I think the reason antis prioritize fictional people over real people is because real people are very flawed and can be unfair, messy and maybe even cruel sometimes, but fictional characters can be molded to your standards and there’s an “unattainable” appeal about them. Antis have unrealistic and high expectations of people, so they latch onto fictional characters who’s perfection can be preserved for as long as they want. Doesn’t excuse them ofc and their actions are unforgivable.
I like to call it the “Wednesday Effect”. It refers to when people prefer characters over real people and prioritize them over real ones as well. Like when people love a character so much, they see them as more “real” than real-world people. It includes what you’re talking about as well, when people place such high expectations on real people that they often forget that they are only human.
I call it the “Wednesday Effect” because it’s in direct reference to how people LOVE Wednesday Addams, but when real people show some of the traits that she as a character has, they think they are “weird”. People will talk about how great Wednesday is, but people hate others in the real world who are like her in any capacity or even infantilize them. People want real individuals to just be quirky little characters and they often forget that they are only human. I’ve seen so many people dehumanize individuals who have qualities like Wednesday to the point where they don’t see them as people, they see them as a “fake-wanna-be Wednesday”. They don’t fit the mold they have for the character, and that is because these are real people we are talking about, not a fictional character.
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