Fandoms are generally pretty fun. That's why people are in them. However, they become more cult-like after a certain point, especially when fans start tying their identities to the media they enjoy to such an extent that criticism of said media or the fandom's actions interferes with their quality of life. Not only that, some fandoms have gotten so wildly political that it seems impossible to separate the content itself from the politics surrounding the content.
Take the Rick and Morty fandom. One user wrote this and it has since become a popular copypasta, a text-based meme that is copied and pasted into contexts where it wouldn't otherwise make sense.
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humor is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Rick's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation - his personal philosophy draws heavily fromNarodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realize that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Rick and Morty truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Rick's existencial catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Dan Harmon's genius unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools... how I pity them. 😂 And yes by the way, I DO have a Rick and Morty tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- And even they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.
I personally won't try to verify this person's commentary on Rick and Morty humor, but I will say that this is the kind of pretense that gives Rick and Morty fans a bad name--and the haters are equally bad. The Szechuan sauce riot, for instance, led one person to trade their car for a packet of the sauce. In another incident, a man jumped on a McDonald's counter yelling "I'm Pickle Rick" and then jumped off the counter proceeding flail on the ground, pull his shirt over his head, and scream "Reee! Reee! Reee!" before running out of the establishment. So much for that high IQ, right?
This cockroach and rat-infested Pickle Rick section of the Rick and Morty fandom is like that subset of people who brag about liking a band before they made it big. That said, there is a difference between "Hey, cool. Wanna check out their older music?" and "You're not a real fan because you liked them because they were popular." The people I'm talking about are the latter. They purposefully alienate others who enjoy a certain type of content in order to assert their superiority.
Elitism is a concept as old as society itself--and so is ganging up on people over seemingly harmless stuff. On a more serious note, Tumblr user Zamii070 was harassed over her art until she attempted suicide. Her harassers tried to justify this by saying her art is "problematic" because she allegedly "erased" some of the characters' identities with her art style.
Even after Zamii posted a video from a mental health facility, some users said she was faking because a mental health facility wouldn't allow her to take video and because she was wearing "scrubs (a hospital gown). Some of them called her a "privileged little white girl" in order to diminish the fact that she had nearly been bullied to death over a couple artistic decisions. Ironically, a lot of people come to Tumblr or turn to things like Steven Universe to find acceptance for who they are but instead find a cesspool of hate.
Lauren Zuke, one of the Steven Universe artists, was harassed off of Twitter for "queerbaiting" (the act of hinting that two characters of the same sex will end up together, but they don't)with the Lapidot (Lapis/Peridot) ship. The ship was not canon at the time of Zuke's "hints". Since then, she's been off the show, which is a reminder to everyone in a "fandom" to not hurt the people who create the content you love.
Speaking of hurting creators, an Undertale artist was treated to a homemade cookie with a needle in it. The artist ships Sans and Frisk and draws the corresponding art. (It is said that Frisk was aged up, which would imply that the art is NSFW.) It is suspected that the artist's ship served as the "fan"'s motivation, but it is not confirmed. All in all, this incident leads content creators to be suspicious of gifts, especially food gifts, from fans. This is not something either party wants.
I have no problem with fandom itself--and I am in a fandom myself: the commentary fandom. I'm a fan of Blaire White, Christina Hoff Sommers, Ready to Glare, shoe0nhead, Theryn Meyer, ContraPoints, Chris Ray Gun, Roaming Millennial, Stef Sanjati, and many others. This, however, does not mean I see the need to hurt others because I find something "problematic" or assert my superiority over those who consume similar content.
Sources and Photos:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3da838/an-attempted-suicide-forced-a-tumblr-community-to-open-its-eyes-about-bullying
https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/steven-universe-lauren-zuke-harassment/
https://imgur.com/gallery/Zbuyy