I believe there are two types of science fiction fan in the world. The distinction isn’t between casual fans and obsessive fans: that’s just a matter of magnitude. It’s not between being cool and being geeky: those are just labels, as subjective as they come and correspondingly meaningless except in the very broadest of strokes. It’s not even being into literature or being into televised sci-fi: to me that’s a false distinction at best, one usually put forward by people indulging in snobbery. No, to me the distinction is between fans who enjoy what they’re into, and fans who are so protective, so po-faced about what they’re into that they’ve managed to suck all of the fun right out if it. To these people it’s like the subject has become so important to them it has stopped being fun.
Take, for example, Transformers. A toyline from the 1980s with a cartoon and comic series. They were a big thing back then, and chances are that anyone in their mid-twenties to early thirties today will remember them. I’ll quite happily admit that I like them, and have even enjoyed picking up some of the older ones from eBay. Recently two posts on websites about Transformers caught my attention and perfectly illustrated the divide between fans who enjoy, and fans who don’t know how to enjoy any more.
This post is from Botch, who writes about the subject with a notable level of enjoyment. His entire site is a labour of love really, and his enthusiasm shows. This is the kind of fan who enjoys what he is into.
This post, on the other hand, doesn’t show any level of enjoyment. It shows a level of commitment, to be sure. It shows annoyance. It shows the guy knows something of the toy collecting world…but show me where it reveals he enjoys it. Really, point me to it, because I sure as hell can’t see it.
That’s the dividing line as I see it, and I hope I always stay on the side I’m on now. I love science fiction: I love reading it, watching it and buying it (in transformable robot form). I think as an interest it enriches me, opens me to new experiences and gives me something to indulge in and simply enjoy. I hope I never cross that line and see my enjoyment turn jaded, see myself get angry at other people simply because they don’t enjoy it in a way I approve of. Quite simply I hope it’s always fun and never a chore.
March 27th, 2006 at 3:48 am
Aw, putting the stickers on was one of my favorite parts about TFs when I was a kid. The actions of that collector fill me with nostalgia, not annoyance. It’s clear between him and the writer of that post who truly has a love for those toys.
March 27th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Exactly! When did something being fun become so wrong in his eyes? And much as I like Transformers, I pride myself on always retaining a sense of perspective: they’re toys. Cool toys, admittedly, toys I even think are cool today as an adult, but I wouldn’t assign them such a lofty place in our cultural history. What frustrates me most is when people think of science fiction fans, they’ll think of that type and ignore the rest.