Let’s talk about fandom, shall we? These tweets from Chuck Wendig dredged up some old emotions for me:
Fandom gatekeeping has long annoyed me. “You’re not a real fan” is a phrase that I have long
wanted banished from everyone’s vocabulary.
I don’t really understand what it is inside people that makes them want
to police other people’s fandom. Let me
give an example.
I am a fan of Doctor Who.
I fell in love with Doctor Who as a child when I saw some
reruns of the show from the Tom Baker years. I only saw a few episodes, but I
loved them. I loved the show and most of all I loved Tom Baker. Flash forward to the advent of the current
version of the show (starring Christopher Eccleston at first). I picked up immediately
on the show and counted myself as a fan. Then, when discussing the show that I
loved, I would hear from others that I wasn’t really a fan, not real fan, if I hadn’t watched all the old
iterations of the Doctor. Wasn’t truly a fan if I didn’t know all of the deep
lore. I was a newcomer. An amateur.
It seemed like people were creating strata of fandom;
assigning themselves to the pinnacle, and tossing folks like me at the base of
that pyramid. Here’s what I have to say
to those people:
FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKK YYYOOOOUUUUU. Fuck your face with
your face. Wendig has it right. If you like something, you’re a fan of it and
your fandom is no less important or real or meaningful that that of the person
who is obsessed full time.
What do you think?
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