I recently wrote an article for One Angry Gamer rebutting The Independent’s Smear job on the #AlitaArmy. I ended my rebuttal by mentioning that I reached out to what I thought was the official AlitaArmy Twitter account. While I did not get a reply from that account, I did have 2 other #AlitaArmy members, StarOfElyon and Bostitch42, reach out to me. I then did the one thing Adam White and the Independent failed to do before writing about them and fans like them, I had conversations with them both. Now, before people try to smear me as some kind of hypocrite, here is a link to my tweet to Adam White one day before my rebuttal was published. As of writing this he still has not replied to my tweet nor has he replied to the email I sent to his publicly listed email account.
I talked to StarOfElyon first and learned that not only did Adam White not contact any Alita fans but he also failed to contact the female journalist he was claiming got harassed. So, I guess I was wrong too and he wasn’t after the pee pee touch, from her. Now then, Adam failed to do any research about this issue because if he did then he would have noted the journalist and the video maker, StarOfElyon, made up. The journalist, Kylie, even called out Adam and The Independent for not contacting her via Tweet.
I’m going to add this article to my reporting and not shy away from the allegations that the movie is associated with rightwingers, but if you actually talk to current fans, you’ll see that the politically-motivated faction of the fandom left long ago
— Kylie Harrington (@kylieisntfunny) July 8, 2019
The Independent did stealth edit the Alita smear piece to soften their claim of harassment, so they may very well be aware of Kylie calling them out.
Now, before I continue I must disclose that StarOfElyon, upon learning that I have yet to see Alita: Battle Angel, offered to buy me a digital copy of the movie. I declined the offer, I explained it would be a breach of ethics and a possible conflict of interest, but noted that StarOfElyon’s love of Alita was so great that they wished to give someone else a chance to experience the same sense of wonder toward the movie that they felt. Or, as StarOfElyon put it “That’s what #AlitaArmy is here for”.
YouTuber TheQuartering also came to the defense of Alita fans after The Independent tossed out their hit-piece on the fandom.
StarOfElyon then provided very lengthy answers to my questions about why they loved the movie so much, if they knew or even suspected anyone of being alt-right within the movement, and their side of the kerfuffle with Kylie. The answers are quite well thought out and I spent a great deal of time debating how I should present them. The full text would provide context but may be a bit too in-depth for the typical TonyTGD style you all come to know, love, and cuddle up with at night. So I decided to offer some highlights here on OAG and a full transcript on my personal blog TheGeekGetaway.
That said StarOfElyon had this to say of why they loved the movie…
“The movie itself is very cool and if you actually think about what you’re seeing, you’ll realize how much love was put into it. It leans so hard into the source material and into the ridiculousness of the world with zero shame it endears me to it. That’s how movies should be.”
As for the character of Alita herself, they had this to say “Alita is relatable because she has to find her place in the world, just like we all do.” and this “Alita strives for her goals. She falls and gets back up”.
What about those evil Nazis The Independent was talking about? StarOfElyon commented…
“I don’t know of anyone who is “alt-right” in the
#AlitaArmy community. Many of us are not even from the United States. There are Chinese, Japanese, German, German/Nigerian, African American, French, British, Australian, and Venezuelan people in this community – just off the top of my head. They would probably be very uncomfortable among us.”
If the AlitaArmy is alt-right then they are the most diverse Nazis to ever Nazi.
As for the dust up with Kylie, StarOfElyon explained it stemmed from their general distrust of the media and not wanting to have their words twisted and used against Alita: Battle Angel and the film’s fans. They do mention there was some discussions among the community as to whether this was or wasn’t the right approach to journalist asking questions. Kylie did wind up getting to talk to members of the AlitaArmy and submitted her own article on the subject for The Wrap.
Bostitch42 echoed a lot of StarOfElyon’s words, and while I don’t think they are needed here, sorry Bostitch42, I will include them in the full unedited blog post I linked. I will say that Bostitch42’s take on the purpose of the AlitaArmy is why they are smeared so hard. Bostitch42 said…
“Since the film did poorly at the US box office, AlitaArmy is pretty much all about raising awareness / guerilla promotion of the film, in an attempt to boost ticket sales (then) or dvd sales (now), to try and get A:BA profitable enough to get sequels greenlit.”
A genuine, grassroots, devoted fandom the likes of which the media darling movies could never inspire.
For those of you who skipped the wall of text and just want the TL:DR here it is: The AlitaArmy is smeared because they know what they want and it isn’t the shit sandwiches the film industry has been handing out. They are smeared because the AlitaArmy is actually diverse and not a copy of the Black Panther cast. Whether you call them the media, the left, the libtards, or commies those people hate anyone who does not bend the knee and that is exactly the one thing the AlitaArmy will never do.
