Sadly, some fans have had it, and are finally leaving the Stranger Things' fandom. Check out their tweets below.
10 July 2019 by Fonticha Tran
Ever since Stranger Things premiered on Netflix, it amassed a massive and loyal fanbase. Soon, it became a series almost everyone has heard of. With each season, the audience grew, and the fanbase increased rapidly. Until fans were becoming more and more concerned each day as the fandom seemed to grow more toxic.
Where does the main toxicity from the Stranger Things fandom come from?
Well, simply from fans comparing the actors’ abilities to each other.
Fans argue heatedly over who is the better actor and in the process, slams the other young actors and their acting skills.
Check the tweets out below:
Yep. And these tweets are very commonplace. To the point where so many people are over it already.
Loyal fans are calling for the Stranger Things' fandom to just quit comparing the young actors together and to just, you know. Appreciate all of them?
After all, all of them are talented actors in their own right, and it's not healthy for the young actors if they're constantly pitted against each other.
And what's the second major argument in the fandom?
Simply, it's the shipping between the characters. The most popular pairings are ‘Byler’ AKA Will and Mike and ‘Mileven’, AKA Mike and Eleven. But it doesn’t quite stop there in the fictional universe.
Fans have also started to ship the young actors together, with ‘Fillie’ AKA Finn and Millie, being the most talked about.
Let’s not forget the fact that because fans were shipping the actors together, it actually made Finn and Millie awkward with one another. It's a well-known fact that Finn always felt uncomfortable with fans shipping him with other people. It even reached the point where Millie had to come out and say, “we are just really good friends, and that’s all we’ll ever be.”
That's, unfortunately, not all. Because then fans started to attack each other depending on who the other fan shipped.
Check out the tweets below:
And then there’s the toxic ‘you’re not a true fan’ comment. Wait, what?
Basically, it's when fans judge each other on whether they’re a ‘true fan’ depending on when they started watching the series.
Uh, and the toxicity of the entire Stranger Things' fandom has gotten so bad that some fans are even comparing it to the Rick and Morty fanbase...
...A fanbase infamously known for its toxic fandom.
Sadly, some fans have had it, and are finally leaving the Stranger Things' fandom.
Check out these tweets below:
So, what are the reason fandoms become toxic?
Let it be known that fandoms can actually be an amazing thing and tons of fun when everyone is being positive and creating amazing art and memes.
But then, unfortunately, there are some fans who become too hardcore, or too obsessed with a show to the point where they feel personally offended when a creative decision is made that they completely and utterly disagree with.
And of course, the more devoted the fan, the louder they are on social media platforms.
So, this is where negative behaviours stem - it's when fans verbally attack the creators, the celebrities or other fans in a stance they call ‘being protective’. It's them 'defending' the show or the celebrity they are a fan of.
In the case with Stranger Things, you can see fans leaping to the defence of their favourite celebrity, either Millie, Finn or Noah, etc., and defending their acting skills. But in the process of doing it, they bash on the other actors.
The same is said for the ships.
But these fans don’t realise that this behaviour is actually causing harm. Nobody likes a toxic fandom, and it's only turning away would-be fans. And don't we all just want to support our favourite series? Let's focus on voicing our support for the show and its cast and sharing our joy with other fans instead and create a great fandom that we can all be proud of.
What do you say?
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Fonticha Tran is a news writer at Exclusive Hollywood and is also responsible for researching and writing news articles. She also keeps track of the celebrities’ on our watchlist while monitoring their social media for any new updates.
Fun fact: Besides constantly being on Twitter and reading up on her favourite celebrities' newest tweets, she's busy rewatching Stranger Things and The Umbrella Academy.
