I was specifically told, in no uncertain terms, by Colorwhoever, that my opinion was meaningless and that only his and his alone mattered. They also seem to believe that opinions can't be flat-out wrong, especially their own.
No, I've been told that's not fine. Repeatedly.
Which I've also said, several times in fact.
That, of course, doesn't mean their opinions are valid or make any sense. An opinion is just something random you happen to think. It doesn't make it right, and it certainly doesn't make it fact. People can and do have the opinion that there is an all-powerful magic sky person who answers their psychic wishes, but that doesn't mean there is one. People can and do have the opinion that getting their children vaccinated will give them autism, but that doesn't mean that it will. People can and do have the opinion that climate change is/was made up by evil scientists, but that doesn't meant it was. etc.
In fact, one humorous note about those types of people is that if someone comes in and points out the flaws in their opinions, they lose their minds and start rattling off the most ridiculous things. Including telling the other person that they don't matter, that their opinion is just as valid as anyone else's, and yadda yadda yadda.
Which is certainly the case here. The only counter-opinions offered have been: 1. "It didn't matter to the story!" which is wrong because it did, 2. "It totally happened off screen, because we can't assume the characters are complete idiots, so that makes the writing perfect!" which it doesn't, and 3. "Shut up, only my opinion matters, and now go away." And yes, those are all paraphrases.
But hey, if you're of the opinion that it was the most brilliant writing ever by not simply admitting -- and adamantly refusing to admit it, too -- that it was a poor choice on the writer's part, then there's nothing that's ever wrong with any work of fiction ever. Especially if your only valid argument is #2 above. In STID, why even bother to show McCoy discovering the property's of Khan's blood or even giving a reason for why Uhura beams down to stop Spock from killing him? Just show Kirk dead, then alive ten minutes later, and don't address it one iota. I mean, it "didn't matter to the story" even though it did, and "we can't assume the characters are complete idiots," so they clearly did all of the above even though they didn't even so much as mention it. Right? That's how this works, yeah?
Uhm, no, people are obligated to defend an opinion if they're going to try and claim it as fact. That's the whole point of a debate. Despite what Donald Trump would have you believe, you don't just get to run in, say something asinine, then drop the mike and leave. Sure you can do that, but that doesn't make it any less asinine and it certainly doesn't make whatever opinion he had valid.
Sorry, your friend got personal first. You choosing to be blind to that doesn't change that fact (as opposed to an opinion) at all.
