Despite it being a little over 8 years since it's release, much of the fandom upholds a united meme that the second movie did not happen...and for good reason.

However, some have gotten to the point of feeling that the joke needs to die, that the point has already been made and that the fandom needs to just move on and let it go.

Those with that mindset completely miss the point of why we uphold this joke.

Really...I think they know, but they are being disingenuous for various reasons.

Still, there may be some who dislike the joke simply for misunderstanding it.

If people in the fandom upheld the joke for the same reason memes like "skibidi" or "6-7" were so popular, then the frustration with the joke would be valid.

But that's not why the joke is said.

The joke exists as a collaborative effort to send a unanimous message to the people in control of the franchise that we will not support nor stand for another installment as disappointing and poorly made as Uprising and that if they want us to acknowledge and support the next installment then it needs to be of satisfactory quality.

I would not be surprised if that is why the live-action prequel is taking so long to give any updates. Maybe they are actually making sure the product is going to be quality this time to earn back the trust of the fandom and gain our support.

Other fandoms do this sort of joke as well for the exact same reason.

The fandom speaks to the IP owners through their expressions of satisfaction, silence and dissatisfaction.

When the fandom is pleased, the owners of the franchise lean more into whatever they are doing.

When the fandom is silent, the owners of the franchise keep things the same.

When the fandom is displeased, the owners of the franchise lean away from whatever they are doing.

Ideally at least.

Though often times the franchise owners try to test what they can get away with or if they can outlast the backlash from the fandom and keep doing what they know the fandom doesn't like.

So what does this mean?

If we did "just let the joke die" as some call for, we risk sending the message that we are ok with Uprising, or that we no longer are bothered by it.

The execs running the show undoubtedly gather intel on the disposition of the fandom.

They have to.

Knowing what the fandom is likely to financially support is essential information to them, it's literally a big part of marketing.

So if we drop the joke and go silent on the matter, guess what message is being sent to the execs?

"They don't care, they aren't bothered anymore. It's safe to keep doing what we did before."

Now they feel comfortable giving us another Uprising because in their mind, all they have to do is wait us out and we'll get over it and they can rinse and repeat.

This is why the joke stands, so that they can see that our dissatisfaction with Uprising has not worn off and that the only path forward is to give us the same magic that the first movie gave us or better.

Only after we get that is it fitting to say that the joke can die because it has already served its purpose.

The joke also serves to make sure new fans aren't deceived by Uprising and understand why it is unacceptable.

So yea, the joke is not people being annoying and recycling a dead meme.

Uprising and connected media put Pacific Rim into something of a limbo state for quite a while...a few years shy of a decade!

We did get The Black, but that didn't get far.

We are only just recently starting to see hope of new content, and we are keeping hope that it will live up to the magic of the first film and give Pacific Rim a new lease on life.

So fans of Pacific Rim make sure that it is well understood that we do in fact have standards and that giving us something like Uprising will not be acceptable.

I believe this is important because I really think if they fumble the live-action prequel, Pacific Rim will officially die. I genuinely don't see why even action figure companies would bother to make PR figures at that point.

We would have to just wait until a die-hard fan buys the franchise off of whoever owns it at the point and they revive it themselves.

So us sending the message of our distain for content like Uprising and connected media literally could be the difference between the future or the end of Pacific Rim.

What do you think? Do you agree or do you have a different point of view?

Keep it respectful or keep it pushin.

I have been considering using photoshop to edit my pictures into actual movie scenes. Basically I would pick a scene, use photoshop to erase Gipsy Danger in the shot, then edit in my picture in it's place. But that just sounds like a whole lotta work for some karma. Wanted to know if there was an easier way to go about this, because my lack of kaiju figures makes doing shots the fight scenes kinds awkward.