What kind of fans are we?

[MrsPepper]

Right, this thought has been floating around in my head for awhile.

I've noticed that in most fandoms, there's always a particular subject that doesn't fit in, and is looked down upon in that particular fandom. For example, alot of anime fans will make faces at you if you say, "I LOVE Inuyasha!". That show has had a huge popularity boost in the past year or two and it's just huge. But you're pretty much looked down upon by other anime fans if you are a Inuyasha fan girl. Others would say that the show isn't all that good (I've said that before to people, ehe heh), the storyline, animation, whatever is bad compared to other things, and look down on it. Because of it's huge popularity, people who aren't hugely into anime will think, Inuyasha, about anime. And the hardcore fans of other shows will hate them for it.
My friend is a member of the Gaiaonline.com forums, and from what I've heard, the "uncool" (if you will) thing there is the Breedable pets (where you draw pets and sell them to others for "gold", their points system).
And this theory proves to be true within the Muppets online community as well, as anyone who is an Elmo fan can tell you.

Now, continuing on, the muppets are a part of a grander community - the puppetry community. In the big, bad world of puppetry, are the muppets the equivalent to Inuyasha? They're the big, bad, corporate puppets, really - the ones who've lasted the longest, had family entertainment value (as in, not just child or adult), the list goes on. Would fans of other forms of puppetry, or other shows, anything like that, look down on the muppets? They're the popular show, and what happens is when something is always around and thrown back at you, you tend not to like it. When people say puppets, most people will think, muppets. And I haven't even considered the attitudes of professional puppeteers, I have no clue what they might think of us.
So are we, the muppet fans, the equivalents to the Inuyasha fan girls, or the Elmo fans, of the general puppetry community?

 

[Vic Romano]

I'm a fan girl! Lol

Actually, if people relate "Muppets" to "Puppets", that's okay I'd imagine, as it was Jim who used the Muppets to really define puppetry, where Inuayshupperimudah or whatever hasn't really defined anything, let alone Anime.

 

[MrsPepper]

Yeah, very true Vic. Sorry, it was the only excample I could think of off the top of my head.
But whether or not it has defined anything, every community like ours has its outcasts. Like, Elmo is a muppet and has skyrocked the popularity of SS, but also has it's negative sides too (onr example, less other characters shown). So whether or not there is a good side or a bad side to it, it still doesn't stop the fact that such a group of outcasts would exist.

edit: Haha yes Vic, you are indeed quite the fangirl.

I forgot to add "/fanboy" after that, didn't I.

 

[JaniceFerSure]

I've been watching muppety programs almost all my life.Starting with SS when I was around 3,TMS,FR,JHH,MT,Dinosaurs,Ghost of Faffner Hall,Christmas Toys,Frog Prince,Musicians of Bremen,Emmett Otter,Suess;plus the Muppet movies.I bought TMS dvd set right after work the day it came out.I've see Muppet Vision 3D at Disney World 4 times.

The only thing I haven't gotten into is the merchandise. So yeah,I guess I'm a fan of the muppets,after 30 years still happy to talk about them and see what projects are in store for them now & in the future.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

I echo all that you said Janice but it been like 25-26 yrs for me

 

[MrsPepper]

Oh yeah, guys, I don't doubt we're all fans. Especially ones like you two, JaniceFerSure and Kimp who've been fans for years and years.

What I mean is, as a community, do you think we would be an outcast community in the larger scheme of things puppetry, kind of like how Elmo fans are outcast in the general Muppet community.

Wow, I really didn't explain myself very well, did I?

 

[TogetherAgain]

I understood what you meant, Mrs. Pepper. Or at least I think I did. You're asking if... hm, it is a little hard to phrase. Time for analogies... you're asking if "Muppets are to puppetry as Elmo is to Sesame Street." Like, are we (as Muppet fans) looked down upon for liking the Muppets, who get all this attention and are really only a small percentage of all the different styles, forms, etc. of puppetry as a whole. ...or something along those lines, right?
I think it's an interesting question, and I honestly have no idea as to the answer.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I understand what you're asking.

I've never seen that happen before, really. As far as I can tell, Muppet fans are all over the P of A meetings.

I also don't consider Elmo fans as outcasts, either. I like little red, just not in Elmo's world.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm a fan girl!

Wow, and all this time, I thought you were a guy. I mean after all, you DID say you have a "wife".

 

[TogetherAgain]

Vic Roman is a guy. He was joking.
...wait... are you joking, too? I can never tell... but then, if I can't tell, maybe no one else can, either... maybe I'm joking, too! Or... wait...