>>149945215 (OP)
Actual unpopular opinion: "Media literacy" is overrated, especially given the absolute torrent of shit there is to watch/read/whatever.
Your media should be able to stand on its own merits.
Whenever anyone says
>oh did you actually read/watch X?
I'm gonna start saying
>no, and I have no reason to
With the amount of video essays sucking off villains/characters/video games/whatever, I'm just going to take whatever they say about characters at face value because I don't have time for that shit.
>no but you won't understand it unless you watch the original!!!
If the people who constantly reference it and write four-hour tirades on it don't understand it, why should I be expected to?
I am no longer apologizing for being a secondary to anything. If making derivative content is legitimate content, then watching derivative content is legitimate fandom.