Don’t like a certain comic book movie? Get into line or you’ll feel the repercussions.
Some who expressed a lack of satisfaction with various Marvel films this year found themselves on the brunt of harassment and cyber bullying, and now the coin has flipped with some people who didn’t like “Aquaman” finding themselves the target of the toxic herd mentality within parts of fandom that crops up online.
It has already gotten bad enough it has come to the attention of “Aquaman” director James Wan who tweeted a response about the bullying, saying:
“It has come to my attention that some folks are getting harassed by some fans for not liking [‘Aquaman’]. Please don’t do that. Not the kind of support I want. Be respectful. Vice versa, it’s ok to not like my film, but there’s no need to attack me personally, or tag me on hates. Peace.”
The weaponisation of fandom has been a big topic in the past year. That most petty of competitive rivalries – corporate tribalism (eg. Coke vs. Pepsi, Windows vs. Apple, etc.) – has always been around. However, in the wake of Marvel’s ever-increasing dominance of the comic book movie marketplace and the fallout from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” along with the ubiquity of social media, online arenas are becoming war zones where dissent isn’t just disloyalty – it’s heresy.
Whatever you think of “Aquaman,” the film has passed “Suicide Squad” and “Man of Steel” as it soared past $750 million worldwide box-office mark this weekend and is fast approaching $1 billion.
