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The fundamental problem with the vast majority of criticism in the #RWBY fandom is it's based solely on being as contrarian as possible. 90% of the show's self-proclaimed ââcriticsââ don't care what the story gives them, because that's not important. They'll hate it regardless.
They've constructed their entire identity around objecting to every single decision the writers make, and as a result they have to maintain that constant negativity to keep their audience. Because as long as they're mad about something, people will pay attention to them.
Which is why their only consistent stance is that if a lot of people like X, then X is bad. The actual content in question doesn't matter to them as long as they can move the goalposts to make themselves right and the majority wrong, since that's what their echo chamber wants.
Even if a story beat is ludicrously straightforward and easy to understand, they'll find a way to twist it into a problem. Even if they have to ignore the most basic principles of writing, they'll create an issue to complain about. And the reason why is very simple.
Their goal isn't actually to make valid criticisms or present constructive arguments, it's to pander to people's personal grievances for clout. They don't know what they want; all they know is that whatever they got must be awful, because surely it must be if they don't like it.
There's a prominent underdog angle I've noticed tooâ a feeling that they're the lone voices of reason who can see how truly bad the show is in a sea of deluded fans. It relies on the notion that an unpopular opinion is inherently more correct. (Spoiler alert: that's nonsense.)
A genuine critic would acknowledge both positives and negatives, and argue in good faith with the aim of improvement, which is why it's frustrating that a good portion of the fandom who claim to want to critique the show don't do either of those things.
When the most common ââcriticismsââ basically boil down to...
âMy headcanon didn't come true, therefore bad writing.â
âIgnoring the core themes of the show makes me smart.â
â[literally just outright bigotry]â
âHow dare the characters act like humans?â
... it's kinda tiring.
âMy headcanon didn't come true, therefore bad writing.â
âIgnoring the core themes of the show makes me smart.â
â[literally just outright bigotry]â
âHow dare the characters act like humans?â
... it's kinda tiring.
RWBY has plenty of actual flaws to point outâthere are countless interesting discussions to be had about the narrativeâbut the conversations are often dominated by the same few pointless and nonsensical complaints thanks to a handful of individuals, and I think that's a shame.
