Fandom. Can’t we all just get along?
Posted By Kathleen David on June 17, 2006
I posted the cartoon because I found it amusing. I think maybe I should have phrased the title better but I did like the comments I got. Feedback is a wonderful thing but don’t feel like you have to comment unless you want to comment on what I say or post.
I am writing this with Shoreleave less than a month away. I have been thinking about conventions I really feel at home at rather than just a guest of the convention or a visitor. A number of years ago the conventions that felt like home were ChattaCon, LibertyCon, Atlanta Fantasy Fair, Magnum Opus Con, and DragonCon. Now the list is Farpoint, LunaCon, I-Con, Shoreleave, and DragonCon. These are conventions I feel very comfortable at and know that I am going to have a good time with good friends. Some of the conventions I use to feel at home at don’t exist anymore for various reasons but a lot of it boils down to a delicate subject in itself which is fandom.
I have been a fan for a long time. I started going to convention when I was a teenager. I got into costuming through fandom first before I got into theatrical costuming. I saw my first episode of the Avengers at a convention (It was Never, Never Say Die with Christopher Lee which was the first time I think I saw him too). I saw my first Doctor Who episode at a convention. I think it was a Dixie-Trek and I know the episode was “Sunmakers”. I also met one of my oldest friends who I am still friends with there Bill Ritch. I found a lot of different things that became passions at conventions and the Atlanta Science Fiction Club that met once a month. I also found a lot of people I could talk about these passions.
I also found politics and disagreements that went from minor tiff to major all out flame war BEFORE the internet existed. I have watched conventions disappear due to in-fighting between the convention committee or fighting with other conventions for position or even customers. I have had to deal with fans so rabid about their point of view that they find themselves quickly without support. Then there are the true loonies that have their own little world that they live in and if you try to get them to look at the world the way it really is they meltdown. I have met obsessed fans who have latched onto an author or an actor in their minds they are really good friends with this famous person where as the object of their affection is just being kind and many times regrets their kindness later.
Then there are the real BNF (Big Named Fans) and those who have declared themselves as BNFs. One cannot declare themselves as such. It is something that happens over time and usually they don’t know that they have become one. There are the fans that have turned Pro which is what I did without realizing that I had done so until after the first convention I went to as a part of the Del Rey staff. A buddy of mine congratulated me on “going Pro”. Peter did the same thing as did a number of my other friends. But a majority of the people I grew up with going to conventions are still fans. Some have become BNFs, some have remained just a fan of (fill in the blank), and some have dropped out of fandom except a certain convention or get together. A few have given up on fandom entirely.
The chant of “my fandom is better than your fandom” still exists and is probably louder than it was at one point because of the internet. Fans of one thing looking down on fans of another thing and pointing out how silly they are. The people who like both things say Star Wars and Star Trek try to get everyone to just get along so they can enjoy both with works most of the time. Then there are lines drawn within a fandom. I can remember when Star Trek: Next gen and the Original Trekker(ies/ids) went head to head at a Dixie Trek in the lobby. Not very pretty and the local news got a great sound bite they could use to show how strange us fans are. (Have you ever noticed that the TV crews search out the strangest of the strange and put them on? Most of the convention the attendees are dressed perfectly normal but they will be sure to show the people in costume on the screen with some silly title allowing the folks at home who might like the form of fandom that the convention is for but they are glad they aren’t there dealing with those weirdos? But I digress). I can remember helping con security break up a drunken brawl between some Klingons and some Storm troopers. That was fun and my bruised face didn’t look that great at work two days later. (I got elbowed by one of the drunks). My boss asked me what happened and I told him the truth and he told me that is why he avoids fan conventions.
Fans can be their own worst enemy. And unfortunately on the Internet they are proving lots of fodder for every snark, wank and drama site of which there are a number. And that saddens me. The good works are never mentioned. I think just about every convention I go to has some charity(ies) that they work with. Fandom can be a support system for some. Fandom can become a way of life (FIAWOL). For some fandom gives them what their families can’t or won’t. I know a number of people who see the fannish community as their family which I see as neither a good or a bad thing and considering some people’s families I have know on occasion a good thing.
Fandom for me overall has been a good thing. It has lead to work. It has lead to friendships that have lasted a long time. It led me to my husband through a strange set of circumstances.
But recently I have seen again the ugly underbelly of fandom. The sniping and back biting and politics that just makes it hard to say I am a fan of (blank) because then you are going to get someone down your throat about it and why you should believe the fandom that they believe in especially within the fandom itself. I can’t tell you how many down the nose looks I have gotten because I actually enjoyed the Paul McGann Doctor. Yeah it was not a great film but he was a great Doctor. I have been told I am not a true Doctor Who fan because of that and even more so because I was a member of the PMEB for a number of years. Now that the BBC is producing the good Doctor again it is vogue to bash on that “horrible little movie.” Which most of these people didn’t do when the movie came out. Then there is Beauty and the Beast and if you liked it after Catherine was gone then you are a horrible person and have no right to call yourself a Beauty and the Beast fan. I thought the show jumped the shark on that episode personally but there were still some really good episodes afterwards that I still love and I do consider all the episodes as part of my fandom. Blake 7? Gawds help you if you didn’t think Avon was the end all and be all of the series. Charmed? If you liked Shannon Doherty performance then apparently you are the devil (and here I thought that was Cole). Then there are the Star Trek factions and the Star Wars factions. So far I haven’t heard of any major fan wars within the Browncoats but I am sure someone can point me to something if they wanted to. Harry Potter fandom could get its own entry.
Every group seems to have their cliques and groups so they can rant about how bad the rest off the group is. But may be that is part of human nature. Me I tend to run the middle path of can we all just enjoy this as it is and not fight about why we are better than another group. I plan to enjoy myself at the conventions I attend this summer and rejoice with the other fans that we have fandom in all its forms rather than pick on other forms of fandom. We can be united or divided. It is our choice as fans.
I am grateful I am a fan of (entirely too many fandoms to list).
I am a fan of too many things to list, also. Unfortunately, due to finances, I don’t get to go to conventions anymore. I always loved the community feel to the ones I was able to go to in years past. My interests sometimes run hot and cold and then hot again. I love the new Dr. Who after many years of disinterest. (I remember watching it on PBS in the 70’s, or am I dating myself?)
Hmmm… Paul McGann was an EXCELLENT Doctor. It’s a shame the script didn’t live up to his acting. And if being part of the PMEB is bad, then I know a LOT of women who are bad. I never joined, but that was out of shyness, not because I didn’t think it was a good idea!
As for fandom… it does tend to define you. I know when my little sister found a guy she liked, one of the first things I asked her was if he liked science fiction. I knew if he didn’t, the relationship had no chance.
But you put four fans of one series/subject together, you’ll end up with five different opinions. I tend to draw my circles to include, rather than exclude, other opinions. If nothing else, it infuriates the people who seem to be looking for a fight.
Kathleen, I was a little freaked out by whatyou wrote above, not because I disagreed with it but because with the substitution of a few words here and there, it could just as easily have been written by me. I originally started out as a fan as well, mainly British shows like Doctor Who and Blake’s 7. At the time, I was really excited about the notion that there were other people who shared my interest in these shows, but it certainly didn’t take long to realize that there were certain hierarchies within fandom, as well as rivalries between supporters of different shows. Back then, I was putting together B7 fanzines with a couple of friends, so we did an awful lot of conventions and while we had an awful lot of fun together, I also discovered how many, well, socially challenged people there were, I guess is the best way to put it.
And like you Kathless, I’m not exactly sure when I turned pro as you put it. I started out doing interviews for fan club newsletters because I really liked doing them and I thought I had a little bit of talent in that area. The next thing I knew, I was being paid for those interviews and they were being printed in magazines. And a few years later, I was doing it full-time. That was 15 years ago, but before that, I suspect there was an awful lot of line-blurring going on. To some extent, it still happens, in ways one wouldn’t anticipate. I remember sitting down with my wife on Christmas and watching the Doctor Who special, ‘The Christmas Invasion,’ on which she had worked as makeup supervisor, and I had only recently covered the press launch a few days earlier. I turned to her and said, ‘Did you ever thing the day would come when we would be sitting here watching Doctor Who together, let alone seeing your name in the credits again?’ It was a strange experience.
And that brings me to the absolute best and worst set of memories I have connected with fandom, which is that I first met Sheelagh two decades ago at a Blake’s 7 convention in Chicago, when I was interviewing her for one those aforementioned fanzines. When we eventually decided we wanted to see more of each other, it wasn’t all that easy, because we lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic, so usually the only time I got to spend with her was at conventions she was invited to as a guest. Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with some people who thought I was trying to monopolize her time, and I even got some really nasty anonymous letters sent to me over a period of months. Kathleen, I suspect you may have a few vaguely similar problems in your time with Peter during the early days, but suffice to say, trying to form a relationship under the magnifying glass of fandom isn’t the easiest thing to do. But we’ve now been married for more than a decade, so I guess there’s a happy ending in there somewhere.
I could probably spend hours writing about things that have happened over the years, but to be honest, I’m not all that anxious to relive some of the experiences by bringing them back to the surface. Let’s just say that I can agree with most of what was said above, and have my own memories good and otherwise, to back them up.
I read your post yesterday, Kath. I started to comment, then thought “you know it would just be funny as heck if her post commenting about blogs that get no responses, didn’t get a response.”
However, I see you got 9 responses. Darn it!
BTW, if all of the sniping, stabbing, and biting happens behind your back, why is the underbelly the one that’s considered ugly?
By an interesting coincidence, yesterday I happened to be telling a co-worker about a curious fan (or no-fan in this case) phenomenon I witnessed a few years ago. I was at a convention in Lansing, Michigan (forget the name of it). I went because Poul Anderson was there, and I was hoping to interview him (which I did). Somewhere on the main floor, I saw a sign inviting people to come to such and such room to discuss why they hated Wesley Crusher.
Yeah, that makes sense. _Next Generation_ had been off the air for a few years at that point, and the character of Wesley had been gone even longer. So, why not get some people together to complain about something that’s over and done with? I didn’t bother to turn up, to see what people were saying. Maybe I should have. It might have been interesting.
I also like the Paul McGann Doctor. The TV movie in which he appeared had some flaws, but I liked his portrayal. But then, I like all the Doctors. I’m not a fan of every single episode, but don’t have any problem with any particular Doctor.
Frankly, I don’t get the rabid, “my favorite _____ is great; your favorite _________ is crap” mindset. It makes no sense to me. On the other hand, it was probably going on when fans of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey” went up against fans of whomever else was big in those days. If there was such a person (and I’m sure there was), I’m blanking out on the name.
I agree with you about local news coverage, too. When I still watched local news, I noticed that they would ignore the 99 percent of people dressed in normal clothes when doing a piece about a convention. Though, in fairness, I think there may have been one occasion where they showed people in costume, and stated that they were in a costume contest- as opposed to people dressing up for no particular reason. That, at least, put the costumed attendees into a less “look how weird they are” context.
Myself, I don’t belong to any fan clubs and never have. Such things never really interested me. I also like a variety of comics, TV shows and movies, and don’t see any problem with liking both Thing 1 _and_ Thing 2. I feel sorry for people who do have that problem.
Rick
Kath, I *so* hear you about fans telling other fans what to do. I hear a lot of flak in comics shops about me not being a “true” fan of whatever character because I don’t bother to buy reprint collections, particularly those that reprint issues I already own. They tell me my collection isn’t “complete” without those tpb’s.
I just tell them, it’s my collection and it’s complete when I say it is. Period.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever heard any of the McGann Doctor Who audio adventures put out by Big Finish? They’re very, very good, and they let Paul put a bit more of a stamp on the character. Worth checking out if you get the chance…
The chant of “my fandom is better than your fandom” still exists and is probably louder than it was at one point because of the internet. Fans of one thing looking down on fans of another thing and pointing out how silly they are. The people who like both things say Star Wars and Star Trek try to get everyone to just get along so they can enjoy both with works most of the time. Then there are lines drawn within a fandom. I can remember when Star Trek: Next gen and the Original Trekker(ies/ids) went head to head at a Dixie Trek in the lobby. Not very pretty and the local news got a great sound bite they could use to show how strange us fans are.
One of the funniest episodes of the Night Court featured no real plot beyond Dan having airline tickets he HAD to use up before midnight and all of the weirrd cases that kept coming up to keep him from getting away.
And right in the middle of that episode, the cops drag in a bunch of fans from a convention — all trekkies, all in costume; one bunch New Trek, one bunch Trek Classic, and, of course, they had gotten a little carried away arguing which was better.
Harry gives them a lecture about tolerance and getting along, then says they can go.
One of the New Trek ttypes taps his combadge and says “Enterprise! Two to beam up!” And they do.
Everyone stares for a beat, then one of the remaining trekkies says “Yeah — and the original series had a better transporter effect, too!”
Well, they did!