Most divisive piece of fiction you've encountered

[Vegosiux]

Greetings, Escapists.

I've been wondering which piece of fiction you consider to be the most liable to start flame, if not real wars (if the wrong people get into an argument, goodness forbid). A series/movie/comic that splits the community right down the middle, with irreconcilable differences, to the point that everyone's going to tell you "Either you've got the same opinion as me or you're just stupid!"

I say, forget Game of Thrones on that. Sure there's quite some fire there, and its popularity does fuel it, but I'm going to have to hand this one to Evangelion.

As far as I see there's not a single undisputed aspect to that show. Like, at all. There are serious business battles about everything. Is Shinji an obnoxious incompetent wuss, or just a normal kid dealing with overwhelming odds (I say he's a wuss)? Is Gendo a heartless manipulative bastard who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, or is he a decent and loving father who, just like his son, is terrible at communicating anything (He's most definitely a villain, even if one of my favorite ones)? Is Misato's "real" personality the hypercompetent tactical genius second only to Gendo himself, or is it the alcoholic party girl she is off duty (Her "work" persona, I say)? Does End of Evangelion make any sense (It does!)? Is Rei creepy or the dream of every adolescent male (Creepy)?

And more. I honestly can't name any detail from the show on which there's at least a general agreement with few dissenters.

Anyway, Escapists, which shows, movies, etc. would you say have the power to start wars?

 

[tippy2k2]

I'll throw up a soft ball and really get the hatred going...

Dragon Age 2

I swear this is a game you either liked or you believe it's the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of everything ever. There seems to be no people who think it's alright or even people who just think it's a little bad. You either really liked it (like myself or Mr. Tito) or you absolutely hate it with every fiber of your being.

While Mass Effect 3 has stolen a lot of the Bioware decisive thunder, there are STILL people who hold it against The Escapist that Tito gave DA2 a 5 star rating. People even asked Mr. Sterling to retroactively change the rating when he became review editor [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.833439-What-Our-Review-Scores-Mean?page=2#20376798]. What other game has EVER received that level of hate while still having a (relatively) good score of 79 on Metacritic?

 

[shrekfan246]

What other game has EVER received that level of hate while still having a (relatively) good score of 79 on Metacritic?

Well... I mean...

There were people who contributed to a charity fundraiser drive to change Mass Effect 3's ending and then they demanded their money back when they discovered it probably wasn't going to do anything. (I might be misremembering? It was something really horrible like that, though.)

I don't know what would be the most divisive, but we all know that this thread can't continue further without someone mentioning My Little Pony. If you asked me to come up with a trifecta of "things 'gamers' will never stop fighting about", it'd be EA, My Little Pony, and Anita Sarkeesian. It could eventually become outdated, lord knows I hope it does, but right now? That's where my money goes.

Runners-up have to go to Final Fantasy, EDIT: Metal Gear :END EDIT, DmC, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Star Wars prequels, Star Trek (taken as a whole, including all television series' and films, especially the Abrams ones), and depending on where you look, The Lord of the Rings. That last one might not be fair, but I certainly see more people bemoan the existence of Tolkien's work than praise it these days.

 

[Queen Michael]

I'd have to say Fifty Shades of Grey, or if that's wrong, Twilight. No other book series have been that loved and hated, as far as I know.[footnote]I'm going to reward myself with candy for not choosing any religious texts. Believe me, I was tempted.[/footnote]

 

[Tono Makt]

I see my three main ones are already listed (GoT, ME3, Eva) so I'm going to toss another one up there:

LOST.

Years after it ended LOST is still one of the most divisive series out there. Part of that is due to a rabid and vocal fan base who spent 6 seasons eagerly decoding all of the secret messages the writers were sending them (even when the writers weren't sending any messages) who were bitterly disappointed by the way Season 6 brushed off answers (Why did Auzzie Chick have to raise the baby on her own? No reason, it was just a lie.) or simply ignored major questions (Why was Walt so special? Because he had to help Locke get back to the Island.) that had driven this part of the fan base and probably kept LOST on the air for the entire 6 seasons. Part of it is due to a larger and more casual fan base who would say that Jack is the Constant, and then when Jack died Hurley became the Constant because it simply didn't matter to them what the Constant was. The characters relationships to each other was more important than anything else. And in the end... the casual fans were the ones who got rewarded. And that's where the division comes from - the detail oriented somewhat obsessive fan base feel they were used and abused by the Writers and so we simply won't let it go.[footnote]This is a big reason why you'll see so much hate pointed at anything Damon Lindelof is part of. It's hard to argue that his recent stuff has been decent (Prometheus, Star Trek reboots...) but the amount of hate we have for that little bleep takes every little cat crap he puts out and turns it into a cow pie.[/footnote][footnote]Why no, I don't happen to have any sympathy for him, why do you ask?[/footnote][footnote]Let's see another fictional work have such an effect on the writers/stars/directors/etc. outside of that individual work, huh?[/footnote][footnote]

Spoiler

Wait... I'm sensing a "Micheal Bay" post in response to this sometime in the near future...

[/footnote]

 

[Someone Depressing]

Many.

Though not technically fiction, Second Life is pretty much a shining example. Some people just use it as a chatroom with avatars, talk, play it as a video game, ect. Other people... take it a little too real. Like real-life marriages but only ever interacting through Second Life, all kinds of weird ass fetishes, and actually making a living off of the game by selling their artwork and stuff they're made, like houses and crap.

Naturally, you can guess which side gets... stigmas that probably wouldn't apply to any other video game, online world, or whatever the fuck you'd call Second Life by now, but that's just how it kind of wound up.

Also Bioware. As in the whole company.

Dragon Age 2 in particular. Origins also, but to a much lesser extent. The "sex scenes" were probably what made the whole romance side-quest system turn sour for most people (doin' it through plate amour, YEAH!) and the various cliches that are played with throughout the game. And people who that simply didn't appeal to automatically hated the game (not like you could argue. In the end, the game made as much sense as a Ren and Stimpy marathon involing lots of whiskey).

 

[Zontar]

2001 a space odyssey. Either it's an art film that's incomprehensible but still the greatest piece of science fiction film ever made (despite that not even being its primary genre and failing as a film if only taking that single genre into account), or it's a boring waste of time with to many establishing shots which don't amount to anything and drag on for far to long (at times up to 20 minutes) while nothing happens.

The only thing people have seemed to agree on is this: professionals are not allowed to give it negative criticism, and the cinematography and score are great.

 

[jademunky]

Stranger in a Strange Land

It's one of the most popular sci-fi works of all time. Hugely influential in pop-culture, inspired its own pseudo-religious movements. Everyone that i've ever encountered having read it either loves it or thinks it is absolute crap.

Oh and it IS crap.
Honestly, I have read the first left-behind book. I have read the sword of truth series and I have read the first fifty pages of Atlas Shrugged. Stranger is worse then all 3. Combined! The characters are all complete douchnozzles, the plot is badly structured, the sex scenes are just terrible, every female character is pretty-much interchangeable with every other, the tone is all-over the map. Oh and did I mention the characters? Oh I did? Good.

Another thing is that considering 80% of the novel is just the author patting himself on the back about how progressive and enlightened he is compared to everyone, dear lord is it anti-gay. I mean, yeah it was written in the 60's but still. It goes so far as to imply that all gays are pedophiles.

And I say all this as a fan of Heinlein. Honestly, if you have not yet read "the moon is a harsh mistress" you should go do so right now. (I will wait)

 

[jademunky]

I'll throw up a soft ball and really get the hatred going...

Dragon Age 2

Really mixed feelings about that one. I finished it twice so I cannot say that I didn't love it. Gave me a much tighter, character-focused story, gave a closer look at Qunari society, greatly expanded on the inherent tension between mages and the rest of society (although it buggered the message by making every mage either evil, possessed, a blood mage or all 3).

On the other hand:
1) the main overarching villain was a glowing-evil-artifact-thingy.
2) backtracking through the same brownish city streets over and over again
3) load times
4) the cutout dungeons
5) the amount of effort and resources used to create all the romance dialogue is just staggering

 

[Johnny Impact]

The best choices have been taken.

I was going to say Game of Thrones. People like it and dislike it for the same reasons: high mortality, evil wins, Tyrion, you know the list. Personally, I like it. Upon reading the first book I was inspired to run a Pathfinder campaign where all the nations/groups were vicious underhanded twats. It certainly spun my players' heads to see paladins indulging in whoremongering and casual brutality. On the other hand my brother-in-law, who devours any and all fiction you put in his hands, tells me he hated GoT because the high mortality rate meant he couldn't care about any of the characters.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is another good one. Not the show itself so much as the fandom. I don't know when exactly it became okay for adult males to proclaim their allegiance to a show meant for nine-year-old girls. I understand grown guys watching G1 Transformers reruns, they saw the show when they were kids and are watching for the sake of nostalgia. I also understand shows like Venture Brothers, which are adult-oriented, targeted towards thirty-year-olds who watched Johnny Quest, Richie Rich, and so forth as children in the 80s. What I don't get is a brand-new kids' show attracting a rabid, strangely vocal fanbase among the wrong demographic. When *I* was young, guys would have been called faggots for liking that kind of thing. Not that I'm in favor of knee-jerk homophobia or name-calling, mind you, I simply don't get the fandom of MLP.

Someone said Twilight. I don't know if I would call Twilight divisive. Divisive means there are valid points to be made on all sides. That isn't the case here. Either you're a fourteen-year-old girl or you understand Twilight is a steaming pile of crap. There really isn't any discussion to be had.

 

[LobsterFeng]

On this site in particular I've noticed that The Amazing Spider-Man will bring up a lot of debates. And while I have nothing against MovieBob's opinion his hatred for it kind of fuels it.

 

[TristanBelmont]

MLP (if you like it, good for you, don't shove it down my throat) and GoT (these are some good books) and LOST (dunno) and ME3 (a bloody masterpiece) and Eva (still need to watch it) have all been stated, so I'll just say I agree those games have some strong opinions on both sides and leave it at that.

I would say, contrary to popular opinion, The Last of Us. While most critics and gamers agreed it was a superb game, there is a LOT of hate towards this piece of software, it just isn't as public as some other examples. Bringing this game up in some forums can start outright flame ARMAGEDDON, and most of it comes down to this:

1-People thinking it's alright, if overhyped.
2-People thinking it's a horrible pretentious piece of shite, and very overhyped.
3-People disagreeing that it should have won GOTY from as many publications and websites and what have you as it did, thinking it should have lost out to the likes of Bioshock Infinite, GTA V, Saints Row IV (Seriously, not one other person, FFS), or Assassin's Creed IV, to name a few.
4-People who got super butt-mad that it was a PS3 exclusive and decided to use that upset-ness as fuel for an unfair fire as they looked forlornly at their 360s and Wiis and PCs....
5-Any combination of the above.
6-People who just didn't like the game, and state why in a calm, fair manner, and are immediately washed away in a torrent of any of the above.

 

[Johnny Impact]

and Eva (still need to watch it)

Eh. No you don't.

6-People who just didn't like the game, and state why in a calm, fair manner, and are immediately washed away in a torrent of any of the above.

I felt the clickers were arbitrary and unfair, I've never been a fan of instant-death enemies, coupled with the unreliable enemy detection it just made the game pointlessly frustrating, I thought Joel was......FWAAARRRRSH ANGRY OPINIONATED ILLITERATE ALL-CAPS GRRRR

You mean like that? Come on, that never happens. Everyone on the Internet is calm, balanced, and articulate.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

I'll throw up a soft ball and really get the hatred going...

Dragon Age 2

I swear this is a game you either liked or you believe it's the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of everything ever. There seems to be no people who think it's alright or even people who just think it's a little bad. You either really liked it (like myself or Mr. Tito) or you absolutely hate it with every fiber of your being.

Oddly, I feel like this means I'll like it. I usually find myself in the "small crowd of supporters" camp.

 

[Tenkage]

The drivel spouted by Anita Sarkeesian....ok a bit of trolling aside

Gotta agree with dragon Age 2 as an either enjoy it or completely hate it (I for one enjoyed it)

I suppose MLP could also start a flame war as well.

 

[Julius Terrell]

2001 a space odyssey. Either it's an art film that's incomprehensible but still the greatest piece of science fiction film ever made (despite that not even being its primary genre and failing as a film if only taking that single genre into account), or it's a boring waste of time with to many establishing shots which don't amount to anything and drag on for far to long (at times up to 20 minutes) while nothing happens.

The only thing people have seemed to agree on is this: professionals are not allowed to give it negative criticism, and the cinematography and score are great.

This....so fucking this!!!!

I first saw this movie as a kid and it BLEW ME AWAY!

Kubrick is a genius. In my years since watching this film only TWO directors has been able to make films that are on this level(yes, it's easy to add eva to this list) and it's Momoru Oshii and Satoshi Kon.

also, serial experiments lain,boogipop phantom,,and kikaider; I will watch these series till my dying day!!

sheer brilliance!!!

 

[schiz0phren1c]

The bible is the Most divisive piece of fiction I've encountered.

 

[Mister K]

Well, since you guys have alredy mentioned DAII:

Pacific Rim. People seem to either really, really like it for the action, Jaeger and Kaiju designs, or hate it for other stuff like acting and lack of combat sequences.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

On this site in particular I've noticed that The Amazing Spider-Man will bring up a lot of debates. And while I have nothing against MovieBob's opinion his hatred for it kind of fuels it.

I don't think I've seen anyone even comment on it, whether for good or bad. It's one of those things nobody paid much attention to.

 

[Kinitawowi]

The bible is the Most divisive piece of fiction I've encountered.

Aww, I was gonna say that. Seriously, all the other divisions in this thread are small fry compared to what's gone on thanks to that wretched tome.