The Perils of Pedantry

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

....

But, the other thing at play, I think it is not within bounds to use knowledge of the canon to browbeat anyone who does happen to like the show into either discarding their opinion or into silence. I think this is particularly pernicious where the "facts" of the matter are inconclusive, such as where Tolkien himself came to no final opinion or where it's a wholly invented element within the adaptation.

Perhaps it isn't content that I don't like so much as tone: the "pedant" as I am calling this sort of person, is entitled to dislike the adaptation, and entitled to dislike it entirely for what I am calling pedantic reasons, but if my disliking something turns into browbeating your liking it, with the implication that you are a bad fan for liking it and here's an itemized list of reasons everything you think is WRONG.

Perhaps what I'm trying to get at it is judgementalism and the acrimony that goes with it. There's a world of different between "here's the 37-point of reasons *I* don't like it" and "here's the 37-point list of reasons *you* aren't allowed to the like it." And this point of this thread then, maybe, is to say that there's an easy danger of slipping from the first to the second, and there is a THING right now in our fandom where this seems to be happening a lot.

Pretty much what I was thinking of writing to Morth. It isn't the criticism that drew my concern but the tone and attitude towards others.

It would be quite welcoming if new members who aren't loremasters join BD to learn more about Tolkien. I don't think they will do that if all they see is acrimony and snarky judgement to those who are excited about a series. Some of them might actually be too young to remember the reactions to Jackson's movies.