Well, my reading of this "FM mania" is simple:
Many players are out for competition, they want to test their skills vs other players. But at the same time human ego is seeking ways to lay the blame at something else than one's own lacking skills. Here the FM comes into play. It's the easiest to blame since it cannot be really accurately proven that it is indeed right or wrong. It can also be seen from different POVs, depending on the data and therefor the underlying intention one presents. You can seek neutral data and try to gain a realistic picture of a type, you can try to present advantageous data because you want a type to shine or you can list disadvantages, faults and vices because you want to see a type taken down a notch or two. We've all seen such attempts ad nauseum, haven't we?
Bottom line is: People like to misuse the FM as smokescreen when they got their backside handed to them in a fight or they strive for a perceived "accuracy" based on reading books on certain types (while ignoring that real life combat performance and achievements are based on a lot more factors than simple performance information). IMO it's always an attempt at self-delusion ... Sorta.