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Post #1234356

Author
DrDre
Parent topic
Taking a stand against toxic fandom (and other )
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1234356/action/topic#1234356
Date created
15-Aug-2018, 3:27 AM

I think it all boils down to how we engage with fans and people in general. It’s allways tempting to cross the line from respectful to disrespectful behaviour in order to “win” the debate, or to vent frustration. I’ve crossed that line a number of times myself, first with Frink, where I inadvertently insulted him and his family, because I wanted to “win” the discussion. Then there was the spat with oojason, where I vented my frustration by attacking his moderation of the forum. It’s just choosing the wrong path to address issues, that might also have been resolved in a respectful manner.

Let’s also not forget that respect goes both ways. If a person promotes diversity, and wants to empower women, that doesn’t automatically imply they hate men. At the same time if a person is conservative, and wants to preserve a certain subculture, that doesn’t automatically imply they hate women. Using the example of the “Mary-Sue” debate, respect imo means saying to someone who’s offended by that word: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I’ll try to phrase my arguments differently”. However, it also means saying to the user of the phrase: “Sorry, I should have realized you didn’t mean to offend, and I will not judge you for using that phrase in the future”. Respect does not mean “my way or the highway”. Too often the reaction in such debates is: “Screw the other side. I will use the phrase as often as I like, and throw it in an extra time to troll”, or “Screw the other side. I will not engage with anyone using that phrase, because I feel the phrase is bad, and so anyone using it is an *******.”

When I stated I wear my TLJ shirt proudly, I meant it, not because I love TLJ, but because I love Star Wars, and TLJ is a part of that. Just like with people I accept the “bad” with the good. It’s just so petty to mock others for liking things you don’t like, or vice versa. If someone feels the PT is better than the OT, good for them. If someone prefers the SE over the OOT that’s great too. Rather than to just focus on why you dislike a certain movie, lets not forget there are millions of kids out there who got their minds blown by TLJ, and became Star Wars fans because of it, just like the PT and the OT before it, and that’s awesome. I can’t help but believe, that at least part of the reason the OOT wasn’t restored by Lucas, is because of fan toxicity. Lucas of course also had his own reasons, but I think toxic behaviour following the release of the SE, and the PT strengthened his resolve in this regard. That’s why I still hope that one day Lucas will be able to see a fan restoration like Legacy, and say to himself, I never knew the original film could look this good, let’s get this out there. That would bring things full circle for me.