On the frequently demonstrated but infrequently considered...

There are, I'm positive, countless blogs on the nature of fandom. Some of which exist for the very discussion which will be addressed below. As for myself, I've had numerous conversations with friends, fan and nonfan alike, which, if I had any kind of decent memory, I'd love to transcribe for the sake of internet discussion.

This subject is just one of the potentials, just one issue that has recently come up.

Everyone has things they like, things they are fans of, at various degrees of interest and devotion. Conversely, everyone has things they don't like, from disinterest to vehement disdain. There are people who have no strong feelings about much of anything, but no one is completely devoid of opinion.

Nerds or fans, are naturally the most vocal. Anyone who has stumbled onto the internet (that's you) would have to travel in very limited circles to never come in contact with fans, trolls and others of the grammatically impaired who triumphantly declare their Thing the most, best, etc.

Part of this stems from the fact that nerds appear to be slaves to hierarchy. The appeal to stereotype would be to say nerds were/are so used to being the bottom of any totem pole that once they were passed the point of being shoved into lockers, they had to set up new totems on which to place themselves.

Part of it stems from human entitlement. The problem with fandom is that at its core, it is the internalization and personalization of an opinion. It is the movement from 'Yeah, this is something I think of positively' to 'My opinion of this is now part of my identity.' The consequence is that any disagreement amounts to an attack on the individual's character and personal identity.

These two considerations create an Oroboros of angst I like to refer to as Punch-You-In-The-Face-Hatred.

An otherwise rational and intelligent friend of mine is a fan of the Twilight series. As you can probably guess from that drive-by snarkiness, I am not. My level of disgust felt for these books has reached capacities I did not know I was capable of and there is no metaphor hyperbolic or graphic enough to fully convey my true feelings. He (yes, it's a he) asked me today, in all sincerity, why I, and others like me, have such a visceral reaction to the series.

The answer, as you can imagine, was probably way more convoluted than he wanted, so I attempt to disentangle it here, and hopefully, this argument can be generalized to other subjects.

Step 1: Have something you don't care for. There are a lot of reasons, both silly and legitimate that I don't like Twilight, but for the most part, I could write it off as trashy teenybopper nonsense and not give it a second thought. There are lots of things like that, probably most I'm not even aware of. The issue comes from...

Step 2: Have it be stupid popular. This is where everything goes South. Now, usually non-troll people, that is, those who don't wish to fight with others over opinions, simply do not want to deal. I would be happy if I just didn't have to talk to Twilight fans (I dislike the terms Twitard or Twihard for the simple reason that I consider it unfair to individuals with cognitive disabilities). But this is no longer an option because they're EVERYWHERE. This is particularly an issue for me because I live in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I had my honeymoon very close to Forks, Washington. I live in the town that Bella and Edward had their first date. So not only do I deal with the ubiquitous fandom of teenage girls (and boys), I get to deal with people who travel all over the world for the chance to sleep in the room where "Edward and Bella had their wedding night."

I remind the class that we are talking about fictional characters. They never visited here. They never ate in our restaurants or slept in our hotels. They do not exist. But I have to smile and nod because it's doing great things for our economy and we can't alienate the fans even though they do things like pester the Quileute tribe by asking them if they're really werewolves and desecrate their sacred burial grounds (no, I'm not making this up.

As one friend put it, they're up in my grill.

But really, this could apply to anything that achieves popularity because popularity is assumed to lend legitimacy. "If so many people like it, it can't be that bad" or "If it's successful, who cares if the writer is an uninspired hack?" Ahem. It would be hypocritical to totally dismiss this argument. We have all, at some point, defended something we like, especially in terms of literature, and have used the 'success' argument. The issue is that it forces us to confront something we didn't like in the first place, over and over and over again, which is grating, frustrating and inevitably leads to greater agitation every time it is mentioned.

This will ruin many things. I have friends who can't listen to some bands, regardless of talent because they were forced to hear devoted fans incessantly gush about how great the band was. Whereas before, my friends had no opinion, now they automatically react with disdain. Unfair? Probably, but totally understandable.

There is also the desire, particularly among nerds, to not appear to be 'jumping on the bandwagon' just because something is popular. This can be silly, but it's an almost automatic, sub-conscious motivation. Of course, the irony is that the desire to not be 'a tool' or a 'poser' usually leads people to not like something because they think it will make them look cool. Being anti-establishment, and all that.

So in conclusion, people don't like being surrounded by evidence of an object (in this case, a series) they don't care for or like, especially when they are made to feel antagonized by the fans, of whom there have become many. This is what leads someone to PYITF hatred. We define ourselves by who we are and who we are not. When constantly surrounded by who-we-are-not, this creates a stronger identity of someone who is against said object and makes them react more emotionally to it.

Post-Script:

I personally, have an issue with the Twilight series, that I know many others share and illustrates another reason people react viscerally to a popular trend. Remember that thing about feeling personal identity is attacked? And then remember that discussion about 'tools'? Both go in here.

The common term is 'hipsterizing'; that is, people demonstrating an interest, or taking on characteristics of a subgroup because it now popular or linked to something considered illegitimate by said subgroup.

Put simply, goths hate Twilight. Did everyone see that episode of South Park? Because it pretty much sums up the frustration. Even if an individual doesn't want to be 'labeled' (and most don't), if they had any predilection or characteristic before...say to frequently wear black, or like heavy jewelry with a theme of crosses, skulls, wings, etc...even if they've behaved that way for years, even decades, they are now lumped with Lisa Frank loving preteens who bolster Hot Topic sales in an attempt to emulate vampires who SPARKLE in the sun. It is very discouraging.

I was walking home, dressed in what I consider common 'me' attire. Black pants, a white button up shirt and black lace suspenders, a choker and a necklace of two skeleton hands holding an ornate cross. As I passed a group of jocks (basketball shorts, sneakers, baseball hats, shirtless, etc), one of them starts laughing and says to me, "Are you supposed to be out in the sun? Doesn't your kind sparkle or something?" All his friends laughed.

This was intensely aggravating and downright insulting. I have dressed the way I do my entire life, but, with zero provocation, an entire group of people have written me off as a wannabe vampire-lover. I am now associated with something I despise. This is, admittedly, a danger of being associated with any stereotype. I don't want people to assume I cut myself or sacrifice children to the devil either. But because of the popularity of the series, it is much more likely I will have to defend myself against charges of goth-poserness than anything else. It's a pretty classic 'We were here first' reaction that members of the fan community have some familiarity with. 'Oh, we were into that before it was cool.' Especially as we get older, and peripheral, 'fringe' groups and interests get mainstreamed. It is a natural defensiveness because we take our identities seriously (obviously) and feel threatened when we realize we don't have total control over what is and what is not included into a subgroup we belong to. Playing Madden does not make you a gamer. Wearing a top hat does not make you steam punk.

Where's the line? Honestly, that's the kind of thing that could be argued forever, and probably will. All identities are in a state of flux, and there is a constant dialogue between the individual and society (or in this case, societies) to determine legitimacy.

It just goes with the territory.