I'm Not A "Real" Fan

[blas87]

I wasn't really sure where to put it. The actors involved, I feel, make it pop culture. My rant itself is probably more of a "Things I Hate", but I ended up putting it here.

From some harsh words from a coworker and some rude comments (not directed at me myself but some angry comic bookers against people who just watch the movie or TV series), I guess I am not a "true" fan of Marvel or DC characters, or The Walking Dead because I don't read the comic books, or it's only because of big budget actors/actresses/sheep mentality that I like the stuff.

This is going to be really offensive, but I'm just gonna say it. Damn dorks, quit hating on people just because they've found a way to enjoy the same characters that you love. Just because I never read a comic book doesn't mean I can't be a "true" fan of The Punisher or Thor or Captain America, and since I didn't read the comic books and didn't already "know" how The Walking Dead would play out, I'm just a sheep who only watches things because everyone else does or because of the people who play the roles.

I was able to shut my coworker the hell up when he challenged me that I only like certain super heros just because of the actors who play them, because I was able to name the characters real names (for instance, Bruce Wayne is Batman *DC, I know, not Marvel or Avengers*, Tony Stark is Iron Man, etc etc etc).

I was perterbed when I was called a "sheep" because I want to see the Avengers, and then the rest of it built up tonight.

I won't lie. I DO watch the movies because damn, who doesn't want to look at Chris Hemsworth? And I will admit, if it wasn't for big budget actors whom most people are fond of, I probably wouldn't have taken an interest. But if you want to look at it that way, perhaps it's the best way to get people to be interested in the characters and the backstory. Maybe someone will pick up a comic book and read it one day. SO WHAT if your beloved comic book characters are enjoyed as big budget movie stars on the big screen?

And how dare anyone scream that only the comic book readers are the "true" fans of The Walking Dead. That one just pisses me right the hell off. I got interested in that show by myself, finding it at Family Video shortly after season 1 came out. I don't need to have read the comic books to enjoy it.

[Ginger Tea]

I've not read the walking dead or seen a full episode, but does it follow the source material or is it basically a weekly show about surviving in a zombie appocolypse, cos quite frankly that show would have been made sooner or later.

Following the comic to the letter spoils the show for comic readers as they know every plot point, and reading the comic knowing how it pans out due to season 4 being on the telly ...

[blas87]

I've heard it deviates the comics slightly, as far as time goes and characters go.

[Andara Bledin]

Oh, geez. Fucking geek snobbery.

I am a comic geek (among others) and these people piss me way the hell off. Them and all their "real fan" elitist bullshit.

Sure, I read the books before The Dresden Files, or True Blood, or Blood Ties all got made into TV shows, but that doesn't mean I'm any more of a fan than somebody who only ever enjoyed the shows and never got into the books. (although, the books are better in all cases )

Does that mean that for all of the American remakes of British TV shows, you're not a real fan if you didn't follow the originals? So, I'm not a "real fan" of Being Human because I watch the American version? Bollocks.

All those "real fans" with their hurt sensibilities because somebody opened up their sycophantic little clubhouse to the great unwashed masses can go get bent.

^-.-^

[blas87]

I'm glad not everyone thinks I'm some awful sheep who just wants to be "cool" like everyone else and hop on the Walking Dead bandwagon.

[Boozy]

I've never read a comic book in my life, but I am really psyched about seeing The Avengers. I loved the Iron Man movies. Robert Downey Jr. is so great.

I wish they put first-class actors in superhero movies more often. It can be such an entertaining genre if the script is good and the dialogue is delivered just right.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Eh, I've read some comics, and believe me, they're not the best thing since sliced bread which a lot of comic geeks seem to think. My main pet peeve with the comics is the way that they KILL OFF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS... ahem, sorry about that. ^^;; Tho I can at least live in hope that there will be a ressurrection... that happens a lot in comic land, characters dying or being killed off and then magically being brought back to life.

But I don't see that anyone is any less of a fan if they've just watched the movies or the cartoons as opposed to slavishly reading the comics. Since you can go online and check out sites like Marvel wiki, anyone can become an expert on the comic storylines and characters without having to read thru a whole bunch of them. Also, the 90s cartoons of X-men and Spiderman are very close to the comics as far as story arcs go; they're about the best adaptations that have ever been made, and that includes the movies.

[AdminAssistant]

I've heard it deviates the comics slightly, as far as time goes and characters go.

Fiance just got the first Compendium (48 volumes in one book) of The Walking Dead, so we're both going to read them. I've heard that the comic moves faster, that some characters are vastly different, and different characters die/stay alive.

I hope it's different - That Andrea isn't such a whiny bitch. That there aren't pages and pages and pages of Rick staring at the distance, having some kind of existential crisis, while Shane yells and Lori cries.

[Rapscallion]

I think there's a big difference in audiences here.

Most of the movie-watching public will generally be peripherally aware of the existence of the X-Men or Iron Man or whatever in dead tree format and some of the background. They're there to be entertained, and then next week it's a different movie - the format is transitory.

Comic books are permanent in nature and attract those who seek far more depth.

The same stories do not work in both formats the same way. Moving from one to another always involves something changing along the way.

It amuses me that some of the comic fans get up in arms over the true story being missed, whilst those producing the true story are twisting themselves into pretzels to justify yet another reboot to get more money from the same people for essentially the same story. That's something that seems to have spilled over to the movie format with Superman having a reboot and something similar planned for Spiderman. Oh, and Batman seems to have a reboot every time they fancy a new lead actor.

Rapscallion

[Ginger Tea]

I was thinking whilst at work, hurt my brain I know ...

Some comic books, more so the Vertigo type creator-owner stories, perhaps they had a great story, but never dreamed of having it be a TV show, let alone one with no studio intervention.
Maybe walking dead was one such "no one would fund this story" and it's only on TV cos it got popular and perhaps some execs liked what they were reading.

The logistics of a long running zombie movie keeping streets clear for long stretches of time, it's probably bad enough for a regular movie, but week in week out filming?
Also Y the last man, trying to film with an all but one female cast, even though the story has only one male in it, save for the intro, flashbacks and a brief stint with the astronauts, would actors guilds cry foul when male extras are turned away from the set?
You can not have a last male alive story if people can clearly see men milling around in the background, yet the penciler knows this and only has to draw women.

If J. Michael Strazinski (sp) could not have gotten Bablon 5 made for TV, he had a comic writing background and iir wrote some Heman and other animated/TV shows, so if it was a long running comic, it would still be a good read, just not as visually stunning.
Also, if he had decided to get an anime team on it (not the chibi kind) who knows how it could have panned out.

You can do quite a lot of set pieces on paper that could cost a bomb to film, all you have to pay is the penciler, inker and colourist.

A good story is a good story, be it a book a comic (graphic novel) a tv show a movie or a play, if one ends up being an adaptation in nothing much more than title and character names, then it is ruined for the fans, but it might be a good story on it's own merit (Wanted I'm still looking at you)

I dread the hack job that will no doubt happen should Preacher get the silver screen treatment people used to hint about, but I'm not saying this to keep it away from the masses, I just don't want the core story hacked so much that a 90 minute movie tries to get all of it in instead of making a trilogy or something, hell I'd rather it went the TV route if it were to be adapted.

I used to read threads going the other way "Comics are for kids etc" and I always wondered how many saying that watched a batman/superman/spiderman movie from the current reboots and didn't twig that without the comic book there would be no movie.

If for example no comic super hero's were ever created and Batman the Adam West TV show was made as is, but as it's own thing not based off of the comics, then the Burton/Keaton movies could have been far different or not made at all and the Nolan/Bale ones, based off a camp 60's TV show?
But based off an ever evolving and changing creative team something changes (eg Frank Millar, not that I read his run or much batman to begin with) and batman is allowed to be darker the villains more vicious, so a darker more vicious movie doesn't seem as far fetched.

[firecat88]

Ugh...I hate the 'If you don't like all forms of a series and only like one or the other, you're not a fan' thing. Allow me to copy/pasta my take on this from something I said on Tumblr:

If You…

• Love the movie
• Love the show
• Love the book/comic/manga (whether it’s the original source for something or not)
• Love the non-musical live-action version (stage, TV, or movie)
• Love the musical
• Love the cartoon
• Love the anime (whether it’s in its original language or a dub)
• Love a particular character from something
• Love a particular actor from something
• Love the game
• Love the music
• Love more than one of the above

Then congratulations. You’re a fan.

However, if you

• Attack someone for liking something that you don’t like
• Attack someone for not liking something that you like

Then you’re not a fan. You’re what is commonly referred to as an elitist (and what I personally would call a bully).

I don’t care what version of Sailor Moon you prefer, who your favorite Doctor is, which version of Phantom of the Opera you like best, or whatever. No one has the right to verbally assault anyone for their fandom preference.

That's just my two cents, though. Also, I never read any Marvel or DC comics either, but I loves me some Batman and X-Men. I pretty much grew up on the cartoons.

[HYHYBT]

I hate the notion of a "true fan." Everything has them: people who not only follow every episode (or whatever) in every format, learn and remember the sort of trivia and details that ought not be spoken of around non-like-minded people for politeness' sake, etc. (nothing really wrong with those things) but also pride themselves on doing this and think everybody, or at least everybody who matters, is the same way.

(As an example: One board I used to read is Golden-Road.net, a fan site for The Price is Right. "Used to" because, while it's one thing to know where to go if you wonder exactly when they introduced One Away or changed the carpet from green to red, and quite another to hear endless complaints of the "they need to go back to using the old..." variety. (Especially when it's the host. Bob Barker retired. People in their 80's tend to do that. It's been years. Get over it.)

[DGoddess]

I hate the notion of a "true fan." Everything has them: people who not only follow every episode (or whatever) in every format, learn and remember the sort of trivia and details that ought not be spoken of around non-like-minded people for politeness' sake, etc. (nothing really wrong with those things) but also pride themselves on doing this and think everybody, or at least everybody who matters, is the same way.

(As an example: One board I used to read is Golden-Road.net, a fan site for The Price is Right. "Used to" because, while it's one thing to know where to go if you wonder exactly when they introduced One Away or changed the carpet from green to red, and quite another to hear endless complaints of the "they need to go back to using the old..." variety. (Especially when it's the host. Bob Barker retired. People in their 80's tend to do that. It's been years. Get over it.)

I ran into something similar years ago when I was signed up for fanfic mailing lists. There were always this one exclusive "clique" if you will who would just about argue someone else to death if that person didn't share their POV. And would give some of the godawfulest excuses why . . .

Case in point: I like to write fanfic stories based on a 60's tv series "The Man From UNCLE" and had mentioned on the list that I had completed a rough draft of a sequel story (this was set to take place not long after the events in the movie sequel, which came out in 1983.)

One of the members at the time (not sure if she's still involved with the group, as I left a few years ago b/c I got too tied up with other stuff) was a fanzine publisher and asked to see it, so I printed off a hard copy and sent it to her by mail.

A short time later, she sent it back and we discussed it by email. Her "opinion" of it was that she didn't care for the fact that the two younger wives I'd created were as young as they were when the events of the story took place.

Okay, so Lynda and Brenda were only 16 at the time, but not illegal with parental consent (which they had.) Nevermimd the fact that they are a brilliant pair (at least in their minds.) Nevermimd the fact that they had hidden a billion plus dollar fortune away so the bad guys couldn't get their hands on it using a program they wrote themselves. Nevermind the fact that their dad's brother (aka sperm donor) was involved with these bad guys and they could be in hot water up to their necks.

Bur nooooooo . . it deeply bothered this publisher that they were that young.

Her reasoning? She felt it would offend people who had been sexually abused as children.

I was totally floored by that . . . . so much so that I almost peed myself laughing hysterically.

So she received one final email from me on the matter, basically saying while I do "appreciate her opinion" but I'd prefer to keep them the ages that they were, as I had a couple of sequels planned that might not work as well if they were a couple of years older (basically a polite "FU but I'll write as I please as I've been doing so since 1983 and I've not heard any opinions like that before" letter.)

Never heard back from her since. Gee, was it something I said?

So I still write my fanfic when I have time . . . but instead of printing I just post them online.

[protege]

I hate the notion of a "true fan." Everything has them: people who not only follow every episode (or whatever) in every format, learn and remember the sort of trivia and details that ought not be spoken of around non-like-minded people for politeness' sake, etc. (nothing really wrong with those things) but also pride themselves on doing this and think everybody, or at least everybody who matters, is the same way.

Yep, even sports teams have them. I was once told that I wasn't a "real" Steelers fan...simply because I don't know the entire roster. Yes, I know who Big Ben is, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, etc. are. But, I'm not going to waste my time on people who aren't on the field. Nor am I going to waste my time memorizing all the stats. Sorry "real fans," but I have a life. Win or lose, I watch the games--usually with a beer (or two). But, that's as "involved" as I get. I simply don't have the time--or even the mental capacity--to concern myself with such trivia. I just don't care about it!

Some of you know that I have a small model railroad layout in my basement. Nothing fancy, just a switching layout along two walls. What I *don't* do, is that I don't 'operate' it like a real railroad. There are no switch lists, no 'paperwork,' and no 'shipments' to keep track of. I shuffle paper around all day at work--why would I want to do that at home? Hell, I don't even run my trains on a 'schedule.' Some guys like that sort of thing--I'm not one of them. I like building freight cars, locomotives, the buildings, etc.

That's one thing I like about my railroad historical society. Even though I'm not as die-hard as some of them, they welcomed me. I'm too young to remember seeing Penn Central trains (I was hatched in '76, the same year PC was folded into Conrail), but I've never heard a derogatory word about that. Also, unlike some groups...our slide shows are fun! There's plenty of good-natured kidding, lots of ball-busting, all of which has kept (and attracted) members over the years.

[LadyBarbossa]

Never mind that film versions of books, comics, and mangas have often introduced a whole new legion of fans to the series that would have never otherwise even known about it. LotR, Harry Potter, and Narnia were like that for me, but then again I'm the kind who tries to pick up the book before the movie. But if someone just likes the movies, well that's fine, too.

I happen to enjoy the first two X-Men movies (but we won't talk about X3 or Wolverine: Origins), Nolan's Batman movies, Thor, and yes, I LIKED Green Lantern, so there. Just because I haven't read aaaaallll the comics or seen every episode of every cartoon set in every universe doesn't mean I'm 'less' of a fan. People who say otherwise are just making themselves and the fanbase in general look rather douchey.

The only time I've ever read a comic/manga was for the Hellsing series, and yes, it's because I saw the animated OVA first.