The Loki survey is evaluated!
In August 2021, I conducted a survey to examine what might have led to the highly divided opinions regarding the Disney + show Loki (2021). The survey gathered over 500 responses. In my survey, the majority of the respondents identify as women, but the survey also got above average feedback from non-binary and genderfluid fans. In this survey, about 75% of the respondents liked the show, 15% disliked it, and 5% felt neutral about it. Several tested variables turned out to be significantly connected to the enjoyment of the show, which converged towards three major factors affecting the enjoyment while watching the show.
Firstly, the enjoyment of non-binary, including genderfluid fans, and respondents who felt strongly about representation was moderately reduced by the execution of the representation in the show.
Secondly, respondents who had deeply desired Loki to have a love interest and those who enjoyed his interaction with Mobius reported a moderately increased enjoyment. However, a third of all respondents who liked the show reported a high preference for one of the two relationships over the other, indicating a strong rivalry among the two groups, which most likely contributed to the increased confrontations among Loki fans on social media.
The people who disliked the show did not favor one possible relationship (Mobius vs Sylvie) over the other. Thus, the shipwar is mostly limited to the fans who enjoyed the show.
Lastly, respondents who considered Loki a morally good character, liked Thor (2011), or disliked Thor: Ragnarok (2017) reported a reduced enjoyment.
The highest correlation with a dislike of the show was associated with perceiving Loki acting out of character. This may be attributed to fans who saw Loki as a morally good character and were unable to recognize him in the portrayal in the show since the show heavily depended on Loki being motivated narcissism, as a starting point for his redemption arc.
Calculated over all responses to the survey, Loki’s likeability decreased within the show, with episode 6 marking the first time the likeability of the installment surpasses Loki’s likeability as a character. Between the opinions of the respondents who liked the show and those who did not, an increasing divide is visible in the categories of Loki’s relatability, likeability, and in-character acting.
Interestingly, the starting point of the division coincides with the disbanding of the Marvel Creative Committee in 2015. Possible causalities, as well as who was the favorite Loki variant, and which characters the respondents would like to see in the second season are being discussed in the complete paper you can find here or here as a pdf.
I will try to answer possible questions as soon as possible, but it might take me several days to do so.
My thoughts go out to everyone suffering in Ukraine right now. If you can, please consider helping those in need!
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