Comic Book Fans Need to Stop Fighting Over BvS

Before I get into the actual article, please note that this isn’t a piece about my opinions on the film. Nowhere in this article will I discuss my feelings about the movie, so if that’s what you’re looking for, maybe go elsewhere. Read  Josh’s review if it’s an opinion you want.

It’s the topic on the mind of every member of the community right now. And, who can really blame them? It’s probably a tie for the second biggest movie of the decade, in terms of what it means to this particular movie. Unfortunately, unlike with Star Wars: the Force Awakens or Avengers, there isn’t a consensus among fans and critics alike that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a good movie. Unfortunately, the film has torn the community asunder.

Because it’s 9GAG that gets to decide who the real comic book fans are, am I right?

The meme that I’ve included above is just one example of what I’ve been seeing around the realms of the internet. It sums up one side of the argument pretty well: If you weren’t a fan of BvS, you’re not a real comic book fan. That idea is laughable, and emblematic of a major issue in the community. If we disagree, it must be because the other side of the argument doesn’t actually read comics and aren’t as “hardcore” as we are.

Now, I’m not going to generalize and say that all discussion of the film devolves into name calling and baseless accusations. There has been some real discussion about the film, between people who love it, and those who, well, don’t. And that’s fine. Discussion is a good thing, and we should be having conversations about media, whether or not we enjoy it.

What this is is a form of gate keeping. You can call me an SJW all you want (I’ll accept the title with open arms), but it’s a real issue among comic book fans. You don’t bring people into the fold by telling them they aren’t hardcore enough, and you are. In a sense, it’s fine to think that some people aren’t “real” fans, just please, keep it to yourself. It’s also important to note that this is bigger than just Batman vs Superman – stuff like this happens all the time.

Look, my point is actually fairly simple. It’s fine to have disagreements about the movie, and it’s fine to discuss it. Healthy for the community, even. But a lot of what I’ve seen hasn’t been healthy discussion – it’s actually been fairly deplorable. And hey, I’m probably guilty of it as well. That being said, it’s important that we try to be better about it. No individual person, or even a group of people, gets to decide who is and who isn’t a fan of the source material, and who does and who doesn’t understand these characters. Dividing the community over something like this is a waste of everyone’s time.

I guess that’s about it. There’s not really much else to say about this, and I could include a bunch of other examples, but I’m not going to. The fact that I feel the need to write about this is demoralizing enough, so I have no desire to really dive back into certain threads. If you want to seek them out, please, be my guest.