I wrote this on my dumb Facebook yesterday:.
At least three blogs linked to my blog about the minifigs today. All three of the ones I saw essentially quoted the entire thing, and then added commentary that misrepresented what I said, and what my intention was when I said it.
Another blog, home to one of the most pathetic, sad, empty, angry, hateful failures in the universe also linked to it.
The resulting flood of toxic and cruel and hateful people into my life has been appalling and revealing.
Unsurprisingly, when a shitty person is shitty, they attract other shitty persons to their blog. When a blog that presents itself as news writes shitty posts that are intended to make shitty people feel better about themselves by attacking and tearing down other people, those sites attract shitty people.
And now a lot of those shitty people are all up in my business. I can ignore a lot of it, and I block and move on, but it’s frustrating and disheartening to see so much hate and cruelty projected from people who I don’t know and wasn’t writing for in the first place. It’s gross and it makes me feel … well, the only word I can come up with is “icky” and that’s not the best word. I just feel like the stink of toxic, terrible people is around me today, and it makes me grateful for the millions of you out there who are not that, who choose to spend a little bit of time in the same virtual space as me.
Dickheads are gonna be dickheads, and I have to be better at just ignoring that (Hardwick is the Zen master of this, if you’re looking for inspiration). But those news blogs that reprinted exactly what I wrote, but then recontextualized it (and me) to create a false narrative … that’s frustrating to me. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in my post, so I left it open to interpretation. Maybe I didn’t make it clear that I was answering a question, sharing a raw and unfiltered emotional response to something, and concluding that I was disappointed. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t ranting, I wasn’t furious, I didn’t call for a boycott. I just said I was disappointed, and I explained why. I thought I was clear, and I thought it was dispassionate (as much as it can be when it’s talking about something that has been a bit of a raw nerve for thirty years). So if I wasn’t extremely clear, I guess that’s on me.
But I can’t help but feel like these blogs deliberately used sensational language to create a narrative that justified their writers essentially quoting everything I wrote, adding no new information or informed analysis, and collecting the ad revenue. That’s frustrating to me, because they get to move on to their next bit of sensationalized bullshit, while I spend days dealing with the trolling and associated garbage from people who will read their sensationalized headlines, accept their sensationalized framing, and then come after me on social media or in the comments of my own blog. It’s ironic that I had to block some shitty people here, because one of the founding principles of my blog, over ten years ago, was for me to have a place to speak for myself, after a lifetime of being spoken for by publicists. It was to give me a place to set the record straight, after years of being talked about by people who knew little to nothing about me. And here we are, a decade later, and I’m doing the same thing I was back then: speaking up to say, “that’s not what I said, and you know it’s not what I said.” There’s an argument to be made for just ignoring it and moving on, and there’s an argument to be made that I’m doing this all over again ten years later because I’m screwed up, emotionally. Maybe that’s the case. I have to live with this brain that lies to me all the time, and I’m coming off of 24 hours of shitty people telling me to kill myself, so maybe I’m not the most objective observer in this regard.
But all of that is prelude and context to what I hope will be the real takeaway from this stupid thing: I am genuinely grateful that I interact with kind and good people in real life and online almost every day. I am grateful that we work with intention to create a positive and uplifting place when we are together, and I am grateful that, even when I was a shitty teenager, I never would have wanted to be around cruel, unhappy, nihilists who have little to no empathy in their lives, and use anger to give their lives meaning.
Thanks for listening.
Note: Because I’m dealing with trolls and dickweeds right now, I’ve set comments to go into moderation, unless you have a previously-approved comment. Thanks for understanding.
I am grateful for you, Wil. Thank you. It takes some major courage and strength of character to do and be who you are, and then continue to do and be year after year. You’re awesome!
Because you can never hear it too often (IMHO): Your feelings, especially those about the character you inhabited, and thus should know better than anyone else, are absolutely valid.
I thought you expressed yourself and your disappointment very well. I have to say, i wasn’t a huge Wesley Crusher fan – i’m a little out of the target demographic to have connected. I am a big Wil Wheaton fan, partly because of the the way you’ve handled the mismanagement of the Wesley character, and partly because of how you’ve built a career that recognizes the importance of that character, but explores and incorporates your other talents.
You simply cannot let the a-holes get you down. There is a phenomenon beginning to show its face now that some psychologists are just beginning to talk about. There have always been trolls on the internet, but since the dawn of social media the toxicity being shown to others by people who otherwise would not behave this way has skyrocketed. For all the good that social media may do for some people, the entity as a whole is literally tearing apart the social framework of our society and not in a good way. It slowly trains people to exhibit narcissistic traits, and because they’re not discussing things face to face, this leads to dehumanizing the faceless parties on the other end of the wifi. Like so many geniuses, he was so eccentric that he went off the deep end, but Ted Kaczynski perfectly predicted this almost 30 years ago before social media as we know it was even an idea. Read his manifesto again and notice how prescient all of his assertions were with regard to what you’re experiencing, Wil. I could talk about this all day. It’s something I have thought many, many hours about over the years. It’s why I do not have a twitter or a facebook account, and I never will. I stick to certain forums dealing in hobbies I am interested in and email. That’s why I got into board games (a hobby that is now totally out of control, LOL), it’s something very enjoyable that you actually play with other people in the room.
As many others have said, I think your post was crystal clear. I hate that you have to deal with this kind of toxic bullshit, most of it coming from people who troll others out of boredom and insecurity. I wish there was a way to shield you from that awfulness, but the most I can do is counter with positivity. It bothered me to see Wesley treated like that by Lego. I posted the following on Twitter after you linked to your blog post about the mini-figs:
“I was a precocious 9 year old when The Next Generation premiered. I instantly recognized Wesley as a kindred spirit and someone to admire. There was a place for me in this fantastic future because he was there. Within a few years I was crushing on Ensign Crusher. I’m still grateful that I had a positive place to direct those confusing new feelings, forever cementing my type as nerd-hot (which you still are)! Thanks for bringing this character to life and for being a fantastic human!”
Wil,
Your blog was perfectly clear. I have been teaching high school for fourteen years and this sort of thing happens so often—students and teachers receiving and interpreting things to fit what they want—their own purposes—rather than seeing and accepting the truth. At times, I thought I was going nuts until other students and teachers point out my original truth and admit they don’t see where the opposing views are coming from except for the fact that, as you said, jerks will be jerks.
I take a lesson in this from Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. The grandmother gives advice to Marjane when she is leaving to go to school in Vienna, “In life you’ll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell yourself that it’s because they’re stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty.”
I wish to point out your original truth. Your response was that of disappointment. You actually liked the set and found disappointment in the fact that smoke one went out of their way to misrepresent the Wesley character—the way the character was not developed properly in that first year.
This post is for the love of the truth.
It’s a sad truth that people with some sort of ‘agenda’ will always try to spin things to fit their agenda. That’s completely out of our control. Keep writing, keep moving forward. Maybe some of the ‘shitty people’ will read your post and actually get it, and what you wrote will have a positive affect on a small part of the Universe.
Hi Wil,
My wife and I don’t watch TV. Just stream or watch DVD’s (how quaint!) We check Google news at the beginning of the day (yes, it’s biased too, but everything’s biased. Anyway, it’s a reference point.) After being roughly being reassured we’re not going to be killed today… that’s it. We’re done with that.
I’ve followed you for years. Your posts about depression have really helped my wife understand my depression because I can describe what’s going on in my head, but not everyone understands that. Your descriptions has helped tremendously to my wife’s understanding what I experience. Anyway, after years of reading http://www.wilwheaton, for the first time, I felt I had to comment about this post, so here I am.
I cannot believe they released figures with your character throwing a tantrum or crying or whatever the fuck the little piece of plastic is trying to be a facsimile of. For me, if things go beyond an undefinable point, then all of my anxiety and depression and feeling insignificant and all of life itself can boil to the surface. And then I’m just super super Godzilla mad. Except I can’t express that because it won’t change a thing. I guess that’s a side-effect of being smart or self-aware, whatever…
I cannot process how this level of personal public…ownership? materialism? commentary? abuse? exists. You know, you post something cute on Reddit and then it’s like Euell Gibbons just takes a next-level dump on what you posted. It’s not.. life-affirming, exactly. But this is light-years beyond that.
I’m an architect. Having people shit on my ideas daily is normal. It’s not fun, but I get through it. Wow, for you to take the high road on something like this issue just gave me a personal ego-check.
Ok, so 2018 is not starting off so hot, but I betcha it’s better than last year!!
I saw at least one of those shitty sites talking about your minifigs post, and I was not terribly surprised to see that yes, they did totally misrepresent what you wrote and what it meant. It’s not hard to figure out what you meant. You were very clear about it. It’s just that they’re surrounded by a haze of toxic thinking, and it’s tougher to get through that than it was for Flash Gordon to fly through Ming’s city shields.
I don’t know if this’ll help much, but it’s something I’ve learned over the years as a blogger who takes on some very tough topics involving religion:
When people like that do that to you, try to remember that they’re not talking to you. They’re only tangentially talking about the same topic you were. They’re really talking to the ghosts and voices in their own heads. They hear or read what you say, and it filters through decades’ worth of shitty thinking and some truly toxic viewpoints about the world and people. Some people call this “anti-process.” (Look it up – it’s interesting stuff if you’re into psychology like I am.) They think they’re engaging with you, but what they’re really engaging with is their own filters.
People who think they’re ultra-rational and oh-so-evolved are often the biggest asshats in the universe–living purely in emotion and reaction states and calling whatever they come out with rational because it flatters them to think of themselves that way. They’ll come away from tangling with you thinking that they really engaged with YOU, when in reality they only engaged with their anti-process filters.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re jealous of you, or that they’re secretly terribly miserable people. They might not be either one of those, or at least they don’t think that they are. We don’t want to make the mistake of overwriting someone else’s lived reality at them; such behavior only drives a stake into your own credibility and serves to distance them even further from reality.
Rather, they’re enveloped and cocooned by the burial shrouds of anti-process, and it colors their whole perception of the world and the people around them. There isn’t much you can do about that, except to ignore them. Eventually they might wonder. Until then, let them go. They’re happy living among ghosts. It brings them pleasure to imagine they are superior to what they imagine is you. Remove their ability to interact with what they think is you, and live your life. Those who care about you will only be the happier for their absence.
Sigh.
Went on twitter today to find Liana K spouting off about how Wil Wheaton is a privileged man who has no right to complain about his life or how people are treating him. She went on to say other, rather hurtful things. I had always liked what she had to say on a great many topics, but for a privileged woman who opened up many doors for her career by having big boobs and being willing to show them off, she’s being rather hypocritical about all this.
We all have certain privileges in our lives in certain situations. Many have far more than others and both Wil and Liana are among those people. The difference in who we are as a person isn’t only in how we handle it when we see it in other people, it’s recognizing privilege in ourselves. Wil’s worked hard on that and I’m having a hard time finding anything about Liana making that effort.
I’m sorry people were being assholes. I’m sorry they came in “drum up drama for moneyz” and “take the bait and run a marathon with it” varieties.
I’m glad you know you have people who appreciate you, especially when you’re being raw and honest. Remember, real vulnerability is what takes strength
I’m sorry you’re going through this again. I’ve been following you and Anne for several years online, and I’ve seen how you’ve been attacked just for speaking your minds and standing for something good. As for that decades-old hatred of Wesley, people who ever sided with that and who still do are losers. You are a brave guy, I love that you’re a decent man, a great artist and such a geek, who has the same enthusiasm for all that fun stuff that made our childhoods less dreary as you did when you were younger – as do I. People like you make me feel less alone. 🙂
Internet has always been a place where jerks could let themselves loose in a way they never do in real life, and he-who-must-not-be-named has encouraged them to be even worse, both online and in real life.
I’m happy that you have Anne, your family and friends who know you – the real you, and who love you. You’re right to be upset both about the harassment, the exploitation and the stupid minifig. I hope you recover your peace of mind soon and keep using your spotlight to support all the good stuff that you do. Your voice matters, especially for those who wish they could speak up, but don’t have anyone to listen to them.
Roddenberry was right to have a character such as Wesley on TNG as a representative of all the geeky boys and girls who wished they could travel the stars with all those heroes. Those who don’t relate to it are disconnected from their humanity. And those who relate to it or at least respect it, even if they don’t like the character, are the ones who are being human.
I wish you and your family all the best. Please keep fighting the good fight as you can.
Hey Wil,
There was nothing unclear about your blog, it’s just toxic people trying to twist things to fit their own agenda. I’m sorry that you have to deal with the fallout of daring to have feelings and opinions. By virtue of being loud and belligerent, the worst people online tend to seem more numerous than the good people, but I hope you know that there are many many people out there who understand and empathise with you – probably far more than the noisy little bottom feeders who crawl out of the woodwork to spew their vitriol.
As a fellow sufferer of broken lying brain syndrome, I know that ignoring the negative and focusing on the positive can be anywhere between hard and impossible at times, but I also know that it can help to have a reminder of the positives, so here it is; you have many many fans who like and respect you, and the things you say and do. People who, even if they don’t agree with you sometimes, will respect your right to have your own opinion. I speak for myself, but I’m sure many others would agree. I hope a little positivity can help push back against the negativity.
And hey, Happy New Year!
That’s the nut of it.
It’s a middle school playground on ‘roids. But with hundreds of millions of dollars for their nyah-nyahs.
Meanwhile, our planet burns.
You could maybe change your name to Thril Wheaton and take up parkour.
They might like that.
…
…
I’m just brainstorming.
The post was clear. And, it is really off that they created a character like that. It’s biased. And I’m sure it has upset a lot of fans. But the good thing is that a lot of the time lego heads are interchangeable. https://www.firestartoys.com/Shop/Minifigure-Parts/Minifigure-Male-Hair/7474-Arealight-Mini-Figure-Hair-~-Hero-Hair-~-Reddish-Brown-.html
Also, these knobjockeys wish they had your fanbase. And that they’d been part of a hugely successful franchise so encased in nerd lore.
And finally, whilst it is disheartening others twist things, poison your words, and can’t just keep their shittiness to themselves, there are so many of us that support you, got the very obvious message you put out and agree with you. And we want you to continue as you are. Put your blog posts up, if they are raw, then that’s what you need to express at that time. And that’s okay.
Oh and I’d personally really love it if you found someway to do more tabletop, even if it wasn’t produced and editted, it was just you and your family with a webcam playing a game. I’ve discovered so many awesome games thanks to you, and then introduced those to others too, or just sent them the youtube link to the episode.
I am reminded of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher emperor of Rome.
“Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine); therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. “
Wil, please quit looking at social media. It’s bad for you….and everyone else for that matter. People who care about you and and your content can and do come to your blog……..YOUR blog. Feel free to always delete the shitty comments on YOUR blog. I don’t want to see them either, those people are worthless. This is not a public space where anyone can say what they want, it’s something that belongs to you to do what you want with.
Also, when people are making you feel bad about yourself, go listen to some Black Sabbath. Works for me every time……Fairies Wear Boots!
https://open.spotify.com/album/0B3iKYQdQ3M1WrSeWig1Ay
I’m sorry people are mean and stupid. I really am 🙁
You are doing great! Keep it up. Depression lies, and you are worthy of continuing to be here. There are tons of people who saw your post and knew exactly what you meant. I didn’t even hear about someone re-framing your post until I saw it on your twitter. It sucks that happened, but you are still a great person, and they aren’t.
I’m not sure what anyone can say to make you feel better, I guess you feel better when you do/are able to shake this shaaaitstorm off. Yes, the kind outweighs the asshats, but the asshats get to you harder. That’s the way it is if you are the type that’s harder on yourself than on anyone else. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that YOU have done nothing wrong. YOU are not at fault. YOU are the better person & YOU matter.
I always come to think of these lines when something similar happens to good people:
“You Is Kind,
You Is Smart,
You Is Important”.
(From the movie The Help).
As much as I hate to say it, it’s been proven out that the best way for any place online to not be toxic… is to show the toxic individuals the door, immediately and without the opportunity to appeal. I’ve noticed that Scalzi does very well with that, and it’s also why I don’t have Twitter (anymore) or Facebook (anymore), since those places deliberately make it so much harder to shut the toxic out in the pursuit of numbers.
Wil, I’m confident you’ll get through this rough patch, and see more fruit professionally too. There are people who see your very revealed personal thoughts here, and we like you. As for Wesley, it’s not a flaw in a character to say everyone wanted him to lead more.
Ugh. Why do people have to be such… well, the words I’d like to use you probably wouldn’t appreciate having in your comments section, so I’ll settle on ‘jerks’. I really, truly will never understand why it is so many people’s first instinct to be completely and utterly horrible to others to make themselves feel superior. Having the anonymity of the internet to hide behind just makes it worse. Truth be told, one of the things I admire so much about you is that you make such a genuine effort to be a kind and decent and open person; it kills me that… ‘jerks’… come after you because it makes them feel less insecure to tear people down. You definitely weren’t vague in what you said, or that you were anything but disappointed– the only way for someone to interpret that differently was to deliberately misrepresent what you wrote.
Well, I can only hope to be part of a chorus of voices telling you, those people are morons and awful human beings. And you absolutely do not deserve this crap, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with it. I hope this all dies down sooner rather than later.
Unrelated to your current post, I just wanted to say thanks for Tabletop. During your first season I was pregnant with my third kid (I now have 4) and had 2 preteens that it was getting harder and harder to find activities to do together. I stumbled across Tabletop and watched because I was a TNG fan and had liked Wesley and thought you had been quite funny on The Guild. (I had no idea about this whole subset of people with such animosity towards Wesley and I’m sorry that a vocal minority has had such an impact on you and the positive things you have put out into the world). After watching a few episodes of tabletop I thought, ‘Hey, I can do this…yes, I should do this!’ And I started a weekly game night with my family. We started out with preteen reluctance and a very small table and often had to move to the floor for space. After I gave birth I was often playing my hand of cards or moving my piece while breastfeeding at the same time. Then all of us would take turns holding the little one so someone else could play their turn. It turned into such an important bonding time for all of us and I think even helped the older ones gain some confidence and become more adventurous in other activities. 5 years later we still have our weekly game night and it’s become an enjoyable part of our family routine. We now have a much bigger table for gaming and have a whole shelving system just for our games. As a society we don’t always let people know the positive impacts they have had – especially when they are strangers. So I’m glad I found your blog (I was looking for some game recommendations) and I’m glad I got the opportunity to say thank you. There is an important aspect of our family that would be missing without your inspiration and encouragement.
You know, I have reasonable rates…. And large-bore lasers.
I’m Wesley Crusher.
I watched The Next Generation as a kid. He was the character I related to the most, the one I wanted to be. My journey led me to years of service in the U.S. Navy. Every action I took, every decision I made, comes from a morale basis that these stories, this ART, informed for decades.
Your generosity has helped me share my love of games.
Your honesty helped me muster the courage to seek help for my lying, depressed brain.
I’m a total stranger to you and yet, I can say without pretense that my life is only better because of you.
Keep being awesome, and thank you for everything.
—M.
I sort of feel like sticking up for nihilists a bit here. In many ways, that’s my view of the world. I think entropy is all-consuming, there is no god or salvation, and we’re all living in a society that is rapidly falling apart and devouring itself. And maybe it’s because of that world view that I always try to be kind to the other people I encounter, because we’re all dealing with enough shit and we don’t need more heaped upon us by random strangers.
I also have a personal rule I try to live by when it comes to geek stuff. I talk about what I love, and I keep my mouth shut about what I hate. I don’t always succeed at that, but I do find the time I spend talking about things I love makes me feel good, and the time I spend ranting about what I hate, well, doesn’t. So there’s that.
PS – Tell those guys to bring back Leverage for a move or something. That show rocked.
I was a middle school girl when TNG came out. I LOVED Wesley – he was my first to crush. I was smarter than everyone else and awkward about it, like Wesley. I got along better with adults than kids, but made some embarrassing social blunders because I wasn’t as mature as them, like Wesley. That character never annoyed me. He was inspiring. I’m a scientist, in part, because of Wesley Crusher. I also thought he was hot (and I liked you in Toy Soldiers).
It was a delight to come across you again as an adult and find that you were an excellent writer, dog lover and proud nerd. I’ve followed you for a couple of years and have always enjoyed what you have to say.
In short, don’t listen to the trolls and don’t kill yourself. There are lots of us who don’t know you, but who appreciate all you’ve done and are going to do. Go play with a dog – they’re better than 90% of people.
Wil,
I think you were clear. You overall liked the set, but were disappointed in the interpretation of Wesley. You were good enough to breakdown why it bothered you so much, which I found to be an extremely understandable point of view. I’m sorry to hear this has blown up on you this way and I hope your lying brain gives you some peace.
Since your banner is a photo, before I read that post, I saw the photo and laughed. Out loud, I’m ashamed to say. Then I read the post. Then I re-read the TITLE of the post. Then I looked at the picture again. I don’t remember if I commented; even though you ADDRESSED the “humour” in it, I still felt shame over my own immediate (visceral) laughter.
No matter what, you were PERFECTLY clear in answering the question of “how does this make you FEEL?”. I have long admired you as a person, performer, and writer, Wil. I have ALWAYS loved Wesley (even in the poorly-written days). I’d never thought about the intricacies of Picard being written to tell you to “shut up”. I’d always just allowed Star Trek to take me on my own treks. Warts and all; every character, every situation, every brilliant scenario and ludicrous whatever. I can’t give you advice on how to handle the trolls; I’m blessed to be invisible to them. When I finally become a quantifyable entity to internet douches, I shall immediately return to your blog for wisdom on “how to deal”. Your survival on a daily basis is inspirational.
Please continue doing whatcha gotta. I know my “looking up to you” is not nearly as important as the “looking across to you” that you receive from Anne and the boys and the friends you have IRL. But I am, like so many others are, HERE, rooting for you, reading your goings-on, cheering the awesome moments and jeering the dickheads. Thank you for being Wil.
Sorry to hear that people are being jerks to you. I hope you can remember that you don’t deserve it. Not. At. All.
In my personal opinion, what these people are doing is blaming the actor for a poorly written character. Look, it’s not your fault that Wesley was not well written or not well executed. It’s also not your fault that you were, like, 14 at the time and still a young actor who didn’t really WANT to be an actor. You did the best job you could at the time with the material that was given to you.
Also in my opinion, what these people want most of all is to suck you down to their level. As long as you stay true to who you are, they CANNOT win.
Be honest, Kind, Honorable and stay awesome, Wil.
I hope the gobs of decent people (like me!!!) who have your back give you some sense of peace in all this.
Trolls just make me want to scream, but I’m at a loss as to what to do about this awful part of the internet.
Wil, I have literally NEVER commented on a post before (mostly for the same reasons you espouse above about vitriolic and demeaning people). I wanted to say in this first post, I am really proud of you–I’ve casually followed you throughout my adulthood, first on ST:TNG as an original viewer in the 80s/90s, through the more recent BBT appearances, and even to the recent podcast on depression where your honestly and openness has been inspirational. I want you to know that the silent majority supports you. We’re not always vocal, but we hear you. You are a great, flawed, wonderful human like the rest of us. This too shall pass.
Thank you, sir.
I read your post about the minifigs, and I thought you explained yourself very well. I’m so sorry and sad that people are deciding to get clicks by being mean, and that mean people like to be mean, even in your space on the web.
For my two cents, I loved Wesley as a kid; I’d sneak down to watch TNG after my parents sent me to bed (they eventually, of course, just let me stay up and watch). Wesley was everything I wanted to be, including smart and brave, but also like me, a little awkward and misunderstood at times. Honestly, Wesley was probably my first star crush. So thank you Wil for that, and for putting up with all the crap all these years.
I love your TableTop project, and how kind you are in your responses to people on Tumblr, especially when they are dealing with Depression. Your mantra of “depression lies” has helped me out many times. Thank you for your passion for geeky things, and your kindness and persistence even after people continue to be mean. Best wishes for you in the new year!
I have read “news” articles where the title and commentary were 100% opposite of what the facts of the article stated. Your response to the mini-figs was well written and very clear. I’m sorry you have to deal with hateful people. Also, that article started me binge watching TNG again. I have no regrets.
Hi Wil,
As a kid I dealt with bullying. It sucks when people have their mind made up about you and say shitty things without even listening. I’m sorry once again you are dealing with idiots on the internet. It’s like the people that did those writings had their mind made up about what your stance was with out even reading what you really had to say. That sucks, isn’t fair, and the authors were probably trying to create something clickbaity.
You shared a clearly written and well thought out opinion on the internet. You are entitled to do so. You had a great argument. Nothing you said could be interpreted in the ways those authors stated. Those people are just jerks. There were a fair amount of the reply/fan comments saying they would not buy the product (I was firmly one of those stances)– but you didn’t call for a boycott of ban.
It’s always shocking to hear some of the stuff people type to you on social media –like what you said you’ve heard in the past 24 hours. I know its gotten worse in the past year due to the political climate allowing for some truly awful hate speech–but don’t let the shitty comments get you down or make a loop in your brain (I only say this because my depression brain is a jerk that can make loops). Remember bullies on the internet are cowards hiding behind a glowing screen. They’re more cowardly than real life bullies.
You are a really super cool amazing dude. I’m glad to hear you say “I am genuinely grateful that I interact with kind and good people in real life and online almost every day.” wilwheaton.net is your space on the internet and the people who frequent this page or your twitter love the things you write and say. I’m always happy when you write something new, make a radio free burrito, or create anything cool.
Remember you are awesome!
Go game–you might find your “Dickheads are gonna be dickheads” zen that Hardwick seems to find naturally (how does he do it??? I’ve read his book and I still can’t figure out how to do it like he does). Gaming is always were I find that zen place. Namco compilations always do it for some reason.
Hey Wil, I keep a copy of this quote on my desktop and dose up as needed: “Ignore people who threaten your joy. Literally, ignore them. Say nothing. Don’t invite any parts of them into your space” – Alex Elle. I have a strong tendency to want to be liked and obsess over those who don’t – I found the quote quite liberating. Take care, Simon
I respect you so much for how you expressed yourself in your blog post about that ridiculous mini-figure. You were clear. You were dispassionate, you were exactly what you always are, honest and transparent and human. Hang in there. The crap will pass and you can keep being awesome. You are inspiring. Thank you.
You are awesome. Don’t pay any attention those folks! I put on your post on facebook a gif my husband made for me when people were being just plain stupid and upsetting me. He texted it to me from the passenger seat while I was driving and telling him how terrible people were being to me. He told me to look at it when we got to a red light and I couldn’t stop laughing. So hope it cheers you up too. It won’t let me paste it here, but it’s basically a guy on a mountain pointing in the distance, and he captioned it “Way over there is where you can go with that bullshit.” You are a great writer, actor, and I believe person. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
Perhaps “loathsome, repulsed, noisome” but I think maybe “ill used” might be the best phrase. Wil keep your head up and know your true internet crowd understood. We empathize with how you feel now, and know it was a an unnecessarily cruel slap to your face. Being misrepresented again much like ten years ago and so long ago when the writer’s of ST:TNG would fail to treat you and Weasley as a professional actor and fully developing character.
The post was perfectly clear. Try not to blame yourself for other people’s maliciousness. They misread because they wanted to. It was nothing you did.
One thing to keep in mind when people are being negative, is to ignore them and focus on all the positive comments people give you. I realized they are not worth our time here on Earth. Sometimes, even when I try to help people that are being attacked by negativity, it is thrown back in my face. This will be my last comment on your site, so take care and good luck on your future endeavors! Oh and Wil Wheaton, you are are awesome for trying to help the targeted!!!
The people who need to turn everything into click-bait, regardless of how much they have to twist the truth into something unrecognizable, feed the trolls -essentially giving comfort to the enemies of civil society. We are living in challenging times: people who designate themselves as Christians vie with each other to inflict cruelties on the poor, more and more Americans support nazis and their agenda, and somehow, social sanctions for abhorrent digital behavior don’t really exist.
I’m older than you, NG aired when I was in my 20s. I love the show. I think you took the brunt of a lot of ageist prejudice back when the show first aired. I regret that apparently very few people have evolved in their opinions since then. Just know that you do have a group of bright, witty, charming, and extremely good-looking supporters who are trying to help the jerks out there to grow up and do something constructive for a change.
I honestly don’t know what to tell you about people like that. I really don’t! I just want to say that I appreciate you and that I look forward to seeing you again in February with 1000+ of your friends who also appreciate you.
I don’t remember what I thought of Wesley. I was a teenager. I hated almost everything, although I did love Star Trek and sci fi. Now, when I see Wesley, I think of you, and I happen to like you and think that you are good person (from what I can tell from the internet). I remember that my mom always liked Wesley. Anyway, mean people suck. Clearly, anyone who thinks you should kill yourself is mean (and giving terrible advice, since the world is a better place with you in it). I’m sorry that you have to go through this. Remember that lots of people care about you.
Man, I’m so sorry you always seem to have to put up with stuff like this. I feel for you. You’re actually an inspiration for me. We’re around the same age and love a lot of the same geeky stuff. I, too, have battled depression in my life and have come out the other side. Your enthusiasm is infectious and uplifting. The internet does so much good for us geeks–but it also seems to bring out our darkest instincts. I hate that you’re going through this and hope you know that there are plenty of us out here that love what you do and care about what you stand for.
If you ever come to Birmingham in the UK I would love to buy you a beer Mr Wheaton.
I very rarely comment, Wil, but I have been a fan of yours since 26 years ago (! Now I feel old!) and have been a reader of your blog over the years, and I for one am very grateful for everything you share on here, in your books, on social media, and on screen. I hope you will continue to do so for a very long time to come. And I’m still hoping one day you’ll visit Australia so I can meet you at a con or something. Please never stop being you. I also want to thank you for your openness about your depression. It has genuinely helped me through my own. I hate that there are people online who can be so callous and cruel hidden behind anonymity, and I echo the sentiments of so many others on here who say there are many of us who care about you and appreciate you.
I was grateful for your previous post because it is what I’ve thought about both the Wesley character and adult/kid interactions on TV for awhile. It was a carefully worded post that takes deliberate energy to misinterpret. I’m grateful for what you write and post on social media and can’t imagine how awful it is to be in the cross hairs of such uninformed, baseless anger. I just want you to know that there are lots of us who support you and hopefully our voices become louder than the vitriol.
hugz
I don’t often comment on anything and you and I are on totally opposite belief and political points of view but Will, there will always be dicks in the world. Don’t let them get you because they are not worth the energy. Dicks will always be dicks.