Fandom, Sigh, Fandom...
Aug. 11th, 2018 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatSo...I've almost gotten myself in trouble with FB fan moderators..again.
I'm reposting this conversation because it underlines my difficulties with fandoms...how fans myopically ship certain characters and stories, and get upset when they don't get to control it or it doesn't go the way they want and not everyone agrees with them. How they insist one character hogs all the screen time (it's never true, television fans are insane).
On this board, the two moderators go on and on about not bullying fans, and letting people have opinions that vary from theirs. But they are complete hypocrites on this point when it comes to characters and speculation that they don't like and don't want to be true.
I wonder if they realize how ridiculous they look to a casual observer? LOL! I mean, really, pets? Are we in high school? Yes, we never left.
Then they threw GIFs at me. I decided to turn off notifications and leave the discussion after politely stating that I was glad they'd clarified, since I didn't mind if they despised the character, but despising them because they think the actors are getting special treatment, I did have issues with..(mainly because it goes against their rules regarding not bashing any actors on the series, also they don't frakking know that. They don't work at the soap. And whoever is telling them that, clearly has an ax to grind. And all workplaces are like that. Buffy was as well. In fact Buffy and Grey's Anatomy were notorious for it. My workplace is like that. My boss has his pets, I'm not one of them. But focusing on it, gets me nowhere. Bosses are human -- they like people they can joke around with and get along with and feel comfortable around. Not everyone they hire are they going to like. It is what it is. Not everyone you work with will you like. Soaps change writers and showrunners a lot, often more than they change actors...so, some writers like some actors and not others. It is what it is. )
I'm proud of myself, I did not give into the temptation to say:
"Frank V has great taste. All those actors are excellent. The guy who played Nathan couldn't act. He was stiff as a board and boring. The other's are really good. And why the heck should I care who is a pet and who isn't? How is this even pertinent to the discussion? What does it even have to do with the show? And isn't this against your 'no bashing of actors' rule? I mean hello? Hypocrite much?"
Because social media experience has taught me not to feed haters and nitwits.
I learned a lot from the discussion.
1. not to discuss the character of Peter with the moderators. They hate him. I hope the actor is smart enough to stay off line.
2. to stay away from certain discussions -- the more emotional, the less rational, and less likely they can hear you. .
3. people are weirdly hypocritical and unself-aware.
4. fandoms are the same regardless of the one I enter. It's all about the emotion. All about their character getting screen time. How their characters are being disenfranchised. How this new character is horrible and shoved down their throats when they'd have rather had a story with another character!
In short it's all about what they want, their needs, their wants...fuck what anyone else wants.
5. be mindful of the personalities you are dealing with and how volatile they are online, regardless of where you are. Landmines are everywhere.
6. Facebook is a ridiculously difficult place to have a reasonable discussion with anyone. I so miss the voy discussion boards. It was easier to avoid certain conversations on those. (Not that I did. I tend to be rather aggressive and not afraid of sharing my point of view. Also, at times I can come across as didatic. I get this tendency from my father and mother who go into lecture mode.)
7. I hate GIFs. I find them annoying. Whoever invented them should be forced to look at nothing but GIFS for the rest of their life. I'm thinking a hell where you have only GIFS to look at.
8. Soap fans are not the brightest cogs on the planet. There's a reason this genre gets a bad rap. Granted the content doesn't tend to lend itself to serious discussion...we're talking about absurd plots that often make no logical sense.
I'm reposting this conversation because it underlines my difficulties with fandoms...how fans myopically ship certain characters and stories, and get upset when they don't get to control it or it doesn't go the way they want and not everyone agrees with them. How they insist one character hogs all the screen time (it's never true, television fans are insane).
On this board, the two moderators go on and on about not bullying fans, and letting people have opinions that vary from theirs. But they are complete hypocrites on this point when it comes to characters and speculation that they don't like and don't want to be true.
ME: After listening to the actress' interview -- I think they felt a bit hindered by the fact that she was always going to be short term. She said up front that she was going to leave after two years. That sort of ties the writers hands a bit. Billy Miller also makes it hard, because he has a year to year contract I think? Look at it from their perspective -- you have to build a five year character arc, and the actor has a two year contract...that sort of limits what you can do.
AFP: I don't think it limits them - they purposely chose to write for Peter and not Drew. Maybe if they wrote for Drew he's sign longer (I know he signs one year at a time) but use him while you have him. We lost Dom b/c they chose to write it all about Peter.... Actors want to be challenged and given good storylines.
ME:You really hate the character of Peter, don't you? I like him. Find him interesting and like the actor. Sorry you despise him so much. I despised Nell in pretty much the same way, so I get that.
AFP: yes I do. I love Anna, she is one of my favorites but we lost good actors b/c of the focus on that character.
ME: I don't see that at all. He wasn't on the screen that much. Nell was leaving anyway. Dante? He got a great opportunity elsewhere, so did Jordan, it had zip to do with him. And it doesn't really ruin Anna so much as give her co…See More
JE (or what I like to call the evil doppleganger of my friend from college, they have the same name, one spells their last name differently than the other.): Dom chose to leave...Vinessa as well. Peter was hired on the spot and his character was created JUST FOR HIM. As for Finola she wasnt thrilled with the Henrik storyline cuz her fans KNEW she wouldnt of dream to sleep with Faison according to her SID/SOD interview.
ME: Yet, I like the actor and character...the same thing actually happened with Chloe Lanier, she was hired on the spot and her character was created just for her. People were furious. I liked the actress and was glad they found a way to get her in the sho…See More
ME: I'm that rare fan who likes to see a character explored in new ways...it's why I watch soaps. Only on a soap can we see every possible take on a character imaginable.
APF: he difference between Nelle & Peter is Nelle was slowly thrown into the storyline. Peter was thrown into this as a veteran characters child. They should not give contracts until they are proven to be likeable characters.
I like to see all takes on characters too but Peter is not someone we have invested in b/c he was thrown into the storyline. I am happy with the show. But that doesn't mean I can't not like a character.
JE: Michael Easton, Roger and Wes are all Frank V’s pets.
Me: I think we will have to agree to disagree on this. Since I never liked Nelle and I actually do like Peter. ;-) But hey, we can't agree on everything.
APF: You forgot about Laura and Michelle being his pets too JE.
(shadowkat) just b/c we consider them pets doesn't mean we don't like them. It's fact that Frank likes Roger. He's made Roger a priority in the Friz storyline (he is in more storylines than Liz) and Becky is a 21 year veteran of the show!
JE: I only mentioned the ones s'kat mentioned. She named all pets.
I wonder if they realize how ridiculous they look to a casual observer? LOL! I mean, really, pets? Are we in high school? Yes, we never left.
Then they threw GIFs at me. I decided to turn off notifications and leave the discussion after politely stating that I was glad they'd clarified, since I didn't mind if they despised the character, but despising them because they think the actors are getting special treatment, I did have issues with..(mainly because it goes against their rules regarding not bashing any actors on the series, also they don't frakking know that. They don't work at the soap. And whoever is telling them that, clearly has an ax to grind. And all workplaces are like that. Buffy was as well. In fact Buffy and Grey's Anatomy were notorious for it. My workplace is like that. My boss has his pets, I'm not one of them. But focusing on it, gets me nowhere. Bosses are human -- they like people they can joke around with and get along with and feel comfortable around. Not everyone they hire are they going to like. It is what it is. Not everyone you work with will you like. Soaps change writers and showrunners a lot, often more than they change actors...so, some writers like some actors and not others. It is what it is. )
I'm proud of myself, I did not give into the temptation to say:
"Frank V has great taste. All those actors are excellent. The guy who played Nathan couldn't act. He was stiff as a board and boring. The other's are really good. And why the heck should I care who is a pet and who isn't? How is this even pertinent to the discussion? What does it even have to do with the show? And isn't this against your 'no bashing of actors' rule? I mean hello? Hypocrite much?"
Because social media experience has taught me not to feed haters and nitwits.
I learned a lot from the discussion.
1. not to discuss the character of Peter with the moderators. They hate him. I hope the actor is smart enough to stay off line.
2. to stay away from certain discussions -- the more emotional, the less rational, and less likely they can hear you. .
3. people are weirdly hypocritical and unself-aware.
4. fandoms are the same regardless of the one I enter. It's all about the emotion. All about their character getting screen time. How their characters are being disenfranchised. How this new character is horrible and shoved down their throats when they'd have rather had a story with another character!
In short it's all about what they want, their needs, their wants...fuck what anyone else wants.
5. be mindful of the personalities you are dealing with and how volatile they are online, regardless of where you are. Landmines are everywhere.
6. Facebook is a ridiculously difficult place to have a reasonable discussion with anyone. I so miss the voy discussion boards. It was easier to avoid certain conversations on those. (Not that I did. I tend to be rather aggressive and not afraid of sharing my point of view. Also, at times I can come across as didatic. I get this tendency from my father and mother who go into lecture mode.)
7. I hate GIFs. I find them annoying. Whoever invented them should be forced to look at nothing but GIFS for the rest of their life. I'm thinking a hell where you have only GIFS to look at.
8. Soap fans are not the brightest cogs on the planet. There's a reason this genre gets a bad rap. Granted the content doesn't tend to lend itself to serious discussion...we're talking about absurd plots that often make no logical sense.