
Compared to his lengthier reviews with positive emojis, his clipped sentence and lack of follow-up posts for Saltburn clearly spoke volumes about his thoughts on the film, and many in his replies and retweets were amused with his candidness.
While this is a great introduction to Kojima’s style of consuming art and sharing that online, it somehow just gets better. My admiration for Kojima actually began when I started obsessing over Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga at the time of its release and noticed Kojima was just as excited as I was.
Here he is documenting each time he’s watched the film (a total of five screenings so far) as of 27 June 2024:
Each of these posts includes endless praise and detailed explanations about what he loved in the film. Still, Kojima’s love for Furiosa and the Mad Max series spills over and extends beyonds his reviews, where he also discusses his admiration for the cast and director George Miller on separate posts.
When he attended Furiosa’s London premiere, he shared pictures he took with the cast, as well as his interview with Miller.
It’s evident Kojima’s overjoyed to be surrounded by such talent, but this is merely the most recent example. His passion carries over to many other instances.
Generally, he is known to be a massive fan and friend of his cast (i.e. Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelssen and Elle Fanning from the Death Stranding series), as well as other icons in the entertainment industry, such as his frequent retweets of posts about Hunter Schafer. A common gag with Kojima on social media is that he 3D-scans every artist and celebrity he admires once he works or befriends them.
In other words, Kojima does not play around when it comes to loving art and artists.
This is exactly why I believe that Kojima is a role model. He exemplifies how to meaningfully engage and care about media (i.e. movies, songs and video games) in an online public space (i.e. his X page) without shame and with critical appreciation.
But this cultivated atmosphere of respect and appreciation for movies, video games and music is quite unlike what online discussions of art often end up like.
Things get ugly and heated very easily. The online nature of social media makes it too easy to argue with someone with a differing opinion that they’re harmless preferences/dislikes are wrong since you don’t have to say it to their face. If you’re online, then you’ve likely come across posts of this variety before, “You’re wrong for liking this movie. You’re wrong for disliking this video game. You’re wrong, and I’m right.”
These arguments are often unjustified and unexplained, done so for the sake of feeling better about one’s own opinions and tastes. This manifests in “cringe culture,” which has been notably developed and maintained as a way to shame, and therefore control, what kinds of movies, video games and music--and by extension, their audiences--are acceptable.
Not only does this discourage and stun any form of personal expression, but the hostility of online discussion also becomes more worrying when minority and marginalized communities end up as the target of what is “wrong” (i.e. minors, the queer community, the neurodivergent community.)
Celebrities aren’t exempt either, as they also struggle to openly talk about art on social media.
In a video with Vanity Fair, Ayo Edebiri shared that she doesn’t use Letterboxd as frequently anymore since receiving backlash for her reviews, despite their lighthearted and casual nature.
“My current relationship with Letterboxd, after having a very public relationship with Letterboxd, is that I’m really kind of chilling,” Edibiri explained. “‘Cause these people are coming after my reviews, and I’m just here to have a good time and be a little bit of a fool.”
Online spaces, whether intentionally or otherwise, are actively discouraging anyone from expressing and discussing art, even if it’s just a casual jest.
But it seems that Kojima has escaped this atmosphere of hostility, freely discussing what he likes and dislikes, often accompanied with a thoughtful discussion and reflection. So how can we move past all these aggressive and pointless arguments to achieve what he has?
I think it’s quite simple: Kojima loves what he does, and does so without regard for what is “right or wrong,” what is “cringe or not.” There is no room for shame or indignation for himself or for others when he is most concerned with taking art and artists seriously.
At the end of the day, Kojima’s compliments and critiques come from a core value of treating art and artists with love and respect.
He’s openly affectionate with the artists he admires, and he often writes long, passionate and analytical paragraphs sharing his thoughts on art he enjoys. There is no greater praise than being taken seriously.
Even when Kojima dislikes something, he does not resort to insults or arguing. He just moves on.
If we take this approach of really letting ourselves enjoy the things we do, applying love, compassion and thoughtfulness, while not shaming or attacking others for having different opinions, we can all move towards an online space that wants the best for art and people who love art.
So please follow Hideo Kojima on X and Instagram; he might just brighten your day and change your life.