All right, so, a lot's been going down in PR-land of late, that shouldn't be news to anyone. And I have a lot of feels about it, that also shouldn't be a surprise. My opinions are unpopular. I'm going to talk about them anyway.
Sure, it's mad shitty how Saban is handling this whole situation. I won't dispute that. But it is even shittier how a large chunk of the fandom is handling it. I won't say 'everyone' because I know that's not true. But a large enough chunk to give the fandom as a whole the type of representation that I don't like. Sure, it's okay to be disappointed that this character or that one won't be appearing in Super Megaforce. And it's okay to be upset with some of the decisions Saban is making. It is NOT okay to act like you're entitled to the cameos you want to see and that an actor's decision to not participate is of some kind of personal offense to you. It's like some of these fans are failing to realize that actors are ACTUAL FUCKING PEOPLE, with actual lives and actual legitimate reasons for making the decisions they make. They do NOT exist at the fandom's beck and call. They don't OWE us cameos, they don't OWE us convention appearances, THEY DON'T OWE US A GODDAMN THING and we should be nothing less than GRATEFUL for any time out of their lives that they decide to take to interact with us.
And all entitled douchebaggery aside, I am actually glad to hear that some of these characters - Rocky and Billy in particular - won't be seen in Super Megaforce. Why? Because given what we know about how these characters have been handled in the past, coupled with the general quality of writing and characterization in the series right now, there is absolutely NO WAY that canon would do justice to what I want for these characters and their post-series lives. We have already seen evidence that the series does not know how to treat these characters right, and Steve Cardenas came right out and said he was dissatisfied with the amount of character development he would have been offered in a Super Megaforce appearance. I respect him greatly for taking that into consideration, especially since I'm sure it's come to his attention over the past decade that, had he actually appeared in Forever Red, he would've been relegated to the role of Tommy's butler. We all dodged a bullet when that failed to become canon, and I shudder to think what might have become of Rocky this time around. Billy, meanwhile, was subjected to the biggest shitshow of a send-off there ever was, and while I'll grant that they had to come up with a cover for his sudden departure, they could easily have done better.
But what might or might not have become of Billy in canon is not the most important factor to consider here. David Yost has publically shared what his experience working on PR was like, and having heard his story, not only do I not fault him for deciding not to return, I applaud him for the decision. I don't claim to know the man beyond what he has chosen to share with the world through his general public presence in the fandom, and through having met him at NPS Live, but based on the things he has chosen to share, I would not even be able to enjoy a Billy cameo because I would be too busy worrying about David's emotional state. I can easily ignore most of fandom's cameo-related whining. But I will personally tear anyone I catch complaining about this decision a brand new asshole.
(Once again, that man manages to bring out the absolute worst of my fangirl tendencies.)
(Also, I would like to say that I think the Tweet in which he announced his decision may be the single most masterfully composed Tweet I have ever seen. THE POTSHOT ABOUT THERE BEING POOR GRAMMAR IN THE INVITATION EMAIL. PURE. GOLD.)
So that's my 25 or so cents on the matter. Hopefully this post has worked all the bile out of my system. If there's any left, maybe I'll throw together a rant about how wrong everything about Star Trek Into Darkness has turned out to be. I hope that doesn't become necessary.
...It's a sad day in Pocky-land when I look at my online life and realize that Transformers is the least dysfunctional of my fandoms right now. How does that even happen?
On a lighter but largely related note, I am now in possession of the Holy Grail my very own Legacy Morpher, and it is THE BEST TOY IN THE HISTORY OF TOYS. I can't put it down because holding the damn thing is so immensely satisfying. Quite possibly the best 60 bucks I've ever spent.
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