[quote] But the flip side of that is, if someone likes Spike because the character has a great deal of personal and emotional significance for them, there's probably not much I can say that won't seem like a personal attack. [/quote]
Very true. If I like Spike (or Xander, or Faith) and someone writes a three-page in-depth analysis of why that character sucks, is a horrible horrible person, blah-blah-rhubarb, it's all-too-easy to see that as not just a critique of that character, but as a critique of *my taste* and even my very sanity / morality / whatever for liking that character.
When even one of the freaking writers is saying stuff like, 'people who think Spike's a great boyfriend should go back to writing love-letters to the Hillside Strangler,' the seige mentality is going to be built up hard and fast, and even an innocent comment about another character being good in some scene can be inferred by a defensive fan as an implicit slam on their favorite character...
Sorta like when you say to your SO, 'Gee, that old friends lost a lot of weight,' and your SO turns around and says, 'So you're saying I'm fat?' and your brain freezes like a deer in headlights as you try to figure out how much this burst of insane Troll-logic from your SO is going to end up costing you in missed sex, bent-knee groveling and monetary compensation.
Fandom, all the downsides of marriage, none of the tax breaks or backrubs.
no subject
Very true. If I like Spike (or Xander, or Faith) and someone writes a three-page in-depth analysis of why that character sucks, is a horrible horrible person, blah-blah-rhubarb, it's all-too-easy to see that as not just a critique of that character, but as a critique of *my taste* and even my very sanity / morality / whatever for liking that character.
When even one of the freaking writers is saying stuff like, 'people who think Spike's a great boyfriend should go back to writing love-letters to the Hillside Strangler,' the seige mentality is going to be built up hard and fast, and even an innocent comment about another character being good in some scene can be inferred by a defensive fan as an implicit slam on their favorite character...
Sorta like when you say to your SO, 'Gee, that old friends lost a lot of weight,' and your SO turns around and says, 'So you're saying I'm fat?' and your brain freezes like a deer in headlights as you try to figure out how much this burst of insane Troll-logic from your SO is going to end up costing you in missed sex, bent-knee groveling and monetary compensation.
Fandom, all the downsides of marriage, none of the tax breaks or backrubs.