comments in others' LJs

[scarfman]

theferrett wrote a post about extremism in fandoms, to which I responded so:

Three decades ago, if you were a crazy Star Trek fan, you had to work to find other fans, going out of your way to conventions and subscribing to badly-typed newsletters.

I didn't know you knew me then.

[there are extremist fans who] stop treating it as a hobby and start treating it as a mandate from God

I've been meaning for years to write an essay about how fandom is a symptom, or a consequence or a something, of whatever it is in us that drives us to religion, in those of us who have rejected religion or just haven't grown up with it permeating society like it used to before the Enlightenment. Because fandoms do meet many of the same human needs that organized religions meet; and, as you note here, ennable many of the same negative behaviors religion does. But it's a great, big meaty topic that needs to be done right and I'm too lazy not interested enough to actually research; I'd rather write my fanfiction and draw my crossover cartoons.

[the worst extremists get] insular and nasty, becoming spiteful towards the outside world and the heretical sub-branches of their fandom

On the other hand, I'm sure lots of the worst-behaved fans got into it partially to find someplace where they were the in crowd and could exlude others from the top.

Comments

[fisher-queen.livejournal.com]

I have an example of one of those strange sub branches of a fandom that I was a part of once.

It's funny to consider, reading this, what a psycho Tolkien fan I used to be, back in the heydey of the movies. With other psycho Tolkien fans, I joined a roleplaying game. Harmless enough? Right? Until I started getting so fanatically attached to it that the outside world all but vanished for me for a while. The power of the group sort of...had sway over almost every single member except those in rapidly different timezones who still managed to have the lives the rest of us could not.

Luckily there was a big blow up between myself and one of the other players that resulted in me and one of my friends leaving the group and once I was out and had actual time to invest in the world again, it was like I gained a totally new perspective of everything, including my fandom. By the time I did choose to go back to the group, I was beyond being sucked back into the mental place I had been in before(this was an eventual reason for parting from these people when they got pissed that I wasn't a member of their cult of personality anymore). Because I wasn't really one of them, but rather someone who had dared to LEAVE, I was not really allowed to return to the fold...

Looking back on it now, it really WAS a lot like your description of the worst extremists and while I'm still involved in lots of fandom things, I see in myself a tendency to hesitate before I throw myself in with a group of people now. I see myself resisting group dynamics, at least internally, arguing about fandom trends instead of simply going along with them... I even *gasp* have online buddies in fandoms that I know nothing about, something I don't think would have happened if I hadn't gained that perspective during my little online Tolkien blowup.

I sure didn't realize it then but to make a long reply short, I agree with this post.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Only peripherally related, but I've been saying for years that the primary distinction between a NeoPagan festival and an SF/Fantasy con is that the former is almost always held outdoors and the attendees stay in tents, while the latter usually is held in a hotel and the attendees need never see the sun for the duration. Pretty much everything else is the same - there's costuming, art, vendors, workshops, panel discussions, a dance/Masquerade, live music and song circles, guests of honor, and so forth.

I concede that there's less likely to be an anime room at a festival, I suppose.

[bewarethespork.livejournal.com]

Hi,

Not related to the post, but I'm friending you (have been meaning to do so for ages) and just thought I'd let you know.