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Theres a scene Alan Moore wrote into the graphic novelWatchmenthat I think about a lot these days.
Whats happened to America?
Whats happened to the American Dream?
Presumably, he sees this as a rhetorical question, but he receives an answer, anyway.
It came true, the Comedian replies.
Youre lookin at it.
Have mercy upon our souls.
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I wish I could quote a more highbrow text thanWatchmento make my point.
But, dear reader, Im part of the problem.
The number of prose books Ive read is dwarfed by the corresponding number of superhero comics.
Today, Im not so sure.
Maybe the world would be a better place if people in power werent listening to people like me.
But they are, and they dont seem to understand what a mistake that might have been.
Take, for example, the current state of theStar Warsfranchise.
This vicious opposition isnt limited to Tran, of course; nor is it a fresh phenomenon.
The easy way out is to say, What the hell was theStar Warsyou had been watching?
You will be wasting your time.
Theres no productive argument to be had when anti-inclusivity extremism is at play.
These people want what they want, and theyre not disappearing.
Which brings us back to the tragic fulfillment of the Fandom Dream.
To be a member of a fandom is to take a property and embrace it like a vise.
There are polite fans who say it quietly and dont get mad when their needs arent met.
Whats remarkable and dangerous is the fact that, in the past 20 years, Hollywood started feeding them.
They started getting what they wanted, and theyve never looked back.
Perhaps patient zero in this case was Joel Schumacher.
And, at least in their eyes, they won.
If its an adaptation or sequel, they talk incessantly about staying true to the beloved source material.
That doesnt mean capitulating to the demands of the worst of the worst, of course.
The present moment in Hollywood history also features a general trend toward greater inclusion, not away from it.
Perhaps that was a mistake.
They know that fandom, in general, is being catered to these days.
So why shouldnt they expect to get what they want?
Why shouldnt they pipe up and yell about how jilted they feel?
After all, dont the more progressive-minded fans complain about lack of inclusion and get whattheywant in return?
Im not drawing a moral equivalency here more inclusion is an inherent good.
Im talking about perception.
But hes the exception.
Of course the trolls are going to get riled up: Theyve gotten used to genuflection, not nose-thumbing.
But wouldnt that just embolden them and harden their opposition?
But, again, that feels like something that could add more fuel to the fire.
Itll take them a generation to give us the bold, uncompromising representations of lived truth that we want.
To enroll in a kind of Democratic Socialists of America for pop culture?
The it was better before the SJWs took over crowd will have no firm footing there.
There are plenty such products, but they struggle to compete with theStar Warses of the world.
They need our help.
Lets build new fandoms, ones the trolls dont have a stake in.
The dark side may take a stab at topple them.
But I believe in the power of the light.
