Monday Musings: Twouble With Twibbles

So, I’m not sure if anyone has noticed, but I’m on what my pal Howie calls a “Twitter Diet”. I’m not sure if it’s the new meds, or if it’s just me by myself, but a few bad apples have spoiled the bunch. I’ve had a few experiences in the past few weeks that may seem petty to some, but they were enough to just make me take a moment and deal with other stuff rather than quip about titties and Power Rangers 32 times a day.

It all started about 2 weeks ago when a follower said that something I said about Iron Man 3 was a “silly question”. For the record, I said that it’s hard to go from the galaxy-spanning majesty of Avengers to the grounded Iron Man 3. While this is essentially a plot point, my argument was that Avengers opened a can of worms by bolstering the shared universe. It’s not out of the question to say, “Hey, the president’s in trouble, so where’s Captain America?” People online wanted to say that’s a trope of all comics, and the answer is generally “He’s dealing with his own shit.” I get that, but you’ve still got S.H.I.E.L.D. as a lynchpin of the whole universe, and there’s no mention of them whatsoever. I think that’s a glaring oversight in a movie that had other things I could easily forgive yet others could not.

Anyway, this follower was the Queen of the Misanthropes, and trying to have any sort of conversation with her is a chore. Everything sets her off, and she prides herself on shit like how she once basically knocked over an old lady on the sidewalk. Needless to say, she’s not the sweetest belle at the ball. My comment was to no one directly, but she decided to come out of the woodwork to call my observation “silly” and patted herself on the back. I could’ve been like, “Bitch, I know more about comics than you realize”, but I could still accept a differing viewpoint. Just don’t condescendingly call me silly when I’ve had to put up with tons of shit, from how she hates her coworkers, to her fitness progress. I’ve never called her silly, though I probably should’ve unfollowed her long ago. She’s essentially the female version of a follower I already had, and two was a certainly a crowd. People always laugh when I say this, but when you get deep into the world of social media, politics take over. You can’t unfollow people ’cause they’re friends with your friends, and then group conversations now have a glaring hole in them. She took the initiative and blocked me, which was a relief. Even if temporary, I don’t have to deal with that anymore, nor do I have to strategize how to get rid of her. It’s the age old trick of getting your girlfriend to dump you so you don’t have to do it. I used to be EXCELLENT at that. So, that was strike one.

Next, I had a bit of a tete-a-tete with black commentator Roland Martin. I only watch TV One for Martin reruns, so I really don’t know much about what he does. I just know A) he got in trouble for somewhat homophobic remarks after the Super Bowl and B) he has his own line of ascots. Anyway, I’m gonna blame @Classickmateria for this, as I probably wouldn’t even have noticed this had he not retweeted it. Martin has since deleted the exchange, but luckily Twitter forgets nothing:

Now, let me give some context here. I’m willing to admit I opened this can of worms. My problem was this: he didn’t congratulate EVERYONE in the movie. No, he went for Don Cheadle, with that whole “black supports black” mentality. I’ve already detailed my issues with Cheadle as Rhodes, but this wasn’t even about that. It was clear there was a bit of bias here, and it you’re gonna congratulate someone, congratulate them all. Those box office returns weren’t built on the back of Don Cheadle. He’s not the one who just started negotiating his future with the Marvel Studios film universe. I feel like I called a spade a spade, and I kept going because of his whole elementary school-style rebuttals. Here’s the irony, and don’t think I don’t see it: I called his opinion silly. The same thing I got mad at the aforementioned person. Here’s the difference – Martin and I don’t follow each other. I guess, as a stranger, he deserves a modicum of respect, but not as much required by my circle of “friends”. She had found herself in said circle, and didn’t respect the “code”. Anyway, I know his went way too far, and it was my fault for getting caught up in it. Strike two.

On Friday, the twitter account for TokuNation set me off due to shoddy journalism (NOTE: Tokusatsu is the name for the Japanese shows that give us the footage used for Power Rangers, Masked Rider, etc. We’ve discussed this before). Long story short, this is the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers in America, and fans felt that faces from the past should be involved. Saban heard this, and half-assedly reached out to former rangers to see if they’d be a part of the proceedings. The problem is that they’re still non-Union, so they’re only offering something like $100, and the trip to New Zealand. Fans first got mad at the actors for declining, but once they saw the form letter email that was sent out, they then turned that anger on Saban. “Why is he so cheap?”, etc. At the end of the day, however, there’s only one ranger that everyone wants to see: Tommy, the original Green Ranger (then White Ranger/Red Ranger/Black Ranger). The actor, Jason David Frank, already put his foot in his mouth earlier by saying he’d do it for $1. Yes, 1 American dollar. He’s all tatted up now, so he figured he wouldn’t be getting the call. He was wrong. Remember, Saban likes being CHEAP. So, Friday, Toku Nation tweeted this:

Now, for more backstory. Frank was scheduled to appear at a convention, but cancelled due to a filming conflict. This convention is scheduled for the same weekend as the Power Rangers filming. So, TokuNation took this as a confirmation. This is NOT confirmation. It’s speculation with persuasive evidence, but confirmation is either an email OR it’s “straight from the horse’s mouth”. The word “confirmation” clearly does not mean what TokuNation thinks it means. I said as much here, and check their reply:

Um…so they’re essentially saying they’re trying to turn the tides of all the negative news by getting some good news out there. Even if it’s not true. I told them this is how rumors and lies get started, but they were done with me and my retorts. I was ashamed of myself for how upset this made me, so this was Strike three.

I’ve said before that I consider my twitter followers to be my “friends”. I’m closer to a lot of people on there than I am in real life. That said, I’m also noticing the evolution of some twitter “enemies”. That’s the dark side of all this, and I’m as much as fault as anyone else because I seem to be creating my own enemies. That’s kinda sad. So, I need to take a step back. I’m not going anywhere, but I’m not going to be monitoring my feed 24/7, like Martian Manhunter on monitor duty. I can’t let this consume me, ’cause it’s supposed to be fun, right? I’ll still be around, but for the time being, most of my tweets will either be replies or tweets pimping my warez. Unless ya miss me. I’m a whore like that. I’ll come back lickity-split!