Fans and the People Who Love Them

[fangirljen]

I was confronted by something kind of random today. My co-worker, Matt, drew me into a conversation about Fandom. It was he who brought it up, which simply astounded me. He started the conversation by saying, "Hey, Jen. I think you should write a book about fandom." This is an idea that I've tossled about with for a while, but at the moment I'

Comments

[measkren]

You're not a real Doctor Who fan until you own a large remote control Dalek and remote control K-9...;)

I would just like to make the point that it's natural for people to be drawn together to a cause. The question is whether or not obsession in that cause is healthy. It is a natural tendency for us to put on pedestals whatever or whomever fascinates us. Still, there is no denying that the root of fanaticism is the word fan.

Take, for instance, our fascination for particular entertainers. What is it about people that makes people turn these entertainers into social icons? The late Beatle John Lennon was excoriated for pronouncing the Beatles as bigger than Jesus, but in retrospect he was merely commenting on the irrationality of Beatlemania.

My sister once got to meet Sir Paul McCartney through a business engagement. She actually talked to him and shook his hand. She told me she would never wash her hand again (which means, of course, that her hand must be pretty dirty by now). ;)

I once got to meet an shake hands with Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. And I immediately washed my hand...

I have always found people at conventions to be fascinating to talk to and generally kind and fun to be with, but I've often wondered how other guests at the hotel must view these fans, who dress up as though it were Halloween. They must surely be baffled by our behavior, and I'm sure that we must seem strange to them. We risk ridicule and stereotyping. But a convention is a meeting place, a place to share interests and foster community, and that is the good part of it.

Still, I've never wanted to be pelted with rice and strange liquids at a showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." ;)

I think this is why we do it, then: for the community, the common interest, and, perhaps, to fill up our lives, whether they be empty or not. It gives us a purpose, a raison d'etre. As long as I can go home in the morning with no more than a hangover, it's all okay.