Negativity
n this I will be making reference to specific instances. I could very well link to many message boards and directly show where my quotes are coming from, however I do not want to turn this into a personal issue. I will use the instances as reference only and not point people out as that would only serve to inflame others. Quite naturally the Larry Hama quote is an exception to this.
"It’s always “cooler” to be negative; If you are a socially retarded anal-retentive developmentally arrested proto-adolescent with hostility issues."-Larry Hama, Writer of the GI Joe Marvel comic speaking about fan trepidation towards the upcoming GI Joe Film.
The above statement was made in an interview with Mr. Hama, and while the following is in no way an affront to Mr. Hama at the same time the statement has been quoted to death by those attempting to denounce anyone who has less that super-positive feelings towards the upcoming film. As such I have felt the need to address certain aspects of this statement.
First and foremost I should point out that the statement is quite hard to defend against at this point. The GI Joe movie is over a month away and no one can say they have seen the final cut. Without an informed opinion how can one say something truly is good or bad. However at the same time tidbits of information have leaked and there have been some pieces of this information that gives any GI Joe fan pause.
But this tactic has been used many times before, its purpose is to denounce negative press before it hits the public eye by "killing the messenger" before the message is delivered. "See they are just trying to be cool." is the idea that is hoped people will get from this type of tactic. However it does need to be pointed out that Mr. Hama is a paid consultant for the film as well and has a vested interest in the success (or lack of success) of this film. You must consider the source of the message as well as the message itself.
The fact a tactic like this was used at all gives me great pause for the GI Joe movie. I am a huge toy fan and a huge movie fan. GI Joe ties with Star Wars as my all time favorite toyline. You would think I would be all over this movie. Well I am but found many problems as well, but that is not my point here.
The statement has been quoted by many "cheerleaders" and "positive Polly's" all over the GI Joe community as an answer to anyone who says "I don't like this idea." or "I don't know about this." I have been victim to the quote more than once already on many message boards. What is odd about it is not that it is used but treated like a quote from one of the Gospels, even when some poster is just questioning and not bashing the film. It almost seems like the cheerleaders don't want to hear anything other than "glowing tribute" to a film that is questionable at this point.
But also, one of the glaring inconsistencies of many (not all) who use this tactic is that they are in fact VERY negative towards anything not GI Joe related. I have seen some of them blatantly put down anyone who likes Indiana Jones Figures with statements like "How can you like those, their crap." or similarly with the recent Star Trek line while some have gone so far as to put down the Star Wars community for liking "repaints of Vader over and over." even though Snake Eyes had nearly 4 times as many repaints as Darth Vader last year. It simply boggles my mind that people who profess to be "positive" and that "being negative is trying to be cool" cannot practice that which they profess to believe. My mother always said you never look good putting other people down, and the "positive Polly's" look pretty ugly doing things like that.
The reason I bring all this up is I have for the greatest portion of my life supported the idea of free expression. The tactic of using the above statement only serves to suppress free expression in my opinion. There is no reason for it besides "cutting off" an opinion that is counter to the one being held by the "cheerleader' class. This is not to say all people who are optimistic of this film are like that of course, and I will state for the record that I think people have just as much right to be optimistic as they do to be pessimistic. At the same time I am sure everyone reading this has seen this tactic used and the only reason it is given credence is Mr. Hama's status as writer of the GI Joe comic. Still as a writer of "A Real American Hero" it does seem like he of all people should understand the ideas presented in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
There is nothing wrong with having a voice as long as it is your own.