Why the Boyfriends Controversy is a Problem

We're talking about this comic. Yes, the cute pastel boys playing a video game. That's what this is about.

Update: this is my most viewed article, and I need to make money somehow. If you can’t afford the medium partnership, the friend link is in the comments. I’ll edit this and add it to the text body when I can. (Mobile isn’t working with me.)

In general, I think it’s indicative of a larger issue within fandom communities — the tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I love that ethics is such a widespread topic these days. I love analyzing things. I love dissecting media, and it’s important to me that readers are able to spot problematic content, because that means they’re a lot more likely to be able to acknowledge it in their own lives.

The problem is that acknowledgment is only the first step.

The anti Boyfriends crowd — and the anti crowd in general — has taken a “burn the witch” approach as their next step. Anything goes in the pursuit of “justice,” including long term harassment campaigns against someone who has apologized for any wrongdoing and promised to not do it again.

In fact, any apology at all is only seen as pandering. It’s never good enough.

This leads me to the bullying campaign against refrainbow, the creator of one of the cutest, fluffiest comics in existence.