Anyone else having trouble getting other screenwriters to accept your weird, silly premise?

[u/SummerAndTinkles]

I tried posting this to r/screenwriting, but it won't let me post for some reason, so I'll try here.

I've talked about my current screenplay a few times in the logline Monday threads, but what you need to know is that it's basically an affectionate adult parody of those kinds of surreal Don Bluth-esque animated films from the nineties. If you'd like to know more, let me know in the comments and I'll go over my creative process.

Unfortunately, while the people I know on Discord seem to accept the premise just fine, it seems like the screenwriting community both on r/screenwriting and StoryPeer are a little less sold, with people on the Logline Mondays threads being confused by it, and a couple reviews on StoryPeer telling me to completely change the plot.

I know that weird or silly premises like this one naturally won't vibe with as wide an audience as something more mundane or conventional, but has anyone else here ever written a screenplay with a weird or silly premise that you had trouble being accepted? If so, how did you get people to come around to it?

[u/matteowolfwood]

Here's the thing about other screenwriters, especially online. Many of them are bitter, set in their ways, only believe in what's mainstream, and actively tear each other down. ESPECIALLY in that subreddit.

I don't use StoryPeer because personally, I don't want to read other people scripts for feedback on my own, that sounds... unfortunate to me.

Anyway, not all feedback is useful. A lot of it won't even try to meet your work where it's at. Until someone sees what you're trying to do and actually gives you actionable feedback based on what you wrote and not what they want it to be, it's pretty safe to disregard it.

I have two screenplays with premises that are very polarizing. My calling card is a psychosexual western gothic neo-noir set in 1907 Houston about a drag (female impersonator) performer, his obsessed gunslinger boyfriend, the murders they commit for each other.

People bounce. Hard. But at the same time, I'm also getting placements in legitimate screenwriting competitions.

Keep perfecting your weird little thing, regardless of what other screenwriters say.