Wow, ok so my algorithm finally overlapped with the 18-22 year old segment of Bat-fandom on Twitter that vehemently and obsessively hates on the Nolan films.
So, I've seen this in some fans in the last year from the Pattinson side of things, and for over a half decade from BatFleck fanboys.
Even when I had fallen out of favor on the
Dark Knight Trilogy and I was on Team-BatFleck, I never saw it from Bale Batman fans this bad.
And I really think a lot of the chest-puffing, seeking out Bale/Burton related content just to bash - it really seems to come from a place of insecurity. They really, really want Bale/Nolan dethroned as the perceived top tier of not only Batman films - but comic book films, in general. And they haven't.
I have a theory - it's all insecurity lashing out.
BatFleck fans seem keenly aware that the films he was in were poorly received. This stings - so they lash out and go out of their way to wave the flag and shove in the faces of others that they're wrong. It's like the guy who goes out of his way to brag about XYZ, whereas if he really was that good, he wouldn't have to brag so hard.
Snyder/BatFleck fans have always felt threatened by how the Bale-era films were and still are beloved because they feel their beloved nature makes people unable to accept anything non-Nolan/Bale. Which just isn't true.
Pattinson fans have been banking hard on Reeves' film series to overtake Nolan in terms of quality, reputation, stature, and quality out of some weird spite. I think on some level, they are a bit let down because it is pretty easy to find people still making fun of 'Twilight Batman', saying the film was too long/boring, or saying that they just flat-out felt the film wasn't that good.
It was still a successful film, but I don't think the film became part of the zeitgeist like they were hoping and it wasn't the talk of the town for that long and it's not been criticism free. And they're personally hurt by that.
So, they feel insecure and Bale's Batman is an easy target because if they can get people to like his Batman less, maybe they'll embrace the new Batman of
their time.
I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.
And that's all this is. I was nearly triggered by this until I noticed the age in the bio, and then I had to just laugh cause it's all so silly. If you're devoting your online presence to attacking one interpretation of the Batman mythos then clearly you've got a stick up your butt because it's still beloved to a lot of people.
I can't comment on their age since I was that age or younger during the
Dark Knight Trilogy era, and this type of behavior wasn't something I did nor did I see as much as I've seen it post-Snyder.
But it seems like in the wake of the rise of the YouTuber critic, I think it's become a hobby of sorts to do 'take downs' of things we don't like in a hyperbolic, snarky way.
I think the YouTuber critic format, coupled with the culture of obsessing over geek-content that you hate thanks to Star Wars fans' response to the Prequels - that's where we are today.
Fandom in the 21st century has often become less about what you love and more about what you hate. Or about what you hate about what you love.
It's just hilarious to me that people like this act as if they're the authority with the right to gatekeep and blindly crap on other people's fandom. It's just pure old fashioned ignorance.
I hate gate-keeping. I absolutely hate it. And I think that there's this contingent of newer Batman fans who think because we loved 'less faithful versions' than this new one (which again, faithful is up for interpretation - I don't think Reeves/Snyder are any more faithful than Nolan/Burton) - we must not be as big of fans of Batman as they are because we don't recognize the clear inferiority of Nolan and Bale.
*eyeroll
I can state my Batman/geek rap sheet, but I won't. Bottom line is that I'm a huge fan and have been my whole life. But I won't say I'm a better fan or more of a fan based on my timeline.
What I will say is that any fan - older or newer - cannot tell me that I'm less of a fan for liking something in that subject-sphere.
You can't force me to choose your version as the favourite or crown it the best.
I've literally read fans say that Pattinson's Batman
breathes better than Bale or Keaton and that his tempered breath 'adds' to the character and his vibe. Christ, just say you love his version without resorting to that silly of a punching down.
I loved Pattinson too! It's okay to just say.
We've talked about how cycles repeat, etc., and it seems like each phase of Batman fandom produces its own toxic fans. But I think the social media generation is getting especially gross with it. And unfortunately I think because Batman is a dark/edgy property it just breeds this type of "My Batman's d*** is bigger than your Batman's d***" energy that is so freaking tired and childish, I just can't. Stoppppit.
Some try to make the claim that it was always this bad - we just didn't know before social media. But I don't agree, at all. Sure, there likely were SOME people like that - but the proliferation to what we have now tells me that social media is having an effect to make it so more people are getting into that toxic-fandom mindset.
We are communal learners. Online is community. And if that community is toxic and based on hating XYZ, what else will happen?
I think social media and YouTube have encouraged it in people who, a generation ago, would've been doing other things with their time and mind. That toxicity of hate is so easy to get sucked into with online videos and chat sections.
And you hit another good point - Batman's character unfortunately may attract those edgy types of people. This is what people make fun of, honestly.
This is why the LEGO Batman film cracked me up because I feel like in the wake of BatFleck and Pattinson, both the newer parts of the fandom and the films...are starting to border on self-parody with their upping of the broody angst. I felt that some of the Reeves' dialogue teetered so close to that.
Either way, yes - a lot of fandoms are this way.
I just wish it wasn't this one, too.
