My rant about fandom
In case you've been living under a rock since December or don't have social media, two fanbases got a lot of attention on the internet they are the Star Wars fans and the DC, I mean Mr. Snyder, fans. Before I talk about those two, I want to address what makes someone a fan of something? A fan is someone interested in or has admiration for someone or something. When a franchise becomes part of the mainstream media, things get complicated. For example, if you grew up in the 90s or 00s, you know playing video games is one of the two things that wasn't popular, and the ladies don't find it sexy. Thanks to online gaming, it won over the public. (If I'm wrong about online games being the cause of this, then I stand corrected.)
I'm glad that this happened because it makes the people who enjoy video games from day one feel less isolated. On the other hand, it creates a lot of issues. For example, the gaming industry will try to make as much money off of it, no matter what. We enable them to do that by buying DLCs. Don't get me started on price-gouging retro games. This hurts the quality of games, people are complaining that there should be easy modes on them because video games are too hard. Plus, they feel left out of the game's ending and unlocking things.
This is why video games are turning into interactive stories, because the gaming industry is trying to appeal to people who don't play games like that. What makes video games fun is overcoming difficulty in-game and competing with other players or the A.I. Every game having an easy mode gimmick could hurt the game, depending on what you're playing. Just because you don't have time to play video games, that doesn't mean game developers should cater to you. Do you really think people who play video games don't have jobs? Some gamers make fun of you for not playing a game on hard mode, and my response to the last thing I said is Who cares? I mean, it's not like I'm getting paid to beat the game on hard mode. Also, if people enjoy playing games on hard mode, then why does the term rage out exist?
Reading comic books was the second thing that wasn't popular, and the comic book movies didn't change people's minds. That change thanks to Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Comic Book movies or movies in general face a different problem that is Identity politics and SJWs. In the past five or six years, Hollywood let the writer or director project themselves on the movie instead of staying true to the characters. The comics also have this problem, which makes it worse. Zack Snyder is an example of that, because he doesn't know Jack about DC characters. Don't believe me, watch his interviews about the DCEU. He turns Batman into the Punisher and Superman into a killer, what the fudge!?! I stopped watching Dawn of Justice after I saw the Martha scene; that scene ruined Batman for me. I understand what Mr. Snyder was trying to do with that scene but the build-up to that scene was wrong.
Despite that people like the Snyder verse so much that they want the Snyder cut and his verse to continue. They go about it in a way that makes them look uncivilized and paints the fanbase as a whole as toxic to outsiders. Snyder fans also see the release of this movie as a win for fans how? His version wasn't better than the theatrical one if you ask me. Plus, Mr. Snyder's vision for the DCEU is not going to continue because WB lost money with Dawn of Justice and Justice League. ( I was happy that happened because that's what they get for mistreating these characters.) Mr. Snyder threw people under the bus.
Star Wars faces a different problem, and that's the Prequels. At first, some people liked the prequels, others didn't, and now people are having a change of heart about them. To be fair, the internet played a role in why the prequels were hated for the most part. Disney really divided Star Wars fans because of the sequel trilogy. After that, they gave the fans something they enjoy; a show called The Mandalorian. That was short-lived thanks to one of the Star Wars writers making fun of one of the fans on the internet's reactions to the return of Luke Skywalker in that series. Disney, what's the point of having the rights to Star Wars if you're going to alienate the fanbase? Just because there are people who like the sequel trilogy, that doesn't mean you should bite the hand that feeds you for years.
Yes! Disney has mistreated Star Wars fans for years. Do you want to go out of business? Disney continues to burn the bridge with people who enjoy The Mandalorian by firing Gina Carano (One of the stars of that series) over her political views, and we can't buy her merchandise. What does that have to do with Star Wars !?! It's bad enough that politics is affecting sports, but it shouldn't affect the media. Disney is also not making money with the Star Wars High Republic books; those books are basically bad fan fiction. I'm going to leave it at that. When George Lucas says you have dropped the ball on Star Wars, you know you screwed up.
The built-in fanbase makes the division worse by questioning the sincerity of newcomers. If you like the Sequel trilogy, you get made fun of; if you like the Snyder verse, you're not taken seriously if you don't play certain games, beat them are hard mode, not collect all the trophies, you're not a real gamer. I'm guilty of doing this whenever I see a gorgeous woman at E3 or Comic-Con. Where were these attractive women twenty or thirty years ago? I get why fans have this attitude because they face scrutiny for liking these things, so why are they popular now?
This is the same attitude I had when WB wants to course-correct by making the movies more lighthearted and having the Flash movie fix what Zack Snyder had done. I don't buy it because they wouldn't be in this mess if they cared about the source material from day one. Plus, we still got Mr. Snyder's version of Justice League why? ( I know why that question is rhetorical.) Plus, you don't defend us when we get upset when Hollywood screws up adapting comic books into movies. They think we're just being butt hurts fans over these characters not being accurate to the source material, when it's not about that, it's about preserving these characters. They're not just comic book characters or dollar signs; they have an impact on our culture and society. Because of that, they will outlive us all.
I know Hollywood is a business; However, you have a responsibility to do these characters right, because people's knowledge of comic book characters is based on what you expose them to. Can you do whatever you want in a movie based on a deceased person? If the answer is no, then how is this any different? ( I know the difference, but the principle is the same.) If you don't think you can make the kind of money you're looking for with these characters, then please leave them alone.
Look, I want people to enjoy these things; however, you have to know your place. I mean, you can't come into something that you think is beneath you and think your opinion matters more than those who were here from day one. This is why we have terms like causal fans and die-hard fans. If you like the movies or shows but don't read the comics, you have to make that known. I don't agree with the notion that if you don't follow someone or something for better or worse, you're not a real fan. If the writers go against the source material, it's not the same thing.
Another thing fans shouldn't compete over how much of a fan they are because that doesn't help build a fandom. In the anime community, if you haven't watched 100 anime, you're not an anime fan. I get where people are coming from. I mean, you have to watch more than one anime to be familiar with the tropes and how they tell stories. However, people don't have the time to watch 100 of them, and their interest in anime shouldn't be considered disingenuous because of that. Plus, anime lasted as long as Soap Operas. We should be encouraging others to learn more about the subject, not stroking your ego. I'm a movie buff, but I don't watch interviews about movies that I'm interested in because I want to be surprised by the film; does that not make me a movie buff? The same thing goes for celebrities. I'm not going to look up info about that person because A I don't want to be intrusive, and B there are things that they don't want the public to know about.
The bottom line is this sucks. I mean, it's sad to see something you like become popular and then get ruined because of ignorance, greed, and laziness. It's bad enough that politics divides us; entertainment shouldn't do the same. That's all I have to say about this subject for now.
