“Heroes, Villains, and Me” is a periodic article on Geeky KOOL by Larry Litle about the world of comic books and my reaction to it. “Heroes, Villains, and Me” is not a comic book review article. I will write about current events, speculation and rumors, or my own wacky thoughts about the world of comic books and related stuff.
There are some great rivalries out there. Baseball fans point to the Yankees vs the Red Sox and the Cardinals Vs the Cubs. In the NFL, has the Cowboys Vs the Redskins. In college Football, there is Michigan Vs Ohio State University and Alabama Vs Auburn.
In the geek world, we also have great rivalries. Science Fiction has Star Wars Vs Star Trek. Technology rivalries are Google Android Vs Apple IoS. In Comic books, there is the long debated rivalry of Marvel Vs DC.
Most of the time when fans join in rivalry banter, they are fun and light hearted. We pick and tease those who prefer the other choice to ours. Often the jabs are returned in the same time of humor. But sometimes things go too far and take things from a fun rivalry to being obsessive, rude, or cruel.
Earlier today, my friend Brittney posted a meme about DC movies and Rotten Tomatoes. It involved sheep following what Rotten Tomatoes critics say. She specifically tagged her boyfriend Knight in the post. Someone that disagreed with the meme replied to the post. The reply wasn’t really playful and fun. It tried to take Brit to the task for the the meme, discredit the meme, and tried to make her justify it. She didn’t create the meme. She didn’t share it for this individual’s sake. This individual tried to take her to task over and over again in the comment section. This was not good fun but rather harassing and troubling.
There is a big difference a playful rivalry and taking things way too far. I love to tease Brittney about the DC movies versus the Marvel movies. When it comes down to it, I really like both of them but just like the Marvel movies and comics a little more. I know Brittney feels similar but loves the DC comics and movies more. It makes for fun banter but I also know when it isn’t a good time to nitpick. I know when enough is enough. Some fans take things way to personal and don’t know the signs when people have had enough.
If someone asks you once to stop with your rivalry stuff, that should be all it takes for you to back off. Not everyone is in the mood to debate all the time. It might be fun to debate and banter but it isn’t when not everyone is on board or when things go too far. Stop means stop even in geek rivalries.
Stay Geeky My Friends!
If you don’t want a negative response, don’t post stuff in a public place. Suck it up, buttercup. 🙂 a public Facebook post isn’t private property. She had the right to post it just as much as he had the right to respond negatively to her post.
If you’re “not in the mood to debate”, don’t publicly post controversial stuff. 🙂
Hey, look! You got a comment! 😀 this is probably harassment though, right?
It isn’t private property. You are exactly right. Everyone has a right to their opinion. But it is not always appropriate to share every opinion. The problem comes when people don’t listen to others when they are asked to stop. It becomes harassment when someone asks someone to stop and they don’t respect the other person enough to stop. Treat others with respect and how we want others to treat us and those we care about.
Thanks for you comment.