Wikipedia:WikiProject Removing POV from pop culture articles

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Many of Wikipedia's users are also fans of anime, comic books, video games and other activities usually confined to males in the 13-25 demographic. For some reason, the articles for these (and especially the Japanese varieties of them) are extremely prone to POV and weasel terms.

Contents

[edit] Motive and Goals

[edit] Identifying the problem

  • An example can be gleaned from a recently deleted section from the article for Final Fantasy VI:
"At the time of its release, Final Fantasy VI garnered significant critical acclaim and continues to have a large fanbase dedicated to it. It is regarded as having one of the best stories in a Final Fantasy game. Final Fantasy VI is also one of the more lighthearted games in the series (not to say it doesn't have it's moments) but in general the characters are more upbeat and there is more humor in the game as opposed to many of the other games in the series (particularly Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VII). The Opera scene in Final Fantasy VI has gone down in Video-game history as one of the all time classic scenes to ever appear in a video game."
Of course, this all may very well hold true for or at least be acceptable to the majority of those who visit the page (this may explain why they are largely left untended this way for weeks or even months). The problem does not lie in controversy or insensitivity to differing opinions (as it does when dealing with POV in political articles), but in that the fundamental credibility of the subjects and those who enjoy them is undermined: what would make a good fan-site ultimately makes for a poor wikipedia article. Even if Batman, Final Fantasy or Naruto are largely aimed at a young teenage demographic, that doesn't mean serious, informative articles cannot be produced for them.

[edit] Suggestions for bettering quality

  • Removal of sentences or paragraphs dealing with or mentioning fans, fanbase, either used as a weasel term or explicitly detailing the activities of online communities. As an example of how these terms can be misused, take this excerpt from the Pokémon article:
"However, the animated feature films typically suffer from extensive amounts of editing compared to the TV series, which fans attribute to the many traces of Japanese culture that is prevalent in the movies. It is also interesting to note that several scenes in the movies were either redone with 3-D effects animation for or original to its English release."
A better way to phrase this (which should be considered a viable addition to an article about the Pokémon anime) would be:
"The English versions of the animated feature films are considerably edited down from their Japanese counterparts, possibly due to cultural differences between the target audience in the respective countries. Several scenes were redone with 3-D effects for all movies."
Exceptions should be taken with notable communities (the kind that arranges larger conventions or incites interest in the media).
  • Replacing POV praise with quotes from notable critics. If a game, movie or series has been received positively, it's okay to mention this, but use quotes from others instead of writing it out yourself. If you were editing an article on Digimon, you could write this:
"Digimon is considered by many fans to be the pinnacle of Japanese doshiro entertainment, with its exciting, thrill-filled episodes and considerable character development. It features stunning animation and music; all the elements are combined into a revelatory experience"
However, you should write this instead:
"Digimon was a major critical success at its release. Noted critic James Knowitall from the Washington Post wrote on May 27th, 1999 that "the series has an unparalleled artistic quality and is enjoyable by people from all walks of life"."
  • Removing POV criticism and "widely held opinions" unless they can be substantiated by notable journalists or credible sources. The article of Final Fantasy X-2 has a section of four paragraphs dedicated to "Criticism" which is all POV and unsubstantiated.
"Despite the several major sidequests which see to distract from the main story, the main plotline itself has been criticised heavily. In terms of mood, its considerably more happy and fun loving then previous Final Fantasy games, which often deal with dark themes of death, fear and evil entities trying to destroy the world. Final Fantasy X-2 is considerably more open, with the characters constantly claiming to "only want to have fun" in their story. This attitude has brought much criticism against the game from Final Fantasy fans who claim that this is not what a Final Fantasy should play like. Other small issues include the removal of the ability to summon, which has become Final Fantasy's trademark, and issues of the music such as the removal of the traditional fanfare at the end of battles.
For these reasons, many long term Final Fantasy fans have accused this game as being a cheap cash in on the part of Square Enix. Fans have pointed out many inconsistencies, such as the fact that Wakka has given up Blitzball, but continues to wear the uniform."

[edit] Making a difference

[edit] Good examples

Some of the pop-culture articles on Wikipedia have achieved excellence in unbiased and valuable information. These are some examples of thoroughly researched, well-written or well-formatted articles:

  • Robotech (simply a brilliantly written and formatted article)
  • Naruto (well-formatted and succinct article with some minor problems in the story summary section)
  • Full Metal Alchemist (this used to be an overly long, rambling article but has since been radically edited down to size with succinct descriptions)

[edit] Problematic articles

These are articles which should be conformed to a higher quality standard as per the points given above. If you are adding an article to this list, please state the reasons for doing so next to the link.