Problems fitting in

[TwoHeadedLlama]

I've been doing a lot of fandom hopping for the past five or six years or so, but I usually quit or avoid each one a few months after joining them. I feel that this is because I usually tend to approach the stuff I like from an angle that not ever the creators of the media have thought of.

For example, a while back I was rather fond of the Blues Brothers. Now, the BB fandom was basically split in two. One side consisted of older fans who had been alive when the film came out, the other was made up of people who thought Dan Aykroyd was sexy or something. The older fan side was basically non-existant, while the younger fan side was filled with fangirls. But even with two venues to choose from, I still didn't fit in with either of them. Most people like the BB movie and concerts because they liked the music, or the humor, or thought DA was hot, or etc. So one day I decided to tell a few friends why I liked BB. I liked them because of the fictional, almost unknown relationship between the two main characters that even the most diehard fans would have trouble finding out about.

But anyway, apparently I was the only one who thought of the BB this way, because no one had any idea what I was talking about. It was as if I had decided to write a 'Blues Brothers Vs. Godzilla fanfic' or something. I supposed it didn't help when I started drawing them as my little pony characters either. I began receiving angry messages from both bronys and BB fans who both hated the idea, so I kinda quit shortly after.

A couple years after that, I came across the Muppet fandom, and started favoring characters who were not Kermit the Frog, or Miss Piggy, or Walter. I started, I guess, to overanalyse muppet films, and become concerned when certain characters behaved a certain way. Upon talking about these problems to other fans, I was laughed out of the conversation, because apparently taking muppet films at anything else other than face value is something that no one does ever, kind of like if I tried looking for satanic symbols in Barney episodes or something.

Tl:dr: I feel like I don't really deserve to be a fan of anything because other fans will judge me if I look at the media with an approach no one else uses.

 

[charlietheowl]

I don't think you should worry about that too much, sometimes fandoms can be dominated by group-think, where new ideas aren't really accepted or thought of seriously. If you have an outside-the-box idea about a show or something, and it increases your interest in things, you should try not to let people get to you. I know that's easier said than done, but being a fan of something should be fun.

 

[mr3urious]

I was once part of a Price is Right fan forum called GoldenRoad.net, but I grew sick of it once the Drew Carey bashing got out of hand.

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

Exactly. In any fandom there are always those people that rebuff changes to and/or new ways of thinkng about the media in question. And when those people are left in charge, the fandom quickly goes stagnant. After all, there are only so many times you can ask "What's your favorite thing about this as defined by these parameters" so many times before people stop answering.

Also, I've seen praise heaped on pony versions of The Joker, American McGee's Alice, and Freddy-Hoofing-Kreuger, so what's the problem with pony Jake and Elwood?

 

[Harleena]

Fandoms can be mean. Don't worry about it. I've had that problem before…just do what you want! I'm not speaking for everyone else, but I'm pretty easygoing about ideas in this fandom. Don't let other people bug you!

 

[mariolover]

You are not supposed to fit in, you are supposed to STAND OUT!