Fandom, the general trend and all

Dear All,

      Perhaps this topic was touched on a bit in the previous discussions on improving art. But here's the idea: what are the general thumb-up and thumb-down of fandom (fans) nowadays?

      I am not inclined to attack the idea of fandom and idols, because they are a natural phenomena and do give an individual something to look forward to or someone to use as an example of who-I-wanna-be. But equally, I am seeing the trend of fandom as a problem.

      Instead of simply respecting an idol (like a musician or an artist or a sports player) as the leading example of a field, or simply liking a piece of artwork, fandom these days are entering the "plastic era" as I like to term it. Very crudely putting it, fans are like sharks these days ready to sink their teeth into anyone who threatens the characters they respect- especially manga/anime fans, as far as I observe (though this is perhaps because fans of comics/anime are usually teenagers and teenagers tend to be a bit more aggresive and extreme).

      In the general trend of things, I imagine the conservative and naturally good-looking girls of the past, holding the burden of big responsibilities, understanding the hardship of their families, and compared this to the modern teenage girls with her cellphones and make-ups to attain pseudo-beauty, as well as the flowery dresses, I am somewhat horrified. Of course, this apply to guys too, but generally anime fans tend to be girls (this could be my stereotype assumption, don't hold me to it), so, yeah.

      So, what are your take on this?

-With utmost sincerity and respect,

Puayen

On Sep 10, 2007 5:23 am, puayen said:

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean teens are fighting over which anime is better? I have seen a lot of that but I don't think that's what you mean.

Oh, I am meaning fans fighting over "he/she is mine!", fighting over using characters' name as their username, shrieking fan-girl screams, things of that sort. Fighting over which anime is better is okay; it is similar to fighting and justifying over which literature is better. However, fighting over anime and so forth just because of the sheer explicit looks of the character -a temptation upon the human's beastial nature- is not so well, especially when the severity of it all interferes with the rationality of the fan in other regular daily activities.

I generally dislike how rabid fans can become over the dumbest things.  I've seen Tolkien fans literally rip to shreds and flame an  otherwise perfectly fine illustration because the artist was uninformed enough to give Fingolfin blonde hair.  (The horror!!) Okay, details like that can be annoying for hardcore fans but honestly, is it to hard to calmly inform the artist that they made a mistake?  And do it only once?

I particularly hate when fans flame anyone they feel has, in any way, slighted the person or character they admire.  Because I think Sasuke is a whiny brat who needs to grow up, doesn't mean I think his fans are losers.  It has nothing to do with his fans so why do they feel the need to attack me for my opinion with their 'Whoever hates Sasuke will die!!!!1!' idiocy?  Because frankly, I could care less how they feel about that character; it's not going to alter my opinion one bit.

I remember on Youtube not to long ago, another user and I dared to joke about the group Celtic Woman's stage set up.  Now, I really love their music and their voices and think they're all immensely talented, but part of their stage design resembles a star gate portal.  The exact comments were: otheruser: They're incredible singers but why do they have a star gate portal on their stage?" Mycomment: Because aliens like Celtic Woman too!"  And sure enough, some rabid, irrational fan came along and insulted both of us for a perceived slight against their idols.  Personally, I thought we were both acknowledging that they were talented...even if their set designer came up with odd concepts.  Why did someone feel the need to assure us the group is amazing beyond belief and we stupid losers?

I think that "You have to like what I like or you're stupid" attitude as well as the all out *need* of some people to attack others with differing opinions is really what turns me off most fandoms.  The characters and their creators, the artists you admire, the musicians, the actors--not one of them needs their little creepy fans to defend them.  People should let talent stand on its own.

But I do think it's mostly just immaturity on the part of the fan.  Usually the ones who act like that are young teenagers who just haven't realized such behavior doesn't make them look 'cool' but just the opposite. 

Though that's not true of Tolkien fandom.  It's a bizarre world over which fans of any age can be weirdly and scarily protective....

This isn't a recent thing. 

Over the years I have recoiled with disgust from the rabid fans.  I've been attacked by many of these jerks when stating my opinion on certain things.  I stand my ground and tell them I have a right to state my opinion and if that rattles the very foundations of their twisted private universe - too bad.

I know that everyone has a personal and often different view of their favorite anime/manga, etc. I try to look for kindred spirits.  I move on if I don't find what I'm looking for in a certain group and so on.  I don't just force my will on others. 

I'll give you a prime example.  I have been a fan of The Predator movies since 1991.  I have comics, figures, novels - everything!!  After the recent AvP movie a new wave of fans arrived.  I was happy and eager to mesh with the new people.  Sadly I found that many fans had a very different perspective.  In once instance a young  artist rendered a Yautja female (The predator hunter call themselves Yautja) with breasts.  Ugh!!! They don't have breasts. I mentioned that politley that the hunters females DO NOT have breasts - they live in a matriarch society and are bigger and badder than the males. It's part of the reason why I love the Yautja society.  Women rule!  I was flamed for my comment and I quietly left the fan group.

We all have different points of view.  But I didn't start a war - I just stated my piece and after their ugly response - left.

Yes, those are quite practically my points. But perhaps, unfortunately, the word "fan" is derived from "fanatics", and fanaticism doesn't adhere to logical composure quite well.

1)  The internet has created an environment where access meets anonymity, and people can make irresponsible comments and never have to bear the backlash created by them.  A person can live in a highly insulated world, tossing out self-aggrandizing statements and ignore, skip, or selectively quote what doesn't fit the template.

2)  We've gotten to the point where the right to speak has been trumped by the right to be free from offense.  Consequently, minor disagreements get blown out of proportion.

3)  Some people have nothing productive to add to a dialogue, an artistic venture, an environment but still want to be important.  Regrettably these people become critics of those who can for the sole purpose of being the center of attention they otherwise never would be.

4)  There are no single definitions of words like true, logic, mature, intelligent, etc.

...just off the top of my head.

It's starts off as a 'coolness' factor, but can easily become a competition to have *the* coolness factor to show that you're the biggest fan.

To me, fandom in art, writing and comic is fine, as long as the person has imagination. I've done fandoms before, but it comes across hollow with the obvious contributers- the MAry Sues that want to hang out with their idols/power/ world, generally poor writers that may have a good story  but don't write it well, or draw it well or what ever, and the supply and demand where if there is demand of a fan base the supply of fandom goes up for popularity.

These three things is what scares me off from fandoms.

Thank goodness there are people that CAN do fandoms. Done well, they're great, cause they have prefabricated worlds that allowe you to be more imaginative with plot lines rather than character creation etc... That, or creating new characters can be fun to see how you can toy with the limits of the "group" or the worlds or whatevers abilitys are.

In my comic Slayers Game, it's quite cool, cause even though I draw it, I don't write it. IT is actually a FANcomic of my world Phaurorland. I had ALOT of fun watching my writers tinker with ideas for cool Arkillian Dragon powers the hero could have, and interesting back storys etc... The world was written and trailed and true- It's like roleplaying at that point

Fandom to me makes ALOT of sense, and so does fangirling/boying Hate mail and stuff I don't get. Some people get to personal- that gets freaky >.>

I think life is too short to obsess over anything too much.

Most of my problems with fandoms and my thoughts on them have been (accurately) nailed already, but can I just add some more?

It's not just anime. Obsessed fans are everywhere, but we only hear about anime or Harry Potter much of the time. I think certain things just attract crazy weirdoes; for example, anything involving anime or furries/anthros will almost always bring the crazeh to the yard. And Disney fans act almost like cultists: they hate any other company that isn't Disney, and I've even had a Disney fan threaten to find out where I live and beat me up before (because there's nothing scarier then a troll! ). I find that sad, because I like both Disney and anthros.

I hate how insular some fandoms seem to be. It's almost like the fans have 'cave syndrome' and new pple are viewed as intruders. Like Puayen and several others have mentioned, I also hate the rabid fanbrats that attack anyone who dares to disagree with the resident BNF.

I’ve dabbled in about maybe eight fandoms in total. Now, there are only two that I’m still friendly with the majority of the pple in them. These are small fandoms based around older shows, which I've come to notice tend to be much calmer and more mature. The others I had to leave eventually because most of the pple were getting too maddening to put up with. What I find especially disturbing are the adults who behave badly. Honestly, they should know better. 

I've had to cut off communication with several pple because of this exact same problem (of course, these pple also had other quirks that had become more annoying over time and harder to put up with). Why are pple so threatened by someone else having a different opinion?

I think, in terms of fandom, its not common at all to have blindly devoted fans. It just seems that way cause you don't notice the non-otaku type people. The non obsessives. The obsessive types to me are comparitive to people who have phobias of something. They can't stand the thought of something so badly, that they block it out in fear. It's like Homophobes and stuff.

It's extreme, but they're so blind to it, they don't realise what they're doing.

You have to admire an obsessive fan though- they're really passionate about what they love ^^ That's an admirable quality ^^ I wish more people in the world would hand their passion over to more things in this world. It'll make the world more wholesome ^^ (And quirky XD )

On Mar 30, 2008 4:53 pm, arkillian said:

If you mean that the crazy loudmouths get more attention because of their antics, then yeah, I see what you mean.

The fanbrat /phobic person comparison is a good one. Aside from dislike, a part of me pities the obsessive fans. It kind of says a bit about your mental condition if you're THAT obsessed with something. Their passion is rather frightening in some cases, to be honest.

Not really if you think about it- it's like falling in love, or being passionate about a hobby. If they enforce their beliefs however, I object to that. I'm all for a healthy obsession though ^^ It puts a sparkle in your character, and give you desire. This is an awesome thing to me. I wish though that some of those artists would try harder for their passion though rather than spamming everyone....

I think its more a matter of maturity as Nic Giraffe touched on earlier. Nic said that the fans of the older animes are less annoying than fans of the newer stuff. This could be because the fans of the older shows watched those shows when they were new and have aged a bit since then. And the mature ones I think might also be quieter so its hard to gauge how many non-crazed otakus are out there.

On Apr 3, 2008 11:33 pm, BogusRed said:

Thanks, BogusRed. Actually though, I think that the fanbases for older stuff in general (books/movies/etc.) tend to calm. I'm in the Gummi Bears and Krypto The Superdog fandoms, and they're quiet and normal compared to, say, the Supernatural and Disney fandoms. Sure, there are a few loons here and there, but they pale in comparison to the armies of slobbering wackjobs we hear stories about in other fandoms, especially new, popular ones.

Also, let me just quickly add that I hate the misogyny of many fanbrats in different fandoms (this trend occurs in too many fandoms to name), as well as character bashing.