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I'm having odd thoughts that I thought I'd put out about the status of fans. Not status in the hierarchicial sense of fandom, but more in where fans fall as a fandom. Okay, that made no sense, but let's just say, it's not a hierarchicial view.
So, fans are politics. Not politicians (as politicians tend to be the extremes of politics) but the actual politics themselves. And in fact, most fans are Democrats or Republicans (there are a few Green Party, Libertarians and maybe even a few communists out there). But as a general rule, most fans are politics of the Democrat/Republican nature.
Now, that's not to say that that is their political leanings. The comparison is this: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, if you really look at them, actually have a lot in common.
As is such with the fan.
And most people's politics are moderate.
As is the fan.
It's the little details that everyone argues over. Not the big picture. Sometimes it gets painted as the big picture, and to one person's political views, it is the big picture, but on the political scale as a whole, one detail does not the party make.
In any political party, as in any fandom, there will be people whose political views will be the extremes. Does anyone expect them to get along? No. (I mean, if you really want to have examples, does anyone really think that Paul Wellstone - the most extreme of the liberals - would get along with Jesse Helms - a really extreme conservative, I'm not sure if themost - and invite him to play golf? I doubt it.)
So it is in fandom. There are people who are on polar ends of the spectrum. It may not come out in views on the fandom exactly. But their personalities will not mesh. It happens that way.
It's just a matter of recognizing that what doesn't mesh probably would never have meshed. It's all politics. And people are very staunch in their political views, so why not just agree to disagree and move on? And look at the big picture instead of the tiny details.
This topic discussion is brought to you by attack ads everywhere and the need to ride Wook's Winnebago.
So, fans are politics. Not politicians (as politicians tend to be the extremes of politics) but the actual politics themselves. And in fact, most fans are Democrats or Republicans (there are a few Green Party, Libertarians and maybe even a few communists out there). But as a general rule, most fans are politics of the Democrat/Republican nature.
Now, that's not to say that that is their political leanings. The comparison is this: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, if you really look at them, actually have a lot in common.
As is such with the fan.
And most people's politics are moderate.
As is the fan.
It's the little details that everyone argues over. Not the big picture. Sometimes it gets painted as the big picture, and to one person's political views, it is the big picture, but on the political scale as a whole, one detail does not the party make.
In any political party, as in any fandom, there will be people whose political views will be the extremes. Does anyone expect them to get along? No. (I mean, if you really want to have examples, does anyone really think that Paul Wellstone - the most extreme of the liberals - would get along with Jesse Helms - a really extreme conservative, I'm not sure if themost - and invite him to play golf? I doubt it.)
So it is in fandom. There are people who are on polar ends of the spectrum. It may not come out in views on the fandom exactly. But their personalities will not mesh. It happens that way.
It's just a matter of recognizing that what doesn't mesh probably would never have meshed. It's all politics. And people are very staunch in their political views, so why not just agree to disagree and move on? And look at the big picture instead of the tiny details.
This topic discussion is brought to you by attack ads everywhere and the need to ride Wook's Winnebago.
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