Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
I just wish that you (and others) would have a little bit more empathy for the creators who bring us this entertainment, and not just this particular writer but all those involved (and yes, that's irrespective of gender). If I'm in their shoes and stumble upon this thread, I think I'd see a bunch of self-righteous foreign pirates criticising my writing choices as if they know me, acting as if they understand my culture and my work conditions, and this even though I have to do what I'm told in the end, and was hired precisely because of what my patrons knew I've written before. So, why all the vitriol? Is this about trying to understand more about what we do and do not like in our entertainment, or is it more about making us feel good about our opinions and finding someone to blame for our discontent? Of course, any artist expects their work to be criticized the moment they put it on display (otherwise, they'd just keep it to themselves). But I think we, as "critics", can do better. At the very least, I think we can focus on the product and our reasoned criticism of it, rather than finding various ways to slam a person's character and trying to construct elaborate gossipy narratives more fit for the tabloids than anything else. We can criticize a person's work without attacking the person; to me, such attacks are never "fair game".
To summarize, I think discussion is good, and criticism is fine (if people keep in mind that there's a lot they don't know about what goes on behind the scenes), but I would like to see a touch more class and civility in the conversation. That's really my only concern.
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I'll give you some of this.
Truth is that people place an undue amount of emotional investment behind certain things and objects they've never met before. It's like the obsession about sports teams; people rage and exclaim in joy over competitions and players that will never involve them. Personally, I'll never understand it.
So it's fair to say that "Team Okada" has gotten more than a bit too raunchy lately. Perhaps it's gotten a bit too sensationalist and nobody likes tabloid style stuff. Personal attacks always weaken arguments, even if the arguments themselves have validity.
However, I would disagree about your view of their reaction to perspective of being in their shoes. Certainly there's been quite a bit of positive feedback as well. I think it'd be somewhat flattering to realize that a bunch of people who live far away, have developed some kind of bizarre fascination and appreciation of one's work. Or it could be viewed as a bit creepy.
I guess it's also hard for me to empathize with someone getting offended by anonymous opinions of people who really don't factor into their... well anything. "Oh no, people 3000 miles away who don't know anything about me don't like my stuff, hmm let me go back to counting my stacks of money!" It's a necessity for anyone whose profession involves the public. It is my feeling that they can stand up for themselves, and do not need protection. Though in this hypothetical issue, if they saw this and really said they were truly not happy about this, I'd delete every one of my own posts in this thread.
Now, if we were talking about harassment like certain crazed fans sending death threats, then yes, that would be terrible. If someone was constantly badgering them directly, it'd be a problem. Even thinking of said thoughts should and always be inappropriate.
I suppose it'd be harder to read past the more facetious posts. Then again, tone on the internet is hard to discern. Now, cracking jokes at someone's expense is the greatest offense here, I would guess.
There are certainly levels of hypocrisy that we are all involved in currently, and I'm sure I've discredited myself somewhere along the way. But I've always noted that my posts are merely inane ramblings and not reflective of anyone else's reality. There's also some of my imagination and what resembles bad fanfiction, but I think I made that clear too. Well, except when I'm right. I'm right a lot. Maybe. No, I'm actually wrong a lot too.
So I will change the tone a bit more.
It does make me wonder though if there should have just been a thread about "Anime related staff members you like/dislike" instead of a thread about just one person.