Supergirl is now playing in cinemas and if you are to believe some of the vitriol on social media, it is one of the worst movies of the summer. A disaster(!), a dud(!!), a crime against humanity(!!!) – or various negative buzzwords to that effect.
And these words are being dished out, passed around, and SHOUTED LOUDLY! Very loudly, by people who want you to know how awful they believe the movie is.
And if you don’t care, they will tell you again. And if you still don’t care, well it doesn’t matter because they will just SHOUT EVEN LOUDER.
Why? Because they want you to know they don’t like the film, the director, the star, the studio, and so on.
For reasons only they can explain and/or care about, it’s really important you see them, hear them, and hate on this movie. Really important.
But do you know what? Supergirl is not awful, or any of the over-the-top nonsense being slung around the internet in the direction of anyone who will listen.
For the most part, Supergirl is an entertaining space Western. It is an enjoyable fantasy side quest and an interesting jaunt into the mind of Kara Zor-El, with a great performance from lead star, Milly Alcock.
Sure, some audiences will like the movie more than others, and there are a couple of issues which hold it back a bit, but isn’t this true of many things? And even if Supergirl doesn’t quite gel with you, it’s far from the crap-fest being decried online.
It’s almost as if the commentators who are ranting so vehemently about Supergirl have some uncontrollable need to dislike the movie and want it to fail. They can’t just offer up constructive criticism for people to digest, they want to dissuade audiences from watching the film in the first place, and then they want all copies of the movie erased from the archives.
And for what? To save humanity from some entertainment?
What rot. And what uncalled for negativity – the likes of which is becoming far too common of online life and really, really boring now.
Actually, not just boring, but disinteresting and futile. Wall-to-wall comments which seem to exist purely to dump on something or someone are tedious, hollow, and not worth the time it would take to read them.
The conveyor belt of criticism holds no value. All it does is churn out bile which isn’t healthy for anyone to consume.
It doesn’t matter how many times someone shouts their opinion, they are best ignored. And I’m not talking about genuine critics who have succinct arguments about why they did or didn’t like the film, because healthy conversation and debate is fine, I’m talking about the whack jobs who make hate their personality.
And I say to them, look, I don’t listen to crazy people shouting in the street, so I certainly won’t listen to you from the comfort of my own home. You’re just wasting your own time.
Got something to say of merit? Then think about it, write it down in the appropriate format, weighing up the pros and the cons, and present it in an approachable and appealing way.
Your words will hold a greater weight. Otherwise what you are saying is just noise and part of a co-ordinated pile on.
More importantly, repeated attempts to brand a movie a failure before it has been given a fair go, or encouraging others to be dismissive (often without seeing the finished product) is just unacceptable.
Last month Masters of the Universe fell victim to a pile on before it had chance to get through its opening weekend. It was wall-to-wall bashing on social media, which became inescapable.
But the negativity quickly took a more positive stance when it became apparent that some of the early commentators were attempting to feed off social media’s obsession with doom. Put simply: Their words were empty and they were jumping on the bandwagon.
Once audiences saw Masters of the Universe, they took to their own social media platforms to stand up for the film. This helped to ward off all the claptrap, leaving only the genuine criticism and conversation behind.
Supergirl is suffering a similar tidal wave of early hate, but it’s worse. Many vile comments are being personally directed at Milly Alcock (who is actually great in the movie), or at DC Studios CEO James Gunn.
And then the usual, regurgitated comments about the new DC Universe vs the old DC Extended Universe (aka the Snyderverse) are constantly being tossed around too. Sigh.
The thing is, neither Masters of the Universe nor Supergirl have to be universally liked, but this isn’t about liking or disliking something, it’s more than that. It’s craziness, it’s nastiness, and complete and utter 24 karat gold arsery.
And when does it end? When every major movie is derailed at the earliest opportunity?
Maybe, if we let it continue. Or we can agree to not add to it, to refuse to argue with those crazy and unreasonable accounts on social media (we can all spot them a mile off), and to not let an initial wave of hate/anger/nonsense turn everything sour.
Support the movies you like, and ignore the angry people who appear to have some kind of agenda.
Alex
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