All fandoms have the people who REALLY don’t get the message. Chief amongst them is basically any time chuds listen to Rage Against The Machine. Others are the people who key in that Vegeta is awesome but don’t understand why so much of that is centered around the Buu saga and him rejecting who he used to be.
As for 40k? Yeah. I do have a problem with the people who very unironically worship the imperium.
But it is also worth remembering how many of the beloved (imperium) stories are about actively defying that. Eisenhorn and Ravenor are both poster children for radicals who regularly fall afoul of the more puritan of their orders. Gaunt is regularly set up to die by other Imperial Guard. Hell, we somehow got a sequel to frigging Space Marine (game) and both of those are very much about the fundamental flaw in how the imperium fights Chaos.
Hell, the Ciaphas Cain series is literally space Blackadder with so many plots basically being about Ciaphas actively trying to prevent the imperium from killing both him and itself (to the point Inquisitors cover for him… and only one of them is after his Cain).
And of the lesser known books and games? So many of them are fundamentally tragedies that highlight the futility of war with PLENTY of characters dying for the stupidest of reasons.
Is 40k anti-fascist? At one point, maybe. But it very much hasn’t been for the past 30 or so years and there are a LOT of stories about GW actively interfering when a writer gets too close to the actual point.
But it is also important to remember the power that these long running cultural touchstones have. Star Wars has very much flirted with politics for its entire almost 50 year run. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But, as a result, Andor was immensely powerful for having 40 years worth of build-up to an episode that centered around a speech in which a politician condemned fascism and genocide. And… a lot of people were kinda forced to listen to that “against their will” because they like the laser swords.
Do I at all think Total Warhammer 40k is going to be that? No. But it will continue to do what 40k has done for decades: Chuds will cheer because chuddiness. And the rest of the fanbase will increasingly realize “so… the super fascist armies are bad?”
hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
I think the issue is that 40k doesn’t get the message either at this point. It’s just straightforward glorification of the space marines. I don’t see anything in the modern iterations that feels remotely tongue in cheek. Rage Against the Machine may have fans who are chuds, but they’re extremely clear about their message. 40k’s message at this point seems to be “look how cool these fascist soldiers are” and not much else. That doesn’t just accidentally attract chuds, it’s a chud magnet that overly encourages them to become more chudish.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
A huge chunk of Space Marine 2’s story is about how Titus basically got screwed over by the Imperium for the sin of… treating Guard like human beings and fighting back against Chaos. A big arc is even that his squadmates (other Spesh Mahrines) don’t entirely trust him but learn to do so. And while I haven’t gotten around to it yet, I would be shocked if Owlcat didn’t take some pot shots at the zealots in Rogue Trader.