The fanbase is becoming more bigoted and I don't know what to do anymore.

Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
Almost every post or video on either Reddit or YouTube will have Bond fans screaming about "woke this" or "woke that." Its been so common ever since three years ago. They are known to become incredibly defensive when everytime you criticize the old movies, yet they don't mind hating on the Craig films.


Every post I've seen on reddit is nothing but controversial shit. Complaining about woke this and woke that. And I getting tired of idiots always pulling the "I have a Black friend card."


If this shit keeps happening, then I will have no choice but to give up on watching Bond. The fanbase on Reddit and YouTube completely ruined it for me and I'm not going to have it.

I mean it.


https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/zfnl10/why_are_so_many_people_wanting_james_bond_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/17w9gm3/what_would_make_you_stop_being_a_james_bond_fan/

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/1ek8it3/the_toxicity_in_this_subreddit_is_annoying/

https://www.reddit.com/r/JamesBond/comments/1ac16vt/i_guess_ill_be_taking_a_long_break_from_the_bond/

There's my proof.


If it happens again, then it's done.
«13

Comments

  • edited November 29 Posts: 4,266
    If it's any consolation, I've seen from this forum alone there are so many different views and relatively few are 'anti-woke' types specifically. Bond's a big and long running franchise. You're always going to get people who were teens/seeing these films between the 60s-80s criticising things they don't like nowadays (even if plenty of people fell in love with the Brosnan or Craig eras and are probably bigger Bond fans than those former lot...)

    Anyway, anti-woke commentators are only a vocal (but loud, especially on sites like reddit) minority. I remember The Batman (a film I perhaps harp on about too much here) being derided by commentators for being too 'woke' and yet it being a hit amongst audiences (particularly male audiences) and Batman fans alike, with many even scorning YouTube reviews from the likes of Ben Shapiro who reviewed it negatively. It'll be the same with a future Bond film I suspect, and it was a similar situation with NTTD on the whole.

    Anyway, I know it's frustrating with a franchise like Bond, but it's genuinely a large community of people who love and enjoy these films :)
  • Posts: 12,506
    I totally sympathize with and feel much of your frustration. There are a lot of people out there who are scared and / or hateful. I do earnestly feel like this site, though, has many kind, progressive-thinking individuals, including moderators who do not tolerate bigotry. For instance, I know of an instance when we unfortunately had a member making homophobic remarks, but it was an exceptional case and it was appropriately dealt with by moderators here. It’s normal to be upset by ignorant and spiteful views, but many, many Bond fans I know are not like that, and I hope you don’t let it take away from your enjoyment of the series and fellowship with many cool, unprejudiced fans.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,233
    I'm sure this forum is different. We do what we can to immediately remove troublemakers, bigots, bullies and trolls. That's what keeps me here. Reddit, YouTube, X, FB, and so on, are the sewer pits of the Internet. Confused keyboard heroes hurry to get there every morning just to be heard for once. I'm not. I fight my verbal battles face-to-face, or not at all.

    These people look like they come in great numbers but in truth, they're simply very vocal. Most smart people don't want to spend their valuable time on insufficiently moderated comment sections. They won't deign to the "anti-woke" rhetoric either. If it looks like the Internet has turned caustic, it's because almost everybody else is trying to live a normal life instead.

    Then, still, the "anti-woke" hate is nothing to pay much attention to. Stuff is blamed on Barbara "because she's a she and she's got a crush on Craig". Sure, like a child trying to figure out quantum physics. Craig himself has made Bond "less masculine" because of a cross-dressing commercial he did. Yes, one wonders how people with such smarts can even operate a smartphone.

    My point is that "the fanbase" from this thread's title may not be the fanbase at all. The fanbase I see here is, a few isolated cases notwithstanding, absolutely not spewing negativity all the time like their lives depend on it. So you're more than welcome to stay here, @Tyler_Durrane.
  • Personally I find the 007 Fanbase to be the least toxic. Even if opinions differ, most of everyone here are respectful about it. I can’t say the same for the likes of Star Wars, Marvel/DC, etc.
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    Oh. That's good to know.

    Sorry if I overreacted a little. The the anti-woke stuff on YouTube was getting a little put of hand...
  • Posts: 12,506
    Oh. That's good to know.

    Sorry if I overreacted a little. The the anti-woke stuff on YouTube was getting a little put of hand...

    YouTube in particular is very bad with clickbait, “anti-woke” kind of content. I don’t know of a platform with more of it. Comment sections there are also often overridden with backwards thinking. Every fanbase will have its hateful members, unfortunately; as more diversity is embraced by entertainment collectively, more backlash comes from lots of folks. I find personally it’s better to give them the least amount of attention possible, at least in the way of direct communication. I wish their minds could be changed, but those conversations are almost always very counterproductive.
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    Thank you for your comment.
    And taking a look at most of the posts here, they seem to be very chill and relaxed than the ones I've seen on Reddit and YouTube.
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    FoxRox wrote: »
    I totally sympathize with and feel much of your frustration. There are a lot of people out there who are scared and / or hateful. I do earnestly feel like this site, though, has many kind, progressive-thinking individuals, including moderators who do not tolerate bigotry. For instance, I know of an instance when we unfortunately had a member making homophobic remarks, but it was an exceptional case and it was appropriately dealt with by moderators here. It’s normal to be upset by ignorant and spiteful views, but many, many Bond fans I know are not like that, and I hope you don’t let it take away from your enjoyment of the series and fellowship with many cool, unprejudiced fans.

    That's very good to know!😊
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,233
    Oh. That's good to know.

    Sorry if I overreacted a little. The the anti-woke stuff on YouTube was getting a little put of hand...

    My advice is to stay away from such comment sections. Remember: no one there cares about your opinion, only about their own. And if your opinion disagrees with theirs, they'll happily start playing the game of infuriating you to the breaking point. You may as well try to reason with a fried chicken about the conflict in Palestine. It's just going to sizzle out until it's cold and dry.
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    edited November 29 Posts: 11
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Oh. That's good to know.

    Sorry if I overreacted a little. The the anti-woke stuff on YouTube was getting a little put of hand...

    My advice is to stay away from such comment sections. Remember: no one there cares about your opinion, only about their own. And if your opinion disagrees with theirs, they'll happily start playing the game of infuriating you to the breaking point. You may as well try to reason with a fried chicken about the conflict in Palestine. It's just going to sizzle out until it's cold and dry.

    Thanks
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    And another thing that's bothersome is how they use the "I'm not a racist" or "I have a (insert minority group) friend" card.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,325
    As the others have said it's best to stay away from the likes of Reddit and the YouTube comment sections. They are rife with toxicity, trolling, arguments and drama one really doesn't need in one's life. You're far better off sticking with traditional Bond forums like this one which are moderated properly and where people are generally much nicer and more reasonable to discuss things with, some occasional trolls aside. Take a seat here and relax and watch those other chaps fight out their dumpster fire culture wars on social media from afar. You're very welcome here, @Tyler_Durrane. As Arnie would say, "Stick around." :)
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,065
    And another thing that's bothersome is how they use the "I'm not a racist" or "I have a (insert minority group) friend" card.
    What gives those guys away is always that those statements are followed by "BUT"!
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    And another thing that's bothersome is how they use the "I'm not a racist" or "I have a (insert minority group) friend" card.
    What gives those guys away is always that those statements are followed by "BUT"!

    Exactly that!
  • Honestly I tune out those YouTube/Reddit users who spend all day complaining about “Woke this; woke that.” I don’t think it’s a particularly healthy use of one’s own time to be that nasty spirited about something as trivial as what they all complain about. The world has much bigger problems than that.
  • Tyler_DurraneTyler_Durrane Anywhere City
    Posts: 11
    Honestly I tune out those YouTube/Reddit users who spend all day complaining about “Woke this; woke that.” I don’t think it’s a particularly healthy use of one’s own time to be that nasty spirited about something as trivial as what they all complain about. The world has much bigger problems than that.

    Great point
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,076
    Why would you stop watching the Bond films because of some idiotic comments on social media?

    I'm on a couple of Bond groups on FB and some of the stupid crap so called fans come out with is unbelievable! Reading these comments, as another member said, isn't a healthy way to spend one's own time. It's best to abstain from participating in internet discussion if it's affecting your viewing pleasure.

    Unfortunately social media will always be full of all sorts of toxic and moronic comments (Read some of the many comments from these Moon landing conspiracy halfwits if you really want to feel depressed about the way some of the Human race is heading!)

    That's why i like this Bond site. members don't agree on many things, but it's always mainly civil and sensible discussion.

  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 2,173
    I have to agree. This is one of the best sites and also the best James Bond site, with a healthy dose of etiquette...and also filled with very intelligent guys. I don't look anywhere else to discuss 007.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,233
    I have to agree. This is one of the best sites and also the best James Bond site, with a healthy dose of etiquette...and also filled with very intelligent guys. I don't look anywhere else to discuss 007.

    Thank you kindly for those words, @SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,065
    I have to agree. This is one of the best sites and also the best James Bond site, with a healthy dose of etiquette...and also filled with very intelligent guys. I don't look anywhere else to discuss 007.
    This mirrors my feelings since getting here after the demise of the IMDb boards in February 2017. I truly appreciate the mutual respect and decent manners in discussing things on this board. Thanks to everyone for making it that way (never mind thanking me for trying to act the same). If there's one thing I might add: There are also a few (unfortunately, only a few!) "intelligent girls" (and not just guys) who participate here, and whenever I have a chance, I enjoy reading their views.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,233
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I have to agree. This is one of the best sites and also the best James Bond site, with a healthy dose of etiquette...and also filled with very intelligent guys. I don't look anywhere else to discuss 007.
    This mirrors my feelings since getting here after the demise of the IMDb boards in February 2017. I truly appreciate the mutual respect and decent manners in discussing things on this board. Thanks to everyone for making it that way (never mind thanking me for trying to act the same). If there's one thing I might add: There are also a few (unfortunately, only a few!) "intelligent girls" (and not just guys) who participate here, and whenever I have a chance, I enjoy reading their views.

    Excellent point, @j_w_pepper. I wish we had more female participants. I welcome a heterogeneous and diverse group to interact with. The more diverse our viewpoints and / or backgrounds, the more interesting the conversations, I'd say.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,584
    I have to agree. This is one of the best sites and also the best James Bond site, with a healthy dose of etiquette...and also filled with very intelligent guys. I don't look anywhere else to discuss 007.

    Amen to that! A huge wealth of knowledge here, I’ve learned a ton.
  • George_KaplanGeorge_Kaplan Being chauffeured by Tibbett
    edited December 3 Posts: 699
    People who use the word 'woke' as a pejorative ought to have another 'W' word carved into their forehead like Christoph Waltz at the end of Inglourious Basterds.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,188
    My take on it is that everyone should be respectful towards other opinions. If your opinion is X and mine is Y, than that's fine. Providing of course that you're not using the word "opinion" as a way to say the most awful (read: racist, misogynist, etc) things.

    Now personally I am not quite pro changing too much about Bond's original appearance. I'd be more than happy to discover new spy franchises with original characters instead of changing an established one just for the sake of it.

    For instance, I'm not in favour of changing Bond's gender, though I loved Atomic Blonde, and if they make a sequel to it, I'll most certainly go and watch that in cinemas.

    If someone thinks differently they are free to do so and I won't insult them for it, nor would I feel insulted. Unless of course, if @George_Kaplan is planning to carve something in my forehead because I'm a tad more traditional when it comes to Bond ;)
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited December 5 Posts: 7,188
    I feel I need to clarify myself here, since I'm afraid I have been too vague and I wish not to be misunderstood.

    If the next James Bond is a person of colour I am perfectly fine with that, I think the most important element to take into account is: can he make a good James Bond? If the best option happens to be a non-Caucasian actor then that shouldn't keep them from casting him.

    Having said that, I do wish Bond to remain British, male and appreciative of the finer things in life. I also wish that they keep including the so-called Bond girls, or Bond women if you will. For me, these elements are vital to the 'Bond cocktail' that I have enjoyed so much all of these years.

    I hope all of this doesn't qualify me as a 'bigot' :). I obviously have no desire to be considered as one.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,076
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    I feel I need to clarify myself here, since I'm afraid I have been too vague and I wish not to be misunderstood.

    If the next James Bond is a person of colour I am perfectly fine with that, I think the most important element to take into account is: can he make a good James Bond? If the best option happens to be a non-Caucasian actor then that shouldn't keep them from casting him.

    Having said that, I do wish Bond to remain British, male and appreciative of the finer things in life. I also wish that they keep including the so-called Bond girls, or Bond women if you will. For me, these elements are vital to the 'Bond cocktail' that I have enjoyed so much all of these years.

    I hope all of this doesn't qualify me as a 'bigot' :). I obviously have no desire to be considered as one.

    No need to 'clarify' yourself. Your previous comments were perfectly reasonable.
  • Posts: 655
    Wait… being anti-woke means someone is a bigot? That’s a newsflash. I definitely hate all this woke crap that’s been hoisted upon us these last few years. Until a few years ago that word didn’t even exist. Yet someone is gonna tell me that I need to be “woke”?? Yeah okay. No thanks. Not gonna happen. Next…
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited December 6 Posts: 24,233
    What happened is that 'woke' was pulled from its context a few years ago and weaponized by the extremes on both sides. Most people are neither 'woke' nor 'anti-woke'; they are reasonable. Like @ringfire211, no one will tell me what to think about this or that. But as a society, we are constantly faced with changing taboos -- some go away while new ones replace them. Some I accept, some I don't. And that's my business, not Karen's, Ellen's, Donald's or Jennifer's.

    I'm not getting worked up over 'woke' or 'anti-woke' anymore. I've come to realise that reasonable debates happen in the middle, never at the extremes. I'm not anti-woke, I'm anti-woke-as-an-argument. I want to go back to conversations that are about something, not about fencing with terminology that only thrives on (a)social media, where Mister Low-IQ and Miss Crazy Person meet for lunch.

    Why do you think I'm here and not on any other message board or comment section? All I am likely to find outside this community is either accusations that Bond is a racist, a sexist, and a symbol of the White Man oppressing the rest of the world, or that Bond has been emasculated by "Dan and Babs". Some of that rhetoric has, in fact, been dripping on our forum too, but I'll be damned if I let that pass. People who can only repeat the empty slogans that are constantly being regurgitated on YouTube's comment section are probably happier there, anyway. This forum is better.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,188
    Happy to read your comment @DarthDimi , as that's also where I stand. I try to stay away from extremes and find myself in the middle too. Sometimes I feel few people still are around that middle while more and more tend to side on either extreme side of the spectrum. Happy to read I'm not alone :)

    And thanks @LeonardPine for the kind comment :)
  • mattjoesmattjoes THE MOONRAKER TAPES ARE LOST THE MOONRAKER TAPES ARE LOST
    Posts: 7,050
    The fanbase is becoming more bigoted and I don't know what to do anymore.
    What? You're worried about that? What a waste of time. Go get drunk, laid, read a book, build a bridge and, yes, watch a Bond film, no matter what other people think.
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