Don’t judge fandom by the antics of a few
Posted By Kathleen David on July 3, 2010
Recently I had a friend who likes a certain TV show complain to me that they felt like they couldn’t admit being a fan of the show because of all the crazies that the fandom seem to be harboring. I pointed out that it was really just a few vocal people creating this image for the group. She said but those are the people that everyone assumes you are like if you like this fandom.
I have a friend who speaks Klingon fluently. He has a kicking Klingon costume that his boyfriend made him. He always dresses up for Halloween in the outfit and scares (in a good way) the kids that come to his door. He has occasionally worn the costume to conventions and won a couple of costuming awards for it. There is a lot he likes about being a Klingon. However he distances himself from certain Klingon groups who seem to be into it 24/7 which he finds extreme. He has had discussions with parents of kids that come to his door on Halloween explaining that he doesn’t think that he is a real Klingon. He also speaks 4 other languages besides English fluently because he picks up languages easily. When he and his boyfriend travel in Europe, he has been mistaken for a native speaker more than once. He has a life outside of fandom and distances himself from fandom because of “those people”.
I have another friend who reads science fiction and fantasy but has never gone to a convention. He has no inclination to even though he lives in Atlanta. I have been trying to convince him to go to DragonCon because he could meet some of the authors he has read for years and I thought that a number of the panels would be interesting to him about writing and wordsmithing. He passes on the chance every time. Why? Because of the impression he has of fans and DragonCon. No one bathes for the whole time. Everyone is drunk off their ášš or on something. You have to wear a costume to fit in. Women are harassed and felt up and generally made to feel uncomfortable. Then there are the pictures of the parade every year which makes it look like we all wear costumes and divide ourselves into tight knit groups. And I can see why he would get that impression.
Another pal loved anime a lot. She started with Kiki’s Delivery Service and has seen all the Miyazaki films. She also enjoys various anime shows on Adult Swim and on the SyFy channel. She reads manga that she gets in the library. She will not go to an anime convention. Her impressions of the fandom aren’t good. She is not Japanese and feels that pretending to be so is rather crass. She doesn’t want to dress up in costume although she admires those who can. The impression she has of the fandom again is predicated on the few rather than the majority.
I honestly believe that those who haven’t gone to a convention would have fun but the sterotypes of those who do attend makes them not want to even try. And the news media really hasn’t helped in this matter at all. If the news comes to a convention, they also show the costumes because that makes better visuals than the 1000s of other people who are dressed normally.
The smelly fan does exist but is becoming more of a rare thing that it was. The number of men vs. the number of women in fandom is becoming more even. People do step in and police those who harass women. I know a couple of guys who got their badges for DragonCon yanked for that. There are those who have an “us vs. them” attitude to the world but name me one group of sports fans that don’t have a few of those. I am asking that the many not be judged on the bad choices and attitudes of a few. Conventions, they are really fun.
I am grateful for all the conventions I have attended over the years.
