Over the weekend, the highly anticipated cartoon series Masters of the Universe Revelation arrived on Netflix. For many long-time fans of MOTU, this is a show which is the highlight of the year.
But when the episodes dropped on Friday, they were met with a mixed response from the fandom. Some fans loved the new series, some didn’t care for it, and one very vocal section of the fanbase hated it. Really, really, hated it. And they made their feelings very clear.
They didn’t like the direction the show took, and they didn’t like the way certain characters were handled. These were fair comments and totally understandable, but instead of setting out their criticism in a considered manner, in some cases, these so-called ‘fans’ conveyed all of their feelings in a very nasty way.
I am currently a member of a couple of Masters of the Universe Facebook groups, and some of the comments directed at Masters of the Universe Revelation have been appalling. I understand that not everyone has enjoyed the show, which is a perfectly fine response, but some people have been incredibly toxic about the series, and have said some truly awful things, specifically about showrunner, Kevin Smith.
Some of the comments directed at Smith have been unacceptable, while those directed at the series have been racist, misogynistic, and/or homophobic. The people making these comments have claimed not to be racist, misogynistic or homophobic, and yet this is the language they have been using.
Some of these comments were even being made a week before the show arrived on Netflix. Certain group members were making very negative comments or sharing very dismissive YouTube videos before they had even watched a single episode of the show.
It was clear that some of these people had already made up their minds about the show regardless of what the finished product was going to be. It could have been the world’s greatest cartoon when it arrived, but that didn’t matter, they had already decided not to like it ahead of time, and this was a line they were sticking with.
Why? I have no idea. But seeing this kind of response was very disappointing.
I have no issue with people not liking a project, in fact I enjoy reading different opinions, but if you are going to offer criticism at least do everyone the courtesy of watching the show first.
I review movies on this blog all of the time. Some I really like, some I think are dreadful, but all of the reviews are written after I have watched the movies.
If I haven’t watched the movies, how will I know if they are good or bad? My reviews are based on my experience of the finished film, and whether I champion a film or criticise it, I try to make my comments constructive.
I also don’t dwell on any movies that I don’t like – and I certainly don’t take to social media to continually spread hate about them. I say what I need to say once in my review, and then I move on with my life.
These past few days, I have witnessed a number of people continually spread ill-feeling, and in some cases very negative and extremely unacceptable comments. In one case, one person in particular spent a good few hours re-posting the same comments/YouTube video on social media, before removing themselves from the group entirely.
Was this a real person, who had something important to say, or was this someone just trolling from a fake Facebook account? It’s difficult to say, but either way, they encouraged others to jump on board and the end result was people shouting at each other and being rather nasty.
All of this was very sad to see, and come Friday, it dampened the debut of a new Masters of the Universe cartoon. What should have been a fun day for the fanbase, turned into moaning and misery.
Those who loved the series were being made fun of. Those who didn’t like the show, but who were expressing valid criticisms, were being told their opinions were wrong.
The only people who seemed to be heard were the ones who were just being downright rude. And this type of response wasn’t just confined to a couple of MOTU Facebook groups; it was also present in other retro groups too.
Late last night, after publishing my review of Masters of the Universe Revelation – Part One, I returned to one of those MOTU groups to post a comment regarding the situation I had witnessed. I’m not saying what I wrote is any more valid that what others were commenting, but I feel like this is a good place to share what I wrote.
Here is what I said:
“There has been a lot of talk over the past few days about Revelation, with some people supporting the show and others making it clear they did not enjoy it. But amongst all the discussions, I feel we have all missed one vital thing: Whether you like the show or not, Revelation has been created with ‘80s kids in mind.
“This show hasn’t been made for the kids of today, it has been made for those of us who are now in our 40s. Time is marching ever onward guys, and shows being aimed directly at us are starting to dwindle. At some point they won’t be aimed at us at all.
“Netflix already has a second MOTU show on the horizon. It is a reboot, and it will be aimed at the current generation of kids – not you or I. I’m sure many will find fault with it when it arrives, but it won’t really matter, as it’s not for us. I expect future shows won’t be for us either.
“If you hate Revelation then I can’t change your mind. If you liked it, that’s great – I liked it too. But either way, let’s just remember that right now, there are MOTU toys in shops like the ones we used to own, and a MOTU cartoon on TV that has been targeted specifically at our generation. Enjoy the moment if you can.”
This comment pretty much sums up all I have left to say on the matter.
If you like Revelation, then tell other people why you liked it. If you were left disappointed, and it wasn’t what you expected then explain this too – people will listen and have a better understanding of why it didn’t work for you and others.
But don’t spread hate because you feel wronged or because you feel as if someone has ‘stolen your childhood’. They haven’t.
Also, don’t bad mouth something repeatedly before watching it. At the very least, give it a chance.
As we get older, we stop being the target audience for things. If you haven’t noticed this yet, you will do in time. So, while we are the target audience, make the most of it, and please don’t ruin the experience for other people.
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4 Responses to Addressing the Masters of the Universe Revelation backlash
Facebook and YouTube are rife with fake accounts, many of which are probably bots, which aren’t always focused on political issues or events, but still exist in order to sway public opinion, and never in a good way. Whether the people or forces behind them really are racist, misogynistic or homophobic is debatable, but they are clearly using those sentiments in order to fracture fandoms (because they’ve seen that it works). In particular, fandoms centered around (however subtly) progressive ideas are an automatic target (for example, that a female warrior can be every bit as good as a male, or that it’s normal for people of the same sex to fall in love with each other, marry, and raise children, or that others besides cishet white people exist and are valid). I may be dismissed as being paranoid for saying this, but I’ve been around and time and time again I see the exact same language and fake outrage that was at one time directed against certain politicians, most notably Hillary Clinton, except in this case the forums aren’t overtly political, they’re fandoms, and the enemy is “wokeness” or something of that sort, but the unstated goal appears to be the same in any case. Unfortunately this manufactured vitriol often gets directed at the showrunners or even worse, the actors (like what happened to Kelly Marie Tran). Then real people (or rather, sheeple) see what the bots and trolls are saying and echo them, and anyone with a contrary opinion is bullied and ridiculed into silence.
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This is EXACTLY what has happened this weekend. ‘Wokeness’ has been the buzzword that so many people have repeated, and yeah, I believe many bots were in play. Sadly too many people are being swayed by these bots and making it worse.
Things do seem to be calming down now, and the conversations seem less heated.
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The original show, as much as I loved it as a kid, is corny and unwatchable. I enjoy the fact that they made a show for adults and are letting the characters branch out a bit. If you really want to get down to it, this series is more true to the original concept of the toys than the OG cartoon.
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Totally agree – I LOVED it as a kid, but I’ve been rewatching the old show these past few weeks and as fun and imaginative as it is, the story telling is weak with no character progression. He-Man always has to win, Skeletor runs away at the end of each episode, no one can have a proper fight, and the status quo never changes. Revelation changes the dynamic completely, by removing all of the obstacles in the Filmation show, so that the story can progress. And we see much stronger characterisation in Orko, Man-at-Arms, Teela etc, as a result of this.
I’ve seen so much criticism that He-Man is not an important character in this new show and I feel people are missing the point. This whole first part is about removing He-Man from the show, so that we can see just how important he is. Just by being He-Man, he has inspired a bunch of heroes to be the best versions of themselves, and in his absence they have to step up to the plate like he would. He has to take a (temporary) back seat in order for all the other characters to progress, and this allows for a richer, deeper story.
For me, this is a great cartoon. I totally understand some of the criticisms, and I appreciate that many people want to see more He-Man action scenes, but that’s not what this story is about. Netflix didn’t market it the right way in their trailers, as they did give the impression this would be the ‘He-Man show’, but that doesn’t make this a poor show as a result.
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