I’m proud to be part of such a great community. It’s refreshing, like an ice cold martini 
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I believe that ANYONE can be killed falling through a faulty lighthouse railing.
All people can have their head preserved and reanimated.
ANYONE can be in gold boots or in lovers lane.
(In all seriousness- I love this community, and I’m glad to see that people of all varieties feel welcomed here! As a relative newcomer to the fandom, after a 15+ year casual connection to the source material, brought back into the fold by the Netflix era: I’m so glad to see the open-mindedness and inclusivity on display here!)
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I have to say as a member of a bunch of online communities, this is one of the most welcoming =)
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I think it can be attributed to several things:
- People here tend to be sharper, have better vocabularies, more intelligent, better read, and are just generally more knowing of a multitude of things, which can contribute to being more accepting of different ideas/points of view/etc…
- A shared sense of (twisted) humor!
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Bad films are for all, not just white dudes on PCs in their basement.
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I was talking about this with a friend on another site last night. Over the years MST3K has definitely not been perfect. There’s some riffs in older episodes that make me cringe if I revisit them today, jokes that - even if it was socially acceptable back then - now come off as racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic. You can’t undo that past, but what’s important to me is that MST3K is still making a conscious effort to do better now. The show’s cast and crew has gotten more diverse, and the riffing doesn’t punch down like it sometimes did in the past.
The fact that I was completely comfortable with taking friends who are women or LGBTQ to the live shows (and that they had a great time there!) speaks volumes.
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Just here to add Happy International Women’s Day.
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And Women’s History Month!
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Correct. Also just to be abundantly clear, if anyone EVER sends a message that feels creepy or intrusive, my DMs are open for y’all. This stands for everyone on these forums, but particularly I would like women, trans folks, and nonbinary or otherwise gender nonconforming people to feel empowered to give me a heads up.
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Glad you found someplace you can feel that way! There are definitely a lot of fandoms that have some dark underbellies and the past few years in particular has given their worst members permission to become much louder. Having safe spaces to simply exist like everyone else should be a low bar to clear, yet our geek & nerd brethren do manage to fail at that far, far too often.
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That’s pretty damn awesome. The sincerest possible thanks for making all of this a safe and welcoming community, @Lesley.
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I say we all get together and buy Leslie some pinking shears!
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I’ve been doing conventions off and on for nearly 40 years, and MST3K fandom is the only one in which I’ve never met a so-called ‘toxic fan’. MSTies in general have internalized the advice of the show’s theme song: “I should really just relax.”
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Toxic fans are usually only “fans” because it gives them an opportunity to be toxic. Most of the people in here have actually ponied up money in support of their fandom. Trolls don’t do that.
Which is why I’m actually less high now on the idea of making this the official forum of the Gizmoplex when it opens to the general public. There would be a flood of new people… many of them nice, but many of them trolls with no skin in the game.
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I feel like this is a very woman friendly space.
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I agree! It’s always scary for me in social media situations. Even in topic threads I would normally avoid (because people can get pretty hot about defending their opinions) like, “Worst movie you’ve seen in the theater,” have actually been delightful. I don’t think I have ever been a part of a community like this. Thank you for being brave and posting this. (Seems silly to call it brave, but it is. ) And thank you to this magnificent community for embracing it in the spirit that it was intended. <3
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The absence of political “discussions” is a big part of it, I think.
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As a misanthrope, all of this positivity makes me angry.
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YES! I agree. I am a similar vintage, also female, also technical (and a video gamer to boot). I have a pretty thick skin and a good sense of humor, and am used to mostly male-inhabited spaces. But I still used to get treated… not well on online music tech and gaming forums. (Game forums are still iffy, as is the internet in general, but I digress…)
The MST3K community, here and on Twitch, is a notably kind and sane (well, you know what I mean) place where we can all enjoy and celebrate what we have in common, make silly jokes and take off on random digressions, and generally enjoy each other’s company, humor and creativity. Best fandom ever, in my opinion.
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You are the nicest misanthrope that I’ve ever met.
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