I'm told that I'm a fascist

I believe in being honest and direct in giving my opinions. People should never ask me what I think about something because they will find out. For some reason, in the online world of fan discussion, that translates into being cruel and close minded, especially when it comes to expressing an opinion that deviates from what the herd feels is acceptable.

Now, I'm not talking about opinions regarding the war in Iraq, racism, homophobia, religion, or anything else that normal people might be expected to feel passionate about. I'm talking about people who freak out when they find out that I don't like their favorite movie, TV show, or comic book.

A few months ago, on Peter David's blog, I mentioned that I don't like American Idol. In fact, I hate the whole concept of reality to TV. I don't see the entertainment value in public humiliation or in watching shallow yuppies debase themselves for a chance to work for Donald Trump. Personally, I'd go through 15 weeks of public humiliation to not work for Trump. But for some reason, saying you don't like American Idol is more offensive to some people than a picture of Mohammad with a bomb for a turbin. One individual even compared me to the people who tried to get movies like the Last Temptation of Christ or Dogma banned.

But at least that guy apologized when I pointed out that I've never done anything to try and keep other people from watching American Idol if they choose to. All I had said was that I had no desire to watch it. I personally don't care what other people watch, with the lone exception of Tom Cruise movies, but that's because, as I noted before, he's tried to censor what other people can watch.

But when it comes to insanity, apparently, no one can top comics fans. And here is where I have committed the ultimate blasphemy:

I don't like Wolverine.

There I said it. It's out in the open. Among comics fans, it seems like the one thing you can't admit to is not liking the star of every frickin' X-book ever made. But I find nothing heroic about a character that guts anyone who looks at him funny. And it's not just the villains, over the years, he has sliced up people who are supposed to be his friends (Rachel Summers, The Thing, Spider-man), for no other apparent reason than one creator or another thought it was the badass thing to do.

I was especially offended by last month's Astonishing X-men #13, where Wolverine, after beating up a bunch of children in the dark, ends the fight with an attempt to stab a 13-year old girl in the eys. I have a niece about the same age as that girl, and the thought that Joss Whedon included that scene because he thought it looked badass or "kewl" sickens me.

But expressing a negative opinion about Wolverine is apparently forbidden in the world of fan message boards and email discussion groups. Once, I had simply stated that I had no interest in reading any of the X-books, I was immediately assailed by people who insisted that Astonishing X-men was the greatest work of literature in the history of the written word and that if I didn't read it, I was a nazi and a fascist who wants to burn books and rip comics out of the hands of children. I'm not exaggerating. That is exactly how some people presented it: I don't read Astonishing X-men, therefore, I'm a nazi.

After about a month of getting hit with this barraged and not wanting to continue making baby Jesus cry, I took them up on their challenge to read Astonishing X-men, promising to give it a fair review. And the result was: a comic about a Canadian hairball trying to stab a small Japanese girl in eyes.

In the dark.

And he's the hero of the book. The character than every comic fan (except me, apparently) loves. Marvel's cash cow whom Bryan Michael Bendis brought into the Avengers in order to boost sales of that book.

And I'm the one whose opinions are offensive.

I just don't get it.