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

[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.