Browncoat Responsibility
POSTED BY: nxojkt
UPDATED: Monday, August 29, 2005 16:28
VIEWED: 20794
PAGE 4 of 6
IMHO, all of this (both pro and con) is much ado about nothing. It just proves the show is popular, even with crazy people. With popularity comes problems that you didn't have when you were part of a failed TV show. Ask the stars of TOS (that would be Star Trek, The Original Series, for the uninitiated) about it, I'm sure all of them have at least one story about crazy fans to relate.
Fandom is fandom. The time to get used to this is *now*, because it isn't going to get any better. Like a good Chex Mix™, in fandom you get the cereal with nuts added, and it isn't worth trying to sort them out. ;-)
Part of the problem is taking this all too seriously. It's entertainment, for pities sake. I don't watch Firefly, buy Firefly DVD's, and recommend Firefly to fellow SF fans because I want it to succeed. That's putting the cart before the horse. Joss doesn't make the show *because* it makes money. He makes the show because he loves what he does. I watch the show because I love what he created. I recommend it because it means something to me. Serenity will succeed, or not, strictly on whether it means something to the people who watch it, *NOT* because we promoted it tirelessly, were really nice to everybody (or alternately, really righteously angry) and got butts in all the theatre seats for the opening weekend. If it doesn't mean anything to the audience, they aren't going to care, and it won't succeed no matter how hard we try. (ask the people who made Enterprise about that scenario)
So, if all this means anything to you, take a cue from an old fan and just let the crazies dance around and scream loud; as long as they don't actually hurt anyone, does it really matter? Pointing out that there are crazies dancing around and screaming just calls attention to the noise. Some of us would rather not notice, and would really rather that the Norms didn't notice. Most of *them* are clueless anyway. ;-)
Besides, if you get all worked up about the fools in our midst, how are you ever going to enjoy the film when it finally comes out?
-RAnthony
"See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like." -Mal
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Excellent post, I couldn't agree more.
ETA: Okay I'm editing this, I've changed my mind. I've read more of this thread and seen some of the points raised by others, and my reply seems kind of blunt.
I do agree with some of the points you have made, the behaviour of a small percentage of the Browncoats hasn't exactly projected what I'd call the ideal image for us as a whole...but thats not the fault of a lot of people here.
So, lets say we forget it, go watch firefly, eat some cheese, and try and make each day better than the one before?
PsychicRiver
"Two by two, hands of blue." 
"We'll take care of each other. I'll knit!"
"I swallowed a bug."
Summer Glau to me - "You are so photogenic."
Me - 
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II would just like to say one more thing, then I am off to bed.
Me: I'm a Browncoat.
General Public: A wha?
Me: A Browncoat. You know, a fan of the TV show Firefly and the upcoming movie, Serenity.
General Public: A fan of wha?
Me: Don't pretend you've never heard of us. We have a bad rep on AICN, and a one other website. Man, that was not a fun war we fought with that other website. And did you hear what happened in that comic book store in Edmonton?
General Public: Acen? What's acen? Did you say that you're a brownpants?
Okay, I'm tired, and perhaps laying the snark on a bit too deep. The rep fans of Whedon have over at AICN is from a few trolls that post on the site (one of whom trolls the BC board-- tonay), and also, Quint likes to mock Herc and his Joss love. No one I know in RL, outside of one or two people, has ever heard of AICN, and only a few people understand what I mean when I say "Browncoat". Maybe this means I should be recruiting harder!
My point is, the tarnishing of our rep is happening in very small circles. Like, tiny. AICN might be a huge site to the fanboys, but to the general movie-going public, not so much. And even the fanboys who frequent AICN know it's a troll pit. We have a huge supporter over there in Herc, and don't think for a moment Serenity won't get huge coverage on AICN the closer we get to release. But I digress.
I understand where you are coming from, but I guess where I am having problems is that I see blame and finger-pointing, rather then building up. If the message truly is, "Browncoats act civil", then I think one of the first things we should be doing is forgiving and forgetting. It is so easy to Monday-quarterback what happened, but while it was happening (the original post was up for almost a week before it all blew up), not one person stepped in and said, "this here might not be a great idea, remember what happened to Nathan?" Now I know this isn't quite fair. I've read posts on the BC board for calls to action because some reporter got something wrong in a writeup, and rolled my eyes mightily. Perhaps I should've posted my thoughts on how it's not such a great idea to flood small town newspaper reporters email boxes with hate mail. My failing. And I didn't do it with this post because I felt they winners were justified in their anger, and as someone who submitted an entry myself, I wanted to support them. So I sent one short, polite email. No one had any idea what would happen; I think if they did, things would've gone a different way.
My point in this is not so much turn the other cheek and hope it all goes away. Rather, recognize that in any fandom, you have zealots. And, according to the public, ALL fandoms are filled to the brim with freaks. I mean, if we REALLY didn't want to turn off the general public, then perhaps we shouldn't be wearing goofy orange knit hats, Chinese dresses and combat boots, and carrying parasols to opening day. 'Cause nothing scares the public like cosplay! I'm kidding, of course (well, except it does scare them). But there is a point: Who cares what the general public thinks of us geeky fans? It won't make a difference to the box office. It won't, I promise. Did it make a difference to Star Wars? Lord of the Rings? Any of the successful comicbook movies? A good movie is a good movie, and ours will stand on it's own, no matter what people think of our fandom.
That said, I hate for us to be lumped together because of the actions of a few nutjobs. So, to come back around to what you're saying, I kinda agree, said as much in another thread, but I have decided not to let the actions of a few whacks bother me. My main concern now is restoring the peace around here, and hoping all the ill will fades. Firefly and Serenity boards are my oasis in a busy, hectic life. I've been involved in fandoms before (anime and comics; you think OUR fandom has issues-- we're mere babes-in-baskets compared to those fandoms), and this has been the best fan experience I've ever had. I just hope I'm not deluding myself that it can stay tha
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RAnthony: Perfect. Exactly one of the points I have been trying to make, but you've just made it 100x better then any of my rambling posts.
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I just registered to make a comment here. I'm not really a browncoat (...well, I do own the DVDs and I think I can drag some friends of mine in Serenity, but I just love watching movies and TV shows in general). I love the fact that you have this big community of fans and I hate the fact that everytime I check if there is any news on the movie on imdb.com or AICN I see this really long flame wars. The problem is once I start I can't stop reading them and all the bad things people say about firefly and the browncoats really make me depressed. Those discussions are often pointless, because none of these people are ever going to change their mind about things they like and things they don't like. That's the point about having an opinion. It is always subjective and so are reviews no matter how much they try to hide it. What I wanted to say: I always had the impression that browncoats are on the whole nice and intelligent people who support their favourite show with a great passion. There is nothing wrong with that. Now I don't visit talkbacks and message boards anymore, because all the bashing has made it difficult for me to enjoy my favourite movies. Also, every movie has it's flaws and I'm starting to take it less seriously. I don't know a lot about these incidents mentioned here, but most people know that there are always two sides to a story. But I was a little disappointed. Just a little. So it is good to see that some of you are concerned, but don't get disheartened, because you have not done anything wrong.
Sorry, if I made mistakes. English is not my first language...
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Sorry I'm late to the party (again), But I just wanted to say that I too, agree with the heart of what's being said here by Nxojkt. I love the Browncoat community. There's something about knowing that if someone truely wrongs you, Thousands of people "have your back". I was Proud when Nathan came on and asked for support and got it. It's a good thing to have thousands of people stand up for you. But, "No need to get hands on." As proud as I was to see so many Stand Up for Nathan, I was disappointed to see people start shoving.
As TWG said: "I know none of us wants to 'grow up' but that doesn’t mean we can't be mature."
Visit WWW.Marillion.Com for a better way to live
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I agree with this article, the flaming and the fanatascism must stop. It'll only turn people against Joss and Serenity, and it's very humiliating that Nathan had to step in and plead for flans to stop harrassing that bloke.
It was an unjustly cancelled TV show, but whatever degree of excellence it posessed, it is in the end just a TV show. It's not worth making people's life hell over.
If you see something that annoys you over Serenity, say, a bad review, then don't go and attack the reviewer. Just go, "Tch, eh?" and then work to spread an equal amount of good influence on the net and at home. Post good reviews elsewhere, recommend instead of attacking a fellow's personal opinions.
This is the only show where I've ever felt moved to be a proper fan of, and I'd hate to see it ruined by overly-enthusiastic fans acting before they think about the consequences. These aren't faceless people out there you're attacking, they have lives, hopes and problems like us.
Stay cool, stay promoting, stay away from those reviewer email links!
Your's, concernedly whilst munching on an eccles cake, Pete
"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash
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Hey, Diz! Good points, and I agree that the general public will never really hear of us 'flans', but that's always been besides the point as to this case in my book.
It's more that we're actually disrupting and upsetting people, or causing a nuisance, and that shouldn't be stopped on the grounds of that it might damage Serenity, it should be stopped on the grounds that it's a crappy thing to do to people.
Pete
"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash
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I'm with Diz on this. I'm a recent convert, living in a world where almost no one has heard of Firefly, nor cares. Her snarky little intro was, actually, a perfect description of what all this local controversy actually means in the world picture. It's gotten bigger here (and at the BC board) than probably all of the external influence it's had, combined.
Just be the best person you know how to be, and step over the piles of troll.
----
I can see you.
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Quote:
Originally posted by nxojkt:
I'm sure I'll take some heat for this, but I feel compelled to do so anyway.
We, as a community, have a responsibility to represent the Browncoat community. Many of the things that I'm going to say have been posted by other people in the last few days, but I think they bear repeating.
At one time, "Browncoats" were looked at as model fans. We were the patient bunch that was so passionate about our little tv show that when the DVD came out, we bought it. And we bought so much of it that we're getting a movie out of it. We love our Firefly so much that Universal was rewarding us with screenings of the movie months in advance, with so much anticipation that tickets were scalping on e-bay for $200-300.
Now... not so much.
First it started with the idiots who threatened theatre employees when they wouldn't create extra tickets to sold-out screenings. Joss chimed in on that one, and people seemed to comply, as we didn't hear about any more threats.
Then Nathan Fillion tells us of his comic book store fiasco, thinking it'll make for a cute joke for a few nasty letters to show up and for the guy to lose business. Instead, it got so bad that Nathan had to come back on a plead for us to stop the harassment.
Now there's the IESB.net thing. In case you don't know, the story there is that this website, which had been supportive of Serenity - having a lot of video and print content about the movie - did a contest in which they gave away signed copies of the movie poster. They took too long to get the posters out, and after ignoring e-mails from the winners, were bombarded with nasty e-mails from "friends" of the winners; some that were threatening. In response to this, the folks at IESB.net pulled down all of their supportive, positive content, and put up a scathing review. They've since "apologized" and pulled that article down.
It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong in each of these situations. The bottom line is that we, as a community, end up looking bad. Recently, on one large site, we were compared to Scientologists. Why? Because they hunt down every negative thing said about them, and attack it ferociously.
We've got to tone that side of things down. When we go after people negatively, we lose. Instead of positive artciles being written about the money raised at Comic-Con for charity, we get articles written about the "Legion of Whedon" that comes down upon anything negative. Pretty soon we'll have people scared to mention Serenity, in fear that they might mis-state something and feel our wrath.
This stuff is just plain silly, folks.
We have passion for Firefly/Serenity, and that passion is a good thing when it results in positive things. When money is raised for charity, when we help Universal realize that there is a fan base out there, when we spread positive word of this thing that we love. These things are positive. Banding together to try to convince Fox to put out a soundtrack for the show is a good thing. Threatening a web site's moderators because they were negligant is a bad thing.
We have a responsibility to ourselves as individulas to act in a classy way. We have a responsibility to ourselves as a community to represent our community well. We also have a responsiblity to the cast and crew of Serenity to not have them answering questions about our bad behaviour. We have a responsibility to them to not piss off people who can help. No, IESB.net is not the largest movie site on the web... but they were a supportive one. I'm sure that the people who sent e-mails did so with the best of intentions, thinking that they were only helping the situation. But we need to do a better job of picking our battles.
We need to be aware that not everyone who watches Serenity is going to love it. Hell, not every Browncoat who saw a screening loved it. People have a right to dislike what we love. If Roger Ebert gives Serenity a thumbs down, so be it. We're not going to change his mind by writing him scathing e-mails. What we'll do is piss him off and tNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME