“We as a fandom have to talk about-” No. No we don’t. You can talk about it if you want to. That’s fine, if that’s how you fandom then go for it. I hope it works out for you because I want you to enjoy your fandom experience. But if I’m in fandom for reasons that’s counter to, then I have no obligation to talk about it. I don’t have to talk about anything except what I want to.
“Okay but you have to talk about your fave’s flaws-” No! No I don’t! I have to be able to acknowledge those flaws when they come up. I have to be able to admit that my character has flaws, and accept when others talk about those flaws. But I don’t have to talk about them if I don’t want to. If I want to only focus on the better aspects of my fave, even if that means just shallowly talking about how hot they are, I can. That’s my choice, that’s how I’ve decided to enjoy them.
Fandom is meant to be fun. Fandom is meant to be a hobby. I don’t have to talk about any aspect of my favorite story or ship or character or writer or anything if I don’t want to. You know what’s not fun? Having to talk about the ways my favorite thing is bad every time I want to talk about it. Having to point out my favorite thing’s flaws instead of the things that makes me enjoy it. Having to disclaim before I get to sing something’s praises because “yeah I know it’s shit BUT”. No. I can know something is bad without needing to talk about it.
#oh#this is a hard one#i defintiely see fandom as escapism#i do like to have a safe happy space of sorts#but i do respect when people call things out#a lot of shows are problematic#and sometimes you don’t realize that until someone calls it out#it is hard to justify saying ‘oh hey just let me enjoy’ when something is actively hurting other people#at the same time#sometimes you do need to take a break from negativity @fic-rec-a-day
Let me tell you a secret: Every piece of media you consume is actively hurting people in some way, shape, or form. And yes, as I’ve said in multiple additions to this post, these conversations are important. The fact that humans are fallible and imperfect does not mean we should stop trying to be better.
But no one is obligated to take part in these conversations. No one is obligated to join in the fandom discourse. This post wasn’t about saying “these conversations need to stop” or even “these conversations need to happen less”. This post is about the attitude that the conversations are an obligation for the entire fandom.
There is no required level of discourse a person is required to partake in before they’re allowed to just enjoy something, nor is there a guard at the door to check off whether you’re aware enough about the problematic aspects of the thing you like to be able to talk about the fun stuff. You don’t owe anyone an explanation, and there exists no law that says you have to engage with the more negative aspects of fandom.
Current fandom culture, however, has this attitude that you do have this obligation, and it’s harmful. I’ve seen people try to post about that thing they enjoy and they can’t get through even a short post without going “yeah, I know, it’s bad”, I’ve seen actual friendships fall apart because one member didn’t disclaim enough about how they knew this character was shit, they just found them interesting to explore, and the other couldn’t handle this. This attitude of “we as a fandom have to talk about-” is also actively hurting people, and it needs to stop.
Let people enjoy their things. Have the conversations you want to have about the bad stuff. They’re important, I won’t begrudge you. But don’t assume that just because someone isn’t partaking of the discourse means that they aren’t aware, or aren’t even just having them in private. Give people the benefit of the doubt, and don’t rain on their good time. You don’t know the whole story, and they don’t owe it to you anyway.
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TheOriginalGodsGirlRachel 