Fandom = wank

{Doh! This was originally written 11/30/05 and saved as a draft instead of posted.}

I had an experience yesterday I would much rather have been without. I was in a chat window with some people, idling while doing 20,000 other things at once, and when I clicked back to the window, the chat were talking about someone I know. They didn't know I knew this person. I was so surprised to see my old comrade's name in a completely new medium that I smiled and watched, intending to jump in and chirp about the small-world effect. The smile faded, because what some of the people were saying wasn't very nice. Or fair. Most of it was second-hand crap they'd supposedly heard from other people. Names were dropping left and right and all sorts of "fandom" acronyms being passed to the point where I almost couldn't read the conversation.

I didn't really know what they were talking about. I'm fandom-free. I'd even go so far as to say I'm anti-fandom of pretty much any kind. Because fans can be scary. - please note, to understand that link, you'll need to check out what that blog is about. I'm not going into the back story of it other than to say some crazyrabid fans really fucked life up for a whole lot of people in their obsession quest to meet their fandombait.

I used to go to a lot of Scifi/Fantasy/Movie cons.. because I'm a geek and I freely admit that. I stopped going because the people began to creep me out. More and more of the "fans" I encountered were completely obsessive. I also noticed a really nasty trend of defensiveness amongst the "fans" - gods help you if you didn't worship their Flavour of the Week Fandom, because they would turn nasty in a second. They were.. ugly. Not all of them - there were still a lot of really nice people out there, but .. more and more of the ones I encountered were truly horrific specimens that I wanted nothing to do with. The ones who would obsessively talk about their favorite "fanon" or "OTP" or, worse, the scads of "fanfic" they'd written or read. (I have a whole 'nother rant to go on about how I feel about 'fanfic' but that's for another day.) There was also a lot of actor/author bashing going on amongst the "fans" and that bothered me. People would get into fandom wars that devolved into horrible mudslinging matches with absolutely hateful things being thrown back and forth, words meant to wound. The whole attitude made me uncomfortable, so I removed myself from the medium.

To return to why I just bored you with all that - the person being talked about is apparently widely known throughout several fandoms for sharing less than contemporary views. The people in the chat were talking about this person in a fairly derogatory manner, and said things which immediately let me know they absolutely did not know the person they were talking about. Because, you see, I do know this person. Haven't talked to them in awhile, but this person is not likely to open their mouth without evidence to back their words up. This person's views aren't mainstream, they aren't popular, and they're controversial as hell - but regardless of what I think of the theories - the person promoting them has reason to think them and promote them, because they wouldn't do it without valid, verifiable reason. I watched that get completely disregarded by the people in the chat who flat out didn't want to even acknowledge that the person MIGHT be right, because it would upset their entire rose-tinted view of actors in their fandom. I watched them bash on this person and tear down the person's point of view for no other reason than to blatantly defend their idea of their fandom. They were spiteful, hateful, hurtful, and horrible, and it made me feel ill to even read it.

I sat there and watched it, and didn't jump in, because at first I didn't really understand, and by the time I did, I was too angry. It gave me a good idea of who to watch out for, because anyone rabid enough about their fandom that they go out of their way to be hateful to anyone else about it is right up there at the top of my list of people I don't want to associate with. It also validated my desire to stay far outside of fandom as a social institution. It made me feel very bad for my comrade, that they were the target of so much hate. The horrible part is knowing that I couldn't defend them - even if I'd tried, the people being awful wouldn't have stopped and probably just would've gotten worse, and it would've been all over their website today as more ammunition to hurt my comrade. So I watched and took notes on who to avoid. I could've been nasty and hateful back, and verbally cut the antagonistic little brats to shreds and sent them crying home to mommy.. but that would've sunk me to their level and I refuse to go there. It would also have served no purpose. It wouldn't have changed their opinion or opened their minds.

It's odd, in a way. This blog began as an offshoot of my rants on the Horde, but up until now, none of my rants have really been about those types of "fans".

The Horde - for the few of you googling - is not the Great Dark Horde - it stands for 'Wide eyed galloping horde'. The kind of people who obsess over an actor based on either looks or the presumption that the actor is anything like a character they've portrayed. Imagine a group of people standing around, chatting. You mention The Latest, Greatest Movie, because you've just seen it and want to know if anyone else has. The person who jumps at you and begins gushing about an actor and how hot/cute/sexy they are and won't shut up about it, carrying on about the actor's entire filmography and their favourite moments of each movie? That's a Horde member. My best example of a Horde moment - I encountered one girl going psychotic over Ian McKellan. I nodded, smiled, and wished her luck. She began screaming at me that she would 'get him', they were 'meant to be together' and how 'everyone says he's gay but they're wrong, I know he's not!' Sir Ian, btw, is homosexual and has been public about it for years. At that point, I began backing away slowly. More recently, it's been Nathan Fillion. It seems to have escaped quite a few people that Mal Reynolds is a fictional character. I've had discussions about his demeanor and it makes me boggle - have these people seen the outtakes, or the gag reels? Or, have they missed the picture of him in a skirt?

I can't wait until Slither comes out.