Hey guys, not trying to incite a riot here, but I thought I’d bring this up…

I was interested in Andrew Mack’s recent post about the Oklahoma horror fest. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a horror film festival (the last being a flashback weekend in Chicago several years ago), but my job has landed me in a location where I no longer live close to cities hosting events like this. Although Tulsa is a few hours away, it would be worth the drive to me.

After it was posted, I know myself and a few others had some issues with the tone—it came across as a little condescending, most likely unintentionally, but I see this far too often. People who have little exposure to the South tend to share a negative impression about its inhabitants. When the mainstream media starts to propagate those stereotypes, it’s understandable that people get their feathers a little ruffled. Before I lived in the South, I’d lived and traveled everywhere else around the country, as well as a number of places outside of it. When I first moved down here, I didn’t know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. While we might not see eye-to-eye on some political issues, folks around here are most often intelligent and far from ignorant.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was offended by the article, partially because I have the benefit of context—I’ve read plenty of Andrew’s posts and share his taste in film. He seems like an intelligent guy, and I’m sure he was just looking for a clever way to spin the news. However, the way the situation was handled bothered me. I wish I could say this was the first time I’ve seen this, but it wasn’t. Rather than apologizing, rewording the post, or simply leaving it up there the way it was (in which case Andrew would no doubt eventually get torn up in the comments), someone simply removed the post. Now, instead of one—albeit slightly condescending—post about the festival, we have nothing. To me, that seemed like a big “Well if that’s how you feel, then we don’t need you!” to anyone who might be interested. That may or may not be the message intended, but it disappoints me to see the situation treated in such a way by a site that embraces so many different cultures.

That said, I appreciate all the work you do, and this won’t stop me from reading. I just wanted to give you a little food for thought, and help you avoid alienating potential fans…I know I’ve turned a number of people on to your site and know others who read Twitch regularly before I met them, so you do have plenty of followers down here!

EDIT: If you’re interested in seeing the article, here it is in Google’s cache:

OKLAHOMA, WHERE THE DEAD COME SCREAMIN’ DOWN THE PLAIN!

I was also surprised to see the articles removal with no rewrite or anything. In fact, I felt bad and partly responsible that the festival will now get less exposure. I am glad that you are giving people a way to find info about this festival. I have made posts about the festival on my Tumblr and Facebook accounts. I know that these things don’t equal the type of exposure that the front page of Twitch equals, but it is what I can do. I am hopeful that Andrew will rewrite the article, while taking consideration of his readers previous comments.

I just posted this under the edited article, but thought I would post it here as well, so as not to leave the thread hanging:

I only just saw this, but this is more than I was expecting. While I don’t feel you needed to apologize, I appreciate your sensitivity and am sure that others do as well. Like I said before, from your articles, I know you’re a stand-up guy, and am happy to see you make amends. Let’s hope this festival is a success!

Again, good on you for admitting a mistake and correcting it. I know I’ve made plenty myself, and don’t always have the decency to admit it, so this was never intended as a personal attack. Thanks for the write-up, and supporting all us deprived horror fans in the South!