[quote=@Gowi]There will always be toxic people in any medium, especially when it gets as specific and “auteur” or niche as Anime. You literally cannot take it at face value and ignore the elitism and toxicity and focus on the good aspects of the community and piece of art/medium you enjoy. 
[/quote]
That's more or less exactly what I've been getting at with all the posts I was giving back and forth with [@NekoMizu]; I prefer not to involve myself in communities at all simply because I can't ignore the idiots. I'm not the type of person who only looks at the side of the story they [i]want[/i] to see; I'm a bit too objective in that sense which means I'm never comfortable within any community because I won't let the good justify the bad. I'm a realist, so the toxic people will always be there to me; that's precisely the problem I'm having with [i]this[/i] site as well.

Honestly, I prefer to just keep to myself, involve myself in a small circle of friends who are actually worth my time and investment, and not let my senses get polluted by all the people who want to ruin things for everyone. I don't involve myself in superficiality or mobs. If I like something, I like it; I don't particularly care who else does.

That said, I think there's a very fine line between "fanaticism" and "conviction" that all too many people are willing to ignore in order to toss the label "fanatic" onto anyone or anything they dislike. Without powerful enthusiasm or zeal, humanity wouldn't actually even move forward in this world or achieve anything; passion [i]drives[/i] genius. There is also absolutely nothing wrong with strongly believing in something; failing to do so often leads to nihilism.

Simply having powerful enthusiasm or zeal does not automatically translate to bias; I'm my own biggest critic (as I've told people many times), I always scrutinize and deconstruct my own side of an argument while making sure I thoroughly research and understand any belief I'm adamantly opposed to before expressing an opinion of it. People shouldn't even voice an opinion of something if they don't completely understand it; understanding every side is the core of a true philosopher.

As for "elitism"; it's been brought to my attention over the years that this term gets tossed out very haphazardly. While I don't agree with elitism, people have tried to use the label on me in the past for no reason outside of my dislike of people who lack conviction or don't show any class. These are the types of people who would call a GM an "elitist" for not letting them into their role-play, or the types of people who would call us "elitists" for not tolerating those idiots in the "bitchfest" thread several days back.