Fan animation and "Entitlement"

[QuickLime]

I'v noticed a trend so far and it's really offputting!

I'v seen this attitude of "It's fan work, you HAVE to appreciate the effort and due to it being fan work and out of love you aren't allowed to criticize it even a little!"

Well....I don't agree, I believe every piece of art, every contribution to the fandom, is also open for critic, not cruel, harsh, nasty being torn apart critic, but rather ways to help the creator get better.

I can abhore the horrid writing and characters in SnowDrop and still think the voicework and visuals are lovely, but I am GOING to critic the story and characters because they are the meat and potatoes of the animation, pretty pictures are just a nice bonus.

I can love and swoon over the visuals of "Children of the Night" and the vocals but still wrinkle my nose at the story, and I can...not really enjoy anything about My Little Dashie as it seems to be about child abuse :I

I'd just like to know why people believe that fan work has some sort of magic umbrella over it that prevents it from being bad or criticized if it's got "A LOT of work and love put in it" ?

I mean I remember another free project that had a lot of time, effort and love put in it, and that was Dr Horrible, however the creators of that don't think they are magically free of all criticism.

This idea of "You must never criticize a fellow brony" and "You have to AT LEAST Give them credit for putting effort" in something I don't agree with, Criticism is not a bad thing, it should be a tool to help one get better.

But these are just ramblings of a pony that's tired of being told that she can't dislike Snowdrop because "Dere is so much wuv" in it

[RarityDash]

Agreed, Lime. If a creator has decided to put something before a mass audience, that audience has every right to express how they feel about it, whether it be positive or negative. The fact that its fanmade doesn't exempt it from criticism. "Effort" is no excuse. Are we to believe that those with a hand in the creation of more professionally produced art and media, which is freely criticized without question, did not put as much or even more effort into it? it's just silly to expect that to act as a shield.

Really, if the fandom, which delights in criticizing every little thing the amazing and talented people at DHX do on a regular basis truly feels something as thoroughly flawed and devoid of interest as Snowdrop deserves to be protected then I can't even really begin to understand their mentality.

[elsporko]

Fandoms can often swing too far in either direction. On the one hand you get undue praise on something simply because it exists and on the other hand people will attack something simply to attack it. MLP fans definitely seem to do both. It also probably doesn't help that some of these big projects are hyped ahead of time so the people who do feel it doesn't live up go extreme in their criticism

[QuickLime]

I'v seen several fans that praise SnowDrop into the heavens for being fan work, turn around and tear an episode of MLP apart, piece by technical piece, but if someone tries to analyze Snow Drop it's not allowed because it's fan work and you have to respect the work put in it!

Sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander imo.

[NeoExlucky]

*Writes Snowdrop down on his hit list of reivews* That's what I'm here for Lime...

[Quillhart]

I agree with you Quicklime. I would also like to say that this would apply to amateurs in general and not just simply fans creating fan-relating things. As an amateur myself I can honestly say that I have used the "Oh, but I'm just a newbie" to deflect blistering critique. It's not only a good phrase to protect oneself. I tended to start with saying that "It's probably not that good since I'm not very skilled." and then show something that I knew had gained a lot of praise before in order to get the sweet little ego boost in shape of "Wow, this is very good especially considering that you haven't done this a lot before.".

To be frank, I'm a bit frightened to show my writing craft to people like Quicklime because I know that they are fully aware of what they talk about and that they can and will point out every flaw they see if asked to. I am very bad at comprehending critique and I would rather be hurt by it than improve by it. Thus do I often show it to people who are less oriented than me to gain encouragement.

You know; credit tastes sweet but critique builds feat.

[CaptainMcDerp]

Agreed as well. I don't care how much effort I put into something, if it's got problems I want to know about it. Receiving a detailed and honest analysis is immensely useful and helps the creator learn and grow much faster than being praised for everything they make. While effort is valuable, so is improvement, and there's always room for improvement no matter how much effort is poured into a creation.

[QuickLime]

The true goal of criticism is NOT to scald or maim, it is not to leave broken pieces, it is so that you can see what needs to be improved on, so you can do your very best.

Perhaps one should not view critic as a bruising, ego damaging force, but rather as a guide, or a tool to help you fix your work? No matter how amazing you think you are, or how flawless you find your work to be, there will ALWAYS be critic, because one can truly never stop improving.

[QuickLime]

*Writes Snowdrop down on his hit list of reivews* That's what I'm here for Lime...

Quit making me love you Neo :I

[Quillhart]

Well yes, I know what the critique is for and I know that I need it to improve. It's just very important to me that one says what's good as well and not all criticizers do that. Another thing criticizers do is saying what flawed but doesn't mention what to do about it.

[CaptainMcDerp]

Well yes, I know what the critique is for and I know that I need it to improve. It's just very important to me that one says what's good as well and not all criticizers do that. Another thing criticizers do is saying what flawed but doesn't mention what to do about it.

To me the best critics explain was was good about it, what was bad, and how to make it better. I sometimes can't tell what I did right as much as what I did wrong. Like Quicklime said, true critics are a guide to help you fix and improve your work. If someone just comments to say negative things and not much else, that isn't a critic, that's a troll.

[QuickLime]

Right On McCDerp!

[SunlightHeart]

People put fan work and creator comments from whatever site they find them, on the same pedestal. Completely ignoring the fact that art is suppose to be criticized and word of god isn't really word of god unless it's within the canon material. In short, many people can't seem to take anything with a grain of salt anymore.