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2018-Dec-21, Friday 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felicitygsIt is easy, I think, to fall in love with characters. It is easy to think everyone should view a character the same way you do, that everyone should interpret things that happen the same way you do. It's so easy, and it's so easy to identify so strongly with certain characters that sometimes we lose the forest for the trees, and take everything that happens to that character--and, by proxy, everything other people say about that character--as a personal attack on ourselves.
This isn't limited to any one fandom; I think we all, in every fandom, know someone who projects themselves so fully onto the characters that they love most. Goodness knows I'm not free of this; I certainly have had characters in the past where anything negative about them, anything that I personally perceived as a wrong-doing, would set me frothing at the mouth. It took active, thoughtful effort to grow out of that. Part of the beauty of fandom is our ability to empathize so strongly with these characters who, at the end of the day, only exist in our collective heads.
The major issue I have with this identification is when--and this is not a new problem--it becomes so solidified that the person forgets that other people do not--cannot--view that same media and same character though the same lens as they themselves. It's impossible. And, one step further, when they begin to view these other people who do not agree with their personal interpretation(s) as so much other that it crosses from general critique and discussion to outright viewing this other as stupid/idiotic/blind/etc etc. That there, that's when I go from "well, agree to disagree" to outright upset.
We are all unique; we all have different life experiences. We all have backgrounds that help inform our particular viewings of media, characters, stories, life. It is so important to step back and remember this about other fans, and to understand that they have a different viewpoint. Does this make all other viewpoints valid? Absolutely not! I certainly wouldn't say someone who is a genuine fan of, say, Birth of a Nation is a good person worth my consideration or kindness. This empathy for other viewpoints can (and by necessity, should) only be extended so far. People forget that, too--that there are limits to empathy, and aphobes and Nazis and TERFS all love to take advantage of that--but that's a post for a different day, full of landmines I can't navigate here, in a (somewhat) brief reminder.
To get back on track, ultimately what it boils down to is it is vital to remember, when critiquing/complaining about a piece of media, that the other people who enjoyed it are coming at it from different perspectives, that they are no less human than you. Fandom is beautiful because of the vast web of experiences we all bring to the table, not despite it. Be as inflammatory and angry in your critique and complaints as you like; goodness knows Film Crit Hulks all caps reviews always felt angry to me. But there's a line crossed, to me at least, when that complaint/critique dips into painting all fans of said media with a broad brush and insulting them for their opinions being different than yours.
This isn't limited to any one fandom; I think we all, in every fandom, know someone who projects themselves so fully onto the characters that they love most. Goodness knows I'm not free of this; I certainly have had characters in the past where anything negative about them, anything that I personally perceived as a wrong-doing, would set me frothing at the mouth. It took active, thoughtful effort to grow out of that. Part of the beauty of fandom is our ability to empathize so strongly with these characters who, at the end of the day, only exist in our collective heads.
The major issue I have with this identification is when--and this is not a new problem--it becomes so solidified that the person forgets that other people do not--cannot--view that same media and same character though the same lens as they themselves. It's impossible. And, one step further, when they begin to view these other people who do not agree with their personal interpretation(s) as so much other that it crosses from general critique and discussion to outright viewing this other as stupid/idiotic/blind/etc etc. That there, that's when I go from "well, agree to disagree" to outright upset.
We are all unique; we all have different life experiences. We all have backgrounds that help inform our particular viewings of media, characters, stories, life. It is so important to step back and remember this about other fans, and to understand that they have a different viewpoint. Does this make all other viewpoints valid? Absolutely not! I certainly wouldn't say someone who is a genuine fan of, say, Birth of a Nation is a good person worth my consideration or kindness. This empathy for other viewpoints can (and by necessity, should) only be extended so far. People forget that, too--that there are limits to empathy, and aphobes and Nazis and TERFS all love to take advantage of that--but that's a post for a different day, full of landmines I can't navigate here, in a (somewhat) brief reminder.
To get back on track, ultimately what it boils down to is it is vital to remember, when critiquing/complaining about a piece of media, that the other people who enjoyed it are coming at it from different perspectives, that they are no less human than you. Fandom is beautiful because of the vast web of experiences we all bring to the table, not despite it. Be as inflammatory and angry in your critique and complaints as you like; goodness knows Film Crit Hulks all caps reviews always felt angry to me. But there's a line crossed, to me at least, when that complaint/critique dips into painting all fans of said media with a broad brush and insulting them for their opinions being different than yours.