FUCK THE FANS: Why Fanboys need to learn when to shut up!

As a fan of numerous genres of entertainment I have witnessed a disturbing trend emerging over the last few years that has lead to my overall disgust with the behaviour of modern fans. The smallest minority always has the loudest voice and, until recently, I felt content to simply sit back and ignore the inane jabber of these miserable sub-sects with the wry cynicism of an older fan just letting these idiots get their opinions out of their system.

That was until this same attitude lead to the untimely death of professional wrestler Hana Kimura.

For those not aware of who Kimura was and what happened to her let me fill you in. Hana Kimura was the daughter of legendary Japanese women's wrestler Kyoko Kimura. Like most wrestlers children she followed her mother into the business and by the age of 22 was beginning to hone her craft. Wrestling is an art form that can't be taught verbally, it takes time and practice and patient study in order to become great. Sadly we shall never know how truly great Hana Kimura would have ever become because on May 23rd, Hana sadly took her own life.

Many questions immediately followed the announcement of her passing but the most shocking part was when it was revealed that Hana had taken her own life.

Why would a young, talented, attractive athlete in the prime of life feel such despair that she felt no other option but to end it all?

The answer is as simple as it is brutal: The Fans pushed her to it!

Like most people in showbiz, Hana sought to expand her portfolio by branching out into other mediums. This unfortunately lead to her taking part in the Japanese Reality Series, Terrace House. I shall forego the grisly details of what the series is and how it is set up, having never watched an episode I can't judge it based on its content so I shall not attempt to do so.

What I can judge is what happened and how it would lead to this tragedy.

Hana was sharing a house with several other would be celebrities and an incident occurred between her and fellow housemate, Kai Edward Kobayashi. This incident was verbal in nature with neither one of them coming out looking good as a result. Words were exchanged and a bad time was had by all but the consequences of this incident were solely reaped by Hana.

As a result of this incident, Kimura was subjected to an ungodly amount of online harassment and bullying from fans of the show and of wrestling. Phrases such as "You should kill yourself" and "The World would be better off without you" were used (those were the nice ones) and as such were deeply scarring to the poor young girls fragile psyche.

On May 23rd the online abuse became more than she could bear and she sadly took her own life.

While this is definitely the most extreme case of fan abuse I've seen over the years it is by no means the only one.

In the last three years alone I have watched Comic books fans voice their collective displeasure at certain elements of the DC universes cinematic adaptations. Suicide Squad received an ungodly amount of fan backlash for not living up to the high opinions of certain fanboys who immediately voiced their displeasure across social media. This behaviour was duplicated on the release of Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice. Fanboys across the globe felt the need to heap abuse at a pair of films for not being written in their vision with a cast not of their choosing and therefore it immediately "sucked" in their eyes.

While these points may seem trivial and, to a certain extent they are, they pale in comparison next the level of small minded stupidity that DC's tv branch got for casting a Black Woman as Starfire in the Titan's series and, even stranger, the casting of actress Ruby Rose as Batwoman.

In both cases nothing was mentioned about either woman's acting abilities and solely focused on matters of race and gender qualifications. Instead, criticism was leveled at the fact that Anna Diop was a black woman playing a yellow skinned character and should not have been cast at all. The #notmystarfire blazed across social media in all its "glory" showcasing a dark underbelly of fandom that has remained largely in the shadows. The fact that these idiots had not even seen her perform the role, or questioned her ability or quality of the writing only served to showcase this inane low life segment of the fanboy community.

In Ruby Rose's case response to her casting was even more absurd. As a gender fluid woman playing a homosexual hero of Jewish extraction her abuse was leveled at the fact that she was not Jewish and, in some bizarre cases, "not Gay enough"!

In the interest of full disclosure to my readers I feel I must confess something: I am not a fan of Ruby Rose's acting. In truth, I feel that there are fewer people I would ever want to sit through a performance of than Ruby Rose. Everything, bar John Wick 2, I have ever seen her in has been abysmal and not always because of the script. She is an appalling actress with no sense of talent or ability and it is on those levels alone that she should not have been cast in the role.

But my opinions on her playing the role in which she was cast has nothing to do with her sexual orientation. I have judged her ability to act based on what I have seen with my own eyes. I have witnessed her lack of ability as she is an actress playing a role.

In most drama schools, would be actors are trained to take the perspective that an actor is the blank canvass by which the role emerges. The question of race and sexuality are inconsequential to the actor only to the character that they are portraying. Ruby Rose's sexual qualifications should never have come into question, neither should her racial extractions. If these were the means by which we measured anyone's suitability to play a role then Gay actors would only ever play Gay characters, something by which I do not agree. It is the right person for the right role, an example of such boundary breaking performances include Neil Patrick Harris's role as Barney in How I Met Your Mother; A Gay actor playing a serial womanizer? By the same standards set down by these "Fanboys" Harris should have been immediately disqualified and the world would have missed out on an exceptional performance by a wonderful actor.

Her racial extraction and her sexuality are not points by which to disqualify her from the role. If we are ever to head to a more culturally accepting world then ideas such as race and sexuality are not points by which to disqualify anyone from doing anything. Ruby Rose's talent, or lack thereof, should have been the measuring stick by which she should have been cast or not and judging her on both of those points once again showcased the abject buffoonery of a small segment of the fan community.

While these examples border on comical it shows us that there is an entitled corner of the fan community who feels as though their special little worlds have been exposed to all and sundry and therefore feel the need to get territorial.

This tribalist mentality was on fine form when the producers of the Ghostbuster's remake felt the audacity to cast all women in the roles. The backlash was swift and merciless with the fanboys decrying the film so bad, without so much as even seeing a trailer, that it severely affected the overall box office. Childish comments about how "Ghostbusters isn't for chicks" were strewn across social media platforms denouncing the film in such petulant forms without so much as even giving it a chance.

There is a litany of examples that can be illustrated, from the latest Star Wars films to the Star Trek remakes, from the final series of Game of Thrones to Scarlett Johanssen being cast as the lead in Ghost in the Shell. There are so many incidents of fanboy bullying and push back that it is simply too large to cover in one blog.

What I shall touch on is just how far fanboys have drifted from the core of what it means to actually be a fan.

Loving something and being passionate about it does not give anyone the exclusive right to hold final say over anything, let alone drive someone to commit suicide. Being a fan means feeling at one with a chosen point of entertainment. Be it comics, music, sport, television, film, gaming etc, fans should feel harmony with their passion and allow for change and acceptance to emerge.

Don't get me wrong, by no means am I saying that fans should just stand by and meekly accept something they clearly don't like, by all means, voice your displeasure if you're unhappy with something. But the nature of the extreme psychological bullying which this displeasure has reached has lead to scarring and eventual death of someone who only sought to make her dreams come true showcased a level of immaturity and utter lack of class that has shown the community in a light that makes us all look bad and disregards the people that are genuinely welcoming and accepting of all newcomers looking for a place to feel accepted.