Fandom in Popular Culture Essay

Everyone is a devotee of something. Whether its a sports team, celebrity, or tv set show there is at least one thing that a someone enjoys to pauseake in, talk about, etc. Yet when does becoming as well much of a caramel or a fanatic contract a problem? This question raises concern because recently umteen assorted fan bases or fandoms of certain movies, books, etc. have been criticized over the fail decades due to their extreme dedication and obsession. Some people think that these fan bases and their support historystyles are wheezing, that these fanatics recognise to avoid reality and instead dedicate their life to something that does non return anything rewarding or fur-bearing to society.Trekkies attending conventions and disbursal money on elaborate costumes, desolate monkey fans training up like the characters to attend a movie premiere, internet bloggers spending cartridge holder writing fan fiction online for hours are alone these forms of fandom drop sical? In my personal opinion, I do non believe so. When it comes down to it, apiece fandom has a like ground base that it human bodys off of, it also promotes a sense of identity and camaraderie, its a form of enjoyment that encourages rapture and optimism precisely also is an institution that is exploited by the media.Each fandom seems completely different from each other. I know many Harry Potter fans who despise anyone who likes Twilight, thinking that their fan base is so much skipper and vice versa. In reality though, each fandom has the same concept to build off of that creates such a huge fan base. This concept is evasion or rather that fandom is distraction from real life and its hardships (Reilly). An theoretical account would include myself in that I would much rather choose to read Harry Potter than instead, for instance, write this paper. The same goes for my roommate who chose to watch the Walking suddenly instead of doing her homework. In those moments we temporarily escaped our problems and challenges in real life and instead immersed ourselves into another reality that was much more enjoyable.Would that be considered unhealthy? I think not the problem was not me creation a fan of Harry Potter but instead self-control, which differs with each person individually. Thats why we pecknot generalize all fanatics of something as being unhealthy because although they choose to incorporate many aspects of their fandom into everyday life, there are many instances when they can productive instead of idle. This includes a dentist from the movie Trekkies that created a dentist office that completely revolves around the television show wiz Trek. The dentist/fanatic gets to be immersed in Star Trek all day long at his job, but is actually being productive in society. With that, any direction a fan base goes, it is a form of escapism from real life but is not necessarily detrimental to a fanatics well being. bufferdom also creates a sense of camaraderie and identity to those who partake in it. By identifying yourself as a fan, you become apart of a union who share similar interests (Jacobson). An example includes my stepfather who is Redskins football fan. He and his friends bond over their love for the team, but are also a part of a huge fraternity who share this love. The best part is that the Redskins fandom al born(p) depressions the fans to be a part of the farinaceous without having any football skills at all and it has a very low cost to participate. With this comes a sense of belongingness and camaraderie that you are a part of something bigger than yourself. This can be very beneficial to the fans and can be applied to every fandom. This sense of community and identity helps with self-esteem and painting (Jacobson), which, in my opinion, should not be considered unhealthy.In its most primary form, being a fan of something just makes people happy. The reason why I love reading the Harry Potter books repea tedly or why a Trekkie will attend many conventions is because doing it makes us happy it does not make us obsessive, crazy fanatics. According to the mood management theory, individuals want out media content that they expect to improve their mood (Burns). Millions of people do not become fanatics of something purely for the enjoyment of it but rather because it has a positive effect on their mood. This explains many fanatic behaviors, like fan fiction for instance. This is when a fan will write their own discrepancy of the story, movie, video game etc. that caters to their own desires. They do this because it makes them happy and makes them nip apart of the fandom community.On the other hand, there are many instances where fandom or fanaticism can be taken to the extreme. There are numerous stories of when fans at football games break out into a violent riot, or when a fan physically harms others or themselves to attract attention to themselves an example including Mark Davi d Chapman, a Beatles fan, murdering washbasin Lennon. But is it really their fanaticism to be blamed? This question should be asked due to the fact that many aspects can influence a persons decisions, one being their mental stability.Being a fanatic did not make Chapman a receiver it was that he was mentally ill. A more important aspect is that check to a concept called entertainment theory, we as audience members do not question the content we consume because we are just doing what feels goodits only entertainment (Burns). Yet in reality we the audience that consumes the media are not aware of the content that we are looking at. If Chapman had not been exposed to John Lennons life being broadcasted through the media he may not have taken his fanaticism to the extreme level. Fanaticism should not be considered unhealthy since the media that we consume contributes or rather enhances fanaticism to an unhealthy level.the likes of I said before, we are all fans of something. Whether or not we choose to take our passion for that something to a fanatic level depends on many factors. Psychologically we indulge in our fandom because it makes us happy. The feeling of intimacy and community is a basic human need that fandom provides through online blogging and fan fiction, dressing up like someone were not, conventions, etc.Also the elbow room that the media broadcasts and streams pop culture to the general public is something to consider when criticizing fanatics. Finally, each fandom, although versatile in its own way, has the same ideal at its root in that people become fans because it provides an escape into another reality that does not our problems and hardships to deal with. Overall, fanaticism should not be considered unhealthy because it is a natural psychological instinct as well as a basic institution has been heightened by the media.Works CitedBurns. Harry Potter = Craze Fan?. Media Influence Spring 09. Blogspot, 16 2009. Web. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.