The kinks

shadowkat67 and I were discussing some of the more "interesting" fannish speculation and 'ships we've encountered while out and about on the interwebs for various reasons re: Once Upon A Time. We both agreed we have no plans to participate in general fandom again. It is a hairy quagmire of divergent points of view and divisive passions, and we have both been there, done that with the bruises to prove it. Best to stick to the flist.

But that got me thinking about why fandom is the way it is. Anything that makes us equally passionate--hobbies, areas of expertise, particular people, things of beauty--can lead to divergent points of view and divisiveness. We form strong opinions about those things, then the realities of internet communication exaggerate them: a degree of anonymity makes us bolder, ruder, rasher. The visual and aural cues that come with face-to-face or telephone communication are not there, which leads to unintented ambiguity and misunderstanding.

But there's an additional element to fannishness about fictional books, films, or television shows that also contributes to the potential turbulence of the fan experience: our human response to stories. ( Read more... )