I honestly believe that language should have no limits. No matter how heartfelt, intelligent, misinformed or vile your voice may be. It is your right to speak your piece. All kinds of things have been built off of the written word. Careers, kingdoms & even legacies.

However, I do believe there is a case of crossing the line. I know the “I have trouble with controlling my rage” + Internet forum combo does equate with the possibility of such events. I’ve seen it, felt it. Hell hath no fury, like a fanboy scorned.

This past weak, a syndicated film critic wrote up the first negative review about ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ breaking the 100% score on the ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ site. How did Batman fans react, you say? By threatening to kill him. Seriously, you have to had heard of this by now? Anonymous death threats by people who hadn’t even seen the movie yet themselves. It got so bad that RT had to shut down the comments section.

I have seen the nasty streak of fundamentalism permeating all facets of ‘Geekdom’ lately and it is making me uncomfortable. Uncomfortable to the point of disgusted. The good news is, I think I have come up with a solution.

Care less about what other people think about the things you care a lot about.

‘Care less?’ I might as well be advising some people to live less. To worship less. It might be something too holy to people. Maybe even too beneficial, depending on their particular circumstance.

In perspective, I think caring about the media we consume really fuels the escapism. We can give media unknowable, mystic qualities. With proper dedication people find legitimate spiritual experiences, and have otherwise rare and important life events thanks to it. I know I have.

I think there’s just an innate desire to share things that we enjoy, particularly when we can share them for free. The more time we spend at a masturbatory hobby, the more we want to legitimate and share our activities, and frustration ensues when we feel people are making this more difficult for us. Combine that feeling with a prevalent inability to respect the art-related tastes or opinions of others, and you get a bit of a mess. Sometimes people really feel like they have to scream to be heard.

Some people are touched by specific things, and if it gives them more personal development and faith than organized religion, Then I get that…on a certain level. The same way people have been struck by Buddhism, they’ve been struck by Star Trek or Star Wars. However, you want to start a death threat holy war on a reviewer or ANYONE because Jar Jar Binks exists, then you have issues.

Authors, artists, politicians and really anyone in the public eye get their windows broken by various objects all the time because things don’t go the way the public wishes them to, and its ridiculous.

Maybe all of this all part of a bigger problem. Where there are a lot of people, not everyone, but a lot who believe that everything is objectively quantifiable. Something is either good or bad, not good to me and bad to some or some other variation. The way we currently use the web amplifies this as we try to make census on things which depend on taste.

You know…

“You rated this 9/10? That shitty thing? You deserve to be slapped! Bioware might hear you and get the wrong f***ing idea!!!!”

or

“You rated this 2/10? It might’ve been lacking, but it was still awesome and now you just killed my franchise! You piece of s***!!!!’

Maybe all the anonymity, the ‘Internet forum’ is nothing more then a podium given to anyone who wants it, and a flock of fools all tapped the microphone at once.

Or does it all really just boil down to the fact that we really, really hate being wrong. If what we love is being attacked, we’ll defend it at all costs because the fact that someone is attacking it means that they think it to be wrong and that makes us wrong.

Lighten up.

If you can’t care less then try this…whenever you feel like you’re getting worked up by someone’s opinion on things that are not really worth getting worked up about, remember these words, smile, and go on with your life:

Yeah, Well you know, That’s just like, your opinion man.

-Dagobot