The Outsiders fandom SUCKS. Why?

Why does The Outsiders fandom suck? A common question I hear from literally everyone who's a part of it. I wondered for a while too, until I sat and thought about it one day.   

One of the main reasons that this fandom (and its surrounding fandoms like Karate Kid, The Sandlot, Mighty Ducks, etc) suck is because The Outsiders is commonly the first fandom people ever join. Because it's required reading for almost every 7th grader in America, a lot of those people are going to go home and Google it, and boom, now they're on Wattpad reading Sodapop x yn.    

Now obviously not every 7th grader is going to be the sharpest tool in the shed. So a lot of them will miss some things in the book that make it good. This is partly what makes talking about The Outsiders so brain rottingly awful. Whenever you try to discuss any part of this novel that's not explicitly stated, they freak out. It's like inferences and literary devices don't exist to them. (Because they don't.)   

Another part of why talking about this book is a horrible experience is because they haven't been in a fandom space before, so they don't know how to act in one. This comes into play with ships mostly, but other topics too. Outsiders fans are generally so disrespectful when talking about ships. I always think “Do you even know what ships are??” and then realize: “oh. They don't.”   

A lot of comments from them go something like this: “They are both straight did you even read the book” “JOHNNY CADE IS MINE SO THIS COULD NEVER HAPPEN” “Ewwww I need bleach for my eyes”   

Shipping straight characters together has been a thing since the dawn of time, yet people are still upset about it. No, Johnny Cade is not yours, he's actually not real. These are just a few of the replies I want to send in comment sections but don't.   

It just makes me sad that so many good artists and fanfic writers are flooded with these comments everyday because The Outsiders (and surrounding) fandoms are full of people new to the concept of a fandom.   

What happens with the surrounding fandoms that I mentioned earlier is that people will watch The Outsiders movie in class most of the time. Because the actors they casted are seen as really smoking hot, people are gonna want to watch more of them. Usually the first one they start with is Karate Kid, which is a whole other can of worms that I might dive into later. Then they expand their horizons and bring the newness into those places.   

But unfortunately, it's just a canon event. I remember when I was in my first fandom, Harry Potter. Every time someone said they shipped Dramione I got so upset with them. Same happened in my MHA phase that I usually don't speak about but it's needed here. I was lucky to start at a time where fandoms in general were a lot nicer. There will always be people new to fandom and it's just fate that The Outsiders happens to be where a lot of them start.   

To any Outsiders fans reading this who feel it was about you, it absolutely was. However, this doesn't mean I hate you. It just means that I'm happy you're diving into the absolute hell that is fandom. Good luck, babe!