A rant on fandoms in general.
This is something that has been brewing in my head for a while. I just needed to get it out for peace of mind.
I am a self-proclaimed fan. I love being able to share what I like about a certain subject with other people who like the same thing. Who cares if this preoccupation is about a certain TV show, a certain movie, or a certain fantasy novel? Fandoms bring people together in cohesive groups.
When fandoms are new, they are like freshly placed glue, only beginning to become tacky as it dries. The people entering the fandom are not really discriminated against because they just came into it; everyone is in the same position. This generates engaging discussions on the subject matter, and makes everyone feel included. A good example of a fresh-faced fandom is the Supernatural one: I have yet to see in my poking around people getting flamed for coming in at a certain stage of the series. However, since I myself am very new in this particular one, I cannot vouch for all.
However, it is when fandoms become extremely large and diverse that schisms form. At this point, the glue of the metaphor has dried, and it is very hard for new fans to gain the same acceptance that the original fans of that fandom experienced from the beginning. This generates arguments on which is better, with fans standing staunchly in their respective camps. Most of the large fandoms are like this, with it notably being Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Tolkien.
Schisms form most often either because the show runs for long enough that there are pronounced changes between the beginning and the end, there are spinoffs to the original, or there are the same thing on different media. Most often, the fans of the original become elitist towards those who weren't there from the beginning. And this peeves me off really bad, as most often I enter a fandom later than the original fans did, but appreciate the same subject matter.
In conclusion: I say that cold water needs to be thrown on these elitist fans to wake them up to the fact that their fandom is still attracting people, and need to make their glue undried. Because elitism is a really big turnoff to timid people who might have a new opinion that hasn't been heard before in the fandom.
I am a self-proclaimed fan. I love being able to share what I like about a certain subject with other people who like the same thing. Who cares if this preoccupation is about a certain TV show, a certain movie, or a certain fantasy novel? Fandoms bring people together in cohesive groups.
When fandoms are new, they are like freshly placed glue, only beginning to become tacky as it dries. The people entering the fandom are not really discriminated against because they just came into it; everyone is in the same position. This generates engaging discussions on the subject matter, and makes everyone feel included. A good example of a fresh-faced fandom is the Supernatural one: I have yet to see in my poking around people getting flamed for coming in at a certain stage of the series. However, since I myself am very new in this particular one, I cannot vouch for all.
However, it is when fandoms become extremely large and diverse that schisms form. At this point, the glue of the metaphor has dried, and it is very hard for new fans to gain the same acceptance that the original fans of that fandom experienced from the beginning. This generates arguments on which is better, with fans standing staunchly in their respective camps. Most of the large fandoms are like this, with it notably being Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Tolkien.
Schisms form most often either because the show runs for long enough that there are pronounced changes between the beginning and the end, there are spinoffs to the original, or there are the same thing on different media. Most often, the fans of the original become elitist towards those who weren't there from the beginning. And this peeves me off really bad, as most often I enter a fandom later than the original fans did, but appreciate the same subject matter.
In conclusion: I say that cold water needs to be thrown on these elitist fans to wake them up to the fact that their fandom is still attracting people, and need to make their glue undried. Because elitism is a really big turnoff to timid people who might have a new opinion that hasn't been heard before in the fandom.