What kind of fan are you? A true fan? A loyal one? An honest fan? Are you even a fan at all? What did you answer? Are you sure you answered correctly?
What is a fan? Is it someone who loves everything that the object of their fandom produces? Is it someone who is honest about the way they feel about their fandom? Is it someone who hangs in there through thick and thin?
Sometimes as fans, (yes, I am a fan, regardless of the opinions of others who might seek to give me a different label) we might question our fandom (a little soul-searching is normal, yes?) but that doesn’t mean we aren’t committed. It means we’re human.
I have been the Editor of this website for ten years, and in those ten years I have had others question my fandom, my intellect and my sense of self; not that I mind, I’ve heard/seen/experienced worse, and yet… I’m still here.
As a fan I dislike the way that studios now market movies based on controversy, political ideologies, quotas and gender politics. I judge movies based on information, story, acting, directing and environment etc.
I want every single piece of information.
Some might say that I’m judging Terminator: Dark Fate too soon. Maybe. Maybe I’m not judging the movie at all.
Maybe I have an opinion. An opinion on the trailer, the pictures, the story outline/plot synopsis (as seen on Skydance Media’s official Youtube – before it was removed), the leaks, the torch pass, the preemptive planning of yet another new trilogy before the first instalment has even been received by audiences (Terminator: Dark Fate isn’t the true Terminator 3 until the audience says so)…
Terminator fans have always wanted the return of the strong, warrior goddess Linda Hamilton in the role of strong, warrior goddess Sarah Connor – this franchise was built on the strength of James Cameron’s ‘Mother of the Future‘.
Without Sarah Connor there would be no John. As fans we all know this. Strong women in this franchise are not a gimmick to play, they aren’t an agenda to use – feminism isn’t a strategy. Sarah Connor is an incidental Feminist icon. How is she incidental? She is simply a strong woman doing what she has to for her family and the future, and if that comes across as feminism then… so be it.
I hope Terminator: Dark Fate is everything it has been touted as being – the true sequel to T2 but… passing the torch to younger women isn’t exactly what I’d call feminism.
No. I’d call that ageism. I never wanted a torch pass.
Above is just one part of why I take issue with T:DF but there are other reasons, reasons which we discuss on our Youtube channel. We do our best to explain and explore our opinions – because that’s what they are – our views, as fans.
Then there are comments like: “True fans know this movie is gonna be amazing!”, “You’re not fans. Stop whining”, “You call urself fans LOL ur sooo toxic”… I’m not toxic for having an opinion. I’m not whining for having concerns. You don’t get to declare me unfit for my own fandom.
Those sentiments are being echoed across the internet; where studios appear to be nurturing a toxic advertising campaign for Terminator: Dark Fate, one which leverage’s an aggressively negative stance towards perceived “naysayers” as a means to exploit a weakened and fractured fanbase for financial benefit.
Divide and Conquer.
Proof? Beyond Tim Miller’s ridiculous blanket condemnation of fans as being misogynists in the run up to San Diego Comic-Con – an image of the original Sarah Connor, Linda Hamilton, has been doing the rounds (*the image was brought to our attention by one of our Facebook users).
The image has been captioned to attack “naysayers” of the new movie and is of Linda Hamilton at SDCC 2019 sticking two middle fingers up at the camera with the suggestion that she [Linda] wants anyone deemed to be against T:DF to go f*ck themselves.
We’ll spare you the inflammatory image.
The caption reads:
“LINDA HAMILTON/SARAH CONNOR PASSES ON A MESSAGE TO NAYSAYERS OF TERMINATOR: DARK FATE”
The Arnold Fans – “Official worldwide fan club of the one and only, the greatest; Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Now, let’s get this straight – I love Linda Hamilton. We at TheTerminatorFans.com LOVE Linda Hamilton, we pushed for ten years for the return of the original Sarah Connor and we will not be manipulated by the makers of the image (who state that they are OFFICIAL) into reacting and responding to our beloved Sarah Connor in a negative manner in order to suit their questionable agenda and widen the cracks of the fanbase; pitting one side against the other.
There is NO PROOF that Linda even knew what the image would become, or what the negative and malicious intent behind it was.
The use of stereotyping as a weapon to beat anyone with concerns about the new Terminator movie has become more prolific as time has gone on, gathering vitriol with each new label.
Following Tim Miller’s generalisation of the Terminator fanbase (something which the director did not clarify), it has become acceptable to denigrate any potentially opposing views.
Just some of the terms we’ve seen thrown at worried fans:
Racists
Misogynists
Alt right
Toxic
Bad fans
Not true fans
Trolls
Nerds
Naysayers
Incels
Haters
Negative
Poisonous
No studio should actively encourage a “them and us” strategy when seeking to successfully market a movie because fandom is a personal choice – and choices, being as they are, can change due to positive/negative experiences.
When you encourage the attitude that a person’s fandom isn’t good enough or “true” enough you put out the message that they aren’t worthy and you create a sense of alienation.
Can a studio successfully market a movie to an alienated audience?
The studios behind Terminator: Dark Fate aren’t the passive entities that they portray themselves to be – Paramount and Skydance appear to be actively overseeing a toxic marketing strategy that could cause the newly planned trilogy to falter before it’s even released.
What do you think of the way the studios are marketing T:DF?
Comment below…