Disliking Vs. Hating - by Robert Wheeler (April 3rd, 2002)

In a website such as Sailor Moon Uncensored, the issues of disliking something and hating something are brought up quite often. While at first glance the two words look extremely similar, borderline "identical", there is a huge difference between disliking something, and then hating something. Basically when dealing with this issue, you're either a "Disliker" or a "Hater". For the purpose of this editorial, a "Disliker" is someone who doesn't like/agree with something, but is rational about their beliefs. If something about what they don't like improves, they're quick to acknowledge it. A Disliker is, like I said, a very rational person. While at the moment they don't like something, they're open to the idea that whatever it is they don't like can get better and when it does, they'll be quick to say "Hey, you've gotten better". A "Hater" on the other hand, is someone who doesn't like something, and hates everything about it no matter what. Even if the thing in question they hate gets better, they refuse to admit it and will continue to mindlessly bash it until it dies. A hater is very unrational, and has a very fixed mindset. Now I know those were very sketchy, vague descriptions that might not make sense, but continue reading and hopefully it'll make more sense. As for me personally? I consider myself to be a true blue "Disliker". I really don't hate anything at all. I'm very open-minded and believe that if something improves in quality, to acknowledge it. The only problem is, a large amount of visitors at Sailor Moon Uncensored e-mail me asking me to become a hater. This is where the motivation comes for me writing this editorial, to make that line between disliker and hater more apparent. Probably the number one e-mail I get concerns the SOS section. Most, if not all of them, are compliments on the section and their agreement with my opinion. However, the #1 request I get is to update the SOS section more often. Frankly, while I really appreciate the love and support, this is not possible unless the SOS does something I object to. Every time the SOS posts a new article I get on the order of one to five emails telling me "The SOS updated, look at the crap they're spouting now". I then proceed to check the SOS's new article, read it, and realize there's absolutely NOTHING WRONG with their article! It usually is something that was very informative, very reliable, and has nothing that can be disputed. The last article that comes to mind that the SOS posted, about Irwin dropping the Sailor Moon toy line, was a very news-worthy article. Before the SOS posted about the Irwin development, I had no idea that anything like that was happening. Thus, I'm glad that they posted it. While there are more than likely statements in that article that could be disputed, it's nothing to get worked up over. All in all, it was a good article. Many of the articles SOS has posted in the last few months I've had the same opinion about. I'm not going to bash SOS just for the sake of bashing them. That's immature and close-minded. If SOS continues to post good, news-worthy articles, I will continue to not update the SOS section, as there will be no need to. Now, don't let this confuse you. I'm still wary of SOS and the things they say. I'm not becoming sympathetic towards the SOS, I'm being fair to them, and I'm gonna come out and say it right now, SOS has improved over the last few months. Thus, I'm disliker of SOS, definitely not a hater. Moving on to another topic now, I know that personally I've been accused of being a hater many times due to my comments in the series section. I've been accused of being a dub hater, hating the Sailor Moon dub just because it's a dub, I've been accused of not being fair to the dub and not "seeing" how hard it is to dub a show like Sailor Moon. Well, first off, I can somewhat see how people might consider me a "hater" when it comes to the dub. I use a LOT of sarcasm in the comparisons. There's no denying it at all, I'm a sarcastic bastard. However, this can easily be misconstrued as being "mean" and "unfair". This is not the case. I use sarcasm in the comparisons for one reason and one reason only, because it's funny. The comparisons would be much less entertaining if I wasn't sarcastic and just stated facts all the time. There would be less drive for people to come back and want more if they didn't enjoy the comparisons in the first place. Thus, this is why I'm so sarcastic, not to be mean, to be funny. However, read the first sentence of the last paragraph. I only SOMEWHAT saw how people might have considered me a hater of the dub. Basically, anyone who accused me of being a hater didn't really do their homework well. I always point out the things about the dub that I like. For example, Stephanie Beard, she had the perfect voice for Rini. Tracey Moore, she had a wonderful voice for Serena. Some of the early DiC songs like "My Only Love" and "Carry On", in my opinion, conveyed the emotion of the events they were played in better than their Japanese counterpart. Other songs like "Power Of Love" could also hold their own. I loved the fact that Cloverway decided to use the original score over the DiC one. As you can see, even though I don't like the dub, the dub does have its things that are good. Does that mean I'll stop criticizing the dub? No, but it does mean when it has its good points, I'll be sure to point it out. There are other people though who seem to think that I just hate all dubs in general no matter how good they are. While it is true that, for the most part, I don't like dubs, this is merely because a VAST VAST VAST majority of dubs really really suck. Do all dubs suck? Not by any means. I enjoyed the Gundam dubs, I enjoyed the Evangelion and Trigun dubs, and I don't know if you can consider this a dub, but I really enjoyed the Voice Acting/Dub (if you wanna call it that) in Final Fantasy X as well. I don't hate dubs. I watch dubs. I watch the DBZ and DB dubs all the time. Yes, I know they're flawed, but they're good enough to watch and getting better (especially the DB dub). I don't hate dubs, I only dislike dubs when the dub itself gives me a reason not to like it. It doesn't stop there, head on over to the opinions section to see the collection of absolutely CLASSIC flames we've received since our founding. If you sift through those guestbook entries and emails, you can see how many, if not all of their claims have no basis whatsoever. In other words, they hate us just to hate us. To me, that just looks idiotic and childish, which is why I try my hardest not to be a hater myself. But is it wrong to dislike us? As I said above, no way. We know our site is not perfect. Me and Dan have been talking recently about how there are a lot of mistakes, inaccuracies, and outdated facts at the site that we've been trying to weed out. If you have a reason to, dislike us all you want, however, being a hater is much different. If you hate us, please have a reason to before joining the crowd, it'll do us all a favor ~_^. Well, I think I've rambled on far too long. As you can see, I am disliker, not a hater, and as long as I'm a part of this site, I will try my very hardest to remain a disliker and not a hater.

Other Editorials

Why Fan Translations Are Still Necessary - by Dan Bednarski (May 16th, 2011) Sailor Moon Re-launch in North America: What I'd Like to See - by Dan Bednarski (January 22nd, 2011) Can we start to put an end to the stupidity? - by Dan Bednarski (September 19th, 2010) Goodbyes Are Always the Hardest - by Robert Wheeler (May 4th, 2005) Goodbye SOS. Good Riddance or Fond Farewell? - by Robert Wheeler (December 16th, 2004) The Trouble With Whiners - by Robert Wheeler (October 10th, 2004) Uncut Sailor Moon: Worth the Wait? - Part 2 - by Dan Bednarski (January 6th, 2004) Uncut Sailor Moon: Worth the Wait? - Part 1 - by Dan Bednarski (September 23rd, 2003) Disliking Vs. Hating - by Robert Wheeler (April 3rd, 2002) The Twelve Dubs of Christmas - by Tiffany Wood (December 23rd, 2001) Optimum Productions? Flagrant False Advertising... - by Robert Wheeler (September 3rd, 2001) The Anime Translation and American Society Problem - by Dan Bednarski (August 6th, 2001) Pioneer's First SMS Release: Heart Collection I - by Dan Bednarski (March 5th, 2001) Annoyance: A Letter to the People - by Tiffany Wood (February 9th, 2001) Cartoon Network - The Hypocrite - by Robert Wheeler (January 14th, 2001) Moonian Rhapsody - by Tiffany Wood (December 25th, 2000) Does Your Site Suck? (Repost) - by Tiffany Wood (October 28th, 2000) The North American Sailor Moon World - by Dan Bednarski (September 26th, 2000) The Trouble With Dubbies - by Robert Wheeler (September 13th, 2000) Sailor Moon Fansubs - by Dan Bednarski (August 13th, 2000) Does Your Site Suck? - by Tiffany Wood (August 6th, 2000)