Yeah, I don't necessarily think there's anything noble about striving for staunch objectivity. We all have irrational affinities for things, and that's cool.
I really think that what makes fanboyism -- and really, that's not entirely fair as what I'm describing extends to all sorts of issues where being a fan of something isn't even really applicable -- frustrating is that it just stifles legitimate discussion and inquiry for anyone not intimately acquainted with the situation at hand. I mean, I understand that there's a lot of trolls out there, and we're trained to become cynical and assume everyone is just screwing with us, but anytime someone says something the least bit negative about a sacred cow, you'll have a dozen people just chomping at the bits to spout battle-tested talking points in an effort to annihilate the person in what they perceive the situation to be a serious debate.
People who haven't been following the climate of the situation closely enough to have participated in the same thread template ten times -- and thus mastered the talking points -- are chased out as idiots who need to do their homework before assessing how one of the big three appears to be doing right now, for instance.
Perhaps there's just not great conversation to be had anyway in sizing up how a company or franchise is doing. However, any potential for it gets destroyed when people stop treating it as a casual conversation about nonsense that doesn't ultimately matter (which it is), and morph into being political campaign surrogates.
And that was a stupid rant. I apologize, good men and women of the Bore.
