This is going to be hard to articulate because I am not a big fan of gatekeeping or dictating who "is or isn't a fan" of something, but it's a thought/fear I've had about the OFMD fandom for a while, and I'm wondering if others share the same sentiment.
More specifically, I wonder how Izzy Hands antis will continue to associate with Our Flag Means Death moving forward, especially if the cast, crew, and writers continue to show sympathy and admiration toward the character they despise so deeply.
The issue with these extreme Izzy Hands antis is that they have adopted the crede that "All Izzy Hands fans are terrible people; that all Izzy Hands fans are white, white-pandering and/or racist; that all Izzy Hands fans are homophobic and misogynistic." Keeping this in mind, they come to an impasse when they realize that David Jenkins, along with most of the writers and cast of the show they allegedly idolize, like or even love the character.
I've often asked myself whether we can truly call these extreme Izzy Hands antis true fans of the show because part of me believes they would not enjoy or even continue watching the show if the narrative didn't validate the feelings they've cultivated in the past year. These antis have become so extreme that I'm starting to notice that they don't seem to care about the opinions of the creators and cast of the show, and have instead taken a stance that is completely divorced from the original content. I further believe that some could even go far as to harass the creators of the show or the cast if things didn't go exactly their way. They may therefore take the stance that the show "went off the rails" or "succumbed to the racist homophobic mob" and find reasons to undermine its success.
This is of course all speculation, but I can't help but feel like this is where things are going. I genuinely don't believe these people can have a change of heart, because doing so would mean they would have to admit they were wrong, and admitting they were wrong would also require them to admit that they were unreasonably cruel to a lot of people, including people who are part of the marginalized communities they wanted to protect and support. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.