Fans – STOP THE HATE!

I realize that the world loves dire circumstances, celebrity meltdowns, Cosby memes, and other bad news, but I naively thought us fans were better than that. Sounds ludicrous right? Why on earth would I believe in the good of mankind, especially the good of the most passionate base on the planet – The Film Buff? Because we damn well should be better, that’s why.

You’re probably wondering, ‘What is he even opining about at this point?’ I’m talking about the fans – you know, us that say we love various films and television shows: fans – and our increasingly obsessive need to tear everything we do not like down to their beginning threads. I use to discount this is as ‘Hipster Nonsense’ and immediately blame anyone currently using Twitter. You know what a Hipster is, right? That term coined to refer to anyone who dislikes all of those things that you like? Well, it’s not ‘Hipsters’, my friends. It’s us. It is all of us.

That’s right, we’re all guilty. From the most positive person you think you know to the most negative, every one of us is guilty of spreading this incessant hate. Every. Single. One. You are probably sitting there thinking, ‘Not me, Aaron. I’m Polly Positive. I love everything. I even love cats and Pudding Pops’. Stop living the lie. You’re guilty too.

Somewhere, sometime (probably even this month), you have been reading along with your social media of choice and stumbled across a person poo-pooing something you love. Or maybe they were raving about something you cannot stand. Your natural reaction was to clarify to this bumbling idiot the true fallacy of their ways. How DARE they doubt the artistic complexities in “Battleship” or “Furious 7”! Shame on them and their parents that raised them for loving and laughing at Adam Sandler’s “Pixels” or Melissa McCarthy’s “Spy”, have they no decency or self-respect? WAIT…someone ACTUALLY likes “The Big Bang Theory”, a show I have never watched but have an unnatural disdain for? We should inform them of their complete idiocy. Repeatedly. In meme form if possible.

As much as I would love to point fingers and say, ‘Not me, I’m far too advanced of a species for such things’, I can’t. And unless you happen to sprout wings and have a tiara circling your head, neither can you. We are all guilty of this on some level, and we should all be ashamed. Not ‘That one time in Vegas’ ashamed, but disappointed in ourselves nonetheless. We have devolved so much as a society that we immediately look for the negative rather than the positive, we see everything in black-and-white, gray areas have all but disappeared. Not only that, we seem to want everyone, everywhere, to see everything OUR way.

We used to discuss the finer points of Tarantino’s dialogue, Spielberg’s ability to lift our inner-child from its slumber, respectfully dissect our opinions on where Kubrick falls in history as a filmmaker, and Lucas’ ability to transport us to a galaxy far, far away. What do you read now? Now you see that Michael Bay is a tool who doesn’t deserve his enormous success and has destroyed more childhoods than the entirety of the Catholic Church, J.J. Abrams has Microsoft-levels of stock in lens flare technology, we didn’t love some random Marvel movie ENOUGH (“Guardians of the Galaxy” is the BEST MOVIE EVER, we get it) while we continually give way too much credit to DC (“Batman v Superman” is too gritty, we hear ya), that YOU are a complete idiot for enjoying a film like “Jurassic World”, or YOU think you are better than US because you loved “Inherent Vice”. Well, that last one is probably true, I mean did you SEE that movie? I kiiiiiiiiid, I kiiiiiiiiiiiid.

This isn’t the fandom that I signed up for. I have not spent years of my life, decades even, loving this medium to the depths of my very soul, only to sour everyone else on whatever it is that they love and I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely bad movies and TV shows out there. But since when do we – you and I – have the right to establish ourselves as the utmost authority on what others should enjoy? If someone hated “Mad Max: Fury Road”, why do we feel the need to convince them it is a brilliant film and they obviously have some sort of mental defect? If someone feels “It Follows” is cinematic gold, why do we feel the need to explain to them that they are proof that humans as a species are doomed? If someone feels that “Game of Thrones” is a closet full of confusion and meandering, do we truly need to imply that they are less intelligent than a Shetland pony?

As fans, aren’t we all supposed to at least make the attempt to enjoy these things BEFORE we burn them at the stake? If we do make the effort, and it doesn’t work for us, is it then our mission to obliterate any joy others have experienced from it? Do we not all gravitate to social media and discussion groups to, you know, discuss? Or do we just have an inherent need to force others to bend to our sheer will, for good or bad? If you loathe Adam Sandler and his films, why is someone else lesser than you because they enjoy them? If you enjoy a popcorn film far more than an intellectual talking piece, why does that automatically make you Forrest Gump to some that prefer the other? Likewise, if you prefer your films or television to have more sustenance than dessert, why must we automatically assume they are snobs? And most importantly – shouldn’t you have had to have SEEN the damn thing to have an opinion regardless?!

I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted with this level of fandom, even being guilty of it myself. I want to get back to the roots of how we all came to sites and podcasts like The Hollywood Outsider and others like it to begin with: We just love entertainment. We can love the art of film and television, and we can all see the definition of that art in our own specific ways. We can each appreciate different things because of our upbringing or personal interests. We can all have and share our opinions, we can even discuss or debate those opinions with the very same passion that fires our love of the arts to begin with – but ENOUGH with proving everyone else wrong.

I want to believe we are not too far gone. That there is still a place for logical debates about things we all love AND hate, without meme-calling and bitter retorts. Conversing on a topic should not always be about proving yourself right or someone else otherwise, it should be about exploring aspects we had not explored before, or observing an outlook or avenue we have long-neglected or strayed from. It should be about opening your eyes, just a little wider…instead of so often slamming them shut.

Like everything, it starts with the first step. The next time someone is baiting you, tempting you to join them on their merry hate-crusade, click away. Even better, the next time you see someone hating or loving on something you see the other way, take a minute and actually hear them out. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that they are obviously imbeciles, hipsters, or inferior – broaden your own mind. I firmly believe that most people WANT someone to hear out their reasoning behind their appreciation or disgust with their entertainment of choice rather than shout it from the rafters, but how many actually take the time to listen?

I believe that we can all still turn this hate-train around. I believe we can get back to a world where we open our minds and allow other opinions back in, possibly expanding our own acceptance in the process. I believe Michael Bay’s Ninja Turles, Wes Anderson’s quirkiness, Melissa McCarthy’s comedy stylings, Arnie’s ancient Terminator, Aronofsky’s unique vision, those adorable Minions, Marvel and DC films, American Sniper’s American-ness, Ex Machina’s ideological dilemma, and even Adam Sandler’s absurdity can all be enjoyed in the same conversations – if we let them.

I believe in the true spirit of us as fans. I believe in this whole-heartedly, and it starts with you and I. So get out there, take that first step, and prove me right, fans.

Because we all know how much I would hate to be wrong.

 

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider