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i-want-my-iwtv · 2 years

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I don’t understand why VC fans that are genuinely upset about and deeply dislike the stuff they’re finding out about the AMC show keep…. engaging with AMC IWTV content and posting about it? Like, I’m sure it’s not fun for them and it’s certainly not fun for the people who are enjoying the show…. Like, clearly this show isn’t going to magically turn into something they like, why keep baiting themselves?

These kinds of asks are so, so, so hard! Writing a short response feels too limited, but writing a lot feels like I’m doing too much... if this makes anyone at least consider the issue(s) in a different light, then it was worth the effort.

And you know, answering this shouldn’t be so hard, we’re talking about fictional vampires, can we all keep that in mind? It’s sad that this is the heart of so much tension right now.

People are not going to stop criticizing media. That much is true. We can try to unpack why they do, and I will take a small stab at it in this response.

Okay so here are my TL:DR main points:

1) Curate your experience. People are not going to stop criticizing media. You can stop yourself from seeing it, though. The block button is your personal bouncer! Or, use Xkit’s blacklist feature which is more of a softblock.

2) I still say it's unfair to call the criticism vs. praise all purely a binary. There's a spectrum of feeling that isn't linear, bc you can like some changes and not like others.

3) People criticize media, and everything in VC. People are criticizing this bc they are getting smtg they didn't expect, and want to say so. Rollin Jones has even invited criticism, as a person in the film industry, he knows his work product is subject to criticism!

4) Criticism of VC in general, including about the show, from what I’ve seen on Tumblr, is meant more as intellectual exercise and a way to find like-minded people. How many decades have we criticized VC? “VC is a trilogy!”, or “X is a problematic character and you can’t like him!” or “Anne Rice endorses the problematic content she writes in real life, it’s propaganda!” People are seeking other like-minded people, and they make their arguments. Whether this comes from deeply disliking/upset by their topic, it varies a lot, but I would say that some of the criticism could be that, but some is coming from other emotional states, some more neutral than negative. Some is curiosity more than a negative place. Some people really enjoy criticizing things! Academic fans, for sure.

5) People who enjoy the AMC show: Try not to take criticism of the show as a personal attack. If you’re hurt by that criticism, block the person! From what I’ve seen, criticism is often disclaimered with “this is only my opinion.” Even if it is intended as a personal attack, it’s words on a screen. Nothing more. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt. People have to control their feelings and emotions because each person is responsible for their own feelings and emotions.

6) Engagement is engagement, negative or positive, and that’s ratings for the show. Content that draws engagement must be compelling to do both! After all, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. People don’t engage with content that’s boring. So the AMC show, at the very least, doesn’t appear to have committed the sin of being boring, and that’s a crime, canonically.

Rollin Jones: [X geffenplayhouse, Aug 20, 2015]:

“If there’s any problem with me as a writer, it’s that I’m crippled by, ‘Oh, I don’t wanna bore them!’” he says. “Mostly, it’s fun. There’s no other reason to do it. Nobody’s getting rich off it. So you want to have some fun, drink with some actors after, make sure one or two of your cast are having sex with each other. You wanna have created some love.”

Interview with the Vampire:

~~~~~

1) Curate your experience

Ultimately, we're all sharing this space together, at least for now. Anyone who doesn't want to see IWTV AMC criticism, or, conversely, anyone who doesn't want to see ppl enjoying it, the block feature is your personal bouncer! I also use Xkit’s Blacklist feature, which is a friendlier softblock.

2) I still say it's unfair to call the criticism vs. praise all purely a binary.

Some people love the changes AMC is making and some people don't, but I still say it's unfair to call it all purely a binary. There's a spectrum of feeling that isn't linear, bc you can like some changes and not like others.* Personally, I get why they had to age Claudia up, bc of the child actor labor laws, I assume that was of the issues back in 1994, too (tho, they did audition a ton of 5-6 yr olds, and none of them could act as well as Kirsten, so I think talent was - and is! - still a bigger factor than canon compliance for that role, it is for me, anyway, if I was casting that character).

*Obviously, there will always be the outliers who well and truly want a book-accurate adaptation and those who want a completely revamped version (pun intended!) that brings the story up to more current issues and morality. Neither can be totally satisfied bc the visual medium is necessarily different than the act of reading! Even the original LOTR trilogy, widely praised for canon-compliance, still changed things. I haven’t seen anyone on tumblr really seriously deeply upset about that, we all know here that that’s impossible. There are probably people on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube who think 100% canon compliance is possible, and to them, I say, Wow you must be fun at parties 😅.

3) People criticize media, and everything in VC.

People who don't express their criticism/opinions are essentially accepting what they're given.

Re: fictional content, people who are served something that isn't up to their expectations criticize it. "I ordered X and it's not X!" You know? We want to know why it's not what we expected, was it an intentional change, like someone decided to give me blueberry pancakes when I ordered chocolate chip? Maybe I should prefer blueberry pancakes, bc fruit is the healthier option, but it's still not what I expected, and maybe I dislike the texture of fruit in bread. Maybe I'm allergic to blueberries. IDK! But people instinctively want to say something so that the people who made the item are at least aware, and whether the criticism is in good faith, or whether the creators listen and/or accept the criticism or not, well, that's up to them.

Anne Rice herself was famous for not accepting criticism, but that hasn’t stopped the fandom from criticizing VC canon itself for decades. More on that in a bit.

Rollin Jones said he’ll take criticism [X, Den of Geek article, July 22, 2022]:

What fan backlash are you predicting?

Look, if you can make it through these first seven episodes, I’ll be back at Comic-Con next year, and if you’re still upset with me, I will set myself up at a booth, and you can kick me in the shins. I’ll be there for you. I really do think [the fans] will be surprised at how we are constantly going back to the book.

We’ll see, I’m open to being pleasantly surprised. I’m ready to see this cover band rework and play these beloved songs, so to speak. Johnny Cash did such a moving cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” that Trent said it was Johnny’s song now.

Once Johnny Cash covers your song– it’s not your song anymore.

Here’s a few more Johnny Cash covered and commentary about them.

4) Criticism of VC in general, including about the show, from what I’ve seen on Tumblr, is meant more as intellectual exercise and a way to find like-minded people.

Criticism of the show is an intellectual exercise, especially in a fandom full of ficwriters and fanartists, we’re challenged with our own creative choices, I write fic, we want to know the reasons for the changes to canon. We like to speculate. And we have our own taste. Are these blueberry pancakes better than chocolate chip? If not, why not? Ultimately, maybe it’s a flavor preference, maybe you just prefer fruit and I prefer chocolate, but we can still talk about the merits and faults. I don’t think of this as “baiting” oneself. More on that later. If people can talk about specific reasons they’re enjoying the show, the other side of the coin can certainly be that people want to talk about the specific reasons why they dislike the show.

It’s also a way of finding like-minded people. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people state "VC is a trilogy!" in a way that was clearly intended to fish for more people who agreed with them, which is totally normal fandom behavior. Or how many times people have critiqued Antonio Banderas' Armand being aged up and not auburn-haired; they wanted a canon-compliant Armand, and they were disappointed with what they were served, no matter how pleased other people were with Antonio's performance. It doesn't matter that some people loved him! Other people didn't like it, they criticized it, and they continue to do so, as is their right. Personally, I loved Antonio's performance but I'm not a huge Armand fan, I'm fine with saying that I'm not as invested in him as the disappointed fans are/were.

I also disagree that it's not fun for people to criticize AMC, bc it's fun for other people to criticize things! We've been doing it in VC fandom for decades. I’m pretty sure that the "VC is a trilogy!" advocates have fun saying so, because they’ve kept it up for years.

I confess I don’t really know what “baiting themselves” means. I assume it means tormenting themselves? Trying to be angry about it? Well, people do that, too. In our fandom, there's always room for more sadists and masochists! 😂

5) People who enjoy the AMC show: Try not to take criticism of the show as a personal attack.

I think one of the major fandom problems we have is this feeling that disagreement = attack. There’s a lot of tension right now. There are people who want to escalate it. Even if the criticism is an attack, please try not to engage with it, seek like-minded people to enjoy the show with <3

6) Engagement is engagement, negative or positive, and that’s ratings for the show. Kind of already explained this one!

#ask #anon #vampire chronicles #interview with the vampire #iwtv amc #advice #on fandom #on criticism #quote #actual quote #boredom is the one true crime #rollin jones #articles #long post

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regulusrules · 4 months

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So sorry you received that comment, you're one of the bests. Any advice on how to cope with them? Once I got something like this and stopped writing for that fandom.

My nonnie, you should ride its high exactly like I am doing about it!

Listen. No one's— and I genuinely mean no one's— beliefs about you, either positive or negative, should matter to you more than yours about yourself. Not trying to be a preachy life coach or anything, but really, what is feedback if not someone's thoughts and beliefs imposed upon yours?

Don't get me wrong; they are valid, and they are extremely valuable to be put into consideration, but they aren't more important than yours about yourself. Take any feedback and mould it to your comfort. If it's praise, then let it fill you with assurance of how good you are. If it's criticism, then let it drive you even further to write and develop. But in both cases, remember to value what you believe over what others believe, because it's your life in making.

And if you believe that your writing is worth sharing, then the whole entire world shouldn't convince you otherwise. Trust me, even when you say I'm "one of the best", if you ask me I'll tell you I'm not that talented. I'll undermine my writing even when I know it's relatively good. It's a struggle everyone undergoes. But that doesn't mean we should stop doing the things we love just because we aren't god-tier in them. No one really is.

So my advice for you would be to go back to writing in your fandom and leave all negative comments behind. Don't let someone take from you a source of happiness. Write and know that you'll never be the cherry on top of everyone's cake, and that that is completely fine. Every writing style is unique on its own, and that's what makes us undeniably human. What matters at the end of any day is what you do with the words of the world, and how to always make their impact a positive one on yourself ✯

#fandom #on writing #fic writing #fanfiction #fanfiction writing #on criticism #hate comments #much love nonnie #feel free to send me privately your works .. I'll be your biggest cheerer #regulusrules answers

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leam1983 · 1 year

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Maturity

The current kerfuffle involving a particular game is nothing new to me. I've seen the same pattern arise out of Direct Action efforts on-campus, I've seen it happen in other attempts at consumer advocacy, and it's especially prevalent on the political spectrum - on both sides of the ideological fence.

What I'm referring to is bullying.

I think it's important to realize when someone purchases a given product because it gives them joy, out of complete ignorance of the ideological payload more astute observers might've picked up on. It's also important to realize that your attempts at outreach are kind in scope, because you're in a position that allows you to educate the other person.

Doxxing Twitch streams, driving content creators to tears, insulting underage players who haven't had any chance to grasp the underlying issues - none of that lends any credibility to the seriousness of the issues being addressed.

If you feel your faith or culture is being maligned, calmly and sedately offer to educate the person whose decisions offend you. If the object being discussed is created by or associated to someone controversial, the very same applies.

Direct Action works when all parties meet and exchange on an equal footing. Throwing slurs or huffing about you "can't understand" some people's choices helps precisely no-one. Always - always - behave as though your actions would be up for later scrutiny, because they might be. If you have arguments to bring forth, prepare yourself and get ready for any rebuttals to follow.

That is how optics are changed. What's unfolded across Twitch last night is unworthy of your cause, and unworthy of yourselves.

Y'all are better than this, and you know it.

#hogwarts legacy #on criticism #doxxing #harrassment #toxicity

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ethan-hawke · 5 months

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RYAN GOSLING "I'm Just Ken" wins Best Original Song at the 29th Annual Critics' Choice Awards (January 14, 2024)

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dooldebob · 1 month

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some of your goofy asses for the past 20 years

#atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #avatar #its not all u zutara shippers #but it is a concerning amount of u #peace and love this fan base needs some critical thinking skills

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animentality · 2 months

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#twitter #gender critical #transgender #lgbtqia #feminism

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tadfools · 7 months

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I might've added the BG3 Art Book to my dnd assets stash

It' 100% does not have things like the 5e players' handbook + 5e’s character sheet, several gm guides, critical role's explorer's guide to wildmount, baldur's gate and waterdeep city encounters, 101 potions and their effects, volo's guide to monsters, both of xanathar's guides, a bunch of other encounters, one shots, and class builds

In no way are there any pdf’s relating to any wizard who may or may not be residing on any coast

(Edit that I’ve moved the folder to the new link above! So if you catch a different version of this post that link won’t work anymore!)

#dnd #d&d #dnd assets #bg3 #baldur’s gate 3 #baldur’s gate iii #pathfinder #critical role

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noperopesaredope · 7 months

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I wish we had more female characters like Eleanor Shellstrop. One of the most unlikable people you've ever met. Read a Buzzfeed article on most rude things you can do on a daily basis and decided to use that as a list of goals. Makes everyone's day worse just by being there. Dropped a margarita mix on the ground and tried to pick it up, only to get hit by a row of shopping carts which pushed her into the road where she was hit by a boner pill delivery truck, killing her instantly. Cannot keep a romantic partner despite being bisexual. Had a terrible childhood but will die before she gets therapy. Best employee at a scam company. Just the worst but also can't help but root for her to improve.

Absolute loser. Girl-failure. Bad at almost everything. Literally perfect female character.

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stargir1z · 1 year

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TfE: From Cyberpunk to Infopunk by Peter Wolfendale

#my uploads #peter wolfendale #on criticism #on media

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i-want-my-iwtv · 2 years

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I wish people wouldn’t put so much weight on what Christopher Rice may or may not feel regarding the AMC adaptation. Obviously, he has a right to his opinion but imo that opinion has no bearing on whether the AMC adaptation will be good/enjoyable on its own.

We’ve talked about Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies and how different they are to the books—and Christopher Tolkien hated them! He said they “eviscerated” the books!!! They’re three of the most beloved and award winning movies of the past 20 years!

And as strange and scary as it might be when new folk inevitably come flooding into the VC fandom and they’re fans of the show only… the books aren’t going to change and there’s always going to be people who enjoy/prefer the books more! We’re not losing anything. At most, it’ll be an inconvenience to scroll past or filter out content we don’t want to see.

(@monstersinthecosmos answered a very similar message/question, so I’ll answer differently!)

Good point! That’s very reasonable.

Some fans need the endorsement of the content creator and some don’t. There are many fans who will be drawn to this who may not even be aware of Christopher Rice’s connection with it, and even if so, he hasn’t said anything negative about the show. He’s redirected questions/comments to AMC. I’m sad for him because he and AR had been so vocal about their excitement and now his silence is telling.

I would bet you’ve heard this before, but for anyone else who isn’t aware: Anne Rice famously took out a whole ad in a film industry publication, that was how vehemently against Tom Cruise’s casting she was, and he felt sad to hear that. But he soldiered on bc he was passionate about the character and the story, and when she saw his performance she completely changed her mind, and sang his praises for years and years.

So I’m still going to watch the show! We’ll see what happens.

I’m not familiar enough with LOTR or Christopher Tolkein to address that, but it looks like Christopher Tolkien’s opinion was still his own opinion, it didn’t prevent fans from celebrating those films, and new fans are drawn to them even now!

Ppl do still criticize the films, even though they love them, nothing is 100% purely good/enjoyable. One of my friends who is a big fan of the films is still disappointed that Peter Jackson cut Tom Bombadil:

Bombadil is absent from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; Jackson explained that this was because he and his co-writers felt that the character does little to advance the story, and including him would make the film unnecessarily long. Christopher Lee concurred, stating the scenes were left out to make time for showing Saruman's capture of Gandalf.[21][b]

So any film/TV series can be a beloved and successful work and still draw criticism, even just for choosing to leave out a character that seemed not to contribute much to the story!

This is true.

What’s strange is the us vs. them mentality that some ppl keep trying to drag up, when you can actually have it both ways, as I mentioned above, love something and criticize it. Loving a TV series and criticizing it are not necessarily in opposition; questioning the story is a way to deeply intellectually engage with it. I’m sure some of these new fans will criticize it, too.

It’s true that the books aren’t going to change. The idea that the show is in competition with the books is strange. There’s no competition here, in my opinion. They both just exist.

You’re right that ppl will be able to filter content we don’t want to see, both ways, but since we’re not using a unified tag for the show, we’ll all need to get a little more comfortable being in the same spaces if we’re all using the same tags, and scrolling past what we don’t want to see.

I think it’s unfair to conflate criticism with negativity, and really, writing about it at all is free advertising, and will most likely draw more ppl interested in whatever the discussion is about! That said, people can block my blog if they need to make fandom the experience they prefer.

#anon #ask #christopher rice #iwtv amc #interview with the vampire #lord of the rings #advice #on fandom #on criticism

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rockpapercynic · 3 months

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A.I. photos are flooding social media and contributing to an Internet where we can't believe what we see. Spotting A.I. 📷s is an important media literacy skill.

None of us have time to research every image we see. We just need people to notice BEFORE THEY LIKE OR SHARE that an image might be fake. If unsure, check it or don't share.

I've started drawing some comics explaining the basic of AI spot-checking and media literacy in the age of disinformation. Follow along here or on my Twitter.

#comic #webcomic #ai #media literacy #critical thinking #media analysis

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squishy-min-mochi · 10 months

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It’s important to recognise that Barbie (2023) criticises both the patriarchy AND the matriarchy. Yes, the Ken’s are just accessories to the Barbies. Yes, they don’t have any say in the government they live under. That’s the point, you’re supposed to feel awful, you’re supposed to want the Kens to have their own agency, you’re supposed to want equality. The Barbie movie explicitly states that the way Barbie treats Ken is wrong, so much so that once he finds a safe space for his masculinity and individual identity he’s so excited to share it with the other Kens.

But they go overboard and replace a matriarchy with a patriarchy and now the same issue exists but in reverse. That’s the POINT!! THATS THE POINT!!! Barbie is not anti-men it’s pro equality PLEASE understand this

13th Aug 2023 UPDATE:

Heeeeey howdy!!

Due to the IMMENSE comments and discussion on this post (thanks ya’ll!!) I’ve decided to update my post with my recent opinions and hopefully clearer explanations!!

First, my original post only considers a very small and very vague analysis of the film!!

Since making this I've read all your comments and learned quite a bit about the matriarchy as it appears in human civilisation. Originally, I was pitting the patriarchy and the matriarchy against each other as though the results of their implementation were equal in the film.

They were not!! Below is the definition of matriarchy I’ll be working off of.

Matriarchy Simple Definition;

Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property.

There's a lot to talk about in the Barbie film that would fit better in an essay, so I'll try and condense it into this;

To me, Barbie (2023) is a film about the female experience and the shared connection between women that persists through childhood and adulthood, support and harassment, suffering and joy, mother and daughter.

It uses Barbie as its figurehead because of the immense societal and political impact the doll has had on women, both good and bad (as explained in the film).

The male experience as seen in Barbie (2023) is not the sole focus of the film- rather, it's an accessory (as the Kens are) to Barbie's story, and a necessary aspect of exploration to truly highlight the importance of individualism and healthy personal exploration.

I want to make clear that I in no way think the treatment of the Kens was just as bad as the treatment of the Barbies. I also still agree that the matriarchy fostered by the Barbies wasn’t good for the Kens.

Additionally, I’m aware that this take on Barbie (2023) works strictly within the assumed heteronormative boundaries of gender. There is a lot of nuance in the Barbie film and I don’t think everything can be covered or explained in on Tumblr post— but I hope this clarification helps!!

I hope you're all coming to your own conclusions and analysis of the film in a way that makes sense to you. And for those of you engaging in online conversations and discourse about it, I hope you're keeping yourself and others happy and safe!!!

Much love to you all!! < 3

#barbie #barbie movie #barbenheimer #Ken #barbie spoilers #barbie discourse #barbie conversations #barbie criticism #barbie 2023 #barbie movie 2023 #matriarchy #patriarchy #heteronormative society

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