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Jun. 9th, 2018 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatSigh. Fandoms. Sigh.
Fan: I have no idea where this story is going...
Me: Really? I mean it's not like they haven't done the same story before numerous times on various television series, including this one. Actually they've done the same story ten times already on this series alone. Were you hiding under a rock?
Fan: I hate _____ character.
Me: Why?
Fan: He was shoved down our throats. The network forced him on the show and he's going to ruin everything!! And my favorite character was killed off as a result. They wouldn't have been otherwise. Waah Waah.
Me: Oh come on. It's not like they haven't done that all along. They add characters to make the story interesting. It would be repetitive and boring it he wasn't added. This opens up the storyline.
Fan: But I lost my favorite character because of ______.
Me: You would have anyway. ______ had nothing to do with it. The actor playing your fav either wanted out or was having problems with the network. The introduction of ______ is not connected to it at all. Your fav would be dead either way. Don't blame the new character or their fans, blame the frigging writers!
[I've lost count of the number of times I've had this argument with fans over the years and in EVERY single fandom I've ventured into. The worst was the Angel fandom. Incessant whinging over Spike's addition to the Angel cast, and Cordelia's demise. As if it were Spike's fault. I wanted to kick them.]
Fan: I hate D because (gives all sorts of reasons.)
Other fan: J is far worse.
Fan: No D is worse.
OF: J is.
Fan: D is.
Fan1: Anna is better with Finn. I love what the writers are doing.
Fan2: No Anna is better with Andre because, A and F are like mother and son and have no chemistry.
Me: I googled this, actually Anna and Finn are closer in age than Andre and Anna are.
Fan 3: F is a weirdo and I don't like him at all.
Fan4: I think F is great with A
Fan5: I want them to bring F's OTP back instead.
Fan6: A should be with R, that works more. He's at least closer to her age. (A is about 7 years older than F, and R is about fourteen years older than A.)
Fan6: And put F with Alex instead...she's closer to his age.
Me: You realize Alexis is 62, Finn is 51 and Anna is 58, right?
Fan: I have no idea where this story is going...
Me: Really? I mean it's not like they haven't done the same story before numerous times on various television series, including this one. Actually they've done the same story ten times already on this series alone. Were you hiding under a rock?
Fan: I hate _____ character.
Me: Why?
Fan: He was shoved down our throats. The network forced him on the show and he's going to ruin everything!! And my favorite character was killed off as a result. They wouldn't have been otherwise. Waah Waah.
Me: Oh come on. It's not like they haven't done that all along. They add characters to make the story interesting. It would be repetitive and boring it he wasn't added. This opens up the storyline.
Fan: But I lost my favorite character because of ______.
Me: You would have anyway. ______ had nothing to do with it. The actor playing your fav either wanted out or was having problems with the network. The introduction of ______ is not connected to it at all. Your fav would be dead either way. Don't blame the new character or their fans, blame the frigging writers!
[I've lost count of the number of times I've had this argument with fans over the years and in EVERY single fandom I've ventured into. The worst was the Angel fandom. Incessant whinging over Spike's addition to the Angel cast, and Cordelia's demise. As if it were Spike's fault. I wanted to kick them.]
Fan: I hate D because (gives all sorts of reasons.)
Other fan: J is far worse.
Fan: No D is worse.
OF: J is.
Fan: D is.
Fan1: Anna is better with Finn. I love what the writers are doing.
Fan2: No Anna is better with Andre because, A and F are like mother and son and have no chemistry.
Me: I googled this, actually Anna and Finn are closer in age than Andre and Anna are.
Fan 3: F is a weirdo and I don't like him at all.
Fan4: I think F is great with A
Fan5: I want them to bring F's OTP back instead.
Fan6: A should be with R, that works more. He's at least closer to her age. (A is about 7 years older than F, and R is about fourteen years older than A.)
Fan6: And put F with Alex instead...she's closer to his age.
Me: You realize Alexis is 62, Finn is 51 and Anna is 58, right?
no subject
Date: 2018-06-10 02:37 pm (UTC)Very true. Although it does depend on the fandom. Some are more self-righteous than others. Or so I've discovered.
I think the difficulty with internet fandom or fandom on social media - is you don't see the other person. You aren't hearing their voice. You don't really know them. And you don't know where the landmines are, etc. So, what can often happen is that fans throw words at each other like arrows. Some hit their targets some don't. And often, more often than not, instead of attacking the characters or show, they attack each other.
It's hard to feel or even understand the emotion beneath it, or know where it is coming from. Maybe the character they despise reminds them of someone who hurt them deeply or someone who hurt one of their friends. Maybe the storyline triggers them on a certain level. While the fan defending the character, may deeply relate to that character or that character is their sexual fantasy come to life or the story that triggers one fan is a trope they love and adore. When they two interact online? Ouch.
It's so easy to get stuck in one's own head. Because really we're just reading words on the internet. And words are so easy to misinterpret. What might sound caring and giving in person -- comes across as patronizing in written form. Also posting words on the net is a bit like publishing them on a sign in the middle of Times Square. You don't know who may be reading and how they will react.
I wish I could say that I'm immune, but I'm not. Also, I will often come into the discussion from a place of frustration -- where I'm frustrated about other things, and this is just one more thing that is frustrating me. For example -- I may want the storyline to go in one direction and it's going in the opposite, and I want to commiserate with others about this. But they love were it is going -- so instead of commiseration, I'm running into the opposite. And well, ouch.
Rational thought sort of jumps out the window -- when I get really frustrated and want to throw things.
I mean, it's not unlike politics or sports or anything else. A fan's favorite team loses, they go online to find people who can rail about it too, instead they run into fans of the team who won. Or their candidate in a political race loses, and they really HATE the other guy -- and they run into his/her supporters online. There's no rational thought. There's just rage.
Let's face it life can be frustrating and insanely painful. It can more frustrating and painful for some than others. I don't think anyone online is immune -- the only way to be immune is to not go online when we are feeling like this. And that's easy to say, but not everyone has that ability.