Fans, Fandom and being a Fan.
Ok first things first. For those who end up discovering this post please be informed that all that I'm writing and commenting on here is strictly based on my opinion and should not be viewed as the opinion of the majority or other fandoms.
Also, it's long read. You have been warned.
With that said,
WTF is wrong with the fandom world today. Especially kpop in SK.
Let me talk about a couple of instances (mainly three) that I find very dissapointing recently.
One:
I didn't know that just because you're a fan of a certain group (especially well established ones) that you can't end up liking and cheering for other groups and performers? That is just plain stupid for me. I get the whole loyalty thing but please, I can like any groups that I want. I'm free to choose which group to listen to and like and which ones not to.
I'm not talking about just myself but in general to everyone who's a fan of their bias groups. Why am I talking about this? Because I read an article before how fans were being treated at a certain music show just because they were cheering for another group just as enthusiastically as they did with their main fandom. By treated I mean fandom staffs (I forgot the correct term) took their membership cards and were told to leave the premises.
That's just ed up for me. My sympathies to those who were mistreated that day.
If I was there and they did that to me. I would have been livid. I mean, I already felt livid reading the article and the fan accounts but imagine being there in person and being treated that way? Fans come from different places to see their biases, to cheer and support on them. I don't think anybody deserves to be asked to leave just because you were doing your usual thing, being a fan.
Now, if one was acting violently or negatively then maybe there'd be a valid reason as to be ushered out. But other than that...meh.
Also, if you wanna see your oppars and unnirs, you gotta buy this and that and present it to whichever event you're going just to be able to granted access see your biases up close. I myself am a fangirl but I am not willing to waste my hard earned money or my parent's hard earned money just so I could buy who knows how many albums and merchandise to show that I love my biases. Why do I need to prove my affection towards them with monetary values? No.
Two:
We all love are oppars and our unnirs. We love them to death and are loyal to them to the point that some end up being blind but that's another topic. Anyway, because we love our oppars and unnirs, we want to stay united right? Always being there screaming their names from the top of our lungs till we're gasping for our breaths like a fish out of water hoping for them to glance for even just a second at our direction. Whether than be at their performances or even just from across our computers and tvs.
That being said, discrimination and racism within the fandom...that's just plain sad.
There have been posts and articles about some k-fans acting this way towards foreign fans and it's quite disheartening for me. Don't we all love the same group/individual? Why fight over it?
A lot of concerts (especially those held in SK) have foreign fans flying from across different countries, across the globe and spending who knows how much money just to see their beloved idols perform or even just get a glimpse of them. It's understandable that k-fans also don't get the liberty of seeing their biases as much as they would like but I for one don't think that being hateful, racist or ing about foreign fans is just.
I know it's hard to share but fighting over oppar won't solve anything.
Again, me talking about this issue does not mean that I am straight-forward bashing k-fans on this. Issue two could also pertain to other fandom races since racism within the fandom does happen and not only in SK. But I won't go into detail on that. I'm presenting my opinion on the general idea.
Third:
Just because oppar or unnir isn't y free and single not allowed to bingo anymore doesn't mean that we should abandon ship. Now this third issue clearly doesn't pertain anymore to just K-fans but both local and international fandoms. Also, if oppar or unnir have decided to leave their respective group for either personal/educational reasons then that doesn't mean that we should also automatically abandon ship and point fingers.
Whatever happened to our die-hard affections towards them? I have seen quite a lot of fans leave their fandoms because of these two reasons (this may not apply to all fans who leave their fandoms since they may have other reasons for it, but this two reasons seem one of the two most popular ones). I know that a lot may have been dissapointed with the sudden or not so sudden news but automatically abandoning ship is...sigh..
And to think a lot of us question why our oppars and unnirs are not being completely honest or being true with us.
It hurts when our idols who we have come so much to love dissapoint us but at the very least...shouldn't we try to understand the situation more? To see underneath the underneath? Think of the what ifs?
What if I was in their place?
What if you were in their place?
What would I have felt?
What would you have felt?
And try to see things from a more...unbiased point of view no matter how hard it may be. Why am I saying this? Because sometimes I think we tend to forget that they are also humans, humans who have feelings as well and frankly, a life too. No matter how hectic and tiring theirs may be. Maybe they want to pursue different things in their lives? Find happiness in the comfort of a lover? Realized that the celebrity life wasn't all that it was cracked up to be? And so much more. Respecting their decisions is one of the best things as a fan that we could do.
With that being said, I hope I've made my...numerous points clear on this three issues. I would have delved more into them and other issues but maybe on some other time.
Now my questions to you guys is this:
Is being a fan just as how you imagined it to be?
What's really the meaning of being a fan?
There's so much more out there than just glitz, glamour and all that jazz. And we've only scratched the surface of it.
Comments