"Well, to be fair, I did have a couple of gadgets he didn't, like a teaspoon and an open mind!"
- The Doctor (Creature from the Pit, 1974)
Fellow fans and artists, the best thing you can do as a consumer of media--and especially as a creator of media--is to have an open mind. You'll never feel comfortable about your work, or your criticisms, if you can't honestly look yourself in the mirror and say: "I went in with an open mind." There have been many occasions where I'll go into something expecting to hate it, and will come out dislikining it HEAVILY--but feeling very insecure in my dislike (which only intensifies my unhappy feelings). I'm sure you're familiar with the word that describes this behavior. Toxicity.
I threw Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway across the room at least twice when I first read it. Okay, maybe three times. Not because it is a terrible book, but because I was very, very young, and not invested in having my mind opened to its peculiar style--which I had an intuitive dislike for, a feeling that overtook my emotions and stopped me from even trying to engage with the novel. I became impatient. No chapters? Agonisingly long stream of consciousness sentences that loop back around on themselves? Yuck! As I read on, I read it out of spite, not even trying to enjoy it. Arrogant consumption is an easy trench to fall into, depending on your mood or where you are in your life.
It's a bit like carrying on an argument long after you know you've lost. It just makes you more heated. It's a toxic mindset we all have to be wary of falling into. At the time of my first reading of Mrs Dalloway, I did not like the book--but the problem was I was so young and ignorant I couldn't say why I did not like it. Now, after having read it again for university, I can confirm that I still don't really like the book, but I have an appreciation for it despite my various criticisms. I feel more at peace with it, and at peace with my judgment on it, because the second time, I actually engaged with it. I put aside that initial, kneejerk feeling....
and I tried.
Art isn't just there to be passively absorbed. Art can be extremely challenging. Frustrating, even. Art isn't always comfort food, nor should it be. Don't ask it to be.
Fandoms will always have that very loud minority of people who are stubbornly commited to rejecting anything that dare ask them to change their presumptions or ideas on their favorite characters, stories and themes. I won't name any names, but you probably have an idea of the types of people I am referring to. It is in direct opposition to this type of mindset that I am going into my blogging on this site.
That's not to say I am opposed to criticising media, but "criticism" once used to mean more that just senseless bashing or nit-picking into oblivion. It used to be about accepting the artist's opening statement (at least!) and coming along with them on the journey they wish to take you on. You may discuss or disagree with that journey as you see fit, but to truly do so in a way that is constructive, you first have to engage with the art. Do yourself a favour one day, if you find yourself some free time. Watch a movie you hate. Pay close attention. Find out why you hate it. Or, if you want to really challenge yourself, have a go at trying to love it. Trying to see why others might love it. You might be surprised with what you find.
P.S. The "teaspoon" part is about relaxing. Saw a bad TV show? By all means leave a negative review, but then treat yourself. Have some tea. You deserve it. If you dislike something, remember it isn't the end of the world, you will always have another something.