Fandom Talk
So for anyone who’s followed me for a while you’ll know I’m not a content creator (bless those that are, you are amazing) and I’m not a lengthy talking poster but something happened today and I need to vent a little.
I don’t like fandom wars and I tend to stay away and unfollow anyone that gets involved in them. I’m happy for people to discuss the pros and cons of their fandom or another fandom as long as its discussion!
But today while on another platform I came across a “fan” who actually said “I want revenge against celebrity X”. Like what the hell?!?! You want revenge? Isn’t that a little extreme? Pray tell, why would that be?
Turns out their reasons were the following: 1. They didn’t like their music. 2. They didn’t like their acting. 3. Celebrity X was in too many ads. 4. The fans of Celebrity X were bad and mean and were doing worse things (?!?!?). 5. Celebrity X was talking too much time away from the OP’s chosen celebrity.
Like what the hell! Those are you reasons! Pretty sure there are bigger things in this world to worry about.
Now normally I wouldn’t engage to this but I really felt like this person was just being far to extreme for such petty reasons.
I asked how do they think they have the right to try and destroy a persons career, to make them loose jobs simply because you don’t like them. Its horrendous, it’s bullying! You don’t know this person, you have no idea what they are like in real life. If you don’t like their music, don’t listen to it. If you don’t like their acting, don’t watch the movie. I mean I don’t like Justin Bieber but I don’t go around telling people not to buy his music or going to every website possible and down rating everything to do with him. Finally I pointed out that true fans should always respect other fandoms, they should support their chosen celebrity or fandom without trashing other fandoms.
The OP’s response: Well they brought it on themselves by being sexist and racist.
Wait, what? Now this blew me away. It came so far out of left field. What the hell?!? There has never been anything I have seen that suggests Celebrity X is in anyway racist or sexist.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was just mind blowing. That a person disliked someone that much that they were seeing such negative things that weren’t there, that they were will to spread negative things with no proof. That they, as a fan, were willing to go and do actual negative actions out there in the internet world that would have real life implications! I didn’t engage any further, I’d said my piece and I was happy with that but there was nothing I could ever have said to the OP that would make them act in any rational way.
I should know better. I lived through various fandom wars over the years from Sterek, Buffy’s Angel vs Spike, Destiel, something in the Harry Potter verse, Stargate ships, internal fandom wars of shows, different show fandoms fighting against each other. People going into tags and trashing them.
And what’s it for? Nothing! It doesn’t improve the fandom, it doesn’t make one ship better than another, it doesn’t make one fandom better than another, it doesn’t make support for you chosen celebrity or groups of celebrities better than others.
It just makes people angry or upset, it takes the joy out of fandom. It ruins it!
There is enough shit in this world that you don’t need to heap it on something that brings joy to people.
Sorry for the long post, rant over.
