There are a lot of 40k fans, me included, who are very antifascist. The game has a large queer audience and many fans who enjoy the grimdark aspects of the setting as a cautionary tale. Anyone that knows anything about 40k knows that there are no “good” guys, and that everything sucks for everyone but a few in power. That’s the appeal. It’s a universe where everything is awful all the time and trillions of lives are wasted, and yet stories of compassion and hope can still arise in the middle of it (even though they’re ultimately fruitless). I personally refuse to monetarily support GW but enjoy the setting in other ways. There will always be those that don’t get it and glorify the evil unironically. We just make fun of them and move on.
hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Yeah, I know 40k fans who are certainly anti-fascist, but I’m also acquainted with 40k fans who seem to be generally pro-authoritarian and sometimes it seems like their enthusiasm is the mask slipping. These are usually the ones who are obsessed with 40k and will routinely spend entire days talking about it if no one changes the subject.
The thing is that there aren’t a ton of franchises that lean so heavily into fascism. 40k and Helldivers are about it, and while we’re in a period where real life fascism is on the rise, it’s maybe not a great thing that these franchises are as popular as they are. If there were some sort of rebels to identify with in the setting that might at least improve the situation a bit, but there don’t really seem to be and I don’t really see any sign of 40k having any sort of actual criticism of the outlook they’re spending a lot of time and money presenting to the public. It’s just uncritical glorification at this point, and that’s really the last thing we should want people internalizing.
tankplanker@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
You can say that about a lot of authoritarian settings, most obvious example is a hardcore of Homelander fans, despite Homelander being a figure of fun and scorn in the Boys. There will always be people who either lack the critical thinking skills or willfully ignore ample evidence.