G5 and Attitudes of Criticism in the Fandom · 1:46am May 30th, 2022
It seems that the more entrenched into internet discourse I become, the more I reflect on the etymology of the word, “fan.” I think I have said it before: that the word is commonly said to derive from “fanatic,” which Dr. Samuel Johnson, in his original definition of it, classified it as being “struck with a superstitious frenzy.”
I’ve long been aware that the My Little Pony fandom is not without its fanatics. Though I joined rather late to its development and have, regrettably, observed its thinning of its numbers, I do recall the stories about entitled and frankly toxic fans taking their supposed “love” for the show to dangerous heights. From simple trolling to active bullying, to death threats lodged at Amy Keating Rogers, to what is basically a hate-fest on Twitter deriding Season 9, it’s hardly, at this point, something we can really speculate on. The toxicity is an observed phenomenon, perhaps, and unfortunately, about as ingrained in not only the fandom’s identity, but perceived identity, as much as any of its greater and more beneficial works and endeavors.
I suppose, then, I should not really be surprised by the response to G5. The movie, the YouTube series, and the recently released special have all acquired responses that have varied from optimistic to pessimistic. Yet from what I have seen, that pessimistic side has started to rear its ugly head in far less conducive and critical ways than, I think, we ought to allow or entertain.
I’ve made my opinion on the movie, the Tell Your Tale series, and the special quite clear in previous blog posts, and would never have the arrogance to think that my opinion is, somehow, “correct.” But looking through FIMFiction and seeing a few blogs and threads about all three has indicated a pervasive and even extreme response that threatens to squash either reason or sanity, in favor of what amounts to a bunch of angry and vitriolic rants about the quality of all three. Even YouTube has seen fit to recommend a few channels and videos whose sole purpose is to degrade and bemoan G5’s first few steps.
It is not necessarily the difference in opinion that I take issue with, so much as it is the demeanor, behavior, and ultimate presentation of those opinions. Though I risk a lot by making this generalization, I believe the statistics may very well be on my side in this regard. Those who take issue with all three have presented themselves with incredible, presumptuous authority over the writers, the producers, the studio, and even, to an extent, those who actually enjoyed any or all of these forms of content, in a manner which reminds me very much of the entitlement that 20th century literary critics, like the late Harold Bloom, carried themselves with regards to non-literary work (notably Bloom’s hatred for Rowling and King for being little more than “popular hacks”).
That presumption is part of the problem. I hold that criticism should not operate under many presumptions, the least of which being that the critic knows more than the writer/artist/producing party. I hold this, because criticism—useful criticism—does not and should never seek to destroy the creative endeavor or the person behind it; rather, it should seek to uncover the function of the creative piece and evaluate where it works, where it doesn’t work, and analyze the factors that contribute to both. How I have written my reviews of fanfics is largely informed by this understanding, which contemporary, post-Bloom literary critics, like James Wood, Lauren Groff, Stephen Dobyns, and more, have employed. A critic in this manner seeks to elevate a work past its production and work with the author to better understand what they meant to do, and evaluate what they ended up doing.
Presumption itself is indicative of elitism, and elitism, I believe, is inherently anti-creative. Those who profess to be “of the elite,” of, saying, having a more informed opinion or understanding of the creative endeavor than those who create it, run the risk of speaking hogwash and presuming too much of their own abilities and understandings.
More than that, they run the risk of just coming across as plain rude and pedantic to the point of incomprehension. They may circle around the same logical fallacies such as appeal to ignorance, and, as has been the case for G5, appeal to tradition—I cannot state how many times I have seen the argument, “But G4 did it this way,” as a source of “viable criticism” for why G5 does things differently.
But where does this presumption stem from? Pulling from the teachings of Jung, I might say that they derive not from necessarily hatred per se—though that is, it would seem, the most prominent surface-level emotion—but, ironically, love: specifically, love for G4. Here, I must unfortunately speculate, but I believe that love for Friendship is Magic simply tints the perspective of these naysayers. What faults FiM had are erased under the spell of nostalgia and the demon of comparison, and certain factors are either exaggerated to suggest the show’s permanent “goodness” or ignored to do the same. The opposite may be true of G5, in that certain factors are exaggerated to explain a criticism’s justification, and points of actual objective merit are ignored or shoved aside in favor of the same doing.
Such presumption seems awfully entitled. I’ve already spoken at length about fandom entitlement, but it saddens me to see that Make Your Mark has had the unintentional side-effect of increasing that entitlement to blistering degrees. It’s gotten to the point where I am legitimately tired of engaging with supposed “discussion” about G5, when the “critics” insist on such harshness that discussion feels less constructive and more political. Equestria Daily is a cesspool of negativity over every conceivable “reason,” and certain groups on FIMFic have threads dedicated to repeated bashing.
One cannot help but feel almost isolated in the face of such overt negativity, and one cannot help but fear that they are somehow wrong for liking anything that G5 has put out. This, I think, is not the result of hyper-sensitivity, but rather, the affluence of internet discourse and the habit of online users to use emotional appeals to manipulate—however unintended this effect may be—others into agreeing with them.
That I should actually like the movie, not mind the YouTube series, and, despite my disappointment in the special, still hold optimistically for the future Netflix show, seems like a speck in the wind, a drop in a tumultuous ocean filled with a million shouting voices upset that this new generation is not the one they wanted.
Suddenly, it as though enjoying G5 and ponies together is a chore in and of itself. And I believe, if I am feeling this in the first place, that it is the result of a fandom that has grown increasingly polarized, increasingly toxic, and increasingly arrogant in its importance.
If anger and disappointment should continue to invade general responses to G5, that is no excuse for poorly constructed criticism that dismantles “the other” and disengages with actual thought. Nor is it an excuse to result in low-brow, elitist rhetoric and harsh generalizations about the intentions of a company or individuals. The often-cited and less-often-understood “Death of the Author” bears some mention here, because authorial intent ought to be rejected as a primary source not just in the work itself, but the factors around it, including entities such as corporations and paid writers and the like. We cannot fully understand the decisions behind the scenes, and speculation on that point is not good criticism. We can only look at the work as it is presented and evaluate not just it, but ourselves.
I am not saying this in order to announce my “departure” from the fandom, but rather, to highlight a perhaps overlooked consequence of the fandom itself—its influence on the individual’s sense of belonging. We come to fandoms wanting to find a place where those of similar interests can gather, where we can feel safe and not judged. But as attitudes continue to run unmitigated and anger and spite fuel discourse more than actual discussion, it becomes increasingly difficult to recognize that former “place of belonging.” It is no wonder that people have left the fandom before G4 ended, not because the show went in a direction they disagreed with (though that has happened), but because the fandom itself grew past its initial suppositions and began to ostracize those who had previously fled to it for refuge.
That G5 should result in further polarizing rhetoric, I think, is not indicative of the quality of the product towards any side, but rather indicative of a fandom that does not understand how to respond responsibly and how to cultivate a rich, engaging environment of like-minded individuals—like-minded not in the sense that everyone shares the same opinion, of course, but in the sense that everyone feels their opinion does matter equally.
It is a troublesome dilemma, one that may lead to greater changes in the fandom. But it’s still something we must observe, and, if anything, consider if it is something we truly desire. Are we still here because we love ponies, or were we here because we loved “our” ponies?
I don’t know. But I am tired, and am sure that many feel the same way.
As a Steven Universe fan, I feel this.
Sorry, not in the mood to read a wall of text.
I'm going to try and summarize what I did read.
Tldr: bunch a asshats are shitting on a show that has potential and isn't for them, I hate using that phrase, but it's apt.
All of this because "This is made for kids, I can't enjoy this anymore."
I get where they're coming from, but seriously just do what this fandom does best. Fanfiction.
How many alternate universe stories are there? That's how many you can make of this new series.
There are certain elitist attitudes in the fandom that bother me. We're on a fanfiction site, we reinvent elements from FiM the moment episodes come out. As we'll do with G5 so, what's the problem?
(I very much like Izzy as we see her in the movie and I really hope they don't make her out to be Pinkie 2.0, as an aside.)
I think someone described it as embarrassment somewhat. Some part of people can't accept they like a children's show so they reinvent it to be darker and more mature. While I'm not going to dictate how people write, I think it's important to keep the show's messages close to your heart.
I'm a bit rambling now but I guess my point is that G4 is right there. It's complete. You're not going to wait in vain for another episode. You can always revisit it.
If you can't see something for what it is, then you won't enjoy much of anything. It's okay to dislike something, but negativity is exhausting.
I guess it's why I found myself enjoying G4 fanfics more when it doesn't take its time to deconstruct and show how everything you like about the show doesn't make sense.
I much prefer reconstruction, to build on what's there while keeping true to the show's essence.
Anyways this was a ramble, so I guess I'll keep an open mind going into G5. And if I find myself disliking aspects of it, well, fanfiction's there. We can reconstruct.
Why can't the mlp fandom learn something from the supernatural family?
Don't have to worry about this stuff in the supernatural family mostly because it's a nurturing environment it's not even called the supernatural fandom it's called the supernatural family. I remember writing about how I was planning on taking Time off of one of the supernatural group I was in because I was depressed with in half a hour I had messages from 200 +people who didn't know me from Adam asking if I was all right if I needed someone to talk to gifs to Make me feel better.
That's what fandom should be.
I belive a similiare reaction was seen to Ben 10 reboot.
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I grant that differences between legacy shows are not only inevitable, but that they are likely to be unfavorable by virtue of being so different, and yet it seems to me that the differences factor far more hugely into supposed "criticism" of these shows than anything that feels like actual legitimate passion.
It is hard to like something when a vocal minority--a very vocal minority, to be sure--insist that it is fundamentally a "defeat" of the previous era, a needless retcon, a disgusting enterprise, a "cash grab," etc. Perhaps such remarks are justified in some capacity, but I'd like to think that until evidence--evidence beyond one movie, a YouTube short series, and one special; evidence that truly speaks to intentionality, not speculation--is presented to support them, then such remarks are little more than buzz phrases meant to incite, not enlighten.
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I've wondered before if such hostility towards G5, and, by extension, to certain aspects of G4 (such as later seasons), is because those who express it feel "threatened," in some way, by the subject of difference. If that is the case, it's a rather sad one. Something as innocent as a pony show/series shouldn't come with it.
I also prefer "reconstructive" responses to things I dislike, though I imagine that that gets used a lot to justify anger, not evolution. Perhaps I would add to this and say that "reclamation" as a response seems just as vital. It makes more sense, I think, to claim--and even re-claim--aspects of the show that you like, to engage with it positively, than to recklessly hone in on every perceived flaw and negative detail.
One thing I note about the nature of good criticism is that it doesn't ignore flaws, but it invites the reader/viewer/consumer to re-engage with them in the context of the work as a whole, in order to promote an understanding of the work. It doesn't harp. It helps; it educates; it elucidates. It bothers me that many "critics" in the fandom don't particularly emphasize this method, but I reflect that unless you actively seek out such a method, it's unlikely to cross anybody's radars.
I appreciate the ramble, though. It's good to ramble back in response to what amounts to a lengthy ramble of my own.
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I was, actually, thinking about the Supernatural fandom while writing this. While I have never watched the show nor engaged with it, I'm aware of its construction, movement, vibes, and so forth.
This is not to say that the fandom is not or was not without its own toxicity, and my understanding is the the last season did spark more than a few outraged responses. I have the benefit of not being exposed, however, to them, which is perhaps why they feel "less intense" in terms of voracity.
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The final season more like the last so does have fans divided 50% loved 50% hated it. Personally I think they did it pretty well we all knew from the beginning the Winchester Brothers weren't going to get a happy ending. That wasn't the problem though it was actually how dean it just felt like an insult to some people.
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I meant, like, every time I mentioned it (Steven Universe) IRL, that's what always came up. "That show with the toxic fanbase?" I think one of the show's artists got chased off social media.
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One of the artists got death threats over... I want to say, some sort of depiction of a character that went against fanon.
Though this is, of course, indicative of the danger of fandom and the phenomenon of entitlement.
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Not to mention the pointless non sensical discourse could potentially mislead people to their criticisms and tricked into thinking the series fucked up despite this not being the case
People like Misanthropony absolutely miss the point and uses bad criticism and somehow they get away with it