Since "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" superhero-landed into theaters, social media has been abuzz with viewers' reviews. The critics on Rotten Tomatoes have been consistently harsh with it, granting it a 36 percent initially (which seems generous compared to its current 29 percent rating). However, many of the fans don't agree. When you scroll through BvS fan reviews on IMDB, you see words like "outstanding," "pure awesome" and "a great experience." Yet among all the love for the movie lies a deep hatred of anyone who disagrees with their opinions. Here are some lovely comments I found while browsing Facebook and Instagram:
"Marvel fanboys be like, 'Y u so serious? Super hero movies are supposed to be goofy and fun, not complex and meaningful! WAAAAAAAA!'"
"I think the critics are just Marvel fanboys. They want the dialogue to all be one-liners so that they can call it popcorn flick fun instead of having to take a superhero movie seriously. So they just dump on it.
""Definitely, the world is making the road for the DCEU very hard and if this movie surpasses the 1 billion mark which I think it will and if it ends up being a success (for fans), we gotta give WB a lot of credit because there has been a campaign to discredit this movie even before it came out on theaters. Don't be Marvel fanboys, remember how a failure AOU was...
"The comments sections on social media outlets could inspire the plot of another mediocre superhero film themselves. I can picture it now: Righteous DC fans taking on the evil "Marvel fanboys." But what makes someone a "fanboy?" I conducted some significant scientific research in the form of Googling "fanboys" and creating Straw Polls for my friends to find the answer.
My friends' consensus was that a "fanboy" is an individual who religiously follows something and does not see fault in it. As such, they criticize and berate others for having an opposing viewpoint. But, as one definition of a fanboy on UrbanDictionary states, the word is often used by fanboys to accuse their opposition of being fanboys. This false labeling is not only rude but hypocritical, as we can see from the DC fanboys above.
But wait, let's play devil's advocate here. What if DC movies really are superior to Marvel movies, as so many reviews claim? A Straw Poll I shared with my Facebook and Skype friends showed a very slight preference for Marvel movies — and if we assume that my friends (and most other people, including the critics) have legitimate reasons for liking things, then does that mean neither is better than the other?
Gasp! I know this is a lot to take in, but my research is clear. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them wrong. This revolutionary research can apply to fanboys everywhere, from football fans to dinosaur nerds. Hopefully, now the fans of the world can live in peace and the world will be a better place.
That is until they start fighting over Team Cap and Team Iron Man on May 6.
