What are you watching these days? For the moment, let’s settle on television and leave the movies and YouTube videos aside (though, full confession, I probably watch more YouTube than actual television and movies combined). Which shows have your attention these days?
I don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of all television, of course. There’s bound to be plenty of quality–or at least popular–shows out there that I’m only peripherally aware of, if at all. But I try to keep my eye on the ones that make the pop-culture headlines, at least. Currently, I’m watching The Rings of Power, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings adaptation (that doesn’t actually adapt Lord of the Rings at all, and explicitly can’t, but who’s counting?). I’m also keeping up with Disney Plus’s Star Wars offerings as they become available; most recently that would be Obi-Wan Kenobi, which I might add was excellent, and you should go watch it.
Most recently of all, I started watching She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the latest offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though, should they really say “cinematic” if there’s no cinema? Hmm). And while I think it’s one of the weaker television entries, I am still enjoying it. I imagine a lot of people are.
You wouldn’t know it, though, if you go by Twitter and other forums! She-Hulk had been out for about two weeks before it started to get flak over–of all things–a picture of Captain America on the titular character’s cell phone. (Need I remind you, that is America’s ass?) Not much later, it happened again, this time over She-Hulk twerking with Megan Thee Stallion. I personally think twerking looks stupid, but I have no problem with someone’s right to do it (the bigger crime here is that Megan spells “Thee” with two e’s–drives me crazy every time I see it). But apparently a show that centers a female character in a powerful position (both as a superhero and in the ordinary world) is mixing it messages if it shows that character doing something that, y’know, women all over the world actually do.
It’s the same pattern over and over again, though. Media franchise is highly anticipated; franchise appears; self-proclaimed fans rip it to shreds. What gives?
I keep coming back to this topic–If you’ve been with me awhile, you know I’ve discussed it several times. And the reason I keep coming back is because I’m still looking for an explanation. Why is it that the fans of a piece of media can’t enjoy the thing they claim to love?
This is a real struggle for me, because I don’t feel that way myself–but you would be forgiven for thinking the entire world does. And maybe that’s just an example of the squeaky wheel getting the grease–the complainers certainly can be the loudest voices. But it still demands an answer to the question of why people behave this way in the first place. Don’t you love this fictional universe? Don’t you consider yourself a fan?
Your tweets and Reddit posts would argue differently. (And by “you”, I don’t mean this audience specifically; I’m generalizing to all those who engage in this behavior.) Everybody wants to complain about something.
Maybe it’s just that everyone wants to be heard. If it’s true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, then why wouldn’t you do some squeaking? Twitter is a sea of voices; only so many get heard. Reddit is the same, plus anonymity! 4Chan and other more toxic forums, even more so. And it’s true that we all rely on this to some degree, because drama is a driving force for interest. I’m complaining right now, about this particular issue. So maybe the prevalence of toxicity and bitterness and complaint is simply due to a desire to be heard. (And on the personal level, maybe that’s partly why I don’t feel the urge to criticize as much. By and large, I don’t care if the things I post here are heard. Sure, on some level I want to be heard; but if I’m not heard here, well, I’ve still written it for my own benefit. I don’t post on Twitter, except for the automatic tweets of these posts. I do participate on Reddit–but as I said, it’s anonymous. So, anecdotally, there’s definitely a correlation between “desire to be heard and recognized” and “desire to trash the things I love”.)
Maybe, instead, it’s a desire to see a good thing be better. I think this is where a lot of the “book purists” start. For the best current example of this, we’ll turn to The Rings of Power. It’s had its share of criticisms over the course of its three episodes, and even before launch. Did you know that, apparently, to some fans, it’s a really big deal that the show’s dwarf women don’t have beards? Because apparently that’s a thing in the books. (I’ve read most of them more than once, and somehow I must have passed over that part, because–hate to break it to you–it’s an insignificant detail. But it is, allegedly, in there.) I’m ridiculing this particular detail, of course, but it does illustrate that some fans are coming from an ostensibly good place. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see an adaptation be faithful to the books–though, here’s another bitter pill to swallow: Most adaptations are badly served by trying to be too faithful, and benefit from some deviation. Books are, after all, a different medium, and not everything translates well to screen. Nevertheless, those fans’ hearts are in the right place; they love the source material, and they want to celebrate it.
(Now, if you’ve been following the Twitterverse at all, you may be saying at this point that I’m glossing over the biggest complaints, and you would be right. Bear with me, I’m getting there…right about now.)
I sat down to write this post, intending first of all to talk more about the history of the MCU Disney+ shows. You can see I got diverted, so we’ll come back to that in another post. Secondly, I sat down intending to formulate a theory of toxic fandom that didn’t make us all look like terrible people…and on that point, I have failed.
It pains me to say it, but the more I dwell on this, the more it appears to me that the toxicity in fandom is all too often rooted in the same old problems that our civilization has been struggling with for centuries: Racism and misogyny. In other circumstances I might also include class struggle, but I don’t see as much of that here. I also acknowledge that LGBTQ+ issues are involved, but I’m not going to address it because I don’t feel well versed enough to give it the attention it would require. But that’s okay; racism and misogyny give us enough to chew on.
I mean, it’s everywhere:
- Rings of Power: Black dwarves? Black Elves? Black HOBBITS?! How could you?
- Also Rings of Power: You’re not portraying Galadriel right! This woman is too strong/tough/assertive/you name it!
- She-Hulk: Twerking?! How dare you?
- The upcoming The Little Mermaid film: A Black mermaid?? I must clutch my pearls!
- Star Wars: Fortunately Kenobi was fairly free of this (though not from more general criticism). But the sequel trilogy sure had its share. Daisy Ridley’s Rey has been a neverending target of bile. Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) was driven to therapy by online harrassment (checking off the racism and sexism boxes).
- Ms. Marvel: Not just racism, not just sexism, but religious hate as well!
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Received flak for recasting Uhura, a character who–and I can’t stress this enough–was already Black, and was a historically significant Black character.
- Apple TV+’s Foundation: Recast a major character as a woman and caught hell for it.
And those are just the handful that immediately leaped to mind. There’s a neverending parade of this sort of thing.
I’m not suggesting that all fan toxicity is based in racism and misogyny. Nor am I suggesting that every example of criticism is toxic, or even that every example is unmerited. I hope I’ve been clear about that.
But I am suggesting that this is a problem that isn’t going away anytime soon. Because racism and misogyny in society aren’t going away anytime soon–though rest assured, it’s by no means universal! Many people–I’d argue it’s the majority–are fighting these fronts. But these are stubborn problems. And when you pour them into fandom, and couple them with that drive to be heard, to make your mark…well. Settle in for the long fight.
I hope we win that fight. Because it means more than just the love or hate of a fictional universe, no matter how much I’d like it to just be that. Which means, in turn, that it impacts all of us–no matter if you call yourself a fan or not.
Timewalkerauthor 