How fandoms are portrayed

[Rivulet 116]

          So, talking to my friends in a Skype call, and we get on the subject of fan bases. It sparks a huge discussion on how outsiders would see into a fandom. We've all heard the insults before, and for most people, none of them hold up to be true. The media (like the Fox News station who said we quit our jobs to watch this show, like how does that even make logical sense?), portrays bronies as mostly just strange people. But are we? They enjoy shows, just aren't as active in it as we are. The furry fandom, I don't quite understand it, but I don't see them all as some cult of crazy people. Apparently there's a Steven Universe fandom as well. Spongebob. Pokemon. You name it, people have websites, accounts, ideas, art, etc based on it. I mean you don't call somebody a low-life because they wait a week to watch CSI, do you? I wouldn't, because it makes no sense to. Bronies are just 'out of the norm', I'd guess you'd say. But is that a bad thing? How many times have you seen a girl watch what would be considered a dude's show? And how does that differ from dudes watching what they say is a girl's show? The outsiders of fandoms need to at least go into the fandom to understand it. If they don't like it then, oh well. But I bet if the haters legitimately tried, they'd join or stop the hate. If they continue to hate, then there's another factor in them that isn't surfaced.

 

          I'm done rambling now, but I want to know, What's your opinion on the haters and how fandoms are portrayed?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,207]

Pretty much every fandom out there has some kind of negative stereotype that is thrown around as an insult at them, some more than others and the brony fandom has definitely seen a rather harsh side of it. Same with the Sonic fandom and even the Pokemon fandom to a slight extent. It is all idiotic generalizations. These types of haters always leech off of one or two negatives that they find and they use that as an excuse to ignore any of the positive aspects. It is really quite pathetic too. 

 

"Hey, you all are not supposed to like that show! Because....I don't like that show! I win!"

[Megas 27,041]

A lot of other fandoms have their fair share of crazies. They're also more noticeable when said fandom are bigger

[CuriousPony 156]

I'm extremely fascinated by the inner workings of fandoms, and how people react to them.

 

I've noticed that fandom's tend to have a group personality or vibe, and that vibe usually reflects the vibe you'd find in the show/movie/game/etc. itself. For example, I spent some time in the Naruto fandom, and they tend to be just as competitive as the characters in the show are.

 

Every fandom tends to have their share of people who dislike them. There's always someone who wants to complain about something, after all. But my philosophy is to ignore them and surround myself with positive people who either support the fandom, or are in it themselves. No need to argue over validity. I prefer to just be.

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

I have no problem with how fandoms are portrayed since most fandom stereotypes exist for a reason. 

[Rivulet 116]

I have no problem with how fandoms are portrayed since most fandom stereotypes exist for a reason. 

What about how all bronies are all gay? I know I'm not, and maybe only like under 10% in the fandom are.

[Floofie 799]

Most people outside a fandom typically portray fandoms as toxic places filled with equally toxic people. Most people within a fandom typically portray fandoms as nice places filled with friendly people.

 

Neither of those are true.

 

To me, fandoms are neutral. You can't call a large group of people good or bad because there will always be both good and bad people within that group. I feel like that's the correct way fandoms should be portrayed to everyone.

Edited November 28, 2015 by RedFireDrgn

[Trixie Heartstrings 433]

It is kinda a pet peeve I have. I take more issue if it's something like the news, since they're the ones that will be taken the most seriously because well, it's the news. If it's a comedy or drama, I take less issue since I know exaggeration is a big part of both of those things, but I still might be like, "what are you talking about?" But other times, I'm like "eh", like with CollegeHumor's My Little Brony video. I didn't laugh about it, but I wasn't offended by it either, since it was pretty much the same joke I've heard thousands of times before the brony fandom even existed. I think I take the most issue when I'm talking to someone, and they believe the misconceptions, and are being serious about it. Speaking of which, I'm kinda laughing because I found this around the time I was watching a video about bronies and furries (a panel at BronyCAN 2015).

[Varrack 1,080]

I don't think we get it that bad. I mean sure we're given the typical insults online but for the most part people don't really care. Fandoms in general are supposed to be out of the norm, so it should be quite expected that not everyone reacts to them positively. Some are resistant to change and anything that doesn't flow with the status quo, so fandoms are oftentimes portrayed as odd and weird. That's okay though, there's not necessarily anything wrong with being abnormal.

[Lost 1,409]

Most people hate on fandoms in order to get a rise out of them, in the case of major media they just see the outlines of the fandom, the extreme/weird cases and they report on those as it gets them the most attention.

[EpicEnergy 22,054]

There are stereotypes and overgeneralizations for many fandoms, so I believe that is the way many people look at fandoms.

[Dreambiscuit 8,017]

There are always going to be fans who make others feel like outsiders, or not purist enough, or this or that. It doesn't matter. It's up to each fan to love what they love regardless of others. Being a fan of something doesn't mean being a fan of its other fans. I don't need anyone else to make or break me as a fan; I like what i like and nothing else matters to me.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,275]

We're lucky to be part of the best fandom @Dreambiscuit