I woke up at somewhere between five and six in the morning, which is something that seems to be happening these days. I’m hoping it’s a summer thing and not a getting old thing. I checked Disney+ and the first two episodes of the Obi-Wan series had already dropped so I relocated to the big TV and watched it.
I thought it was a home run. Then I looked on the Internet.
Let’s rewind a bit…
Once upon a time, I was much deeper into fandom culture than I am now. It was primarily Star Trek and Star Wars driven, I was equal opportunities. I’d watch the shows, the films, read the books, played the computer games, the tabletop role-playing games and did the cosplay. Well, fancy dress, this was way before the semi-professional, cosplay famous changes.
I’m not going to play this back as some sort of halcyon glory days where everything was perfect.
If you’ve been in the scene for fandom for long enough you know that’s not true or you’re wearing those magical rose-tinted spectacles. The reaction to something like Deep Space Nine tells you that’s not true. I remember being at a convention when poor Aron Eisenberg seemed to have to spend his whole time defending the show’s existence rather than enjoying his visit.
At the same time, it was different.
There still seemed to be enough space for people to enjoy the shows and discuss them as something they were engaged with because, well, they actually liked them. It wasn’t so much that it was less toxic, but the toxicity sort of existed like a toxic nuclear waste dump that was easy to avoid because it glowed and was well sign-posted.
Fandom toxicity today is more like a virulent airborne virus.
Looking at the internet
Why did I do it? I should have known better. It’s not like I hadn’t predicted a bad reaction to Obi-Wan from some quarters ahead of time: –
- Obi-Wan being maudlin and not using his powers having cut himself off from them for a decade and not waving his schlong in constant bad-assery. Check.
- A female POC antagonist who in all likelihood, due to Obi-Wan closing down, will get to do any cool stuff that happens for a proportion of the show. Check.
These two reasons were enough to be highly triggering in certain quarters. Despite that it was still dispiriting. I thought I’d watched one of the most inspiring and well put together pieces of Star Wars in a long while. Yet people thought it was a dumpster fire for all sorts of reasons.
The problems today
I can’t be sure this is all the reasons I want to actively avoid the mass of discourse about the media I like but it’s a good selection.
Speculation becomes an expectation. It’s all Mephisto! Anyone who watched WandaVision knows that the series established a running meme about runaway expectations. It happens all the time. On repeat. The lesson is never learned. Speculation happens and each and every time it does not stop there. It shifts to expectation and then disappointment with people judging the media product on what was never promised in the first place.
Bad-ass affirmation. At one point did a character being a bad-ass become their defining characteristic? This has become especially true in Star Wars. We used to think along the lines of ‘that was cool’. Now if they’re having any vulnerability or a character arc that has them start from a position of relative ‘weakness’ rather than pulling Stardestroyers from orbit it’s a major problem from some quarters. It seems to be some weird masculine thing combined with the extended media turning characters into superheroes.
An expression of power. In some ways, this is similar to the constant need to be bad-ass, but I think there is a lens which is substantially more toxic. Too much of the discourse now is the expression of various forms of power. The fact the white dude can’t be shown to be weak. The fact characters of a different colour can’t even have a handful of minutes in a fifty-minute show. Yes, sometimes this is constructive criticism and people are too quick to call Nazi, but sometimes it’s clearly not and some conscious or subconscious expression of power is going on and projecting onto the show. It’s not pervasive but when it happens it’s unsettling.
The religion of canon. The 90’s explosion of a certain type of merchandise has a lot to answer for. You see previous to the 90’s less canon and established facts existed for genre properties. TV just wasn’t really at the level of quality to maintain canon. They just made shit up to get the episodes out. Then TV got an uplift in the 90’s and the guide books came out and started to explain everything. Role-playing games also started filling the blank spaces that didn’t need filling to sell supplements. The religious texts of canon started to get created and then add the explosion of the internet. The religion of canon was born and the holy scripture written. The high priests followed.
Lack of media literacy. Let’s be blunt, some of these people have no idea what a good story is. They liberally throw around terms with no idea of what they actually mean. If I hear one more ending that needs explaining. A plot hole that isn’t a plot hole. Something being called bad writing just because there is something they can’t put a finger on they don’t like. I can’t even comment on this almost religious-like pursuit to erase narrative based on emotional beats, not cold-hard logic. The ignorance is tiring.
You can’t just enjoy it. Literally, people can’t just enjoy stuff. They have to caveat it with all the reasons why it was rubbish or where it failed to the extent that it feels like anything they do like is done begrudgingly. There is sheer joy in nothing. There are accounts I’m aware of on Twitter who, from anecdotal experience, don’t like anything and I’m constantly curious as to why they serially disappoint themselves by keeping watching stuff.
Everything is political. I’m bored with this argument from both sides. I can’t decide if the people complaining things are political or those cleverly saying everything is politics are the most annoying as they exist in some form of a twin circle jerks. Media is either actively or passively political and can address the topic directly or indirectly, say through allegory. That’s too fine a point though so the mutual circle jerks continue.
The industry of hate. These are easy to avoid, but the trouble is their engine of hate is like multiple meteorites htting the Fandom they work in and it creates shockwaves. Social media has made hate an economic sector and these channels and accounts grinding out negativity can’t even be happy when something comes along designed exactly to their wants because at that point they still want to grind out the dollars.
I’m done with it
Literally, I am done with it. I sometimes put mute policies on Twitter ahead of watching a show just to avoid spoilers. I came to a decision on the weekend Obi-Wan launched that I’m probably going to watch a show and just leave the muted policies in place.
I’m also going to start using the policies on Twitter that limit who can respond, sadly I can’t stop people quote-tweeting me without restricting access to my Tweets and I don’t want to do that. Active choice to reduce interaction with people I don’t know.
This is incredibly sad, but I don’t value the general discourse anymore. I don’t think it’s a level that is anyway insightful. It really is just toxic. I just want to watch things I think are great and happily enjoy that without the airborne virus that now haunts fandom infecting my experience.
I’d rather just not know it exists. That’s the key difference. For all of the negativity in fandom in years gone by it was of a different quality, nature and infection vector. It could exist. Now you feel the need to close yourself off from it at all costs like it’s Ebola and if you’re going to discuss anything do it in a very well defined bubble.
And, Finally…
It’s a fandom. It’s people discussing TV shows and films. Who cares if someone has made a decision to close themselves off from the wider discourse of the things they like?
Well, it’s not just something that happens with something this innocuous.
Pretty sure I’m not the only one who is making decisions every day to shrink their net in terms of who they discuss things with. What ideas they will entertain and from who. We do this because it becomes too tiring to listen to it. Yes, this means you missed the enlightened discourse from people who may have a different view from you..
..but you can choose to visit the toxic nuclear dump for a brief time with suitable mental fortitude and a hazmat suit, regrettably an ever-present airbone virus demands you have to isolate yourself completely and take a risk-based approach to your contacts.
So here we are.