At some point for far too many liking or disliking something went from a matter of different tastes to a comment on character.
The term ‘toxic fan’ gets tossed around a lot these days. Any time a fanbase doesn’t like something a studio puts out they (those behind the project) blame it on toxic fans and even review bombing when they just didn’t make something worth watching or liking. But that’s not what I’m talking about right now.
I’m talking about genuinely toxic fans. Angry and hateful members of any fanbase that will attack others for a varying opinion rather than engage in spirited debate or just leave that person be. They are essentially gatekeepers who feel we should like whatever a studio puts out in a particular fictional universe and if we don’t there’s something personally wrong with us and not that our opinion or the opinion of others on what is good is just different.
I got to thinking about this after I posted an old opinion piece I wrote concerning The Acolyte and how I thought it was terrible. In that blog I sought to support my opinion. After reposting on one particular platform I engaged in back-and-forths with a few with most eventually leading to the insinuation about the real reason I did not like it. I just thought it was a bad show for so many reasons!
Something similar occurred to me when Star Trek: Discovery first came out and it splitting the fandom. I could do a listical on what I found wrong with that show it go so little right. Cannot tell you how many times people would use some variation “I know the real reason you don’t like it.”
Liking or disliking something has become an indication of your person or moral character rather than whether or not you think what you’re viewing is good. How did that happen? I’m not going to deny that there are individuals out there to this day who will hate something because there’s a woman in it or because there is some minority present in a small or major role. There will always be sucky people but just because someone does not applaud a project in all aspects like a trained seal does not automatically mean that they are a terrible person.
I think some of these people are taking their cues from studio executives and even some of the stars. On the star element (and I won’t name names because this instance occurred to me well before I even started blogging so getting a screenshot to support myself on the individual is impossible) but going back to Discovery I voiced my opinion on a few things on an Instagram post and the official account of one of the star of that show took to try and dress me down and ended the back-and-forth by saying the show wasn’t made for me because of the casting and representation. I could do a small book on the issues with that series and with casting and representation missing.
Going back to the concept of review bombing attributed to racist/bigoted/sexist/homophobic/etcetera fans. Review bombing can occur but negative reception is not the issue. It is bad product. I think back to the Kirk Cameron Christmas movie Saving Christmas that was review bombed by him and his fans to improve its Rotten Tomatoes score. The thing is studios have when movies and TV shows get a significant number of negative comments and reviews blame review bombing by the hateful rather than mildly introspective and saying to themselves that maybe-just maybe-they made something that people just didn’t like. This only serves to tribalize individuals and attack those that don’t like the same things. That does nothing to grow an audience.
Maybe these people were always there and social media along with a combination of society today made them more noticeable or more willing to be the way they are. None of it’s real! Be you somebody involved or just a fan, let us like or dislike whatever we want without making us terrible people in your mind.
Warren Watched A Movie 