The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

This is an excellent point, and a very concise and diplomatic explanation. It's unfortunate that not everyone is able to understand that, or at least they never have been in the past given numerous chances.

All I want to say is this: I value the opinion of every member of this board who posts regularly or semi- regularly or even every great once in a while. That is, every member with the exception of exactly one. Now, I'm not going to start pointing fingers and getting personal, but I am pretty sure I am not the only one who feels this way.

If a troll does not want to define what is happening as trolling, then fine whatever, so be it. It is still polluting the river. As Joe so eloquently points out, the frequency sometimes may overwhelm the message. But when one attempts to brag about a truth and the language they use consistently defines it as an untruth, then any and all opinions they may have beyond that point become irrelevant.

Personally, I have learned how to make it across the bridge numerous times, but things that lurk in the river have a tendency to frighten away new travellers and those who don't cross the bridge very often.

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

I don't like to call people names, I really don't. But I have to agree that there has been a ton of negativity on this board from a certain person. It's one thing to criticize the lineup, it's another thing to criticize a classic film that hasn't even been announced, just rumored to possibly be added to it. And to compare that film to a recent movie that it has nothing to do with is just silly. My point here is not to attack anyone, just to say that whenever I come to this board and anyone says anything about ANYTHING, there is always this person raining on their parade. Even a simple conversation about an obscure movie brings out the negativity and comments about completely unrelated stuff. It really has gotten ridiculous. I know several people who don't post as often as they used to (and I'm one of them) because they're tired of this nonsense. I know, I could just ignore it, but it has reached a point where it's impossible to do so.

You know the saying "a little knowledge can be dangerous?" I think that's the case here. A truly intelligent person realizes that he doesn't know everything. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to LISTEN rather than talk. That's the best way to learn something.

And before I get the inevitable attack response from said person, let me just say this: I only post when I have SOMETHING TO SAY that I think is worth hearing. Can everyone here say the same? And I realize that the Marathons are not all about ME and what I want and what I like. Again, can everyone here say the same? I could complain about a lot of things, but I don't because I realize they don't bother 99.9% of the people who go to the Marathons. You have to know the difference between having something important to say, and constantly bugging people with stuff that NO ONE CARES ABOUT.

It's OK if you don't like a film in the lineup. The problem is, there is always going to be SOMETHING you don't like. Are you going to complain about it every time, or are you going to shrug it off and let the rest of us enjoy ourselves? I assure you, everyone in the audience feels the same way about one of the films. Every film isn't going to be to everyone's taste. So why waste your time (and ours) harping on it? No one says you have to like everything, but why the constant negativity? If you were giving out as much positivity towards the event as negativity, I don't think anyone would be bothered. How about saying, "OK, not my favorite film, but I realize a lot of people like it, so good for Joe and company for getting it"? A little balance would be nice.

I honestly don't mean any offense by saying all this - I genuinely mean this as constructive criticism. Maybe you really don't know how your comments are coming off on the boards. I know I've said negative things in the past, but I've always apologized for them and made it clear that I meant no offense. We all love the Marathons - I'm not trying to say that I'm a better horror fan than anyone else or anything ridiculous like that. I just think it's time to cut down on the negativity before it gets worse. And attacking people for their grammar, their education or their credentials doesn't help win you any points. Just do what everyone else does - think about what you're saying before you say it. I don't think that's too much to ask.

And I want to officially apologize for attacking the spelling and grammar. But the larger point is that I, like most regular forum members, want this board to be welcoming and positive and open to new members. By attacking negativity with negativity-I did nothing to raise the level of discourse. I miss seeing posts from WolfNC-17 or Infra-Kid or whoever, people who used to post quite regularly but have cut back due to this trolling. I've looked at the Boston message boards and they definitely have a lot more debates, trolls, arguments, etc... so maybe we're being thin-skinned. But Boston has a lot more active members who post year round than we do, so I think they're used to it. But the first time I posted anything on their board, I was attacked for saying I liked one of the films they were playing and it didn't make me want to be very active in their closed community. I think we should try to bring MORE people on this board and not be pissing off/offending the people who do post. So from now on I'm ignoring all troll-like posts no matter how much they annoy me.

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"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick a**. I'm all out of bubble gum."

As an administrator for the (hopefully soon to be back) Boston SF board, "trolling" can be a tough issue. I find that if the person is a regular on the board it is best not to call them a troll. That is not to say that a regular can never exhibit troll-like behavior, but, that all things being equal a regular usually cares enough about the event to stay involved and post often.

Sure, one can call out a regular if they cross a line, but calling them an out and out troll is probably not the best way to go (and may, in fact, cause that regular to further his direction into troll territory). Most trolls only hang out for a short time, or only during crunch time just before or after the event.

Our most notorious troll in Boston was this guy who claimed he hadn't gone to a Marathon in 20 years but somehow stumbled upon our messageboard while surfing the internets. At first, it sounded like a cool story: A former marathoner who was re-discovering his roots. But, soon this guy just starting ripping apart the marathon, the films, marathoners and basically all things holy....er...Marathon related! (same thing ). Of course, this got the goad of many a messageboard member, who counterattacked. This only fed the troll and his attacks became more frequent and visceral. He actually did post a couple of times after that year's marathon, but 'starving' for attention, the troll disappeared never to return.

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

Not to beat a dead horse... I just wanted to amend my previous statement. I don't think it's just the fact this guy posts often that bothers people. It's the fact that it's mostly random nonsense that often has nothing to do with the topic at hand. I think that's what bothers people the most. I don't have a problem with opinions being expressed, even those I don't necessarily agree with. Fine. But if you're going to give an opinion, for god's sake BACK IT UP. Don't just say a movie "sucks" or is "overrated" as if you're speaking for everybody. I've noticed this in the discussions of recent films as well - people are talking as if their opinion is the end-all, be-all instead of just one person's opinion. "I don't like it, therefore it sucks." If you have a point to make, make it. But don't just start an argument and add nothing to it.

I can be as cynical as anyone about a lot of things, believe me, but I love movies and I love the Marathons, and those are two subjects where too much negativity really bugs me. There have been plenty of conversations here that I haven't felt compelled to join (I stayed far away from the political discussion, for example), but I enjoy posting when I feel I have something to contribute. But if certain people are going to treat this board like a graffiti-covered back alley, I don't really see the point in adding to that. The Marathon isn't about any individual and their personal likes and dislikes. It's about film fans coming together twice a year to celebrate the genres they love. Let's try to be respectful of each other, as well as the event itself and its organizers. And for the love of god, let's try to STAY ON TOPIC as much as possible. OK?

(I realize I wasn't exactly "on topic" when I brought up the House of the Long Shadows DVD, but the movie was mentioned in the thread as being "not on DVD" and I thought I could add something there. My intention certainly wasn't to derail the thread in any way. I hope no one interpreted it that way...)

Personally, I'm really excited about the Horror Marathon this year and I'm looking forward to hearing more news. I can't wait to see House of the Devil on the big screen! Let's concentrate on what we love about the event and what we're looking forward to seeing this year. I think that's something everyone can agree on... right?

MEATFETISH, never apologize for pointing out consistently bad grammar. Not everything needs to be perfect to be understood and there are plenty of mistakes and typos that are easily overlooked without judgement. However, consistently poor writing habits is a sign of carelessness. You are not making a personal attack or being mean when you point this out. It is merely factual evidence to support the proof that no one values the opinions of someone who is so careless. This is only taken to the extreme when the "how dare you" counter argument paragraph from said poster does not contain a single gramatically correct sentence.

Like I said before, there is a difference between arguing an opinion is wrong and not valuing an opinion. I don't care about the semantics of whether or not some actions are "trolling." Like LA said, it is true that most internet "trolls" are temporary figures. But I firmly believe that traffic on this board has been impacted in a negative way because of the poster in question. I tried to be diplomatic before, but judging by willcail's most recent post, he has NOT gotten the hint.

The last thing I want to do is encourage someone who is obviously as passionate about the event as I am to go away. I've been trying my best to ignore these unproductive posts for years and I will continue to do so if nothing changes. However, I think we have all reached the breaking point with this person.

It's just frustrating not seeing a whole lot of new or returning meaningful posters here.

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

I was trying to be diplomatic and "the bigger guy" but you're right Jack. This guy just doesn't get it at all, no matter how many people call him out on it. It is frustrating that there aren't more people posting on here, or posting more often. And if part of that is because of one troll, that's even worse. I think over the years everyone except Willcail has moved on from these stupid flame wars and stuff. Every now and then there are disagreements and spirited discussions, but they always remain on topic and rarely get personal-until Will steps in. I travel from Chicago for these, and you've come from Arizona and there's our LA friends. If you're who I'm thinking of, you were part of a group I ended up sitting with a couple of times when my normal crew couldn't go. The year that Batman and Westworld played I found myself with a group of people I only knew casually from the marathons and message boards and it felt like old friends to me. I think that's when I really made a decision to be more positive on this board. I'd hate to be by myself one year, standing in line talking with people just for them to realize: "hey, you're that jerk from the board". For us out-of-towners, the message board is our vicarious way to be at the marathons even when we can't travel and I'd like to enjoy the boards as much as I enjoy the marathons.

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"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick a**. I'm all out of bubble gum."