Heading into hour three of spreadsheets today, but I wanted to just put this in print, as it were.
It is possible for a piece of media to
Be inconsistently written
Have stories/ideas/props that are wildly inaccurate to its setting
Have plot holes you could drive a truck through
Leave storylines adrift like that time your friend hooked up with someone and left you at the party even though they were totally your ride
Be knee-deep in moments where a character’s motivation is unclear or just plain odd
Rely too heavily on only one method of moving characters out of the story
and STILL be enjoyable to some people. Even to people who know all of those things. Even to aware, discerning viewers. Even to viewers who skewer other shows for those same mistakes. It’s okay to know that a show is not good but still think it’s great.*
I’m not even a little bit saying that people should not air their grievances, because it’s also understandable to not be able to get past those things. Even in the media’s main tag. Especially in the media’s main tag, because that’s how you find like-minded people and it’s that sense of community that makes fandom what it is. That’s why it’s fandom and not just a bunch of people who all read the same books. I have a functioning block button and a functioning ‘unfollow’ button and I use them both liberally.
The thing is, a person’s location in the big Venn diagram of Loved it/Hated it/Mixed feelings is in no way indicative of their intelligence, education, or worth. Do I sometimes stare at a person’s opinion and think ‘wow, that is not how I saw it at all, is this person from a parallel universe?’ Sure. What I try not to do is equate that opinion with their worth. They may never be my bestie, but their opposing view is not cause for personal contempt.
I’m seeing, in more than one fandom I’m in, this implication that enjoying something flawed (or being unable to get past imperfections enough to continue enjoying something) somehow makes that consumer an idiot. Finding enjoyment in something, or finding it beyond redemption and worthy only of scorn and nitpicking, is no excuse for tongue-clicking, rolling your eyes, and an attitude of, “You poor dear, if only you knew better,” on either side. Sometimes they do know better, they just don’t care in a way that has a impact on their experience.
I’m not talking about moral/social stands, that’s a different thing and being argued by those who are far better at it. Feel free to drag someone for insisting that their favorite racist, misogynistic character is a precious, untainted wubby, but maybe don’t drag the person who isn’t so pissed about those being the wrong pants/royalty/armor/attitudes for 1947/1784/1635 that they can’t enjoy the media OR the person so incensed over that plot hole that they need to vent about it. If you gotta, if you just can’t help yourself, maybe keep that out of the main tag.
tl;dr - Your enjoyment or dislike of a piece of media does not give you intellectual high ground. Like or hate a thing as you will for whatever reasons, just maybe don’t insinuate that the other side are lesser beings.
*This doesn’t mean excusing those things or pretending they don’t exist.
