The FanEffect

Whoah! It's been six months since my last blog which was titled Hit or Miss - Arkham City Portrayals. I know, I know, I've starved my good people. Well, I've been desiring to get on my social high-horse and talk about something which has been sitting closely to me for a long time!

The FanEffect

Brilliant post, i believe, in light of recent happenings, and happenings from more than three years ago, topics like these need to get at least some sort of recognition, stat.

As a Storm fan, one of the most vocal and as have recently been described, "argumentative", i'll speak for the character's case. I haven't been a member of CV for too long, i think by now my time here should accumulate to one and a half years, not too long.

I (like many others) was not aware of the prejudice Storm and anything or anyone related to her could recieve upon entering a thread, i made no hesitation to let fellow CV users aware of my love (there, i said it, don't take my word for it, though, LOL) for the character, Storm, she's the first ever comic-book related character i laid eyes upon (actually, that was Superman) and after watching almost every single episode of X-Men TAS as a naive little seven year old i was smitten.

The feeling hasn't changed since. Moving back, the whole "hate" thing to me, was just odd, i didn't get it and didn't see the reason why grown men and women would hold personal vendettas against a fictional character, i just didn't and couldn't. Everywhere i went i would find snarky and petty comments like "Storm sucks ballz" or for example, if some CBR preview pages concerning Storm were posted on a thread somewhere "Storm fanboys must be having a seizure in response to this", like, as if the majority of us are THAT crazy, which, were not !!

And here are two examples that actually annoyed me, when i posted scans of Storm beating Emma Frost (i'll admit i was coming off a little whacko, but that fact that i was proving a correct point and everything was in cannon...not some silly claim...), i was replied to with "Look, you're a fanboy, which is a euphemism for a semi-sentient cancer" then when i entered the Storm Vs Enchantress thread, NOT saying that Storm would win (i'll admit, i was coming off a bit whacko here, but i was new...so sue me), never did i ever say that she could win, but that thread was where the word "Prejudice" went to an all time high, all i did was put up a good backing for my fave character, so sue me. I even admitted off the bat that Enchantress would win. All i needed to do was apparently claim that Storm could possibly weild the title or Sorceress Supreme (which is a FACT, go to her f*cking page if you don't believe me -__-) and BAM! Everything went fuzzy from then on, go to page 5, you'll get a detailed explanation. I was extremely offended and shocked, from that experience and several others analogous to that, i learnt quite alot. (This should also be a some-what rude awakening to those who constantly say that Storm fans are aggresive and such...>.> wonder why ?)

Later on a name was popping up, of a certain user who was more or less the foundation of all this "hate", i wont name-drop because that would be...silly LOL. I did some research, and, well...i guess you could say i kinda sorta got where they were coming from, it was understandable coming from a different perspective. He was the embodiment of an unstoppable and malignant virus who fed and lusted upon the dismay of an infinite number of...others. I won't go into detail because that would be a drag.

Coming towards the present, in short, we've all (Storm fans) grown and endured those more perilous times of...that.

But to the point of this blog, i think both the fans and the users who take offense to the character because of their fans are at fault. Anytime i see the sentence "I used to like Storm, but stopped liking her after i came into CV because of her fans" or simply put "I started to dislike Storm after i came across her fans" (the general deduction of that would be the said speaker never liked or disliked the character to being with) i have to face-palm for a bit, because honestly, i do not see how the actions of a user(s) should affect your liking a character, i just don't, till this day i don't, and when i do see people roll out that over-used phrase, i'll call them band-wagoners because that's exactly what they're doing, jumping on the band-wagon without an actual excuse other than one that's been callously thrown about since a millenia ago.

We just need to live and learn, move on.

Soz for the massive rant LOL.

Whilst I wouldn't say that I would ever lose interest in a character I have grown up with and somewhat clung onto, I do see why some people start to get annoyed because other individuals say things so much about a specific thing that it can make you reel every time you hear about it with that character. It is just like Spiderman for me, I used to reallllly like the character but marvel themselves managed force feed me him in virtually every comic I touched until I started to lose some interest. Now whilst I have never been a fan of him as much as say storm, It did change my opinion somewhat of his character.

I know I can sometimes lose the plot when arguing in favour of storm, especially when it is over say a fight between her and Jubilee and some people flame bait to the point it makes my blood boil. I quite like having debates over storm and Thor fighting because I don't feel it is as one sided as most people think. They both have their unique skills that each other don't have, and at the end of the day it depends on the writer at the time. Storm is a very good example of a character who has been written to show incredible feats but then not be able to whip up a bolt of lightning without feeling the strain. The thing I hate is when people dismiss things that have actually been written because "ITZ STOOPID AND NOT POZIBLE". In my eyes, it doesn't matter how a character wins a fight, if they win they win. obviously Thor is more likely to win but there are probably occasions storm could.

But yes, its a good blog post :) haha.

The positive and the negative... You can’t have one without the other.

I used to be indifferent towards Thor, I really like norse mythology but Marvels take never really caught my eye but now I actively hate the character! Every time I see his fans bitch and moan that sombody got a punch in or that only galaxy busting characters should have chance at beating him or that Marvel hate the chara

I used to be indifferent towards Thor, I really like norse mythology but Marvels take never really caught my eye but now I actively hate the character! Every time I see his fans bitch and moan that sombody got a punch in or that only galaxy busting characters should have chance at beating him or that Marvel hate the chara

@RainEffect: Even if I don't necessarily agree with every single point you made, the fact that you wrote a blog about it is a good thing IMO (and yeah, some fans can really be irritating ;p). Anyway, good job!

@AgeofHurricane said:

But to the point of this blog, i think both the fans and the users who take offense to the character because of their fans are at fault. Anytime i see the sentence "I used to like Storm, but stopped liking her after i came into CV because of her fans" or simply put "I started to dislike Storm after i came across her fans" (the general deduction of that would be the said speaker never liked or disliked the character to being with) i have to face-palm for a bit, because honestly, i do not see how the actions of a user(s) should affect your liking a character, i just don't, till this day i don't, and when i do see people roll out that over-used phrase, i'll call them band-wagoners because that's exactly what they're doing, jumping on the band-wagon without an actual excuse other than one that's been callously thrown about since a millenia ago.

QFT!

This is something I could never understand. Writers can (and often) ruin characters and disappoint their fans with certain decisions, that's a fact and sadly it makes sense. However I don't see what influence those "fanboys" can have when it comes to the appreciation of a character.

Sure, some threads can be silly and some fans a little too stubborn but what do we care? I've come across some fans like that and you know what, that didn't stop me from enjoying a character or a movie. The only thing they managed to do is piss me off to the point where I want to punch them in the face.

Bottom line, hating a character because some of his fans are irritating is ridiculous because as long as you still enjoy reading about said character there shouldn't be any problem. All this hate shouldn't be directed towards the character and his/her fans in general but rather towards the people who keep trolling and are deliberately pissing off everyone.

@hectorsquall said:

@RainEffect: Even if I don't necessarily agree with every single point you made, the fact that you wrote a blog about it is a good thing IMO (and yeah, some fans can really be irritating ;p). Anyway, good job!

@AgeofHurricane said:

But to the point of this blog, i think both the fans and the users who take offense to the character because of their fans are at fault. Anytime i see the sentence "I used to like Storm, but stopped liking her after i came into CV because of her fans" or simply put "I started to dislike Storm after i came across her fans" (the general deduction of that would be the said speaker never liked or disliked the character to being with) i have to face-palm for a bit, because honestly, i do not see how the actions of a user(s) should affect your liking a character, i just don't, till this day i don't, and when i do see people roll out that over-used phrase, i'll call them band-wagoners because that's exactly what they're doing, jumping on the band-wagon without an actual excuse other than one that's been callously thrown about since a millenia ago.

QFT!

This is something I could never understand. Writers can (and often) ruin characters and disappoint their fans with certain decisions, that's a fact and sadly it makes sense. However I don't see what influence those "fanboys" can have when it comes to the appreciation of a character.

Sure, some threads can be silly and some fans a little too stubborn but what do we care? I've come across some fans like that and you know what, that didn't stop me from enjoying a character or a movie. The only thing they managed to do is piss me off to the point where I want to punch them in the face.

Bottom line, hating a character because some of his fans are irritating is ridiculous because as long as you still enjoy reading about said character there shouldn't be any problem. All this hate shouldn't be directed towards the character and his/her fans in general but rather towards the people who keep trolling and are deliberately pissing off everyone.

No point in writing anything, both of you summed up my take on this perfectly.

Great choice of Blog Topic. This should have more replies.

Amazing blog <3

I think this blog is kind of ridculous and a cop-out to be honest. People just need to grow up.

While I can understand why some users on this site can be annoyed by Storm fans (there really is only a couple of Storm fans that can be problematic), or Batman fans, or Thor fans, or Superman fans (I could add a few more names here easily), I just don't see how that would have any impact on how a person would perceive said character or act toward their fans. I can appreciate being passionate about a character and letting a heated debate get the better of us every once in a while, but we are talking about fictional characters at the end of the day, and this is more about choices of personal conduct than anything else.

It is simply a very lame excuse to try and justify being unnecessarily antagonistic (and immature) toward the characters' fans, and users who do that WANT to be this way. They aren't forced to read or respond to a poster or a thread they find annoying. I also don't see any of these "annoyed" users going to the Thor, Superman, or Batman forums to troll and post flame bait and insultive comments there. They somehow always end up at the Storm forum threads.

I too get annoyed at certain users on this site sometimes, other Storm fans included, but I don't go out of my way to talk crap to them, since it won't change anything except for lead to arguments that will end up in warnings or eventually getting banned.

Live and let live goes a long way to keeping your sanity on CV. It's really not that serious.

Cool blog. Great process of articulating your thoughts.  
 
The mindset I find involved in starting to dislike a character or anything just because other people overstate their preferences in that character or thing, or take their fandom to extreme levels is something I actually find really unfortunate because its basically about misidentifying and laying responsibility (punishment or reward) at the wrong cause or actual object or person responsible. This is what would be a small symptom of a human trait that actually causes a hell of a lot of bigger and more concerning problems in real life, and so in many ways eliminating such idiosyncrasies even on the levels of entertainment, like comics, could you know, go a long way towards fixing more important issues. Its funny too, because a lot of my favorite people, smart people I have seen develop harbor and negative attitudes towards things just because of ignorance and just by letting another persons obsession with a character influence their preferences. Think of how that could apply itself in so many other contexts. Lets sentence innocent people because their lawyer just rubs me the wrong way. Lets make fun of real people and wish them harm because their fans are obsessive. Lets neglect the idea that such attitudes also means that things were like could possibly fall victim to similar behavior and attitudes. So much time and effort and money in real life is wasted by not actually dealing with problems but only the symptoms of problems.  
 
Another factor here is the tickle effect. Humans perceptions aren't perfect nor objective. The reason why people are ticklish is because it can be hard for our skin to anticipate the sensations caused by light brushing off our skin by certain things. THis is why its really hard to tickle yourself, relative to others, because its easier to anticipate. This is similar to many other human interactions, like injury and insult to person and character. Often when a person is offended, how they perceive the action that they would have been offended by, if they retaliate, they will try to retaliate in equal measure, or at least not in a way that is disproportional. If someone shouts out something rude to someone, that person can usually just shout something back rude, not always, but typically its more common for that to happen than that person launch a nuclear bomb at the other guy. Thing is usually they add a little bit more sting to their retaliation, and things can escalate, if the process continues. What that actually means in the context of say a character like Storm is that a persons irrational hatred of her can and often cause more irrational defense, and vice versa. A Storm fans irrational defense of her can cause irrational attacks on her. It doesn't even have to be irrational, just often a perceived rational defense or attack, can and often becomes flawed without careful consideration and a conscious strive for objectivity. I could get a lot more complex but I won't here. Oh and funny thing is that a certain Storm fan a lot of people talk about, I have seen a lot of their posts and its funny, since for al the negativity they have generated, I never actually saw them be mean or rude to someone. A moderator dealt with their obsessive fan appreciation where deemed fit (creating far too many threads about the character) , but otherwise I just think its a sad reflection that so many have been so negative to a person. Person could have been a young kid or struggling with a mild physical, mental or psychological condition or issues, and their are far more people without such a character obsession doing far more directed negative things that people just overlook or couldn't care less about because its not as easy when there isn't a comic character attached to it. So basically people are more tolerant of real people being made fun of or insulted but fictional character fan appreciation and deappreciation on the other hand lol                  

I think many fan bases really need to take the high road and make an Official thread for the character. I really think Thor, Wonder Woman, and Batman could use one and if they are sucessful "the Storm one has been so far" then make them for other characters as well. I really hate being generalized or judged for the actions of other people just because I am a fan.

Yeah, I used to hate Superman, but now I really hate Superman.

Agreed, sometimes it works with other things too

a bit sensitive but fanatics are bad in every subject especially in religion

stay off the battle forums. problem solved!

You have to like a character for who they are and what they bring to the team/comic/storyline...whatever. Screw what cracked-out idiots post about them. Storm is one of my faves (and yes I find comments from some of the nut jobs abysmal) BUT I have my reasons why I like her and with that I can ignore and even laugh at the crazies. Same goes for Bats.

Great blog. Just great.

Nice work.

Hilarious Greg Land pic of Storm.

You just know there was more going on in the picture he traced.

Great blog. Just great.

Nice work.

Hilarious Greg Land pic of Storm.

You just know there was more going on in the picture he traced.