It’s a beautiful day as I drive through southern California, or Cali as the natives call it. It’s the home of many things, In-N-Out Burgers, Disneyland, exquisite beaches and of course Hollywood. The words of a Lana Del Rey song come to mind “Down on the West Coast, they love their movies, their golden gods and rock, and roll groupies”. Living here that song rings so true.
But it’s only one of Hollywood’s “Golden gods” that interests me today. I pull into a small coffee joint, getting out and grabbing my messenger bag, I walk in and nod to the gaggle of masked hipsters gathered around, a bearded man with no shoes is strumming on a warn old guitar, I pass him and sit down, pulling out a notebook from my leather bag. I smile under my mask at the waitress who brings me my cup of coffee, then I begin to jot down my thoughts.
Over the last few years, I casually infiltrated the so-called “Church of Snyder” located on various Social Media platforms. The “Church of Snyder” is a loose connection of film fans who follow Director and Producer Zack Snyder, who has overseen films liked Watchmen, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, 300, and now the “Snydercut”.
The “Church of Snyder” like many religious groups is made up of both casual and extreme Zack Snyder fans, and they have taken it upon themselves to defend and protect Snyder’s name on social media and in the movie business. Those involved in this movement are varied and include journalists, actors, producers, writers, fans, and even academics. Snyder can count such celebrities and personalities as Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Ayman Hariri, Dave Bautista, Christopher Nolan, and even James Cameron amongst his friends, fans, and defenders.
It is hard to say when my interest in the “Church of Snyder” first began, but I want to say it was in late 2016, when Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice first smashed into theaters. I was mostly unfamiliar with Snyder outside of his work on Man of Steel and Watchmen, however, I was disturbed by the mass attack that occurred upon the film’s release. I enjoyed the film despite its flaws (rectified in the Ultimate Edition) and I was curious over why this director who had crafted what was in my opinion the best on-screen Batman I had ever seen was being crucified.
Over the course of my reading articles, and seeing the comments, I began discovering this war between those who thought of Snyder as a kind of second coming of Christ to Hollywood and those who thought of him as a hack who tripped into fame. Whenever I encounter such strong opinions about artists I get intrigued as to what the truth is about them. So, I decided to “Go incognito” so to speak and have some fun at the same time.
My first experience with Zack Snyder fans was in a Facebook group called “DC Watchtower” named after the famous home of the Justice League, this was a fun-loving group of 700 friendly guys and gals who were drawn together by one thing, our love of DC Films and Zack Snyder. The group has since grown in popularity and at last, inspection was a little over 190k members, sadly in recent years its reception to Zack Snyder has cooled outside of a few Admins who still wave the flag.
The second group I joined was one called simply “The Church of Snyder” the group was modeled off a church and even had a “Ten Commandments of Snyder” as its rules. As I spent more time interacting with the members and admins, I found them all to be a very eclectic group who were nothing like the “Toxic fanboys” the media made them out to be. All I found was a celebration of Snyders’s work as a filmmaker. With its members all supporting each other and helping one another through hard times when needed.
As with all things, the groups I joined had many factions of the Church of Snyder, those who like myself skewed more moderate and curious and others who were more what I would deem fanatical. However, I want to be clear that I discovered that this fanatism was not just on the side of the more extreme Zack Snyder fans, in fact, I would say that much of the so-called fanatism grew from attacks made on the groups of Zack Snyder fans by toxic fanboys and girls of other properties such as Fox’s X-Men, Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Sony’s Spiderverse.
When faced with heavy persecution it’s only normal for a small fraction of a population to turn radical and lash out, this is what I feel happened with “The Church of Snyder.” However, especially in the “Church of Snyder” group, I found that the Admins swiftly acting to snuff out any toxic behavior. It was this group that planted the seed into me that maybe these Snyder fans were not so weird after all!
As more information began to surface about what occurred behind the scenes that lead to Snyder’s replacement on Justice League, I soon found what I believe is the “True” Church of Snyder. Zack Snyder’s daughter Autumn tragically took her own life, this led to a greater discussion in the Snyder fandom about mental health. What followed was something truly amazing, over the last few years the “Leadership” of the Church of Snyder began a campaign to raise awareness and money for suicide prevention programs, with the Snyderites (as some affectionately call themselves) raising over $500,000.
Trolls and toxic fans within the Snyder fanbase certainly exist, I have found that some of Snyder’s fans are very distrustful of professional film critics and sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, and will loudly proclaim this distrust to any who will listen. However, I found them to be a small minority with a loud voice, who Snyder’s true fans sought to silence at every opportunity.
Lastly, a subgroup of the Church of Snyder I encountered was one I least expected, I was invited to join a Facebook group chat called the “Sanctuary of Snyder” with an exclusive “Invite only” membership, they were very much Zack Snyder fans. However far from being fanatical, they examined Zack Snyder and his films from a critical film analysis perspective.
They would break down his filmmaking and movies and look at the religious, philosophical, and social aspects that influenced the film’s narrative. I found a new perspective of Zack Snyder I had never thought of, and while the group of Zack Snyder fans loved him, they would indeed offer criticisms of his filmmaking when needed, in the end, while I expected a chat made up of fanatics I instead found an intelligent group of film aficionados, who appreciated Zacks deconstructivism style.
Over my time investigating the Church of Snyder, I found appreciation for a filmmaker who has a very unique vision, and while I do not always agree with every film-making decision he makes, I found myself joining in the Release The Snydercut Movement. I firmly believe that an artist should be allowed to showcase the vision they have worked on, be it for better or worse. Snyder is a bit of a provocateur, he enjoys much like the philosopher Jacques Derrida, deconstructing popular stories and myths (in this case Superheroes) and rebuilding them. This is a controversial idea, but one I have enjoyed watching from the outside.
As my multi-year journey in the Church of Snyder comes to a close, my mind is filled with many thoughts, as I leave the coffee house and I drive down the freeway and see the LA skyline come into view in the distance. These last few years brought me into contact with many people.
The friendly admins of the “Church of Snyder” Facebook group, the well-read and eloquently spoken members of the “Sanctuary of Snyder” chat group, the billionaire businessman Ayman Hariri, founder of Snyder’s social media platform of choice VERO, and finally Fiona Zheng one of the founders of the Snyder Cut movement. These are just a few of the hundreds of people I have encountered and spoken with over these last few years, but they have impacted me, showing me an area of a fandom, I was not very familiar with and frankly had a somewhat negative view of to start with.
My interactions have changed this though, while I did encounter negativity the vast majority of “The Church of Snyder” was sincere fans of film who are kind and fun to be around, who sought to silence the more vocal toxic fandom that existed within the depths of the Snydercut movement, and who I do not consider to be fans of Zack Snyder as much as attention-seeking trolls.
Was I converted? In a way I would say yes, I was, I have been won over to the thinking of the #SnyderCut campaign and found many I would call friends in the movement. I will continue to keep ties with the Snyder fanbase and those in the movement did manage to convince me of the value Snyder has brought to the DCEU and film making in general, and I am proud to say I have joined the #RestoreTheSnyderverse movement!
I feel the warm breeze coming in through my lowered window as I drive along the streets and approach my home, I feel a buzz in my pocket as I get a notification from my Snyder group chat. I pull in and turn off my car, I sit for a moment and gaze at the sunset I started this journey a skeptic, but these fans, people, and friends have shown me a wider world and opened my mind to new viewpoints, and I will carry that, going on into the future. However, it’s getting late, and I must bid you ado as my worn copy of Atlas Shrugged by the fireplace is calling my name…
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