Essay I did, defending fandoms

[Certainly Syrix 14]

This wasn't an essay I did for school or anything, it was meant as a critique sort of thing for a popular youtuber I watch. I dismiss most youtubers who have videos saying something like I HATE BRONIES in their uploads. But I Hate Everything, IHE, actually has some reasonable opinions in most of his videos. They're all mostly negative, but he actually thinks about what he says and has good rant etiquette. Most of the time.

 

I just hate it when people make very general opinions on fandoms and groups of people and the like because, well, read this email I sent him and find out:

 

I'm hoping this message provides some legitimate critique that you can use to improve your future videos, but I'm not going to lie by saying this isn't me venting or partially acting out of emotion rather than reason. I think your videos are great. They're very honest, to the point, and can provide new insights and perspectives on things that can potentially make your viewers more cynical, but substantially better informed and reasonably minded. However, I do not agree with your philosophy for ranting about fandoms, or general groups of people that you strongly dislike.

 

I haven't seen all of your videos on fandoms, but I find the idea of making entire videos titled I HATE BRONIES or I HATE FURRIES or THE WORST FANDOMS or the like inherently flawed and a bit bigoted. I know in your video I HATE I HATE EVERYTHING you mentioned that a lot of your viewpoints or terms for expressing viewpoints are hyperbole, or simply exaggerated greatly for comedic effect. But you can forgive some of your viewers if they watch a video titled I HATE (x type of people here) and get miffed when it contains nothing but purely negative opinions. Why nowadays, when the word HATE, something that used to be used to describe an emotion of unprecedented dislike and revile towards something or someone, is spoken like just a stronger, purer term for DISLIKE, should people expect you to feel any different about your opinions than what you state they are in your titles and videos? From the way you present most of your I HATE FANDOMS videos, it seems like you truly dislike, hate, or despise those fandoms in a general sense. But I don't think you do.

 

Say a complete stranger you see walking down the sidewalk is wearing a shirt that obviously makes it out to seem they're a brony, or a fan of Sonic. Maybe you ask them if they're really a part of one those fandoms, and they say "Yes." There is no doubt in your mind that they are. Could you say to yourself, in seriousness, that you hate that person? Could you reasonably think at that point that you just dislike that person? No, you couldn't. Making statements like that, even to yourself is extremely prejudious. Makes you seem like an [curse]. You don't know their personality, you don't know how they act, how they treat other people, you don't know much about them. Saying "Oh, but I've encountered a lot of these people and see the kind of stuff they create, they're all bad," wouldn't make it any less fair either. Even if you've seen hundreds of [curse word here] drawings or fan creations from the brony fandom, you've barely seen a fraction of everything they've created. Even if you've encountered numerous bronies that are stupid, spiteful, rude or just plain [curse word here], you haven't encountered nearly enough to say that all thousands and thousands and maybe even millions of bronies are bad people. No matter how much bad art, unoriginal videos, examples of disturbing cosplay or stupid comments you put on the screen in your videos, not just from bronies but of any fandom you are discussing, you can't cram enough pieces on the screen to show that these entire fandoms are bad. It's just way too genralized of a statement to be backed up by good evidence.

 

I say I don't think you truly dislike these fandoms because of the way you act in your videos, and some of the statements you've made in the past. Like in your I HATE TUMBLR video, you were responding to comments saying that you should make a I HATE FEMINISM video. Your response was basically, in my eyes, "If you think that people who advocate for gender rights and equality is a bad thing, then you're a [curse word here] retard. Just because some of the feminists you've encountered are terrible people doesn't mean all are." You perceived the term 'feminist' as its base concept, for what it means. Wouldn't it be equally fair to say "If you think someone who really likes a certain show or game and participates in the community for that show or game is a terrible person, then you're a [curse word] retard. Just because most of the fans you've encountered are terrible people doesn't mean they all are." You may hate some of the fans in the fandoms you mentioned, but you seem like too smart of a guy to simply say "I HATE BRONIES" or "I HATE FURRIES". It's a bit wrong to misrepresent something and only show the bad of it to your fandoms, when there's a good side to it as well.

 

You can probably guess by now that I'm an irritated member of one of the fandoms you apparentally hate or dislike, and yes, I am. I'm a brony. And I know for a fact that there's a large collection of artwork, animations, music and stories that bronies have made that is fantastic. Some stuff that shows how much effort a fan can truly put into something they're great at, something that they love and have a passion for. These works I've seen put the full potential of a creative medium on display. And not only that, there are some incredibly generous things bronies have done too. There are bronies who are truly kind, tolerant and caring. Some really nice people. Do I deny that there is [swear] stuff we've created or done, that there are some things that show how much of a complete [curse] we can be? No, there's plenty of that. But you need to look at both sides of the coin, maybe realize that fans are more than just a coin too. There are many sides and ups and downs to fans. It's not black and white. They're human beings There's [curse], great people and everything in between. You should show that in your videos.

 

And I don't agree with your whole "overexposure, the stuff is everywhere" thing either. Seeing fandom stuff in your recommended section or in your searches isn't going to ruin your mood. It's easy enough to avoid. You can still find what you're looking for.

 

I really hope I got my point across, I really do. This could be important critique that provides a new outlook on the way you view groups of people or completely useless drab from a raging fan that just wants to vent. I don't know. Please let me know if this is valuable to you at all. I appreciate you reading this far, at least. Thank you.

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And that's the whole thing. Censored the curse words because this is no place for that. Please let me know what you think.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Certainly Syrix

[Gestum 2,493]

Have you actually seen the videos? Because somehow I get the impression that you have only read the titles of them.

 

Also I'm looking forward to seeing this in one of his "comment comeback" videos.

[PiratePony 8,473]

@@Certainly Syrix, a long essay posting such as this would fit much better as a personal blog. Please familiarize yourself with the personal blog section of the sight, but clicking community and then blogs.

 

When creating threads in the future, it is best to try to pose an idea that leads to a discussion with other members, rather than seeking feedback on a longer essay style prompt. Feel free to post it as a blog and even share the link as a status update to get readers!

 

As is, locking topic.