random thought of the day

[wildestranger]

I was wondering, as you do, about People Outside Fandom (whom I know exist, but try to avoid), and their perception of fannish devotion. Or actually, I noticed my old Gary Oldman poster of "Have you seen this wizard?", and started thinking about whether, for people outside fannish circles, that would be more embarrassing than the poster of Gerard Way which I currently have on my wall. Note that I personally have no shame about either of them.

But considering that Harry Potter is a children's book, and that My Chem is seen as an emo band for silly teenage girls, which would be more embarrassing to find on the wall of a 29-year-old woman? How would our culture read the fact that I've had such posters - what would it say about me to those who are outside the fannish subculture?

Yes, I'm trying to avoid doing my thesis, how did you guess? ;)

[Poll #1206019]

Comments

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I think that fanatical devotion to Harry Potter is probably one of the most accepted forms of fannish devotion around, because it's not just a bunch of books, it's a global phenomenon. Everybody knows what Harry Potter is and everybody knows somebody who's a Harry Potter fan, and you can pretty much laugh off your love of HP with a wink and nobody thinks twice about it.

But with things that are less huge--tv shows, bands, whatever--I think the level of enthusiasm that's normal in fandom is harder to present to non-fannish types, simply because it's not so pervasive as HP.

...I don't know if I'm making any sense.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

I agree - for an adult to read HP and show enthusiasm for it is a bit quirky, but not necessarily childish or crazy. Not to mention that these are foremost books (in the UK at least, known for being books rather than films), which are culturally privileged over TV or music or such.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I went with Sirius because of the fake factor. Considering the walls of my cubicle though, I really don't have any shame either. :p

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Who needs shame when there is FRANK!

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Those serious people don't know what they're missing out on. Which is just as well. More awesome for us.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I said Gerard Way but it's mostly because I don't understand the appeal of bandom at all. Heh, so I guess I'm one of those outside of the fandom folks you were talking about, at least for that one.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

I, um, hmm.

I have to agree with ignipes, HP is enough of a global force that being fannish about it (for certain values of fannish, anyway) is sort of generally socially acceptable.

As for Gerard, I think it would probably depend heavily on whether or not they even recognized him. Five months ago, I wouldn't have, and had I seen a poster of him on the wall of a new acquaintence, I wouldn't have thought much beyond, "who's that dude, anyway?"

I would, frankly, be far more likely to notice a, for example, Justin Timberlake poster, in which case I may have gone so far as to privately arch an eyebrow (I just don't *get* boy bands) but, you know, I kind of don't have much room to talk.

I kept my Bon Jovi/Gn'R and Metallica posters up on my wall (the '80s ones, from when they had The Hair) until I graduated from college, when I had an attack of I Have to Be A Grown-Up Now and took them all down. And so I put up posters for the Hobbit and mythical creatures instead. er.

(i may not be making any sense either?)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I had to consider this a long time, because neither of them seems really embarrassing enough... finally, I gave it to Gerard Way, because a) Sirius Black is played by Gary Oldman, who I admire greatly and b) I always want to call Gerard Way "Gerald" after a cute boy I knew years ago, and it would be really embarrassing to have a POSTER up of someone who you can't consistently call by the right name. :-)

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

i answer from what i believe would be the perspective of a non-fannish person. because of course there is NOTHING embarrassing about a poster of gerard way. how could anyone NOT have a poster of gerard way??? that person should be embarrassed.

ahem. that said, i think the world outside fandom gets harry potter more than it gets my chem. and is at least more used to adult hp fans.

[goldenseal.livejournal.com]

I voted sirius as more embarassing without really reading through your post, but then I read it and changed my mind...
I'd still probably put the Gerard poster up.

[xsnarkasaurus.livejournal.com]

I didn't vote, because I don't think either is embarassing.

but then, i'm 100% geektastic fangirl. :D

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

I don't think a poster of either would be terribly embarrassing from a non-fannish point of view, because they're both socially acceptable enough that a poster isn't going to make you look like a weirdo. HP has the global phenomena thing and music posters are hardly unusual for twentysomethings and older. You'd get some people questioning the age-appropriateness of either although, given how many (non-fandom) grown women I've known who decorate their workspaces with Justin Timberlake or Take That posters, I'm not sure this is the issue it might once have been.

Music and film posters are the acceptable face of fandom - now, if you put up pieces of fan-art, that would be a different story.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty well known--even among non-fandom people--that many HP fans are adults. Even if they don't personally know any adult HP fans, all the media coverage of HP fans of all ages waiting in line for midnight book releases have probably given them some idea.

My Chemical Romance, on the other hand, isn't known for having adult fans. (Whether that reputation is fair or not isn't the issue.)

[ellie-nor.livejournal.com]

Gerard Way - because even though you and I know he is made of awesome and win and fluffy puppies, Sirius Black is a seriously Cool Dude, dude.