Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1916997-20160229060949/@comment-1732287-20160229161415

I see posts like these a lot, not just Once, but other fandoms too. They always remind me of "Moff's Law" What is that? Well...

''Moff's Law: Never try to dismiss critical analysis by asking, "Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is?" ''

''When pop culture and fans intersect, there are sure to be discussion on a work's merit and message. These discussions take place on blogs, message boards and even on this wiki. Sometimes certain subjects (such as race, gender, etc) will come up and serious analysis will take place. At some point, someone will say a variation of this question: "Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is?" This statement is usually meant to derail discussion and protect their favorite work from criticism (although it may also be done in order to prevent Serious Business from escalating too much).''

''This is NOT a “Stop Having Fun” Guys trope. It's not saying that you have to analyze a work as if it were the results to a scientific test searching for the cure to cancer. There is nothing wrong with liking a work for what it is without thinking about it too much. Moff's Law is a response to those who tell critics that they're being stupid by analyzing the work and should just sit back and enjoy it mindlessly.''

Source- TV Tropes



To me, "It's not your story to write/You're not the writer" seems like a variation of the "Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is?" response. Both make an attempt to dismiss.

A lot of people analyze and critique flaws, and that is completely okay. All works of art, whether highbrow or lowbrow, can be analyzed, and if anything, I personally think it does a disservice to the work itself to simply dismiss such discussion.

A lot of Once analysis has an unfortunate tendency to accentuate the negative, it's the negativity that's the problem, not the analysis itself. It's a GOOD thing that so many fans think critically about the show. You don't put such effort into looking at something you don't care about.