I had another ‘Congratulations Toxic Scifi Fans’ moment. Whenever you see ‘Star Wars’ trending or a heated argument about Star Trek just ahead of a movie release, know that you’re seeing a marketing firm engaging in something called ‘fan-baiting.’
Now look: There was a I know that ‘toxic fans’ discussion isn’t very popular. Nonetheless, I’m still passionate about making science fiction a community that’s inoculated from cheap manipulation and emotional card tricks. I feel obligated to point out where the community is its own worst enemy when it comes to protecting itself from bad actors.
To that end, read through this Reddit post about ‘fan-baiting’ and see for yourself if you want to be a part of someone’s artificial controversy, publicity, and marketing strategy:
“Fan-baiting” is a form of marketing used by producers, film studios and actors, with the intent of exciting artificial controversy, garnering publicity and explaining away the negative reviews of a new and often highly anticipated Production.
Fan-baiting emerged as a marketing strategy in 2016/17, after fans of beloved franchises such as Ghostbusters and Star Wars objected to what they saw as poor writing choices, sloppy scripts and cheap alterations to plot lines and characters for the sake of shock value.
Alongside these critics, there was a small group of bigoted but vociferous commentators who objected to the inclusion of black and female actors in roles traditionally help by white male actors. Some of these individuals began publicly harassing actors.
Bigots have always attacked diversity on screen, but in a highly polarized political climate, instances of harassment garnered disproportionately massive media coverage, which provided studios with both free publicity and a new defense against actual critics.
Studios seized the opportunity to discredit criticism of poor writing & acting, insinuating that these too were motivated by bigotry. What used to be accepted as standard critiques were increasingly dismissed as part of the ignorant commentary of a ‘toxic fandom’.
Soon, it became standard practice before release to issue announcements specifying diverse casting choices, coupled with pre-emptive declarations of solidarity with the cast whom they now count on to receive disparaging and harassing comments.
Actors who are women and/or BIPOC became props and shields for craven corporate laziness and opportunism. The studios save money both by avoiding expensive talented veteran writers as well as by offloading publicity to news outlets and social media covering the artificial controversy.
‘Fan-baiting’ works. It brings in a new sympathetic audience whose endorsement is more about taking a public stance against prejudice than any real interest in the art. ‘Fan-baiting also permits studios to cultivate public skepticism over the legitimacy of poor reviews.
‘Fan-baiting’ also compels reviewers to temper their criticism, for fear of being associated with the ‘toxic fandom’ and losing their professional credibility, resulting in telling discrepancies between critic and audience review scores.
The true nature of ‘fan-baiting is most clear when a script is well-crafted and audience reviews are accordingly positive, exposing the announcements of solidarity & grooming of skepticism for what they really are: cynical corporate marketing tactics.
(Taken from tweets by Dr. Thala Siren)
TL;DR media corporations have found a way to monetize the racism that they set their actors up to recieve.
There would have been a tiny majority that complained about the batmans race-swap. but the studio did what they should do and ignore it because they aren’t Disney.
I read this post and my hot take was “Dang it, there it is.” I know what it’s like, growing up in dysfunctional families where you can feel the manipulation but you don’t know what it is or why it’s happening. Then someone pulls the curtain back, like Toto in the Wizard of Oz, and you’re left knowing that you played yourself. Not gonna lie, it sucks to be in the Toxic Scifi Fans group. You can’t help feeling dirty and ashamed for letting someone use your emotions against you.
The first step toward transformation is information. I want you to know that your feelings matter, and that you deserve to be treated with transparency and respect. That’s why I post articles like these and I’m open to any discussion on balancing the needs of sci-fi in a holistic, sustainable way.
Like more toxic fan resources? Check out the Toxic Fan Resource page. In the meantime, remember that fighting and conflict come from a lack of respect.
From one OG Toxic Scifi Fan to all the other toxic scifi fans: Show respect for yourself, and for your scifi neighbors. Refuse to get sucked into arguments about what scifi is or what it should be. You’re too good for that. We all need mature scifi people who see the big picture.
