Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 145. James Gunn and the Toxic Fandoms

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Ep. 145. James Gunn and the Toxic Fandoms · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

• 0:17
  Hi guys, it's Megan from Vigilante Vibes, and today James
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  Gunn has spoken out about the toxic discourse that's run amok
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  in the fandoms. And of course I had to make a
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  video about it. So he just said on threads of
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  all places, if you see something toxic online, my advice would be
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  don't interact with it. Attention only fans.
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  The flames of online toxicity. It's one of the reasons I'm
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  primarily on this platform. Meaning threads.
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  It isn't because there are fewer toxic people here, although
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  there seemingly are. It's because it started as an
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  online culture more willing to let the toxic personality in the
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  back of the room shout himself hoarse and go away.
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  When you shout back, you're making that voice relevant.
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  You're giving it a sounding board.
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  You are the midwife helping to birth that toxic voice into the
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  world. You are helping to make a few
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  1000 angry voices seem like millions.
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  And to be clear, when I'm talking about toxicity, I'm
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  talking primarily about the rage or the cruelty.
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  I'm not talking about not liking something or having reasonable
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  arguments about things we like and don't like.
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  Anyway, forgive this PSA but it's been on my mind so you
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  really can't say it better than that.
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  The toxic discourse has become such a big part of each and
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  every fandom, especially the DC fandom and the Marvel fandom of
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  the it's. It's going nuts in there and he
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  puts it perfectly saying you're just giving it attention.
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  Why do that? That's why they're doing it for
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  attention. And also what he didn't say is a
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  lot of these rage bait posts, the ones that are meant to piss
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  you off, to make you respond. These are monetized accounts.
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  These are accounts that no matter what you say, no matter
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  how hard you tell them off or put them in their place, they're
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  getting paid off your reply. So just ignore them, block them.
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  I know it sucks because I love arguing online, I love fighting,
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  but it's like, who's winning here?
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  The person who's monetized, the person who wants the attention,
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  the person you just gave that attention to.
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  And it's not our fault. It's it's in our DNA to want to
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  respond to, want to be the voice of reason, to check someone.
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  And I get it, I want to do it all the time, but it is giving
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  them that attention. You are giving them what exactly
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  what they need to have a platform to be able to get this
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  many people angry at once. And if you disagree with
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  anything James Gunn just said, you might be a part of the toxic
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  part he's talking about in the fandoms, unfortunately.
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  I'm sorry to tell you, but it's like the toxicity has become
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  such a prevalent thing and everywhere in nerd culture you
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  have the people who are the racist, the sexist, the
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  homophobic, the people who just want to ruin your time.
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  Why give them that attention? They don't deserve your
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  attention. They're just wasting their own
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  life bitching on the Internet just So what?
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  So they can piss you off? So they can get paid?
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  So they get the attention mommy and daddy never gave them, I
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  guess. But it's become so obvious
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  that's that's happening and it's not going to happen.
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  It's not going to. It's not going to stop happening
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  anytime soon. So why are we giving the this
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  attention to them and not building up positive creators,
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  positive people on the Internet? Like go comment on someone who
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  just said they liked a movie. Just go comment on someone who
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  just wants to talk about comics. But instead, the people that get
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  the most interaction, the most engagement are the ones that say
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  something stupid for attention. We've seen it so much,
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  especially with Superman coming out.
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  I think we all were very aware of the profiles that were making
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  posts about the movie who clearly didn't even see the
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  movie who are just doing it for engagement.
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  I remember the day before the movie came out someone was
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  posting on threads saying Superman movie is trash.
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  I saw it early. It is absolute garbage.
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  They killed off Paul Kent again and anyone that's seen the movie
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  knows that's not true. So it's like they clearly didn't
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  see the movie and we're relying on us to get that post out
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  there. And it worked 'cause people, so
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  many people commented saying that's not true, that's it.
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  That's not how the story goes. That's not what happens to the
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  movie. But they know that they're gonna
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  say whatever they can to get you, and they do it every time.
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  It's like, why don't we want the fandoms to be a more friendly
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  place, a more accepting place, a more inclusive place?
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  Why? Why?
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  We've seen it with different movies, different comics,
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  different shows that come out that people are making money off
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  of their hatred. Why are we allowing them to do
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  it? We have to like stop and think
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  before we respond and say am I helping this person achieve
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  their monetary goal? Am I helping them get their name
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  out there as one of the biggest haters?
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  Because let's be honest, rage bait does make money.
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  There are people on YouTube that have channels that are just for
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  trashing projects, trashing people, trashing characters who
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  just live on hatred and they get paid for that.
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  We all know these different creators, different channels I'm
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  talking about that only have negative things to say.
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  And like John James Gunn said, not liking something does not
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  mean you're toxic. You cannot like things, Who
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  cares? But it's the people that go out
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  of their way to spread negativity, to spread hatred, to
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  make people angry with their posts that are doing a
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  disservice to the fandoms as a whole.
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  We should be wanting to build the fandom, make a make it a
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  better place. I think that's pretty obvious
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  and I think James Gunn said that perfectly.
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  And my channel being a non-toxic channel that just wants to be a
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  positive presence in the fandoms, mostly Marvel fandom.
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  That's my thing. I felt like I had to make a
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  video because I 100% agree with him.
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  You guys know I love James Gunn. He he's not without his quirks
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  there. There are some things that annoy
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  me, but this post nailed it on the head, nailed it with a
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  hammer on the head. Nailed it.
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  I don't know, but he made it exactly what we should all be
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  striving to do. Ignoring the toxic parts of the
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  fandom. Don't give them a voice, make
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  them just yell into the void. Make it embarrassing for them.
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  But commenting on their stuff, telling them how toxic they are,
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  telling them how wrong they are, telling them that exactly what
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  they want you to do is only giving them what they want you
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  to do. We have to be better.
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  We have to ignore them. But I mean not be better.
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  But we are better because we're not trying to tear down the
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  fandoms like some people. That's why I have my group on
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  Facebook, the Nerd Haven that has 56,000 people in it all who
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  are very OK with having a non-toxic group filled with
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  non-toxic fans. People who just want to talk and
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  discuss these things we love. That's why I have this channel.
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  That's why I have all of it, because this is what I want for
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  the fandoms. This is what we should all want
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  for the fandoms. So, yeah, I think I've rambled
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  on enough. Thank you for listening.
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  If you agree, let me know in the comments.
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  And if you want to see more bangers like this, more bangers
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  of posts like this, follow James Gunn on threads because a lot of
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  times he's talking about stuff he's making, he's clarifying
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  rumors. He's setting the record straight
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  in many, many ways and I cannot get enough of it.
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  So without further ado, please like and subscribe so you don't
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  miss any more of my content, especially my non-toxic positive
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  content because you will not find any toxicity on my channel
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  because that's not what I'm about South.
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  With that being said, have a marvelous day.