Thoughts on Fandom

Watching American Idol again has caused me to reflect on the past two years when I first became a big fan of both Carrie Underwood and Anthony Fedorov. It was the first time I ever became a big "fan" of anyone and it exposed me to the whole new world of Fandom that I was before blissfully unaware of. I not only enjoyed my time in the Fandoms I actively took part in, but it was also interesting - and at times entertaining - to observe other fandoms as well. During my time spent in this world, I met some wonderful people who, though I have not met any of them personally or even spoken to them on the telephone, have certainly brightened and enriched my life. I enjoy all the conversations we have both on message boards and off.

There are also those fans who are very dedicated to not only the person they are a fan of, but to their fellow fans. They spend hours providing media for all the fans to enjoy, act as moderators (usually a thankless job), tracking down all the latest news and interviews, and are always available to answer questions any new fans might have. Much of this is done out of the goodness of their hearts and I find them invaluable to a Fandom. And finally, there are the majority of fans who never cause any trouble, yet are not afraid to post their thoughts and opinions which make a fansite an interesting place to be a part of. Although I might not know them personally, it feels as though I do and I appreciate every single one of them.

There are also the bad apples of fandom. I would be remiss if I didn't admit that at times I haven't always been perfect and may have on occasion fallen into a couple of categories, but I have learned and try to not make the same annoying mistakes repeatedly. The following examples are pretty common in Fandom and are usually benign, unless there are large numbers of them or things are taken to the extreme. Then it can be a real problem.

Angelwingers: There are a couple American Idol fan groups, we all know who they are, that are notorious for this and cause other fan groups to either despise them or snicker at them. The Angelwingers simply cannot stomach anyone ANYWHERE having something negative to say about the person they are a fan of, even if there is evidence that its true or only a valid opinion. They will spend untold amounts of time writing editors and columnists who had the audacity to not be "mojo'd" by a performer. They will boycott SERIOUSLY another celebrity that is negative in any small way toward the same person they admire so much and rail against the "haters" on every message board imaginable and think of several outlandish conspiracy theories as to why their Idol didn't win. At the same time, their adored Idol can refer to their fans as "fat bitter whores on a good day" and some of those same fans will excuse that appalling behavior rather than admit they might have wasted precious time supporting someone that was undeserving of it. This results in a Fandom that has a bad reputation among people in the industry, other fangroups, and ultimately can reflect badly on the very person they idolize.

Pearlclutchers: The Pearlclutchers see things through rose colored glasses, everything that happens surrounding the Idol they admire is a matter of life or death and they often times forget that the person they admire is an an adult with all their mental faculties intact. For example, if their Idol's career isn't going exactly as this fan thinks should happen, well then its all over! They are a failure and will never have a singing career! Dating is another issue; if a male Idol dates or shows an interest in someone, the "he is too good for her" and "she might take advantage of him and hold him back" kind of talk starts up, sometimes it gets even cattier than that. If the female Idol dates, well then it cannot be discussed. At all. Even if she discusses her relationship in an interview, then its best that you carefully refrain from mentioning that part of the interview when you post; and if there are public pictures of her with said boyfriend, then for the love of God DO NOT POST THEM! Otherwise, you run the risk of having a whole swarm of pearlclutchers coming down on you for "spreading rumors and invading her privacy" and loudly shouting for the moderators to LOCK! THIS! THREAD! On the other hand, when their idol has been proven to have said or done something they disapprove of - and it doesn't take much - there is much wailing of "where is the sweet boy/girl that I fell in love with who would never do something like that! They must have changed!" Of course, a whole lot of unnecessary fandom angst predictably ensues. Usually its not that the Idol changed or did anything really wrong, only that he/she didn't live up to the impossible expectations and projections that were placed on them.

Hand-slapping Mamas: This is a variation of the Pearlclutcher who act as self-appointed "junior mods" and feel it is their duty to tell other members what is and is not acceptable to discuss at any given time. A good example of a handslap is, "I can't believe you people! You claim to be fans and yet you continue to...." and a long and often times boring lecture follows. What the little hand-slapper really means to say is, "I can't tolerate ANY talk about this subject because I have issues and it makes ME uncomfortable, so to hell with the rest of you, y'all suck and are not a true fan like I AM." If there's a good amount of these hand-slappers running rampant and unchallenged, it results in a boring fandom where fans are afraid to say anything other than, "Cool! Thanks for posting."

BFF's and Insiders: These fans are funny to watch, but can cause a lot of trouble if they are allowed to get out of hand. The BFF's and Insiders weasel their way into the good graces of the gullible family, friends, bandmembers and acquaintances of the one they admire. Immediately, they get an over-inflated sense of their importance to the Fandom and even to the person they are a fan of. This results in the person becoming insufferable and outright rude to other fans. They inevitably act as a self-appointed spokesperson on all matters concerning their Idol, and tease other members with SUPER TOP SECRET information that only those they deem worthy can know. Of course, their information is usually crap and there is an either an inevitable fall from grace or a direct smackdown from the one they so admired. When its all over, they wonder why they don't have any fandom friends left to cushion the fall.

While the above bad apples in large numbers can be trouble enough, the next two types are the really rotten ones of the bunch; these are the ones that can ruin a fansite and divide a Fandom if allowed to go unchecked.

The Bitter: One day, they seem perfectly fine and sane but something SNAPS! Suddenly, they are very upset with the fansite, the admins and mods, more than a few other fans and at times the very person they were a fan of. Long dissertations are posted as to why they are so angry, how they are the only person "honest" enough to address said issues. A whole big hoopla starts and people are called out either by name or by not-so-subtle hinting, leaving most other fans shrugging and wondering WTF just happened? If challenged, they retreat somewhat, bat their eyelashes and seem so surprised at the shitstorm they started up and claim they only have everyone's best interests at heart. Please. You would think that if they are so unhappy, the Bitter would just leave. However, the Bitter usually end up staying and spend their time spreading joy by make sniping comments towards other members in various threads, making vague references on how they have been wronged and hinting darkly of things they know that would SHOCK US ALL!!!! For crying out loud, if your are so miserable, just LEAVE already!

The Recurrent Suicidal: This is a variation on the bitter fan, but its taken to a whole other level of crazy. I am not talking about suicide in the literal and serious sense, I am talking about repeated "messageboard suicides". It starts out first with this person committing a board suicide by saying they are LEAVING! THE! BOARD! and are never coming back, for reasons that are vague at best but usually make no sense whatsoever to the casual fan who just wants an update on their Idol. After much drama and self-important ranting, it eventually ends in a "Goodbye CRUEL board!!!!!" post. Some softhearted regulars will fall all over themselves convincing this person to step back from the ledge and stay because the fansite wouldn't be the same without them blah blah blah. So of course, the Recurrent Suicidal magnanimously agrees to stay and continue to grace us with his/her presence. A few months pass, another board suicide from the same person predictably happens. This time, not so many people care if he/she stays or goes, but a decent amount of fellow fans pay enough attention to make this second board suicide attempt worthwhile. Lather, rinse, repeat - emotional manipulation at its best! This continues until finally the only people that care about the Recurrent Suicidal leaving is a few impressionable youngsters and a few fellow McBitters, but the damage has already been done which is exactly what the recurrent suicidal wanted. The last suicide is never, ever final - they just keep coming back like a batshit crazy phoenix rising from the ashes.

Despite the nonsense from the very very few, my first experience with being a fan has been fun overall. I learned many things about myself and about people in general, particularly when we are somewhat protected by internet anonymity. Most importantly, the key to always enjoy being a fan is to not take it so seriously and never put any human being on a pedestal; celebrate all the wonderful successes that comes to the person you admire and don't panic during the low points; and finally, remember the person you became a fan of and the reasons why - that keeps everything in perspective and excessive drama at bay.