Toxicity in the Outlander fandom
Jan. 19th, 2019 02:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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outlander_forumI am not a fandom/fannish person. The closest I've come to being involved in any sort of fandom is with Outlander, but my fannish activities don't extend beyond starting this community and following various Outlander-related accounts on Twitter.
What has struck me about elements of the Outlander fandom is just how toxic some of it is. There are four main strains that I've come across:
1. The super-shippers. This lot are individuals who not only ship Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe, but they honestly believe that Sam and Cait are romantically involved in real life and constantly lying to and deceiving fans about their relationship. These people are seriously deranged. They stalk the stars to find "proof" of their relationship, they attack the people Sam and Cait are actually involved with (online), they spend hours dissecting every tweet/instagram post, etc. Sam and Cait make for "clues" about their relationship, etc. And they get really vicious when people call them out on their behaviour.
2. The Sam/Jamie fanatics. I mean, everyone loves Sam and/or Jamie, right? But this lot take it to a new level. They constantly criticize Starz for not promoting Sam enough, they attack the showrunners and writers for "diminishing" Jamie, if one of the official accounts or showrunners lauds the performance of one of the other stars in a particular episode, they attack -- because obviously, it's proof that the show hates Sam, etc.
3. The book purists. I get that some people have been reading these books for 20+ years and have well-established ideas of how things should play out. However, most book fans are able to see how/why it's impossible to make a show that is EXACTLY like the books. Doesn't mean we're all 100% thrilled with every deviation, but we grumble a bit and move one. Most of us. There is a core group of purists, however, who just won't let go. They are constantly, constantly bitching about every single deviation, attacking the showrunners and writers online for changing things/not respecting the books and of course, threatening to not watch anymore. I really wish they would just stop watching if they hate it that much...
4. The Jamie-Clairites (not sure what else to call them). I think most who fall into this group are show-only fans. They completely fall in love with season 1, which is all about Jamie and Claire, with all of those beautifully done love scenes, and they expect that every subsequent season will be exactly the same -- just Jamie and Claire, and lots of sex. In fact, I think they'd be OK if every single episode was just Jamie and Claire having sex. So they bitched about season 2 because there was NO SEX. Season three had sex, but not enough of it, and Jamie and Claire were apart for half the season. Season 4 -- OMG but THERE WAS AN ENTIRE EPISODE WITH NO JAMIE AND CLAIRE AND OTHER EPISODES WITH HARDLY ANY JAMIE AND CLAIRE AND WTF IS THIS SHIT????? They're really going to hate the show going forward...
As I said, I have never been involved in any other show fandom, so I don't know if this sort of crap happens elsewhere. All I know is, it's ugly and there are some really bizarre people out there.
What has struck me about elements of the Outlander fandom is just how toxic some of it is. There are four main strains that I've come across:
1. The super-shippers. This lot are individuals who not only ship Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe, but they honestly believe that Sam and Cait are romantically involved in real life and constantly lying to and deceiving fans about their relationship. These people are seriously deranged. They stalk the stars to find "proof" of their relationship, they attack the people Sam and Cait are actually involved with (online), they spend hours dissecting every tweet/instagram post, etc. Sam and Cait make for "clues" about their relationship, etc. And they get really vicious when people call them out on their behaviour.
2. The Sam/Jamie fanatics. I mean, everyone loves Sam and/or Jamie, right? But this lot take it to a new level. They constantly criticize Starz for not promoting Sam enough, they attack the showrunners and writers for "diminishing" Jamie, if one of the official accounts or showrunners lauds the performance of one of the other stars in a particular episode, they attack -- because obviously, it's proof that the show hates Sam, etc.
3. The book purists. I get that some people have been reading these books for 20+ years and have well-established ideas of how things should play out. However, most book fans are able to see how/why it's impossible to make a show that is EXACTLY like the books. Doesn't mean we're all 100% thrilled with every deviation, but we grumble a bit and move one. Most of us. There is a core group of purists, however, who just won't let go. They are constantly, constantly bitching about every single deviation, attacking the showrunners and writers online for changing things/not respecting the books and of course, threatening to not watch anymore. I really wish they would just stop watching if they hate it that much...
4. The Jamie-Clairites (not sure what else to call them). I think most who fall into this group are show-only fans. They completely fall in love with season 1, which is all about Jamie and Claire, with all of those beautifully done love scenes, and they expect that every subsequent season will be exactly the same -- just Jamie and Claire, and lots of sex. In fact, I think they'd be OK if every single episode was just Jamie and Claire having sex. So they bitched about season 2 because there was NO SEX. Season three had sex, but not enough of it, and Jamie and Claire were apart for half the season. Season 4 -- OMG but THERE WAS AN ENTIRE EPISODE WITH NO JAMIE AND CLAIRE AND OTHER EPISODES WITH HARDLY ANY JAMIE AND CLAIRE AND WTF IS THIS SHIT????? They're really going to hate the show going forward...
As I said, I have never been involved in any other show fandom, so I don't know if this sort of crap happens elsewhere. All I know is, it's ugly and there are some really bizarre people out there.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 09:44 am (UTC)Reading this, though, I felt torn between wanting everyone to enjoy their private little obsessions and the more judgmental, "Well, this crosses a line." The line, for me, seems to be when people attack actors, creators, or people who aren't even involved in the making of something but just happen to be dating a person involved. A contributing factor, I think, is how social media increasingly blurs the boundaries between private and public spheres. I would hope that people don't go out and verbally harass the partners of people they have a crush on, so why is that somehow okay online? If they have a less than stellar meal at a restaurant, do the same people who attack creators also walk into the kitchen and attack the cook (who is likely overworked and underpaid, and probably ill)?
That said, I also get really loving something and becoming very protective of it. Hence my feeling torn.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 01:15 pm (UTC)My overview above didn't really fully convey just how ugly some of the online stuff I've seen has been, and I've barely seen any of it because I don't do any social media other than Twitter. I've read about stuff that's happened on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and it's fucking nasty shit.
(I should add that most of the tweets about ep. 412 were beyond positive -- the Jamie-Clairites are (luckily) a minority, but seriously -- if you've not really liked the direction of the show since season 1, stop watching it!!! Or maybe read the books so you understand what direction the show's going to go and make a decision based on that.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 07:11 pm (UTC)https://justjoanmi.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-bullies-of-outlander-fandom.html
https://www.inquisitr.com/3674153/outlander-star-sam-heughan-begs-people-to-stop-bullying-his-loved-ones/
https://bethwesson.com/2016/10/19/fans-and-creators-drawing-a-line-of-decency-in-the-sand/
https://thats-normal.com/2017/05/outlander-fandom-drama-problem-with-entitlement/