People are Stupid - AKA Time for a Rant

[cat_77]

And now it is time for a brief little rant.


Okay, so you don’t like a certain genre/pairing/character/series. Fine. Whatever. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Just don’t go posting to a board focused on the very thing you dislike or replying to a story/discussion that clearly states in the disclaimers what the subject matter is going to be about how much you dislike it.

You read the story/post/board. It is safe to assume you can read, yes? Then why the fuck did you not read the disclaimer? The answer is simple: You wanted to stir shit up.

You don’t post to a Stargate: Atlantis board about how much you hate the show and will never watch it. You don’t post to a slash community about how it is wrong and there is no way X and Y are together when it is clear X is with Z. You don’t go to a shipper community just to tell them they are all delusional. You don’t read BDSM fic or boards just to tell them they are all freaky and you think they need psychological help. You don’t go reading a Kate/Gibbs NCIS fic for the sole purpose of ranting about heteronormative ideals in the comments.

It is rude. The only purpose it serves is to piss people off.

You don’t like something, it’s your right to simply not like it. However, other people still have the right to enjoy it. You want to rant, rant in your own journal about how you never got into something because of X, Y, and Z. Do not purposefully subject yourself to something you know you will not like just so that you can take it out on others. Frankly, it’s stupid.

You are putting yourself out there to be mocked an attacked by a hell of a lot more people than you yourself are mocking and attacking. Maybe in your mind, that makes you feel justified, as if you knew they all wanted a reason to bitch at you and that’s why you did it, so they can’t hide behind themselves anymore. That kind of reasoning is beyond faulty and, honestly, just makes you look like an ass.

Comments

[johnnym77.livejournal.com]

I've run into this problem, too. I posted a story to a board once and put a big disclaimer before the first sentence saying it was complete fantasy. I got people saying it was awful because "it wasn't very realistic." Ummm...que? Are you stupid or just illiterate? GAH. This exactly why I only write for specific people or specific boards.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

It's along the lines of people who say, "I haven't seen it, but..." and go into a mile long list of everything purportedly wrong with something.

I think my biggest issue are the people who go to a board or a list or a site for a specific genre, that is very clearly for said specific genre, and then start tearing it to shreds because they don't like it. Usually these are the same people who don't understand why others jump at them in response. "I was only expressing my opinion" only goes so far. Now it is time for others to express their opinion back at you.

[johnnym77.livejournal.com]

People often forget that opinions work both ways. You're free to express you're opinion, sure, just don't be suprrised when I express mine back at you. Especially if I wrote the damn thing in the first place. Now that my music's getting distributed into "official" channels, I'm going to have to learn the fine art of sucking it up, though.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

There's accepting constructive criticism and there's being a doormat and people tend to get the two confused, claiming they want one, but are actually excepting/hoping for the other. The people who go off on a site that clearly states its subject matter are stating they are offering con crit, when in truth they just want to wipe their feet.

I completely agree!

[morjana.livejournal.com]

I made a somewhat similar comment the other day:

http://morjana.livejournal.com/84372.html

Although, I have to admit, some of the culprits do provide quite a few chuckles...it's like they're caught up in a time/space continuum, and haven't realized the world has moved on from 2000.

:)

Morjana

Re: I completely agree!

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

Yeah, some of them don't make any sense. They latch on to one thing and drive it into the ground past any reasonable breaking point. It doesn't matter if the moment has passed, if they have clearly been proven wrong, or if they have clearly been proven right - they just won't let it go. It's like everything focuses on that one thing, and they have blinders on to anything else, even if it's a potentially bigger issue in the long run.

Again: People are Stupid. :)