i have a rant for you all today.
i get very annoyed with people who go ballistically anti-whatever. anti-twilight, anti-naruto, anti-hannah montana/jonas brothers/etc. anti-/insert fandom here/. i find it remarkably childish. you don't have to like something, and if you don't like it you don't have to rampage and hate on people who do. everyone is entitled to their own tastes. there are many cases, too (i should point out this is mostly in the musical field), where people hate a certain group, and ceaselessly rag on the people who like them and constantly state how they 'hate them' and want them to cease existing. i've noticed, and i'm not saying this is the overall reality, but many of the people who do this hating are way outside of the target market for the group at hand. hannaha montana is aimed at 10-14 year old girls, so it really, really irks me when 16, 17 year old boys are screaming about how she should 'go die in a hole.' why are they wasting their energy whining and hating something that's not even aimed at them?
and yes, there are the cases when the fandom at hand's target market is huge. this makes it easier for people to run around and say they hate whatever and bash it and make people feel bad about what they like and find entertainment in. i'll be straight up with you, i am not a big twilight fan, and i do find it a little annoying when the fangirls of the series start going (excuse my french) apeshit over a fictional, vampiric character. however, i'm not going to sit there and tell them they're stupid, or lame, or whatever because that's what makes them happy. and, excuse me, i was under the impression that everyone was entitled the right to be happy. this brings me to the point of this rant, and my request for you all. respect other people's choices. you don't have to like what they like, but if you don't like it, keep it to yourself, or if you have to share, do so respectfully, and without making yourself seem like a jerk who has nothing better to do than sit around and make fun of other people.
you'll find i get very up-in-arms about people respecting other people's tastes. however, it's also important to be able to take joking about what you like in stride as well, because if you are able to make light of something you take seriously, you show signs of maturity. sure, you can get a little defensive, but being able to laugh at the truly silly and ridiculous things in a fandom makes everything much more enjoyable for everyone. i make fun of twilight and other fandoms a lot, maybe not over the internet, but with my friends, and a good majority of them are hardcore fans of the things i joke about. they can laugh at my silly jokes too, because it's funny. it's not bashing, it's funny. however, there is a fine line between when your 'joking' does become 'bashing', and it's essential that if you cross it, you admit you did so and apologize. that sort of respect is admirable, and is seriously lacking in the world today.
and as you can pobably figure, bashing is a no-no in krissy's book of respectfulness.
i could really go on for ages about being respectful, but that would seem like overkill and no one's a fan of that.
so please, just bear in mind that everyone has different tastes, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, and the most important thing is to be respectful of those facts. if you need to say something nasty, don't. it's a massive waste of energy to try and bring others down, it puts you in a really bad light, and passes you off as being childish.
and i would think no one wants to be seen as a childish prick with too much time on their hands.
am i right?
that's all for me, fellow otakuites.
stay respectful
;D
/krissy
