Yeah I know what you are saying. I guess to me, both movies were more of a messenger thing, and less of a "cyclist" thing. Quicksilver being more of an underground/outlaw type movie, and the newer one coming along and jumping on the "fixie" fad after some nerds in a conference room somewhere decided that it would "sell". I've always been a fan of keeping things underground, as opposed to watering it down with the "everybody is welcome" idea. Sure, in cycling, everybody IS welcome. Everyone can get a bike and ride, and talk on forums and show off their new spandex and whatnot. Premium Rush did for messengers, what Green Day did for punk. Made everyone welcome, and opened the door for countless idiots saturating the market so no one else could make a living(in Green Days case, it just watered down a genre, and took what was a sharp stabbing object, and made it a spoon).
When i still worked as a messenger, i couldn't stand the critical mass bike idiots. One Friday every month, they would gather downtown, during the tail end of the work day, while we were still working, and basically clog up traffic and piss off the whole city. So when Monday morning came, and it was back to work for me, drivers were more aggressive and cops were more generous with the trivial tickets.
You sure it isn't the alley cat stuff that pissed them off, and not the critical mass? Bike messengers and bike delivery as a whole has a bad rap. All it takes is one rider who rides recklessly and it ruins it for everyone. I live in a smaller town. There are no messengers here, but there is a restaurant that does bike delivery across from the campus. There is an older guy who rides for them, and is pretty reckless. They received numerous complaints about him running red lights, jumping the sidewalk, splitting cars, riding the wrong way on one way roads, etc. I often see him riding on the main road here as I am riding to work. I had one guy ask me at a light if I delivered for the restaurant and if I worked with the "a-hole who rides like a ******." Mind you, I am riding to work in regular clothes, messenger bag across my back, but the driver assumed that because I was on the road and sort of looked like I might deliver, I would know him. I have met the guy, and he is alright. He gives bikers a bad name though, and where I live, there are not that many of us.
The only critical mass I have done was in Chicago in November last year, and it was police escorted. We got a lot of honks but it was mostly positive stuff, at least I hope it was.