As science fiction fans we tend to have a reputation for being nice people, but unfortunately that is misleading as there are many bullies in the science fiction community. Recently I've had to deal with one of these people, someone whom I thought was a nice person was actually a wolf wearing sheep's clothes.
Now I've never been one to shy away from my opinion, especially nowadays with the invention of social media, and it being so readily available for anyone to share their opinions on, I choose to do that. I also write a blog which I update several times a month, where I give reviews and insights into the things that I am reading, watching or doing, but my opinions are just that: MY opinions. Also for years I used to offer my opinions and insights on the various Podcasts that I was a part of. But as a general rule I don't impose my opinions on anyone, and I try my best to respect other people's opinions (unless they are completely out to lunch for example if they involve racism). But sometimes it does get hard being a science fiction fan and just being a person when you're dealing with bullies. Bullies that demand that their opinions mean more than yours; one area where you see this a lot is in sports.
“My team is better than yours” Is a phrase that is often tossed around between sports fan rivals. People are passionate about the teams and players for which they cheer for so much so that this rivalry that exists between fans of opposing teams sometimes escalates into violence. An obvious example that comes to mind is the soccer (football) riots that sometimes occur around the world. But what comes to my mind recently with myself is a debate I had with a gentleman who is a Calgary fan. You see I'm in Edmonton fan: Edmonton Oilers (hockey) and Edmonton Eskimos (Canadian Football). For as long as I can remember being an Edmonton fan has always been an important part of my life. Growing up I remember watching the Oilers win their five Stanley Cups, and I watched the Eskimos win several Grey Cups. But if you're a Calgary fan I can see it being hard to dispute an Edmonton fan considering Calgary has so many fewer cups than their Edmonton rivals (Edmonton Stanley Cups: 5. Calgary: 1. Edmonton Grey Cups: 14. Calgary 7). When I pointed out Edmontons superior statistics to this “gentleman” Calgary fan his response was vulgarity. Instead of coming up with an intelligent argument or retort his response was to simply call me names and get ignorant. He told me that he hated people from Edmonton and their fans, and he also told me to “eat a bag of dicks”. I tried my hardest to debate him on an intellectual level but that was beyond him and he resorted to bullying in order to defend his team and his “honour” as he saw it. I have since removed him as a Facebook “friend”. Ironically I also was attacked on social media by this same person for my views on Star Trek Discovery.
I ‘friended’ this Individual because he has been a moderator at a science fiction convention that I frequent. He seemed like a nice person when I met him, but once he began commenting on some of my Facebook posts I became aware of his negativity and his bullying tendencies. I did a review of ‘Star Trek Discovery’ on my blog which I posted to my social media accounts. Put simply I am not a fan of the new Star Trek series. When this series was originally proposed the creators promised fans that the show would be in continuity, and be respectful to the history of Star Trek that came before it. But right out of the gate, right with episode one it was clear that the creators were rewriting history to suit their own purposes. Ignoring years of continuity the creators of the new show did what they wanted to do. Which I'm fine with had they said that from the beginning. If they had told us that they were rebooting the show, retooling it the way that they saw fit in order to tell the stories that they wanted to tell I would've been fine with that, I wouldn't have been happy but I would be fine with it. But the fact that they went out of their way to assure Star Trek fans that they were not going to change continuity and then they did change continuity: I had a problem with that. Obvious examples being: Spock’s human sister, the look and behaviour of the Klingons, the look of warp drive, etc...are all things that were changed within Star Trek continuity for this new series. So when I shared my views on social media this gentleman immediately blasted me for my opinion. But as I said this guy is a moderator at conventions and I know he has met several stars of the new Star Trek series. So to say that he has a vested interest in singing the praises of the new Star Trek series would be a fair statement I think. So instead of respecting my opinion on the show and accepting it for what it is, MY OPINION, he took to blast me for my opinion on social media, again at time using vulgarity to get his point across. I was made to look and feel like an idiot because I didn't share his positive view on the new Star Trek.
The way I see things if you like the new Star Trek series that's fine. I identify as a lifelong fan of the franchise but even prior to the new series I did have some issues with some of the other series that took place. I had issues with Star Trek Enterprise, and I had issues with Star Trek Voyager. I even had some issues with the first couple seasons of Star Trek The Next Generation, so although I do consider myself a “Star Trek fan” I don't like everything that has ever been produced by the franchise. But for some reason when it comes to this new Star Trek series it seems that the people that don't like it are ridiculed and shit on by the fans of the new series. Actually it's not some reason, I think I know the reason why this happens. It's because this is the first Star Trek series to take place AFTER social media has become so prominent in our lives. So the fact of the matter is these bullies that are showing themselves within social media have probably always been there all along, they just never had a forum from which to spread their hate like they have now.
There is a 'Babylon 5' group I am a member of on Facebook. It was a science fiction television series that was on the airwaves from 1993-1998. It was a great series and way ahead of its time; so when I found this group on Facebook that loved that series as much as I did I was initially excited. Then as time went on (and Trump became President) this group became a forum for the Republican party of the United States. Some of these fans of Babylon 5 are now using this forum to preach Trump ideals and hatred, most posts nowadays have absolutely nothing to do with the B5 television series. And when others speak out against the right wing views expressed by these people they are bullied. I have since ignored this group but stay attached to it because there are some good people on there that I do like to hear from.
When attending a comic con in 2014 I was surprised to see a sign posted in various areas of the venue:
So these signs were posted because it seems some within the science fiction fandom thought it was alright to touch others inappropriatly because of the costumes they were wearing. To me its just common sense that if a woman is dressed as 'Slave Leia' doesn't mean I have the right to grab her ass or tits. Again this is common sense...or so I thought. But these signs had to be created in order to inform those individuals that their behaviour will not be tolerated. I wonder how many of these people are also among the bullies I speak of?
It just makes me sad to see fandom represented this way. For years science-fiction fans were seen as friendly and tolerant towards one another. They seemed to be respectful of each other's opinions but now it seems we're no different than sports fans or any other group where bullying, inappropriate behaviour and intolerance is allowed to grow and flourish.
Sad days indeed.
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