I personally don't think any of these people are fodder. For me (and specifically this thread) it is like this:
Do you know how a lot of people say that they don't hate Sasuke, but they hate his fans? Well it is similar with me and a lot of Lee/Guy fans. I love Lee and Guy as characters. It is just the constant bash on successful people that a lot (not all) of Lee/Guy fans do that annoys me.
I personally have no problems with weak people themselves. In fact, Hinata is one of my favorites. When it comes down to the fighting and actual ninjas stuff however, that is when I want to see the big guns like Madara, Naruto, etc... come out.