Friendly Reminder To The Fandom, and Fans In General · 6:57am May 11th, 2016
You know what's bullshit? When aged, grown-up men (and women) get assblasted and aggro'd over a cartoon meant for those who are still some years away from reaching puberty. When they, the self-declared "true fans" of the show, seem to think that they know what's best for the show and the audience it was specifically written for. I can say that "it's a show for little girls" and "it wasn't made for you" until I'm blue in the face, but somehow, it feels like a wasted effort. Nobody ever listens. At least, none of the people that ought to listen ever do, that is.
The episode was fuckin' fine, people. Was it a "great" episode? Not particularly; it was predictable at best, and boring at worst. Did it have problems? Well, no shit, they always have problems. The show's not some perfect, all-great do-no-wrong gift from god and heaven above that you fuckheads seem to hold it up as being. But the actual message at the very core of everything? The one that, for an actual change, required one to actually pay attention and listen to what was going on in order to get it? One that, all things considered, wasn't even THAT much of a chore to figure out? Completely lost on much of its primarily adult fanbase. The fact that these are coming from the same people who spend countless hours analyzing shit in every episode for no fucking reason whatsoever, and yet still managing to completely miss the goddamn point on several occasions, just makes it even worse.
It amazes me that this fanbase, which openly praised and held up the shallow, obliquely-obvious moral messages of the early seasons as being something all shows should aspire to, end up hazing the ones that actually stop to examine more thoughtful, deeply-rooted lessons that anyone -- never mind just kids -- can learn from, without said lesson being flat-out explained at the end in case the special eds missed it the first time around. The moral of this particular episode? "Don't take shit so personally". Why is that such a bad thing? Because it triggered the poor, helpless manchildren who are so very "traumatized" from being teased or bullied in their own time, and saw all that "mean" treatment of their waifu to be morally evil and completely unacceptable.
Or, to lighten up on the unflattering generalizations, they feel as though the episodes needed a more clear-cut antagonist, a better spelled-out moral, and not be as "mean".
Which is where their belief quickly falters, in my eyes. The last two episodes have been particularly controversial because they deal in complicated issues that the show hasn't quite tackled before. At least, not deliberately. Here, in both episodes, there was no "black and white" sense of right and wrong. Each side of the episode's conflict were both guilty in some way, which is rare to see for a kid's show like this. For this week's ep in particular, people are far more harshly critical of the Wonderbolts, when instead it is Dash herself that deserves more than a fair share of ire for her own negligence, ego issues, and bitterness. There is no "clear-cut antagonist", because for this episode, there doesn't need to be one. Rainbow Dash is literally her own worst enemy in this episode. If there is ever an "antagonist" to be had, it's her.
Even the common criticism of "why didn't RD just tell them about her history with THAT name?" falls a little short, when you take RD's ego-fueled personality into account. Obviously she wouldn't just come up with her tail between her legs and explain her feelings in depth just like that -- it'd be far too contrived and convenient. It's perfectly in character for RD to have behaved the way she did. But to say, for example, that the Wonderbolts are "irredeemable assholes" for their relatively innocent -- hell, at times, even SUPPORTIVE -- actions is the kind of retarded hyperbole I've long since come to expect from this fandom as a whole, but certainly not the kind I expected to hear from people I once thought of as intelligent and respectable individuals.
Episode drama really has a way of bringing out the worst in people, doesn't it?
It's understandable that the episodes were, consequently, a little hard to swallow by the end. But all this drama? All this bullshit over a kid's cartoon? I know I shouldn't be surprised, and I'm not, but it's still so disappointing (and embarrassing) to see grown, mature adults -- and maybe more than a few wangsty teens -- whine and complain about this shit time and time again. Even the show's staff is starting to grow tired of your shit. That's how bad this is getting. First all this Starlight bullshit, and now this? What will please you people, huh? If you hate it so much, then just let it be.
Oh, wait, you won't. Because complaining and needless drama is hot right now, right? Because doing so nets you views and attention, right? "Grrr, look at me! I hate the new episode! It's so bad, you guys! Grrr! Remember to like, subscribe, and donate to muh Patreon!"
That may sound hypocritical of me, having made something of a name for myself by being "that chick who hates and rants about everything", but, that's my shtick. Deal with it.
Now, look. I'm going to lay it all out, nice and flat for you all. Not ALL of it applies to ALL of the people who are so mad about this, but they're still handy things to keep in mind regardless:
1. The show is not for you. It never will be. Get that through your thick skulls. It does not excuse the show from criticism, but it does not automatically mean it should pander to your every want and preference. And no, the show isn't "pandering" to fans, either. If it did, the show would be a hell of a lot different than it is now. Not once has it ever strayed from its focus of being a show targeted and marketed towards young children. A vehicle for selling toys, and nothing more.
2. Complaining about it is an exercise in futility. Look at me. I bitch about stuff all the time, but I know what fights to pick and what topics to tackle at a given time. I know my place. And where are theirs? Here, on a fanfic site that nobody outside of it cares about? On an image-hosting site with forums I never use and comments I never bother to read? It's fine to discuss the what-ifs or the shortcomings or whatever, but to openly demand that the show conform to your desires of what is "right" is stupid, selfish, and above all, embarrassing.
3. Hasbro doesn't fucking care about what you think. Even if your words managed to get through to SOMEone up high, it wouldn't make a shred of a difference. Hasbro doesn't give a single, solitary shit about you, your ideas, or the angry, butthurt minority you're a part of. The writers themselves don't care, either. While it's clear that the fans have influenced the show somewhat over the years, that doesn't automatically make it "your" show.
4. Even if they DID care, they can't change anything on a whim. Things have already been set in stone for the rest of the season, and the eventual movie. Nothing you say or do will change anything now. What are they supposed to do, go back and fix it? Rewrite, re-voice, re-animate, and re-render the entire episode all over again just to please the nobodies that demanded it be so? Get over yourself.
5. It's just a fucking TV show. Calm the fuck down, already. You're getting this mad -- this assblasted -- over a televised broadcast starring cutesy characters that aren't even real. If you are taking such a harsh, personal offense to what's said and done on a kid's show, wishing harm and even death upon those you feel are "in the wrong", then you seriously need to reevaluate your own status and priorities. Even at the show's worst, I shrug it off with a derisive "meh", and move on.
6. If you MUST complain, don't shut down people who disagree. Obviously, there are people who won't feel the same way about every given thing, and episodes of MLP are no different. But, your opinion is no more valid than anyone else's, so treat others with at least SOME modicum of respect and courtesy if you find yourself debating with them. (Unless you are factually incorrect and/or dumb. In which case, you are destined to lose the argument anyway.) Take their opinions and views into account instead of outright dismissing them as "no, you're wrong (but I won't tell you why)". It's really quite sad to see otherwise respectable people behave like complete, condescending dickholes to people who flat-out disagree with them and/or point out the flaws in their arguments (or lack thereof, in some cases), just because said people did said things. Seriously, get over yourselves.
Come on, people. You're here for the cute ponies, right? Just look at the cute ponies some more. Don't get in such a tizzy over bullshit like this. You're embarrassing yourselves. No, seriously; the things I've seen some people say on this site are cringeworthy. Even a few people considered well-respected are letting this mess cloud their judgment and make fools of themselves as they complain, whine, and propose asinine "fixes" to the episodes in question. Never mind the people actually writing fixfics as we speak.
If you are really that hung up over something like this? Take a good, long break. Get away from the show. Get away from the fandom. A few days, a week, a month, whatever helps. Because it's pretty clear that your attachment to it is becoming very unhealthy. All over an episode that wasn't great, nor terrible, and yet you're Dead Sea levels of salty over it anyway.
I feel as though this is something I've already been over time and time again, but for fuck's sake. When I see people that are normally pretty reasonable being blind idiots at best and complete dicks at worst because of this "drama", it's just too much to bear. The things I could say about how toxic some enclaves of the fandom are becoming are growing more numerous by the day. I was almost tempted to write a blog as a direct response to the one that inspired it (on top of a video "review" of the episode), but better judgment of mine held off on doing so. So instead, you all get this condensed, generalized message from me, expressing my condensed, generalized frustration at just how stupid this whole mess is.
Seriously, guys. Kid's show. Cute ponies. Don't get your knickers in a twist.
~Blinkie
Great blog, though prepare for about 20 paragraphs from the exact people this is a message to telling you why you're wrong and how Wonderbolts are Hitler 2.0 or something.
Also the drama's gotten bad enough that it's reached the show staff. That's right, the fandom's bitching was so loud that it annoyed the people who produced the content, causing them to leave a form of social media due to all the shit they were getting.
This is really, really sad. How butthurt people can get over their cartoon horses is really stupid, and people need to grow the fuck up and calm the fuck down.
Fandumb. Fandumb everywhere. D:
I'm not going to lie to you, that made me chuckle. Thanks for making this blog post, even if the events that inspired you to make it pissed you off.
Well, there was the whole slew of fics devoted to fellating Spike's dick after "Gauntlet of Fire." I'm just glad you didn't make a Featured box review then, caused the entire box was filled with Spike romance fics, Spike "whelpcon" clop and nothing else.
Funny how the Wonderbolts get shit for something they didn't know about, but Spike's still practically worshipped.
3937028
Did you mean in this comment section? Maybe on their blogs or circlejerk groups, possibly, but I...don't think that'll happen here.
Very few users follow Blinky, even though she makes sensible blogs. I guess that's just what's good versus what's popular.
(Incoming useless ramble.)
This may be my personal opinion, but she's the kind of person you won't find unless you're actively looking for her. [I first met Blinky as she was giving shitposting alt accounts Hell, found her blogs and read them and now I'm here.] She's never made any stories or talked about stuff in general unless certain events warrant the attention. So, I don't think butthurt people would seek her out and rant on her blogs.
Well, the butthurt can try, but the tears of pain they will cry as Blinky unleashes her counter-arguments against them will taste salty, just like their conduct.
Then again, I could be wrong about all of this.
(Ramble ends.)
Yeah, you can't be mean to RD.
But you can bitch and moan endlessly for the Wonderbolts ( or Starlight, or alicorn Twilight ) to be killed, humiliated or stripped of their ranks, because it's not childish and mean.
I hadn't intended to take a break from the site for several days; it just sort of happened. But now I'm glad that it did, 'cause it wasn't until a couple of days after the episode that I learned some people were upset by it. Members of a military-style organization are getting demonized for acting like members of a military-style organization? As the kids say on the intertubes these days, "I can't even."
And it wasn't until I saw this blog entry that I found out that people were apparently up in arms about the prior episode. Some of the folks in this fandom seriously need to get a grip.
I sort of feel an urge to write a blog entry myself about whiny fandom drama, but that'll probably go away once I've had some sleep.
Hmm...And here my only issue with the episode was having to watch RD be a dope some more. This is just silly, but then so is any fandom, if passionate means the same thing as radical. It really doesn't.
3937028
I'm...really concerned about clicking that. These people need to stop rocking the boat.
I think that the reason why the fan base put this show on such a pedestal, was because it premiered during a time when not a whole lot of good cartoons were coming out. During times of desperation, people will lunge over to anything that will boost their morale.
But with the rise of MLP analysts, and now this mess, it's obvious that this has gotten a bit out of hand. Hell, even I was at that point to demand it to be better. I'm glad I no longer am though. It really says a lot about how you feel towards it.
The show was never perfect, but I can see why people will glorify and expect way too much from it. Sadly, like you said, it's gone to the point where it's become obnoxious and downright sad.
Hardly a "friendly" reminder, but I agree with everything you've said.
Maybe it's just me but you sound kind of
salty
about the salt
3937761
Obsy, you should have figured this out by now. I'm always salty.
3937523
What can I say? It's my style.
3937028
Oh, I welcome them to try. I always love a good debate.
As for the show staff thing, I made mention of that in the blog. It's a bit of a shame that Twitter houses some of the more cancerous elements of the fandom, aside from tumblr, because that's where the staff seems to spend most of their time interacting with fans. This isn't the only time that they've been pestered like this -- last season, similar instances of such bullshit whining was commonplace -- but now it looks like it's finally starting to wear on them.
Probably takes the patience of a saint to put up with it all. I'm not saying that the majority of the fandom are blind idiots, but, the idiots are loud and obnoxious enough that it tends to drown out everything else. The internet has a way of making the contrarian minorities seem louder and larger than they really are.
3937316
Oh, it's been bad enough for quite some time, already. What really gets under my skin is how they demand so much from a show that they have no stake in nor any entitlement for. They demand stupid changes and retcons because it conflicted with their headcanons or triggered their sorry, sore asses. "Twilicorn is cancer, Twilight must be a unicorn again!" "The show has characters acting mean, it's promoting bullying!" "Starlight Glimmer did bad things, get rid of her!" "Keep that bitch away from my waifu!"
It's just... pathetic. It's sad that they seem to lack any self-awareness of what they're even doing anymore. They're too caught up in the ride to notice just how stupid they're behaving. If they really do hate the show so much and what it's doing, they why don't they just fucking stop watching the show? Stop whining about it in comment sections here and there? Stop fruitlessly harassing staff members on Twitter or otherwise? Is that really such a hard thing to do?
I mean, if they clearly have the time and energy to get mad about a kid's show on the internet, then surely said energy is better spent on, oh I dunno, real-world issues that actually matter?
All my thoughts on the episode drama in a nutshell.
Also, if all those "OMG I was bullied, this episode triggers me SO MUCH!!!one" folks were as annoying in their youth as they're now, it comes to me as no surprise that they were bullied (and now someone will probably feel triggered by this. Suck it up).
Sometimes, I wonder how the people causing this drama can tell their ass from a hole in the ground
I do love when you go full nuclear like this, especially on a target that really needs it. Perhaps this won't really accomplish anything in terms of actually stopping this behaviour, but it's always good to see it called out regardless.
Well I don't agree with all of this but the only part I was wondering about was this: I've not seen what you're describing. I've seen people disappointed, but by and large, the discourse has been reasonable. Ironically, this is one of the less reasonable-SEEMING bits of discourse I've seen: I am well aware that that is a stylistic choice that should not be taking seriously, hence the emphasized 'seeming'.
Anyway, do I just run in the wrong circles? Or rather, the right ones. I only check in on a few groups every now and then, because I have both a job and other hobbies, but I've just not seen things rise to the level described herein. That might be partially my perceptions: I argue largely as a therapeutic outlet, without really meaning it (It's obvious if you're talking to me in person), so I kind of assume other people are the same.
3937028 What staff member is that? I would like to point out that other people are getting 'butthurt' over people getting 'butthurt' over a tv show. That's like an MC Escher drawing of emotional responses, there. I don't know that any of those feeling are wrong in and of themselves, but apparently some people are improperly taking out their feelings on this one person on Twitter.
3937895 I rather hope you're taking the OP's caustic stylistic approach here. Otherwise, you come across a bit like you lack a sense of empathy.
Hmmm. Actually, there's one thing I'll put effort into smacking down:
Oh no you don't, bro.