People like to point to the late Sixties through the late Eighties, the era Gen-X grew up, as the start of Geek Culture’s Golden Age. In a two-decade span, you saw the rise of DOCTOR WHO, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, STAR TREK, STAR WARS, BATTLESTAR: GALACTICA, and so many more science-fiction and fantasy films and TV series. The kids who watched from their living rooms and theater seats had their minds blown by some wonderful stuff.
They also found out that it was not cool at all to like “space stuff,” as I was told repeatedly. The name-calling was constant. “Space freak,” “super dork,” “waste case,” the list goes on in my head. While I was never stuffed in a locker as a kid, I was lumped into a different strata of social class growing up, and my tiny circle of friends were just as nerdy as I was. We all liked the same stuff, and anyone else who liked it was welcomed as part of the group.
I’m reminded of this experience when I read stories of toxic fandoms today, and how many ostracized kids have turned into bullying adults today.
The latest example is the word that Kelly Marie Tran, who was introduced as a new character in THE LAST JEDI, deleted her social media accounts after an unending barrage of racist and misogynistic messages from people who disliked her character.
This follows Daisy Ridley’s similar move of shuttering her social accounts, following a campaign of harassment by people who could not stand a woman as the center of the next STAR WARS trilogy.
If you search the term “toxic fandom,” you’ll see far too many examples in the current climate. RICK & MORTY. THE WALKING DEAD. STAR WARS. STEVEN UNIVERSE. MY LITTLE PONY. Each of these shows have legions of folks who sincerely love the films and series… and a subset who interpret that love as a license to dictate what a “true fan” is allowed to be, how the writers need to kowtow to their wishes, and harangue anyone who does not fall into their rigid guidelines of what is right for the property.
These people see themselves as the gatekeepers of their fiefdom. The shows’ creators owe them fealty, because they spend their time and money supporting the show and being loud cheerleaders for it.
It’s the same behaviour I saw in grade school, by the bullies who took great care to inform me that I would never be cool, or worthy of love and attention, because I was different from the “normal” kids around me.
I have to wonder how many of these toxic avengers are enacting passive revenge on the tormentors of their past, because the things they were being ridiculed for decades ago are now the height of popular culture now. Superheroes and science fiction dominate the landscape, with Marvel and STAR WARS leading the ultra-blockbuster charge. The nerd who was being stuffed in a locker is now seen as ahead of the curve. The geek has inherited the earth, and in some instances become the very bullies they ran from in grade school.
It wasn’t acceptable then, and it’s just as unacceptable now.
Before you start saying, “Hey, #NotAllFans, dude,” just stop yourself right there. It doesn’t work with any toxic situation, and it doesn’t work here. Only by denying the bully element of fandom purchase in your neck of the woods do you absolve yourself of guilt in this. This applies to me as well. (I shouted out, ‘Who Killed STAR WARS,’ when after all, it was you and me.)
There is no easy solution to this. The very definition of “fan” is “a person exhibiting excessive enthusiasm and intense uncritical devotion toward some subject.” That kind of devotion can turn negative on a pinhead, and certain personality types are prone to it more than others.
It’s our job to not let the assholes ruin the thing that inspire and thrill the following generations of nerds. Vigilance. Perseverance. Those have to be our rallying cries.
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