In, the internet, we are all connected. Through websites like ComicBookMovie, we are given the privilege of instant gratification for the latest updates on the superhero mediums we love, and we essentially become connected as community of people who all love (and often grew up with) the superhero genre. Freedom of speech allows us to freely express our opinions and disposition on things. However, there are those people - who you'd often refer to as "raging fanboys" - who are threats to our personal expression and our liking for certain movies.
As a "casual" visitor to the website, it may come across that I have a limited frame of reference on the issue. While this may be true, this issue is not limited to only ComicBookMovie.com. In fact, we see its prevalence on other websites such as IGN and SuperHeroHype and therefore all aware of it. As long as there are websites where people can share there thoughts, there will always be those raging "fanboys" who will abuse their freedom of speech by either :
A) Excessively nitpicking every possible aspect of a movie and vulgarly troll how "shitty" a movie is
or
B) Being overly defensive of a movie and ignorantly disregarding any opposing opinion (sometimes to the extent of personal offense)
As mentioned above, the first of the two dominant forces involved in the detriment of respectful interaction/expression on websites, are the trolls who nitpick every aspect of a movie. These are the people who will base their judgements based on semi-obscure stills from a movie, or superficial assumptions that have no relation to what will make a movie enjoyable. They paint a negative image of a movie in their heads and thus, they continue to become fixated on what a movie does wrong, rather than what it does right. They can't identify what's good in a movie anymore because they are too busy pondering its faults - in effect, ruining the movies for themselves.
While this may not seem to be such an issue based on what I've told you, these people are a problem because they are too vocal in their expression to the degree of irritation and offense. Not only will they advertise all the flaws of a movie in hopes of ruining it for other people, they also often shout really vulgar abuse to both the people behind the film and those who take interest in it. They will utter how "shitty" something is and then insult you and the director for what you think about the film. I mean, just because you are free to give your opinion on something, it doesn't mean you have the right to vulgarly slander anyone.
Likewise, whereas the trolls trounce on both you and the movie for shallow reasons, there are also those defensive fanboys who ignorantly defecate on your opinion for it does not coincide with theirs.
The issue here is not that these people will debate you on an opinion; that is perfectly fine if they do. It is that certain raging fanboys will incessantly and disrespectfully dispute your claims. When you don't like a movie, these people will do things such as ignorantly take a personal shot at you or talk about how you're an idiot for not appreciating what they appreciate.
What is so wrong about disliking a movie? Being "good" is subjective after all and everyone is legally entitled to an opinion. Therefore not everyone has to enjoy a movie. To all the raging defensive fanboys:
This may seem like a harsh reality check, but to tell you the truth: not everyone has to like what you like.
As opposed to saying "you suck for liking this" or " F*** the director, he deserves to die", saying that something is "bad" or "terrible" or even "a poor judgement" is not necessarily offensive and thus is nothing to be angry about. It is merely a . Sure some words such as "terrible" have a negative connotation, people should recognize that those words (if used with good intentions) are often used to strongly enforce a point. As long as they do not personally offend anyone or anything, exhibiting disdain is nothing that should prompt an angry reaction. I mean, if these people are offended when other people call movies bad, then they seriously need to re-evaluate their sensibilities.
As hard as it is for these raging fanboys to understand, there are respectful ways to point out faults of a movie and dispute someone else's opinion on somethings. Pardon the name dropping (or the fact that this may come across as sucking up) but two of the only CBM users that I recognize -
BattlinMurdock and
Tainted87 are examples of users on the site who know how to express opinions in a civilized manner. Both of them have been very vocal in their disappointment with The Amazing Spider-Man and while I do not agree with everything they say (as I thoroughly enjoyed the movie) I commend them for they point out objective flaws with the movie and they don't say childish things such as "the director is a douche".
I know that this is the internet. I know that you don't care about who is on the other side of the screen. I know you aren't here to serve anyone or follow anyone's rules. However, it is important that these raging fanboys realize that we are all part of a supposedly open comic book community.This is not merely a CBM issue, it is an issue that plagues the whole internet. Civilized opinion expression and respectful debate are virtues that we can practice in order to keep the internet safe and enjoyable.
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