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Apr. 7th, 2015 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI wrote the following in someone else's journal, but I think it bears repeating here, because it explains my issue with fandom and why I'm happy I'm not in any at the moment.
I think the biggest problem is there are a lot of fans out there who like to shame other fans into sharing their perspective or favorite characters. Which always annoyed me. It's okay to disagree, but launching a self-righteous attack or shaming someone, who happens to love a character, book, tv show, piece of music that you despise...is unnecessary and hardly helpful.
Buffy was complicated show, filled with characters who made complicated not to mention highly questionable moral choices. Some of the choices they made were shocking and offensive (although less so now, I've seen far worse television shows ...*cough*Game of Thrones*cough* in regards to violence and torture. Buffy is a walk in the park in comparison.)
What annoyed me the most in the Buffy fandom was the tendency fans had to "shame" other fans for liking or loving fictional characters that made unacceptable or questionable moral choices. So what if I adored Spike. I happen to find complicated and rather dark characters interesting. Let me adore Spike. I liked Angel too. Actually I liked all the characters (well except for Robin Wood, Warren and Andrew, who were supporting and barely there so not worth mentioning). And at one point, I even liked Bangle. Being nasty about my love of Spike and constantly throwing your ship in my face as better from a moral or ethical standpoint, isn't going to make me agree with you -- all it is going to do is make me resent you for making me despise Angel or whichever character you are promoting, who was a character that I actually liked. I wonder if this ever occurred to people? By bashing another fan's favorite character - all you accomplished was make that fan dislike you and your favorite character. Hardly helpful and a wee bit counter-productive.
It brought a level of negativity and nasty emotions into the discussion, which were unnecessary. I found it very hard to respect the fans who insisted on doing this and either defriended them or ignored them.
I'd say this is limited to the Buffy fandom, but it's not. Nor was it limited to Spike fans - I've seen similar attacks launched at Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Angel fans. (Don't get me started on poor Connor, Dawn and Cordelia.) I've seen it happen in the BSG, Game of Thrones, Lost, Doctor Who, SPN, Trek, and Harry Potter fandoms. So it is a problem across the board. The shaming of people who do not share your point of view.
I wish people wouldn't do that. It should be fun to discuss books, characters, tv shows, movies and music that you adore - without fear being shamed for it.
I think the biggest problem is there are a lot of fans out there who like to shame other fans into sharing their perspective or favorite characters. Which always annoyed me. It's okay to disagree, but launching a self-righteous attack or shaming someone, who happens to love a character, book, tv show, piece of music that you despise...is unnecessary and hardly helpful.
Buffy was complicated show, filled with characters who made complicated not to mention highly questionable moral choices. Some of the choices they made were shocking and offensive (although less so now, I've seen far worse television shows ...*cough*Game of Thrones*cough* in regards to violence and torture. Buffy is a walk in the park in comparison.)
What annoyed me the most in the Buffy fandom was the tendency fans had to "shame" other fans for liking or loving fictional characters that made unacceptable or questionable moral choices. So what if I adored Spike. I happen to find complicated and rather dark characters interesting. Let me adore Spike. I liked Angel too. Actually I liked all the characters (well except for Robin Wood, Warren and Andrew, who were supporting and barely there so not worth mentioning). And at one point, I even liked Bangle. Being nasty about my love of Spike and constantly throwing your ship in my face as better from a moral or ethical standpoint, isn't going to make me agree with you -- all it is going to do is make me resent you for making me despise Angel or whichever character you are promoting, who was a character that I actually liked. I wonder if this ever occurred to people? By bashing another fan's favorite character - all you accomplished was make that fan dislike you and your favorite character. Hardly helpful and a wee bit counter-productive.
It brought a level of negativity and nasty emotions into the discussion, which were unnecessary. I found it very hard to respect the fans who insisted on doing this and either defriended them or ignored them.
I'd say this is limited to the Buffy fandom, but it's not. Nor was it limited to Spike fans - I've seen similar attacks launched at Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Angel fans. (Don't get me started on poor Connor, Dawn and Cordelia.) I've seen it happen in the BSG, Game of Thrones, Lost, Doctor Who, SPN, Trek, and Harry Potter fandoms. So it is a problem across the board. The shaming of people who do not share your point of view.
I wish people wouldn't do that. It should be fun to discuss books, characters, tv shows, movies and music that you adore - without fear being shamed for it.