I was in the middle of writing a rant about science-fiction. See, I've been struggling to get into a lot of hard (or relatively hard in the case of anything Star Wars related) sci-fi shows such as Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, and worst of all, Andor, so I wanted to try and parse through why they weren't doing anything for me. My conclusion was these shows because they seemed to prioritize realism or being gritty over telling good stories, but pretty far into the rant, I started to wonder... what even was my evidence here? That Battlestar Galactica was a direct response to the Star Trek Voyager's Year Of Hell, a divisive storyline that even I couldn't defend? That Andor was made by a guy who doesn't usually write sci-fi? That's just not grounds for an argument and I knew it.
Even if they weren't for me, it's not like all hard sci-fi specifically exists to stick it to Star Trek. And even if it did (looking at you BSG), it's not like the people working on them weren't also trying to make the best products they could. The Expanse is based on a book based on a TTRPG, Andor was just Gilroy giving his own unique take on a fairly malleable universe, and even BSG was less of a "screw Star Trek" project and more of a "let's do what Star Trek couldn't" project. Even with my personal bias towards formalist art, I definitely can't say that these shows would be better if they were more colorful and light-hearted. So why was I getting so mad? Why was I willing to write a whole rant on stuff that wasn't even true? But then I realized something. My rant wasn't based on those shows, it was based on what I've heard about those shows...
Hype Aversion, as defined by TV Tropes, is the specific avoidance of a work mainly because of how much you're told you'll like it. I think it's pretty fair to say that it's a fairly natural part of human psychology. If enough people bug you to do something, or if the same person bugs you too many times (aka nagging), you're gonna want to do it less. The same thing applies to media, especially nowadays when existence of the internet means you can be bombarded with recommendations from dozens of people. But I never really felt like that's usually a problem for me. If enough people claim something is really great, of course I'd want to try it, right? I mean, why not get in on all of the hype, even if I don't like it, at least I won't be out of the loop. Sure, something like Frozen, Undertale, or Squid Game can get so oversaturated that you get sick of seeing it, but those feel like exceptions for pieces of media that are just that popular. It's not like Andor or The Expanse had nearly that kind of popularity. So maybe it's not about how many people say it, maybe it's about what they say.
I probably was never going to like BSG, The Expanse, or Andor given my preferences, but I think what really left me feeling frustrated with them wasn't actually the shows themselves, but rather how people talk about them. Shows like BSG and The Expanse are praised because of their dark tone or realism, often in contrast from softer sci-fi. "BSG is the best because there aren't any of those silly aliens", "The Expanse is so good because it's actually scientifically accurate, unlike Star Trek". If these elements are your biggest draw then that's great, and you should rave about it, but it may start to put other people off of watching your favorite show if you start to insult other series by comparison. For me, seeing people trash on softer, more lighthearted science-fiction because they're not as gritty or realistic as BSG or The Expanse made me want to watch them less. Andor got it the worst, since so much of the buzz around it boiled down to "I never knew Star Wars could be this good" or "Star Wars but for smart people". Like, I'm disappointed with the current state of Star Wars too, but I still liked stuff like the original trilogy, The Last Jedi, Clone Wars, and (edit: the first two seasons of) The Mandalorian. Acting like all other Star Wars media is bad because of Andor's more prestige storytelling isn't going to make Star Wars fans want to watch it.
Of course, this is also where we get into the infamous "You have to have a high IQ to understand Rick And Morty" territory. We all poke fun at that copypasta for very good reason, but it's not like we're entirely past it either. I've seen quotes about Andor saying that fans who don't like it are less intellectual or have "simpler minds", and I'm sorry, that's just as pretentious! Everything Everywhere All At Once got this too. I tried watching but ended up dropping it an hour in because it was just too much sensory overload to me. I can't say whether it's a good or bad movie because I didn't see the whole thing. However, to see the movie's fans rave about it nonstop and get in a rage when a NY Times author didn't put it in their Top 10 movies of 2022, even though I couldn't even watch it without getting physically uncomfortable, gave me a bad taste in my mouth and left me feeling more apathetic about the movie. At this point, I'm just glad it's 2023 and people hopefully won't be talking about EEAAO as much (edit: so... it sweeped the Oscars. Guess that didn't age very well).
Unfortunately, video games aren't exempt from this either. Spark The Electric Jester 3, an indie game heavily based on the Sonic series, has been getting a lot of flack specifically from Sonic fans since the majority of praise towards it ends up coming with insults towards the Sonic series. Lines like "this is what Sonic should've been" or "An actually good game, unlike Sonic" are scattered throughout Spark 3's Steam and Backloggd reviews, at which point no wonder Sonic fans are going to feel alienated. Personally, this doesn't phase me too much since Freedom Planet, also a Sonic-like, is one of my favorite games of all time, but I also can't say I don't have my own instances of this. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Super Smash Bros Melee, Kirby Planet Robobot, and Shantae And The Pirate's Curse are all great games, but seeing them be used as a weapon against games in these franchises that I like just as much or even more (Origami King, Ultimate, Star Allies, and Half-Genie Hero respectively) leaves me feeling more cold towards them, or more willing to criticize them to prove they're not as good as everyone says they are. Sometimes I feel like I don't even want to enjoy these "sacred cows" at the risk of vindicating those who hold it up as some untouchable masterpieces that put some of my favorite games ever to shame, it makes me feel so bitter.
But that's not how I should be looking at media. The worst thing I can do is feed into toxicity and gave these types of rabid fans the time of day. So I can't get into hard science-fiction, so EEAAO is too overwhelming for me, so I have different favorite Paper Mario and Kirby games than most people, what does it matter? All it means is that I have my own preferences, opinions, and experiences with media. But if I had to end this on some sort of message, just please don't praise your favorite pieces of media by putting others down. Don't claim that people who don't like something like Andor or EEAAO are less intellectual. All this is just going to turn people away, and you're going to have less people to rave about your favorite stuff with. And that's just a lose-lose for everyone.
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