Editorial: Internet, Why Ya Gotta Be So Rude? Don't You Know Movies Have Feelings Too?

Not every site that features film news and opinion pieces on the internet is bad, but several have recently fallen victim to hyperbole overload. One of my favorite sites, The Dissolve ran an article last month about Paramount announcing several new sequels. Matt Singer, who wrote the article, was more even-handed than most, but every other outlet reporting it acted like the cinematic apocalypse had come. Paramount only makes sequels now until the end of time!! HELP US ALL!!

In reality, Paramount announced those big-budget sequels all at once because they were at CineEurope, an event where studios show off upcoming movies to international theater owners. Now, at a dog-and-pony show like that, are you gonna publicize Tom McCarthy's newest drama or the fact that another Star Trek is on the way? Paramount has plenty of dramas on their schedule (like Selma, which will come out this Christmas), they just chose not to promote at this particular event.

That didn't stop outlets galore from pretty much declaring this the end of creativity, with such whiny articles leading me to finally declare on that more even-handed article a lengthy comment berating those who took this to be some kind of cataclysmic event. Perhaps my irritation stemmed from similar overreactions stemming from Edgar Wrights departure from Ant-Man, which many treated as if it was the very end of humanity and a sign that the golden age of  Marvel was finished. This all came out despite those of us on the internet lacking many crucial piece of information about Edgar Wrights exit from the film, yet little things like "truth" and "facts" won't stop doomsday headlines from going up!

First of all, don't ya just love how numerous sites suddenly pay attention to comic book movies whenever bad things happen, yet completely abandon them in times of victory? Secondly, why is everything have to be so negative these days? I get that not everyone has to love everything, I wouldn't want that. But if you lack crucial information about a subject, wouldn't it be better to remain optimistic? I guess when the amount of people clicking on your article is at stake, slander doesn't matter.

Now, you're probably wondering what triggered this editorial. Well, a site I like, nay, love very much is Slashfilm. Unfortunately, they put up an article today. that promptly noted Marvel Comics New Captain America Is A Black Man. No mention of how that particular African-American gentleman is Captain America's long-stand partner and pal Falcon, nope, they're just trying to bait all the racists on the internet leave their hateful little rants for all to read in the comment section. As long as they get pageviews, where's the harm? The harm is in damaging not only your sites reputation, but the writers credibility as well. C'mon guys, let's have some class on the interwebs. Let's cut out the whiny, doomsday headlines, the clickbait crap and racist article titles. Let's make good content for good readers, alright?