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Fandom presentation
- 1. Fans, Fandom & Fanaticism
- 2. The line between fandom and obsession
- 3. Definitions: O “A fan of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture”. (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014) O “The community that surrounds a TV show/movie/book etc. Fan fiction writers, artists, poets, and cosplayers are all members of that fandom. Fandoms often consist of message boards, live journal communities, and people”. (Urban Dictionaries, 2004)
- 4. Definitions: O “The domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc”. (The Free Dictionary) O “(Psychiatry) A persistent Idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness”. (Collins Dictionary, 2003) O “Someone or something that a person thinks about constantly or frequently”. (Merriam Webster, 2014)
- 5. Fans O Devoted & passionate OWrite Fan Fiction O Attend Conventions O Cosplay O Learn the languages O Make their own costumes O So much more…
- 7. One Direction & Justin Bieber Fans
- 8. Celebrity Worship Syndrome “Celebrity worship syndrome has been described as an obsessive-addictive disorder where an individual becomes overly involved and interested (i.e., completely obsessed) with the details of the personal life of a celebrity”. (Griffiths, 2013)
- 9. Celebrity Worship Syndrome “A "sliding scale" of celebrity worship -- one in which the devoted fan becomes increasingly hooked into the object of their attention, until their feelings begin to resemble addiction”. (WebMD)
- 10. Is being a fan psychologically unhealthy?
- 11. OObsessions developing into: O dangerous Oall-consuming lifestyles Obecoming detrimental to young people’s physical, mental and social health.
- 14. References O Griffiths, Mark. (2013). Celebrity worship syndrome. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-excess/ 201307/celebrity-worship-syndrome O Howell, Dyamond. (2004). When fandoms turn into unhealthy obsession. http://themycenaean.org/2014/04/when-fandoms-turn-into-unhealthy-obsessions O "Obsession." Collins English Dictionary. 6th ed. 2003. Http://www.collinslanguage.com/. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. O "Obsession." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster. com/dictionary/obsession>. O Oxford Dictionaries. (2014). Fandom. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fandom O N.A. (2004). Urban Dictionary: Fandom. http://themycenaean.org/2014/04/when-fandoms-turn-into-unhealthy- obsessions/ O N.A. (2009). Obsession. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/obsession O Warner Bros. (2013, December 18).. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. [Youtube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSHPVCBsnLw O WebMD. (n.d.). Star Struck. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/new-age-celebrity- worship?page=2
Editor's Notes
- My topic is Fans, fandom and fanaticism and I will be discussing
- the line between fandom and obsession by comparing fandoms and the extremes there fan bases have gone too, to show the difference between being a devoted fan and being obsessed. To first define the line, we need to define the terms.
- Fandom is described as being
- And an obsession is
- Fandom goes beyond like or even love, some fans are just plain devoted. Their fandoms are consuming. They are fan fiction writing, convention-attending, role-playing, language learning, costume-making and so much more. You can see there is real passion in the devoted fans. To some people all of these things would be considered obsessed, were to others it just comes with being a fan. If we look at one of the biggest and first fandoms,
- Star Trek fans, or Trekkies, we get a clear picture of what being a devoted fan is all about. Trekkies were among the first fans to write in letter campaigns on behalf of their favourite show and dress up as Klingons, Vulcans or Enterprise crew members before cosplay was even invented. There is even a Klingon language option on Wikipedia. And who can forget this beloved game. Star Trek fans just enjoy geeking out with other Star Trek fans because they are extremely passionate about star trek.
- Apposed to fandoms of bands like One Direction or Justin Bieber, who have gone to intense lengths to get their idols to notice them. The kinds of reactions these boys get from fans is nothing new, celebrity obsession has existed forever from the Beatles to Elvis. However it appears more extreme with the use of social media and the ability for fans to know where these celebrities are all the time. The use of social media can be viewed as a positive way for interaction between celebrities and fans, but there is a fine line between interaction and obsession which gets crossed way too often. For example the #cut for Bieber campaign that sparked a worldwide trend were numerous girls were posting images of themselves with cut wrists in an aim to get Justin Bieber to stop smoking marijuana. Or when multiple One Direction fans were threatening to harm their pets or other loved ones if the One Direction members didn’t follow them back on Twitter.
- There is actually a newly identified psychological syndrome called Celebrity Worship Syndrome (CWS). One theory states that it could be caused by a media dominated society in which celebrities have taken the places of actually loved ones. (Howell, 2004)
- In research published in the British Journal of Psychology, psychologists established a "sliding scale" of celebrity worship -- one in which the devoted fan becomes increasingly hooked into the object of their attention, until their feelings begin to resemble addiction. (WebMD) It makes you beg the question
- These days, obsessions are developing into dangerous, all-consuming lifestyles that are becoming detrimental to young people’s physical, mental and social health.
- In retrospect, to some dressing up as your favourite character, learning Klingon or studying Jediisom could be considered as over the top and obsessive, but compared to the lengths of the fans on social media today it doesn’t compare. So does intense fandom make people psychologically unhealthy, or do unbalanced people take to fandom in unhealthy ways? My view on it is that it comes down to the evolution of fandom. Looking back 20-30 years ago at the sorts of things star trek fans were doing to show there devotion would have been called obsessive to some, as it was somewhat out of the ordinary.
- But as technology has evolved the ability fans have to connect with the celebrities they are a fan of has taken it to a whole new level. Not to say that psychologically unhealthy people have not always been involved with fandom (the case of John Lennon for example), but because social media is so readily accessible it is turning fandom into obsessive behaviour. To conclude, being able to site numerous lines, dressing up as your favourite character, attending conventions and being able to talk for hours on end with other fans falls into the category of fandom. If a person’s devotion towards something consumers their lifestyle to the point that it is causing harm to themselves or any living thing around them, then there obsessed.