Episode Details

Last week Zack and Stephen left town and headed opposite ways.[1. Photo by Gregory Stewart on Unsplash.] Meanwhile, fans are separating from franchises once thought too big to fail. Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Amazon’s try at Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who—they’re all coming in for much criticism. Some call this “toxic fandom.” Others say this is fans keeping creators accountable for bad art or canon violations. As biblical Christians, how do we respond to these controversies with discernment?

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Episode sponsors

1. The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella from Enclave Publishing
2. P. S. Patton’s The Withering (releasing July 26)

Concession stand

• As before, this is a Stephen solo show, while Zack and Stephen are both traveling.
• As usual, if we touch on politics, we try to make this means to greater ends.
• That includes some accusations of stories that have supposedly gone “woke.”
• Nope, we certainly don’t deny that secular agendas infest some stories.
• That includes what Stephen calls Sexualityism, culture’s fastest-growing religion.
• We do see, however, such battles as sadly necessary, not ultimate purposes.
• Fandom is about love for stories, and for that reason, this text may apply:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)

Chapter 1: What’s happening to our favorite fantasy franchises?

• The MCU is experimenting with multiverse, bad gods, flippancy, diversity.
• Doctor Who tried a female doctor and backstory, and now they’re kinda stuck.
• Star Wars? Well, fans are constantly fighting about that. (See Stephen’s article.)
• Amazon’s The Rings of Power TV show is so far marketing its modern virtues.
• DC is all over the place, and until they get a new studio head, they’re floundering.
• Star Trek is dividing fans, with the possible exception of Strange New Worlds.

Chapter 2: How have fans responded to canon and character shifts?

• So far we’ve seen two extreme sides of fan responses to all of these changes.

Positive: Fans accept the changes, defend them, and find any precedent.

• These seem to be some new fans, often prone to going along with trends.
• Others are old fans who try to keep an open mind even about big changes.
• For example, Star Trek has always leaned liberal humanist, and DC is diverse.
• Of course, the problem here is that fans may “support” non-excellent stories.
• Reference this July’s

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