PSA: I have a voice, I will use it.
Oct. 2nd, 2010 06:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452Due to recent events in fandom, I think it's time to address certain issues to anyone who reads my journal.
As someone who has opinions on various subjects, I don't appreciate being told to silence myself because others don't agree with my viewpoints. I have the right to say how I feel about something, especially if it's something that I truly care about. I can be heavily opinionated and critical at times along with very positive and optimistic, and I always try to rationalize and come to a common ground on such issues that I previously had a momentary reactionary response to. Because of what has happened in fandom there's been a huge divide, by those who express their opinions openly and those who think anyone that doesn't think highly of something are "haters" and are purely negative. I don't expect everyone to agree with my stances or opinions, in fact I encourage opposition because I do want to have civil debates and come to a middle ground on certain things in order to understand them better or gain a different perspective. Anyone who has known me for a while knows I do this with my meta discussions quite a bit. I have a reactionary response, and then the analytical part of my brain starts working. That's just how I roll.
Am I less of a fan for voicing my opinions on something I disagree with? Absolutely not. I feel that as fans we should be able to discuss our likes and dislikes about what is happening in fandom, because otherwise if we only spoke positively where would that get us? Not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows, in fact when pointing out flaws and the mistakes and even speaking out against what is happening, it may be noticed and might be corrected if TPTB are listening to their audiences. This is the purpose of a fanbase, you see, and there are plenty of examples of this having been successful because of the fans making their voices known and heard by the masses.
I am not apologizing for speaking my mind on certain things, and I'm certainly not going to censor myself just because others disagree with my viewpoints and don't want to hear it.
Also, please note that being critical isn't the same as being negative. There's a massive difference between hating a particular fandom and hating the direction and how it's being handled. I think many are confusing the two, and while I understand people are still running on high emotions and being reactionary, it's getting to be ridiculous having to explain myself and defend my stance to those who don't understand or refuse to listen.
As someone who has opinions on various subjects, I don't appreciate being told to silence myself because others don't agree with my viewpoints. I have the right to say how I feel about something, especially if it's something that I truly care about. I can be heavily opinionated and critical at times along with very positive and optimistic, and I always try to rationalize and come to a common ground on such issues that I previously had a momentary reactionary response to. Because of what has happened in fandom there's been a huge divide, by those who express their opinions openly and those who think anyone that doesn't think highly of something are "haters" and are purely negative. I don't expect everyone to agree with my stances or opinions, in fact I encourage opposition because I do want to have civil debates and come to a middle ground on certain things in order to understand them better or gain a different perspective. Anyone who has known me for a while knows I do this with my meta discussions quite a bit. I have a reactionary response, and then the analytical part of my brain starts working. That's just how I roll.
Am I less of a fan for voicing my opinions on something I disagree with? Absolutely not. I feel that as fans we should be able to discuss our likes and dislikes about what is happening in fandom, because otherwise if we only spoke positively where would that get us? Not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows, in fact when pointing out flaws and the mistakes and even speaking out against what is happening, it may be noticed and might be corrected if TPTB are listening to their audiences. This is the purpose of a fanbase, you see, and there are plenty of examples of this having been successful because of the fans making their voices known and heard by the masses.
I am not apologizing for speaking my mind on certain things, and I'm certainly not going to censor myself just because others disagree with my viewpoints and don't want to hear it.
Also, please note that being critical isn't the same as being negative. There's a massive difference between hating a particular fandom and hating the direction and how it's being handled. I think many are confusing the two, and while I understand people are still running on high emotions and being reactionary, it's getting to be ridiculous having to explain myself and defend my stance to those who don't understand or refuse to listen.
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if you've got nothing nice to say, sit next to me ya fierce bitch.
Date: 2010-10-02 06:21 pm (UTC)as if mindless, uncritical squee is the only way to approach fandom. i love squee. i think it's great if you turn off yr brain and turn on yr fanheart and just love everything canon source provides, but i don't think it makes me less of a fan if i sometimes criticize or am disappointed with the direction the show is going.
(had two arguments last week. one where someone defended Lisa to me by implying that my critique of her as a single mom unthinkingly clinging to a dude she'd had a one-weekend stand was foolish of her was somehow me condemning ALL single mom's ever & another one trying to defend the writing of the show through an ode to Jared's acting. cheap shots both, if i do say so myself.)
don't worry about it, bb. people in this Fandom sometimes turn into zealots, and i want to tell them that it's not a religion, that it's not love it blindly or leave it cold. that i can love the show just like i love everything else i do love in my life, with a forgiving but deep knowledge of its flaws.
they can have their own little corner of fandom, and
i'llwe'll havemineours.Re: if you've got nothing nice to say, sit next to me ya fierce bitch.
Date: 2010-10-04 11:50 am (UTC)I would just love to approach a fandom with unconditional squee like some people do. However my brain isn't wired like that. I tend to be critical and analytical with anything I watch. And really, if one doesn't at least acknowledge the flaws in something, especially in something that they love, then they are really flying with blinders on.