The Hate Watchers

I've been toying with writing a post like this for a while now, trying to put together some thoughts and observations on hate-watchers without getting caught up in the outrage loops that they operate in.  I'm going to have to tread carefully here, because this kind of material can get really volatile really quickly.

So, a couple of years ago I noticed that there were Youtube channels that featured the equivalent of right-wing outrage farmers, except dedicated to fandom content.  The tactics are exactly the same as the what happened with Gamergate all those years ago - find a piece of media that is controversial or unpopular, drum up outrage, hurl misogynist/racist abuse at it, hide behind being a "fan" and "legitimate criticism" when called out, and reap the rewards of generating clicks and attention.  A couple of small content creators are able to generate vast amounts of negative ragebait videos, memes, and social media noise that has an outsized effect on the media narrative.

It's disturbing how often this stuff goes viral, and how many pieces of media have been subjected to these hate campaigns.  I've watched this happen to the MCU, "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Lord of the Rings," Disney movies and even "True Detective" over the past few years.  It's common enough that the patterns are pretty easy to spot now - the primary individual targets are usually women, people of color, or both.  Kathleen Kennedy and Rachel Zegler have been internet punching bags for years.  The bulk of the perpetrators are usually young reprobates who get caught up in bandwagoning the latest target of derision, usually blowing minor issues or risky creative decisions wildly out of proportion.  The behavior seems to be driven by a feeling of being wronged, or being excluded, often by franchise media that's trying to appeal to a wider audience.  Bad actors will exploit existing fans' nostalgia and disappointment to create an us v. them dynamic with creators, critics, and other fans.  Any sort of creative disagreement going on behind the scenes will be seized on as an excuse to behave badly.      

Let's use one of the latest targets, "Starfeet Academy," as an example.   "Starfleet Academy" is the latest "Star Trek" series, which is going after younger viewers, and features a diverse cast.  Some of the most virulent outrage channels  latched on to the show based on marketing materials before it aired, but the outrage really kicked into gear when the first episode got mixed reactions from existing "Star Trek" fans.  A couple of unflattering screenshots of female cast members were passed around that got negative reactions from Stephen Miller and Elon Musk, and suddenly the floodgates were open.  The show was accused of being part of the "woke agenda" of performative progressivism, despite "Star Trek" having a long history of promoting onscreen diversity.  The show was accused of not respecting its fans or understanding its franchise, despite geeky "Star Trek" references and easter eggs in every episode.  The show was accused of being poorly written and bad at appealing to a young audience, which is a perfectly legitimate position to take.  Unfortunately, this was repeatedly used as an excuse for the continued harassment and mockery of the show, its creators, and the fanbase that did develop around it.

The ragebait content itself is strangely fascinating to pick apart.  The criticisms are very shallow and petty, usually based on outdated stereotyping and conservative dog whistles.  The vitriol is childish and fueled by tribalism and mob mentality.  The targets are never anything truly popular, because the ridicule might boomerang back on the perpetrators  subjecting them to the same kind of scorn.  Neither are they ever anything too obscure or mature, where any nuance  might be required.  A big giveaway that the content is coming from opportunists is that the producers won't stop engaging with the media they insist is awful, sometimes watching whole seasons of shows or obsessively following the box office stats of movies just to gather more fuel for their outrage.  Any positive content that they produce, highlighting media they purport to enjoy, tends to focus on a narrow list of the most universally popular and inoffensive shows and movies.  A couple of the most notable outrage purveyors started out as wannabe critics and culture commentators - there but for the grace of God and the Criterion Collection go I, I suppose.  

Hatewatchers are nothing new, but like so many other negative social phenomena they've been made worse by social media and the new content ecosystems.  The "Star Wars" prequels provided much of  the template for the more organized hate campaigns - picking high profile targets, turning extended roast and rant sessions into content, and nitpicking minor flaws ad nauseum.  I remember "The People v. George Lucas," and confess that I watched the original RedLetterMedia reviews with friends.  However, this didn't stop those movies from gaining their own following, and quietly becoming nostalgic Late-Millennial/Gen Z favorites, twenty years later.

There have been enough of these hate campaigns now, that it's getting easier to brush them off, especially the ones that are transparently being waged in bad faith.  However, they are annoying, distracting, and make it difficult to actually have good discussions about the media in question.  This is, of course, a reflection of how all public discourse is being affected more broadly by malicious instigators, with negative outcomes affecting everything from politics to basic social interactions. Once you recognize the common tactics, however, you can better sidestep the outrage and get back to enjoying your fandom.   

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