Internet tough guys. Internet Warriors. Keyboard Warriors.
Can you remember a time when you’ve read a forum thread or comments from a news piece on Facebook where most of the posts were positive? I don’t either.
Every bit of news I read there are a plethora of people who just find the need to hate on everything they read. Lately I’ve just stopped reading about the news that interests me because when I read the comments I just get so pissed off that these “heroes” are so quick to judge and hate on everything. Whether it be based on movie news for a casting announcement, or a new movie coming out, a new writer on a comic series, a new artist coming on board for a comic series, a new cartoon being released, a new game announcement, news about game consoles and so on. They’re just so quick to start that I don’t think they manage to collect their thoughts first.
Little do these people care about how much effort and resources it takes for anything to happen at all. Another instalment of their favourite franchise, a movie sequel for a movie and more takes a lot of work to get ground work moving. Then there’s the creative process that takes place to create a world on film, or for a video game and more often then not they need a lot of this work done before making a treatment for a studio or company to green light the project. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes of everything these “haters” use or enjoy that they’ve painted themselves in such a corner over time that they can’t go into anything without discouraging and dismissing everything first. At this point there is nothing the movie studios or game companies can do to win them over.
Granted the most vocal haters are such a small percentage that it might not make that much of an impact but unfortunately the world is a more digital place at “word of mouth” can spread a lot faster now days: you get enough keyboard warriors hating on all the news articles and reports that more people are going to see this negativity and may also be swayed into having a tainted impression going with on their own merits.
How many times have you come across an article about something you’re really looking forward to and following that are pages of hating fanboys ragging on the direction of the movie or game in question like they’re a total industry pro? Personally I see this almost every time I read the comments. The sad thing is the only thing you can do is not respond or try and have conversation about it because these wankers are so hell bent in their misguided opinion that there’s no coming back for them or talking around it. That is them and that is all.
I have had the elite privilege to be at a table of people recently and we were discussing topics movie related. Mind you mostly comic book movies and Sci Fi. I kid you not, this was like the living embodiment of one of these forum threads. I was taken a back and just kept my mouth shut because I knew had I gotten involved I would have just gotten pissed off. Most of the time even the most critically favourable movies were tossed aside because of one thing they considered mundane and “janky” as someone put it. These are the kinds of people that find it impossible that a representation on screen that differs from how they personally perceive how it should have been done is a failure. They just can’t separate the fact to consider going into it that they might enjoy it on another level. It’s like reading a book and then seeing the movie, it’s not going to be how you imagined it as the movie is someone else’s interpretation. There is some merit to appeasing to the fans but a director should never be bound by that. Hell, even if a movie studio let “the fans” cast their properties there would still be haters. Mind you I’m not saying everything is good and their are no bad movies I’m just saying that the reasons these kinds of people choose are so nit-picky and ridiculous.
I guess all in all the only thing we can do is avoid these cretins like the plague and personally since I’ve avoided most of these articles, news releases and forums I used to frequent I have felt a mighty lot better. I feel myself appreciating every new movie and game, comic book or anything I enjoy on a new level. At the end of the day you need to remember that you can enjoy something you’re looking forward to as much as you want and you don’t need to listen to anyone else’s opinion. As long as you’re happy in what you enjoy that’s as far is should get.
It’s just a shame because like always it seems those who are happy and satisfied with things don’t feel the need to patrol the forums and waving their happy flags, it’s just that the ones that are making the most noise are the haters in their parent’s basement and have nothing better to do then be angry at everything. Maybe one day they’ll all sit back and realise things can be better if they just stopped being such pathetic keyboard warriors and woke up to themselves. Alas, I fear until they experience what it’s like to have a girlfriend or experience more in life, their energies will forever be aimed negatively at everything else they love.
Girls around the world I am calling on you. To stop the haters you must enlighten these “men-children” by any means possible. In the immortal words of Captain Planet: “The power is yours!”
-Chunt