The Fools Parade

Historical writer Barbara Tuchman defined folly as: “the pursuit by government of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives.” I’m not sure why Barbara limited herself governments in her definition because the same thing is obviously happening within the entertainment industry.

It’s happening over and over to our pop-culture and it’s IP owners know it’s destructive yet they are absolutely powerless to stop it. They keep pursing these policies contrary to their own self-interest despite the fact that they are so corrosive they end in the IP’s obliteration every time.

The process is not only predictable, it’s nearly measurable. From Star Wars is Dumb blog: Behold the March of Folly list.

1. SJW CRITICISM – The IP is criticized by SJWs for being racist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic, and a smattering of other things.

2. IP IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO REBOOT – or reimagining, or remake, or whatever term is fashionable at the time.

3. THE BARNACLING – SJWs barnacle themselves to the IP both within its production and without in the fan base, and start lecturing long time fans.

4. FAN CRITICISM – Long time fans of the IP voice legitimate criticism of the new direction.

5. SJW RESPONSE TO FAN CRITICISM – A large fan backlash is created when SJWs both within and without the production falsely accuse critics of being racist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic etc.

6. DISMISSING THE BACKLASH – Media publishes pieces declaring the backlash doesn’t exist.

7. IGNORING THE BACKLASH – Media publishes pieces instructing others to ignore the “tiny vocal minority.”

8. SUPPRESSING THE BACKLASH – Blogs and websites delete or otherwise “redact” critical comments and posts in discussion forums under the aegis of “hate speech.”

9. BACKLASH INTENSIFIES – As an inevitable side effect of suppression, backlashers seek out other venues to express their criticism, and some publish their own, growing the backlash exponentially.

10. HATE HOAXES & FALSE FLAGS – The rank and file SJW activists get heavily involved in shouting down critics, and creating false flags and hate hoaxes in an effort to discredit critics.

11. IP FAILURES – The IP starts to falter as fans drift away and sales plummet.

12. THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS – A female member of the production (it could also be a gay man) is granted victim status over a fishy event in order to deflect from the failures of the IP, and shame critics into silence.

13. DESPERATE PLEAS FOR COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT – “White Knights” in the media call for creative authorities to smack down the backlash and restore control of the narrative in response to The Damsel In Distress event. Media publishes multiple articles with the same talking points and buzzwords such as “toxic” in an effort to mischaracterize the fan base. Major news outlets report on the story, and quote these “think” pieces as authoritative.

14. ANSWERING THE CALL – Celebrities and creative cast & crew answer the media’s call, and make public statements admonishing critical fans, typically over false accusations.

15. THE FINAL PUSH – Media entities, and rank and file SJWs tell long time fans to go find something else if they don’t like it anymore, in a last ditch effort to push critics out of the “community” once and for all.

16. IP BLEEDING – The IP continues to hemorrhage money, as long time fans continue to abandon the IP in droves.

17. FANBASE OBLITERATION – The fanbase is utterly destroyed, leaving behind only the small handful of SJWs who don’t make any purchases.

18. THE END – The new incarnation of the IP comes to an end. Since the majority of the fan base has abandoned it, there’s no more controversy or discussion about it. It’s over. The best case scenario is that the original IP is largely forgotten with the exception of a few die-hards who still carry the torch. The worst case scenario is that the new incarnation of the IP overwrites the original IP, and the original IP is forgotten altogether and overshadowed by the new incarnation in all future media mentions.

19. MIGRATION – The remaining SJWs jump ship to devour a new IP that is popular, and undergoing a transitional phase.

20. REBIRTH – The process begins anew.

When SJWs get their hooks into something the dog-whistle for the rest of the pack are the words, “a bold reimagining.” If you see those words then you know that whatever you loved is going to be fucked now.

Doctor Who was particularly vulnerable to SJW barnacling because the show is constantly being “reimagined” every time they hire a new Doctor. And there is a no getting around it, a sizable chunk of its fanbase loves the new Doctor Who. The show still has a little under four million viewers in the UK. Call it forty percent of it’s all time high. Not a viable market but it can’t be called non-existent either.

Admittedly a big chunk of these are “brand-zombies” – superfans who refuse to admit their franchise is dead and will grit their teeth and watch it no matter how bad it gets. So long as the NAMEHERE is on it they will dance in the Parade of Fools. But looking over a few reaction videos it is plain to see that some people are genuinely into this.

Terry Pratchett’s work is also vulnerable but for different reasons. One, thanks to Good Omens he’s quite popular again. Two, he was always center-left although with time that is enough to turn anyone into the radical right.

Three, the SJWs have complete and absolute control of the BBC, an entertainment venue that is invulnerable to market pressure. Consequently, everything on that list has happened or is going to happen to it. I am quite sure the White Knights are already preparing their valient defense of Sergeant Angua.

What’s interesting about the list is the rare occasion where it hasn’t happened. Netflix’s Lost in Space was a reboot that, while second-wave feminist in view point, was too good to be a product of SJW Convergence. It was less vulnerable because there really isn’t much of a Lost in Space fanbase. It was sort of like the Brady Bunch, well known enough to be immune to the Pop-culture Blurring Effect, but no real fanbase at this point.

There is also the issue of SJW barnacling that goes on in with a successful series. Stranger Things is a prime example. Although, this case it’s a franchise whose creators are protecting it like they should. Possibly, they just don’t know how.

I think the big question is how much longer can this go on? All of these failures are primarily the result of living in a time of plenty and thanks to the Plague all of the entertainment companies are taking a severe beating.

The time of plenty may well be over for them.