The Dark Side Of Fandom
As many of you reading this will know, I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan. Well, actually more than a bit - I'm a huge, giant Star Trek fan. I was introduced to the Bill Shatner-helmed original series as a wee lad as my mum liked to sit and watch it when it was on (Friday nights, if I remember correctly) back in the mid-to-late 70s. I loved it then, and
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It's ironic that I'm not an SF buff particularly, but I regularly attend SF conventions. People stare at me odd when I admit to not having seen the unmissable, or not having read the standard genre texts but I go because a lot of my friends are fans and it's a good social event. Plus the folks tehre are generally more interesting than the average punter down the pub and the myth that SF fans are antisocial misfits couldn't be further from the truth.
Meanwhile, back at Trek... We went to see it because Suze is a fan. I expected to lie back and think of Turner for two hours, but I actually really enjoyed the film. Bizarrely, contrary to my suspiscion that they'd just alienated every hard core fan in the world, I found nearly all the Trek fans I know were similarly besotted. One, in particular, went to see it at least 12 times I believe.
There is of course the obvious music parallels. When this happened with Somewhere Else it was the straw that broke the camel's back and I quit the forum. My parting post was along the lines of "look guys, it's just a record and they didn't make it purposefully bad just to piss you off" and was met with a wall of derision. One reply simply read "worst. post. ever." from a poster who had evidentally not included his own bile filled diatribes that precipitated my frustration in that assessment. For my own part, I've kept my disappointment with "les is more" quite low key - part from once or twice in jest - and whenever I've said I dislike it, I've gone on to say why. I've also not done so in any place which could realistically harm sales - I haven't moaned pre-release on Amazon, or filled threads on the website with negative bile appealing people not to buy the record to the point where the owner of the forum had to ask them not to. Cue hypocritical and ill-informed rants about freedom of speech....
I bet if you asked Trek fans what they loved about the show, at least some would cite its inventiveness, creativity and unpredictability. Strange then that those same fans would decry it for those self same attributes. Sound familiar?
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As for the music side of things and the MOLF... I think we've all been there. I keep prodding away at getting some of the malcontents barred since I still post there from time to time (most recently due to posting the poll results there), but nothing ever changes. As time passes, I become more and more aware that there's no point trying to do my bit to better the place, as a Marillion-based slice of paradise already exists. I moderate it with like-minded folks, and it's called The Opium Den. I really should use it more, and this year have resolved to do so.
Your final paragraph says it all. You're absolutely 100% on the money! If I could insert a rolly-eyes emoticon, I would insert it ! :-)
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Then there's the "proper" convention, where it's all literature and panels about the sociological impact of New Caprica or whatever; which is good as far as it goes but the most fun happens when folks have had a few beers and the conversation gets going. I recall one afternoon on the beer during which I, in conjunction with a couple of folk I'd just met, designed a pufferfish gun to enable zombies to turn people into zombies at a distance. Much discussion was given to whether the shock of being fired from a gun, or that of the rapdidly approaching wall of flesh would make the fish inflate and become poisonous. A disporportionate amount of time was also dedicated to the back mounted water tank, as opposed to the firing mechanism itself....
A relatively recent development - what's become known as the 'fun con' - is my domain. An excuse to spend a weekend being desperately silly without being stupid, fun cons take all the silliness that generall ensued on the periphery of other cons and makes it the focus. Silly games, ludicrous panels, and of course, much drinking and merriment are the aim, often forsaking SF or indeed any other theme entirely. I'd heartily recommend it.
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Hopefully he'll take Lucy's advice and not come to the convention. I'm sure the atmosphere will be that little bit lighter without him there to sully it.
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"I LIKE MY GERS LIKE I LIKE MY THATTHERS: COVERED IN LENTILS"
"I HAVE REPORTED YOU TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR LIBULLING ME AS IT IS A CRIME."
"I THINK MAIDEN IS A PRETTY COOL GUY. EH THROWS LARGE THATTHERS AT NEW LABOUR AND DOESN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING!!!1!"
etc...
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With the 100%-piss-and-moan people, such as much of the plopulation of the MOLF, I usually just ignore them.
* stuff = film/music/language/computer science principle/beer
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Now that the poll is done, I think I'll be giving it a wide berth. For my own sanity if no-one else's.
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Neved like the ST series much, but loved the first Motion Picture which everyone hates! That usually leads to baffled silence. And then when I say I like the one Shatner directed you can see them foaming...:)
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