Stephen Amell lashes out against Olicity haters and Twitter users.
During a recent interview in support of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Arrow star Stephen Amell bashed TV viewers who have been sharply critical of Arrow and, in particular, of "Olicity."
Over the last two seasons, Arrow has seen its audience deeply divided over the show's central romantic plot. Since Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak started actively courting one another, there has been a vocal contingent of fandom who have complained that the relationship has overwhelmed other aspects of the show. For much of that time, there was an escalating online feud between Olicity "shippers" and fans who either wanted the romantic elements of the show played down, or who supported a relationship between Oliver and Laurel Lance -- who, as the series' Black Canary, is the TV analogue to Oliver's longtime love interest in the comics.
Frustration with both Olicity and with numerous other elements of the show -- including last year's characterization of Ra's al Ghul and the continued use of flashbacks at a point where a vocal contingent of fans no longer sees their purpose -- has driven an ongoing sense of frustration and negativity, especially on platforms like Twitter and Reddit.
(Note: controversy surrounding the Season Four finale, which aired Wednesday, was not directly addressed in the interview, which was filmed prior to the finale's airdate.)
Amell dismissed most of those complaints, telling Larry King that he believes most fans still enjoy television "the traditional way," meaning that they simply watch it and don't engage with other fans on social media. He called Twitter "overblown" and blamed its often-toxic environment on the fact that the platform allows users anonymity (unlike Facebook, LinkedIn, or other platforms which require a real name and/or a e-mail address).
“If you’re going on the attack for fictional characters, you’re probably not real fans of the show,” Amell said, saying that he believes some fans don't seem to know how to build up their favorite characters without tearing someone else's down.