Just reported a tweet of some Star Wars/Marvel stan targeting two random accounts, fully visible to find, for saying negative things about the recent announcements as a rallying cry to "stand up" against this.

Actual targeted harassment.

This is fucked

I actually think there's a discussion to be had about people's complete sense of personal identity and autonomy being eroded away as they struggle to work and have a stable sense of living that they're pushing said identity into escapism.

And look-I talk about American cartoons and Doctor Who a lot. Embracing a communal and actively engaged spirit in the stuff you like is not a bad thing. It's absolutely healthy. Escapism is healthy, it's necessary. But there's a balancing act here

Making Marvel, Star Wars, Doctor Who, etc. the ONLY thing that gives you purpose and joy is dangerous and leads to pathological behaviours.

And like it's effective campaigning and marketing as well. Why do you think reactionary groups use the broadening diversity trends in popular genre fixtures as a recruitment tactic? Why do you think companies are becoming reliant on cultivating people's needs for these works?

Because it works. Because it's effective. Because, and it's become more apparent as the internet has eroded nearly all social walls, it's shown that there are generations of people lost in the abyss when all they have is this stuff

And when people perceive an attack on it, they react in kind. Look at the weird cult of personality Zack Snyder's work has amassed. Or the weird gatekeeping around Star Wars. Or, yes, the fucking intense movement around the perceived inadequacies around Doctor Who under Chibnail

These are all crutches-they're a coping strategy to not faced how fucked up and dismal the world looks right now. When you build your identity around any kind of cultural touchstone, you warp into its blind defenders against any sort of blowback

It's a breeding ground for harassment, but also it's psychologically warped and eventually this just stops making you happy. Because it can never be the kind of life fulfilment you really needs. It's just a show, a movie, a book, etc.

This is honestly something that needs more of a pop-psychological lens to examine, and not some holier-than-thou arsehole ranting about in a Twitter thread though. What's the alternative here?

Outside of don't target people for harassment. Like fuck off