#istg fandom wank has gone too far

[latent-thoughts]

Hello lovely, I noticed lot of people on here, the same people who complained about Ragnarok, being mean to the ones who right now cannot accept the series as canon for so many reasons. Why do you think they are acting like that? I thought they should know by now how it feels to be let down by canon

I wish I knew, hon. I wish...

I don't want to make judgements and assumptions about anyone here, unlike those made assumptions about us. (That we don't understand and appreciate the Loki series because of our own trauma, mental health issues and history of abuse. Because obviously everyone has gone through the same experience, and obviously our capacity for critical thinking has been warped by those experiences. Right? Yay for gaslighting and judgment.)

At this point, the most I can say is that perhaps it's all about cognitive dissonance. Perhaps they made the decision to love the series in it's entirety, because unlike Ragnarok, Loki was supposed to be its focus. Any cracks in Loki's characterization, or inconsistencies in the plot, or any misses regarding what was advertised and what was delivered, etc., are being explained away with the help of thermian arguments.

I understand this behaviour on some level, because I too wanted to love the Loki series with all my heart. I still love the first 3 episodes of it. But then the plot began to show inconsistencies, and the characterization got too derailed for me to keep agreeing with it. I had my fair share of cognitive dissonance, but I pulled myself out of it and reassessed the series, both from intra narrative and ultra narrative perspective. And it fell short on both accounts. 🤷

What more, the creators of the series blatantly lied to the audience about what would be covered in the series, which was completely unnecessary from promo standpoint (I made a separate post about this issue, so gonna leave it here).

Lastly, I don't know what's going on in the minds of these fans, but they do seem to have a convenient amnesia about the first 3 Loki movies in the MCU. They've forgotten that Loki has never been after a throne. That he's not a narcissist but a scapegoat in the narrative, that despite his love for his adoptive family, he's been ill-treated by them in different ways. That the NY attack happened because of Thanos, because Loki was off the rails, fresh out of a suicide attempt, indoctrinated, manipulated, twisted enough to accept that fruitless mission so he could feel a semblance of control in his life. That even at his most violent points he chose not to do much damage. That he has immense capacity for empathy and love, despite his sarcasm and cutting wit. That he craved love and respect from others. That he's not inherently malicious. And that his tendency for doing the needful, no matter how hard or scary it may be, is stronger than his tendency to take the easier route ("If it were easy, anyone would do it...").

But I digress...

Lastly, I think this also has a lot to do with shipping and amatonormativity. Something that Ragnarok didn't have beyond whatever was going on with Frostmaster shippers claiming it was canon. The series introduced a romance into the story, so yeah, we all have opinions about it. And nastiness abounds... 🙃

But, as the unspoken rule of fandom goes, despite what anyone says, people are allowed to love a piece of media for whatever reason. The thing is, I'd really appreciate it if the ones who loved the series wouldn't be so judgmental and condescending towards those who didn't like it. We do possess critical thinking, and that has no relationship to whether we're mentally ill or have suffered trauma or abuse.

On a more personal note, I'm presently getting anon hate for criticizing Tom for misleading us in the interviews and not delivering on whatever he had stated therein. On how he portrayed Loki, on how he agreed with the creative and narrative decisions in the series. I've seen my fair share of posts telling us that we cannot criticize it because that's how Tom wants Loki to be, so that's the superior take. I disagree.

I'd say that, as a consumer of the series, I have every right to criticize it, including those who were part of it. I'm not torching Tom's (or anyone's) home, I'm simply expressing my opinion on my own blog. It's my right to criticize and reject whatever I want to. Yes, Tom's headcanon prevailed in the series, and that's that. But I still have a right to reject it, because it's not consistent with the earlier movies. I'm not sending Tom any hate, but I'm not worshiping him either.

Yet, here I am, getting hate for my very valid criticisms, in utter irony. 😃😃😃

#loki series #istg fandom wank has gone too far #tom hiddleston #mcu loki #loki #anon ask #loki series criticism