After viewing about the millionth instance of a rage-filled online argument about Star Trek, I have an observation: ‘fan culture,’ however we define that, is not something I enjoy much. Over the years it has turned out that just because a group is enthusiastic about the same kinds of books or media as I am, it doesn’t mean that we have anything else in common, and in fact we may not get along at all. Sometimes it’s the case that a fan of epic fantasy, for example, becomes a good friend of mine, but more often, I’m friends with folks who like things very different from my own tastes.

I am reminded of the classic SNL sketch in which Shatner berates obsessed fans, telling them to grow up and get a life. It was a joke, but he was right to tell them this. There’s something unsavory about a lot of fan culture, in my view. At its best, it’s a shared experience and enthusiasm for something, but too often it becomes a kind of test or game of one-upsmanship in which people compare nerd cred and get angry about it. The social media environment makes it worse than it would be in person, but whether such debates take place online or not, I have zero interest in this kind of thing. Arguments over which version of Star Wars is the best are a bit like comparing who has the most stylish fanny pack. I don’t understand or relate to that kind of uber fandom. I know some people enjoy those kinds of debates, or like fighting about it, but it doesn’t appeal to me. It seems quite tiresome. The behavior of large segments of fandom makes me cringe and causes me to have very little interest in attending fan events or conventions. For some reason, it seems like much pop culture/sci fi/fantasy fandom becomes toxic and exhibits all sorts of immature and bad behavior. But to each their own. I enjoy the stuff I grew up with, mostly, and if other people do not, it’s nothing to get worked up about. I think this quote from the late, great Roger Ebert summed up fandom quite well:

“A lot of fans are basically fans of fandom itself. It’s all about them. They have mastered the Star Wars or Star Trek universes or whatever, but their objects of veneration are useful mainly as a backdrop to their own devotion. Anyone who would camp out in a tent on the sidewalk for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is more into camping on the sidewalk than movies. Extreme fandom may serve as a security blanket for the socially inept, who use its extreme structure as a substitute for social skills. If you are Luke Skywalker and she is Princess Leia, you already know what to say to each other, which is so much safer than having to ad lib it. Your fannish obsession is your beard. If you know absolutely all the trivia about your cubbyhole of pop culture, it saves you from having to know anything about anything else. That’s why it’s excruciatingly boring to talk to such people: They’re always asking you questions they know the answer to.” ― Roger Ebert, A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck