Wierdoes being Weird

There are a few constants in all the world. The sun will rise come morning, the seas will wax and wane through the year, and fans of things will be total unbelievable creeps on Social Media. It's as though people want to desperately to reach out and feel with others that they share overinflated hyperboles of themselves and their own social limits in hopes the exaggeration will overcome the physical barriers and touch others out there. At least, that's my working theory as to why people just plain forget how to act like functional human beings when interacting with each other over a wi-fi connection. And I'm not even talking the penchant to send unsolicited risqué pictures to one another- I don't even know if that's a symptom of social media or just something deeper. Are we certain that wasn't a unspoken about trend of mailing photos of one's privates to one another once photography became popular? I need historians on this one, stat!

I'm talking more about the way that people choose to voice their criticism- they never seem to match the the situation nor the mood. I mean, when I let loose on someone in one of these blogs they are a truly degenerate cretin deserving of my ire- I don't pen my disdain for my own health- I do it to convey the height of my ire. If I'm irked at something miniscule and insignificant, such as- the overall mediocre performances of the English cast of Crisis Core Reunion, I try to be a lot more understanding. I figure- no one wants to disappoint with the work they put out, so that was probably a case of low investment from the publisher to secure proper VA environments, like performance guidance and proper recording conditions. (I'll bet they even had some actors phone their lines in.) What I would never do, is harass the actors themselves in hopes they themselves see mean words I wrote about them. Because that's demented.

And yet that was exactly what the new voice actress for Ada Wong was subjected to upon release of the previews for Resident Evil 4. Lily Gao was brought abroad the cast from Resident Evil 4 Remake following her role as Ada in the live action Resident Evil movie 'Welcome to Raccoon City', which marked the very first time in history the Asian-American character was played by an actual Asian-American! (Well, Asian-north American, if we were to include Canada, but you get the idea.) It was a smart move to bring the distinct mediums of the franchise together and to refresh the cast somewhat. But there was just a little bit of a problem. Resident Evil 4 Remake's Ada had a pretty bad performance. Like- noticeably bad.

It's particularly flat and wooden in a manner that would actually be right at home in Crisis Core Reunion, but alongside the otherwise solid performances of everyone else it actually sticks out like a sore thumb. And it's an anomaly to be sure, but one worth dog-piling on the actress for? Mocking ruthlessly until she is chased off social media? Why? What does that achieve? Honestly, she is the only recast member of the cast and I suspect that decision might have been made pretty late into development. My guess, she was rushed through her sessions and wasn't given a chance to actually perform. It's not as though Lily doesn't have talent. The woman is an actress, she has demonstrated an ability to act several times before. This is a situation of process, without a doubt, letting her down and ruining an otherwise solid casting. It just sucks that she won't get a chance to redeem herself until Resident Evil 6 Remake, which is a ways off considering Code Veronica is next. (Which is the one game they swore they wouldn't do! Might as well do Survivor at this rate!)

And, of course, there is the whole 'Mary Jane' debacle from Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Insomniac decided to remodel Mary Jane between games and what they ended up with was a character who looked like an entirely different woman to the MJ from the original, and given how painfully obsessive people are with the unquestionable 'perfection' of that original game- tensions would soon flare. Fans have harassed and harangued Insomniac over the change, (as well as a great many other bizarre choices by the team. Not least of all to try and white-wash the entire Spanish language.) and the chaos spilt over to the actress. That's right, the actress for Mary Jane has had to deal with nattering and poking from the audience of this game that has spilled into her private life and resulted in people calling her up at her day job. Actual criminally liable stalker behaviour here, from Spider-Man fans! (This is what happens when you don't give chuds their Game of the Year awards!)

This particular controversy is so ridiculous in particular because of the subject. The voice actress has nothing to do with the art departments choices, and though it was her face used as a basis for both models- (apparently, as unrecognisable as they are) that doesn't mean it's her responsibility to bear the brunt of fan dissatisfaction. Of course, these same fans are still harping on about the fact that they changed Peter's face to appear more young, which fits in line with the motion capture artist, although they still insist it is to bear a resemblance to Tom Holland. (Which it doesn't, by the way. Just looks like a young guy and Tom happens to be young. How bad do you think the modellers are that they couldn't properly depict one of the most famous actors in the world if they wanted to?) What I'm trying to say is- Spider-Man fans need to keep their critiques limited to the game itself, they got a bit loopy when they try to comment on anything wider.

And though it has literally nothing to do with the world of gaming whatsoever, we might as well throw in an honorary mention to Star Wars' Kelly Marie Tran who committed the crime of- being in The Last Jedi. (That is quite the sin, to be fair.) Everything about The Last Jedi has generated nothing but misery and conflict, which is why I don't think I'll ever be in the mood to finally watch it. One such miserable conflict was around Kelly and the every encroaching boogey man that haunts the dreams of scared white folks- diversity! (Woo!) Kelly is Asian, and that is scary to people, therefore she became one of the reasons why The Last Jedi was bad in the minds of people who wanted to burn the movie to the ground. Literally, I haven't heard a single comment about her performance or role or anything substantive- just the race thing and 'diversity quotas' or some such guff. Just weirdoes being weird, I guess.  

Of course, it isn't lost on me that many of real life people caught at the centre of my examples today are women, which no doubt had it's own influence in the respective dramas- emboldening the aggrieved to poke where perhaps they might have otherwise merely seethed in silence. But of course the issue touches male celebrities as well, just look at Kpop stars! It's the illness of being in some form of contact with the blinding glitter of stardom that touch something feral in people, something dark and nasty- that most people would never have discovered were it not for the supposed anonymity of being online. (Most of the time they don't even take the time to be actually anonymous anymore, they'll post their insane lunacy on verified accounts with their real names on it- because the physical and virtual distance alone is a shield in itself.) And the solution to all this? Play more games, whine less.