The Big Nancy Drew Fan Meltdown of 2019

On September 9, I wrote, "We are one month away from what could be the big Nancy Drew fan meltdown of 2019."  The original draft title of that post was "The Big Nancy Drew Fan Meltdown of 2019."  I changed it to "Figuring Out My Nancy Drew" after I decided on the approach I wanted to take.  That worked out well, since the title remained available for the actual meltdown.

The Nancy Drew fan meltdown played out exactly as I expected.  Fans could not deal with Nancy Drew having sex, so they went into complete hysteria over the show.  It was quite bad and rather embarrassing.  And it's not over.  I assume that Nancy will continue to have sex each week, and if so, the meltdown will continue for months.  How splendid.

Those of us who have been active in the online forums since the late 1990s and have been subscribers to series book magazines such as Yellowback Library did not have a meltdown.  Several expressed the opinion that they would have preferred for the sex not to have been in the show but stated that they enjoyed the show.  That is my opinion as well.  At least one of these fans is very against the sex but did not have a meltdown over it.  These fans are almost always very reasonable and grounded in their views about Nancy Drew and modern projects.  We want Nancy Drew to remain viable and understand that she will be modernized for current and future generations whether we like it or not.

Other fans were extremely angry, so much so that I question why they have so much anger over a fictional character being depicted as having sex in a fictional show.  We are talking about extreme anger.  They act like their lives have been ruined by the pilot episode of the Nancy Drew television series.

In fact, a few people actually stated that the show has ruined Nancy Drew for them, that it has ruined all of the books or ruined all of their memories of Nancy Drew.  This is a bit extreme.

Some people said that those of us who enjoyed the show are not "true Nancy Drew fans."  Honestly, that statement could be turned around to say that people who didn't enjoy the show are not "true Nancy Drew fans."  However, that would be mean.  There is nothing wrong with liking or not liking the show.  The problem is that people cannot seem to accept differing opinions.

Several people were cussing, calling Nancy Drew and other fans obscene names.

Some fans have the opinion that the television show is not like any Nancy Drew book.  I assume those people have only read the original 56 books.  The television show is like a combination of the Nancy Drew Files and the Nancy Drew On Campus series.

If you are thinking, but wait!  Nancy Drew didn't have sex in the books.  I don't believe that Nancy Drew ever did in the Nancy Drew On Campus series, but George Fayne certainly did!  Having sexual content in a filmed version of Nancy Drew is not a complete departure from the books.  At least, the Nancy Drew On Campus series did include sex.

Many people are also offended simply because Nancy Drew is not like their idea of Nancy Drew, as in "not my Nancy Drew."  One person announced that she was starting a campaign called #notmynancy.  That person also cussed a lot.

Normally, we can escape into our series book discussions and ignore the craziness in the world.  Finally, that craziness has invaded our safe place.  I never thought I would have to create this Facebook group rule:  You are no longer allowed to discuss Nancy Drew's sex life in this group.

That rule isn't something I just thought up because of what happened this weekend in a group I moderate.  Not at all.

Back in February, a digital copy of the script of the show's pilot episode was shared with me.  I knew that the sexual content was going to be quite problematic, but I didn't have an answer for how to handle it at that time.

It was during the summer that the average fan began to learn about the sexual content of the show via some online articles.  The reaction was quite negative but not a full meltdown.  It was then that I decided that I would ban all discussion of the show's sexual content in the group that I moderate.  I did not tell anyone about that decision, but I had a firm resolve that I would not allow fans to fight about the sexual content.

I originally was going to warn fans of my decision in the one to two weeks before the first episode aired.  I ended up not doing that.  Ultimately, I decided to keep quiet about my unannounced new rule until the negativity began invading the group.  I wanted to let the members see for themselves why the new rule was necessary.

Oddly, it took a little more than three days for the inappropriate comments to begin in that group.  The meltdown had been in full swing in another group for those three days.  Once the comments in the group I moderate began to deteriorate, I pulled the plug, stating that members cannot discuss Nancy Drew's sex life.

That decision was mine and mine alone.  I don't care if some members hate the rule.  I am so firm in my resolve that the rule is the right decision that I do not care in the slightest who disagrees or how angry they are.  I made the decision months ago, and I stand behind it.  Those of us who do not want to read complaints about sex outside of marriage ad nauseam needed for a rule to be in place.  If people want to complain about Nancy Drew having sex, then there are a number of places online where that can be done.  I suggest complaining directly to The CW.  I don't want to hear about it.

And yes, there are at least three people who are so against the new rule that they left the group.  Two of those people were regular, active participants in the group.  It's odd to give up access and all future participation in a group about vintage children's books simply because one wants to preach about the immorality of sex outside of marriage.  I don't get it.

While I would prefer that the sex not be in the show, I can ignore it.  That is what I did last week, and I will continue to do so.  The show has an intriguing mystery, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out.