On Fandom
The Internet is a funny old place. You can advertise your business, follow a news story as it breaks, look up a fact, buy and sell. You can while away hours at a time watching podcasts or playing MMORPGs. Above all, it's a breeding ground for fans.
It's difficult to remember how fandom operated in the old days. Bigger, older franchises like Doctor Who and Star Trek always held conventions, of course; fans of book series formed clubs and happily queued up at signings. Surely one of the most venerable clubs in existence is the Sherlock Holmes Society, which has been meeting up and down the country and sending members to the Reichenbach Falls since 1934. I went to an event organised by the Society when I was in my teens; it examined various aspects of the Great Detective's world, such as bee keeping (his retirement hobby), violin playing and the history of the character on film. (This was long before Sherlock or the Guy Ritchie films - I wonder what they would have thought of them). Although it was an interesting, informative evening and an alternative to mooching around the house, I don't think I would have gone regularly. And I speak as a devoted fan.
Enter t'Internet, and everything changed. Websites, discussion boards, blogs and vlogs proliferated. Anybody could start a group, provided they had the time and patience - if they used Yahoo Groups, they didn't even need knowhow. I should know, I ran an extremely active Heavenly Creatures group for 3 years, once receiving an email from Jean Guerin, the film's incarnation of "IT", aka Orson Welles. At one time I was a member of numerous different discussion boards: Tintin, Harry Potter, Buffy, His Dark Materials. For somebody who was hating their first year at uni and struggled to meet like minded people, these groups were a godsend. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, you bonded over a mutual love of Joss Whedon or boy wizards.
It bothers me that fans get such negative press. The media typically portrays them as deranged teenage girls or unhealthy loners festering away in their basement, but ignore the fact that everyone's a fan, whether it's of their football team or Star Wars. (And, indeed, why should one interest be deemed more socially acceptable than another?) Most of us are normal, law abiding folk with functioning relationships with real live partners. While I have met people who lived and breathed their fandom to the exclusion of all else, these are thankfully a rarity and usually grow out of it.
Fan fic authors and cosplayers are the butt of many a joke, but this hardly seems fair. You've got to start writing somewhere, and what's better than a ready made, receptive audience? Strangers might not want to read your original swords and sorcery epic but they will if it's an offshoot of a beloved franchise. Even slash, its derided second cousin, has its purpose. Women have few arenas to act out their fantasies, and presumably writing favourite characters doing the wacky fulfils that need. There is still a stigma against women being aroused by gay erotica, so this allows them to explore their desires in a safe and non judgemental environment. Nor is this a recent development; people were scribbling Kirk / Spock way back in the Seventies. As for cosplayers, their talent and ingenuity is nothing short of amazing. I could never be anything other than a girl in a dopey outfit, but they can rustle up stunning Game of Thrones and Disney costumes from scratch.
In an unpredictable, often hostile world, fandom is a welcome haven. You can discuss, experiment and even fall in love. Come on, what's a better way of sussing out a would be partner than knowing they've the same taste in books or films as you? Wouldn't it be great to meet someone who didn't sneer at comics and accompanied you to conventions?
Have fun!
It's difficult to remember how fandom operated in the old days. Bigger, older franchises like Doctor Who and Star Trek always held conventions, of course; fans of book series formed clubs and happily queued up at signings. Surely one of the most venerable clubs in existence is the Sherlock Holmes Society, which has been meeting up and down the country and sending members to the Reichenbach Falls since 1934. I went to an event organised by the Society when I was in my teens; it examined various aspects of the Great Detective's world, such as bee keeping (his retirement hobby), violin playing and the history of the character on film. (This was long before Sherlock or the Guy Ritchie films - I wonder what they would have thought of them). Although it was an interesting, informative evening and an alternative to mooching around the house, I don't think I would have gone regularly. And I speak as a devoted fan.
Enter t'Internet, and everything changed. Websites, discussion boards, blogs and vlogs proliferated. Anybody could start a group, provided they had the time and patience - if they used Yahoo Groups, they didn't even need knowhow. I should know, I ran an extremely active Heavenly Creatures group for 3 years, once receiving an email from Jean Guerin, the film's incarnation of "IT", aka Orson Welles. At one time I was a member of numerous different discussion boards: Tintin, Harry Potter, Buffy, His Dark Materials. For somebody who was hating their first year at uni and struggled to meet like minded people, these groups were a godsend. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, you bonded over a mutual love of Joss Whedon or boy wizards.
It bothers me that fans get such negative press. The media typically portrays them as deranged teenage girls or unhealthy loners festering away in their basement, but ignore the fact that everyone's a fan, whether it's of their football team or Star Wars. (And, indeed, why should one interest be deemed more socially acceptable than another?) Most of us are normal, law abiding folk with functioning relationships with real live partners. While I have met people who lived and breathed their fandom to the exclusion of all else, these are thankfully a rarity and usually grow out of it.
Fan fic authors and cosplayers are the butt of many a joke, but this hardly seems fair. You've got to start writing somewhere, and what's better than a ready made, receptive audience? Strangers might not want to read your original swords and sorcery epic but they will if it's an offshoot of a beloved franchise. Even slash, its derided second cousin, has its purpose. Women have few arenas to act out their fantasies, and presumably writing favourite characters doing the wacky fulfils that need. There is still a stigma against women being aroused by gay erotica, so this allows them to explore their desires in a safe and non judgemental environment. Nor is this a recent development; people were scribbling Kirk / Spock way back in the Seventies. As for cosplayers, their talent and ingenuity is nothing short of amazing. I could never be anything other than a girl in a dopey outfit, but they can rustle up stunning Game of Thrones and Disney costumes from scratch.
In an unpredictable, often hostile world, fandom is a welcome haven. You can discuss, experiment and even fall in love. Come on, what's a better way of sussing out a would be partner than knowing they've the same taste in books or films as you? Wouldn't it be great to meet someone who didn't sneer at comics and accompanied you to conventions?
Have fun!
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