Everyone decided they'd be happier not knowing Enrique. It turned out to be a wise choice, considering you guys are still sore over something that happened on a message board several years ago.
Enrique's a fracking vagina
Nobody is "bullying" anyone.
We've all moved on.
Please, enough with this weird obsession, ATP. Like you say, its been two years. What's the interest?
Holy crap!
Uhhh, yeah, clearly people *DO* need to move on.
On
both side of the fence, it seems.
Look at how angry Russ, Shiny, and some of these other guys still are.
And I haven't said ONE WORD to them in 2 years.
However, it's to be expected. As much as I enjoyed our "friendships" (or as close to friendships as you can get on a message board), one thing we've never done well as a board, even going back to 1999 when I first joined it, was forgive mistakes of the past.
Especially once a member has pissed off everyone. Never thought it would happen to me, since I felt "close" to many of these people, but it did, and I do own the responsibility for it since I went to extremes with my attempts at "satirical posting" and clearly pissed off, let down, or hurt other members.
It's pretty obvious that many people, whether they want to admit it or not, are still hurt by the way everything fell apart. It's all right there above. And I am referring to both sides of the fence here, including myself.
Like Shiny, Russ and some others have said, we need to move on. All of us. So for whatever it's worth, I will address this situation
FOR THE LAST TIME.
No sarcasm, no attempts at bombastic humor, no attempts at "roasting", no b*lls**t "macho" act, just the real me.
I want it on the record that:
1) While I don't TRULY believe I was "bullied", I was getting annoyed with 2-3 people in the board. I will mention names because if I'm going to try to be honest and address this a final time, I want to do it right.
a) I was getting kind of annoyed with Russ, who had been a buddy for years, because I felt he was getting more and more negative with the passing years and it was starting to get on my nerves.
b) I wasn't close to Kris, but I was pissed with Kris because I interpreted his behavior and words as being closeminded and belittling those who disagreed with him. Sounds ridiculous for me to take this so seriously since we were talking about a movie, for crying aloud, but at the time, I felt a certain injustice to the way he carried on with some members.
I felt people were not understanding me, or I was not communicating my ideas or thoughts clearly, and proceeded to take a kind of sarcastic, satirical, bombastic approach to my posts to make a point, but it was all mostly lost in translation and the experiment blew up in my face.
So when my attempts at satirical posting didn't succeed, what did I do? Well, I *should* have started just tried to communicate in a straightforward manner, but I made the mistake of TRYING HARD with the satirical approach. If there's anything I hate, it's to be misunderstood, so I kept at it and at it and at it. Months went by, nobody speaking with anybody, and I still tried it.
I knew what my intentions were, I knew what I was trying to do, but instead, I only succeeded in pissing off/hurting my longtime pals, and that certainly wasn't what I had in mind.
Instead of changing my approach, I stubbornly continued with it and began saying things that I wouldn't normally say, thinking that people will eventually get my point, but of course that didn't happen and I foolishly ruined some of my "friendships", possibly for good, and even did a good job of getting people to think that I was this closed-minded, macho, pre-Cambrian he-ape. The results really don't need an explanation. It wasn't the intention, nor the goal. The goal was to find a funny/crazy way of making a point on something that was bugging me at the time.
It's sad that 14-15 years of "friendship" ended this way with some of these guys. But what can you do? While I still don't agree with some of the behavior from some members, it was petty in the grand scheme of things and we probably would've moved on eventually the way we continued to do for a long time if I didn't keep "pushing on a wall", so to speak, in the approach.
I've barely said a word here in 2 years, and people are still reacting angrily. So, guys...yes, I'm speaking to you, Russ, Shiny, Kris, Kevin, EvilSupes, Guru, Val, UF, and everyone I pissed off...I wasn't REALLY trying to hurt anyone here.
I came here a couple of months ago o try to be the real me, to be real and move on with the few people who do remain, but it looks like those posts were either overlooked, ignored, or forgotten.
But we are ALL here for a reason after so many years: we had fun communicating with each other, busting each other's chops, participating in secret forums (who can forget the old secret board and the memorable title with Valerie Perrine...) and I do believe most of the old guys still pop in here in secret, but have decided to stay silent.
As I mentioned a few months back, if this community is to come together again in its old forum, it will be built on forgiving mistakes of the past, on BOTH sides of the fence, but again, we've never been very good about forgiving screw ups. I'm actually surprised given the length of my membership here that not one person has said, ":Eh, give him a break, he's not really like that." I thought some people knew me better, but I fully realize that is totally and completely on me. In this specific instance, I was the common denominator. And I was wrong to continue the façade, and should have toned it down.
I mean, we got into some heated debates and arguments over the years: SIII vs. SIV, pro-SR vs. anti-SR, Dean Cain vs. Reeve vs Reeves vs. Welling vs. Routh vs Salkind vs Donner vs Lester vs ABC edition vs Green Cut vs. You name it.
I survived them ALL.
And I survived them with my relationships intact, yet somehow, things got wildly out of control with MOS.
I screwed up.
Big time.
I've been coming to this community for almost 15 years and loved it here. It was the one constant in the Internet for me. I came daily, (and still drop in from time to time for a visit).
It's home.
Or at least, it was.
We've gotten pissed or heated with each other over the years, and I just hope we can ALL---from ATP to Kris to Russ to Shogun to Chris to Guru---come together one day. Knowing some people here, that may never come to be. Pride can be a big deal. We are, after all, a very stubborn bunch at times.
However, I'm willing to forgo the pride and say, "We've said hurtful things to each other, I'm willing to forgive. Are you?"
Hoping to see you guys on the other side. If not, may you always meet your goals and be happy. And never, ever forget, wherever you go, your copies of Superman I-IV, which laid the foundation of all the laugher, anger, tears, jokes and good times we've had here.
Sorry to be heavy handed, but I was hoping to end it on a good note.
Later.
EDIT:
Oh, and just one more thing:
I find it funny that Metallo---my "MORTAL enemy" at the debate podiums for YEARS---should be one of the very few to stand by me at the time when everyone else is not. Metallo, you're a stubborn SOB, and your ability to sometimes piss people off is uncanny(I think I got you beat this time, though), but I think most people do admire your knowledge and your posts whenever you're not shooting down THEIRS. So many years of not understanding each other, yet at the end, you're one of the few that did understand what I tried to do and tried explaining it. Thanks for having my back this time.
