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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no subject
Date: 2010-10-04 12:09 am (UTC)It's simple entitlement of some in fandom to say those things, to simply go "ha you were wrong the show is back now" kind of deal, but again that's taking the easy route over the damage that's already been done. I'm not going to change my opinion on that.
And of course there are those that go, "we can't do anything about it." Yes, we can, it's called having a voice and speaking out about how we feel. I know that we can't change the premiere and whatever else they already filmed, but allowing them to hear our complaints would definitely be an accomplishment by letting them understand that we don't like what they're doing, so hopefully in the future they will fix all of this.
On a somewhat related note, I wonder if the love/hate difference is split equally across fandom, or if different sections (Sam/Dean, Dean/Cas, gen fans) are more one thing or the other.
I've been wondering this too, actually. At first I thought it would appease those who didn't like the angels/apocalypse stuff and just wanted Sam and Dean back together hunting things. But I've seen those people unhappy with the direction of the premiere and this season as well. While we need particular statistical research on this, I definitely think it's a split in fandom. I mean, regardless the characterizations and everything else was way off that even Sam and Dean, their relationship with each other, didn't even mesh up to how they used to be, whether before or after all this shit that happened between them in recent seasons.