We need to recognize both sides have a small group of outspoken idiots and a majority of normal people who just have different tastes.
I think the majority of normal people don’t have a side at all, and aren’t really engaged in this conversation, because they honestly don’t think about it to that extent once they’re done watching it. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that either. They watch the thing, they like parts of it, dislike others, and either they’re happy with their experience or they’re not. The majority of normal people just move onto the next thing at that point. They never join a side.
I understand the inclination to minimize the more unsavory aspects of online film discussion but in my experience, continually characterizing the sort of fighting, bad-faith arguing, and proxy/stand-in projection that occurs as being somehow anomalous or not representative is… inaccurate.
The “outspoken idiots” aren’t really a small group. Maybe they’re not the majority, but the margin is pretty slim, and more often than not they’re steering the ship.
I disagree. Most people see a movie and then either had a good time or a bad time. Yes, they’ll probably stop thinking about it once they get to their cars unless they really liked it, but they still had an opinion. You don’t have to argue online to have an opinion about something. Most won’t bring it up unless it gets brought up, then they might say their small opinion and move on without thinking about it again. That’s “a side”, even if not a passionate opinion.
It’s just the people who get really angry over trivial things such as this are more likely to rage about it online (keep in mind, I’m not addressing that towards anyone here, but the folks involved in those clickbait YT or saltier than crait).