Fan of hockey, Britney or… serial killers. Gone are the days of looking up at fans and their bands. These are now the subject of serious and above all varied studies, arousing more and more interest. For good reason: having idols makes you happy. Gives meaning to life. And even saved some from the pandemic. Explanations, analyzes and testimonies, in three stages.
The fandom, an academic discipline
“People are always surprised to hear it, but it is a very serious university discipline! Confirms Zoe Fraade-Blanar, professor of Fandom and Celebrity Studies at New York University. “It’s a discipline that touches on sociology, media studies, and marketing at the same time, it’s a very interesting mix! “A relatively recent discipline (” The culture nerd became mainstream [mainstream] », Wrote on this subject a few years ago the magazine New Yorker), which dissects in particular how and why some people come together around a given popular culture phenomenon. And varied.
Read the text “We’re All Nerds Now”
Indeed, here, we do not discriminate between passions (unlike laymen, sometimes led to quick judgments, we will come to this), by analyzing fans of Harry Potter and Nutella on an equal footing (yes, we can be a fan brand) or, why not, Shakespeare.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Zoe Fraade-Blanar, Professor of Fandom and Celebrity Studies, at New York University
And it would be wrong to discredit the fandoms [communautés de fans, dans le jargon] because they are part of popular culture.
Zoe Fraade-Blanar, Professor of Fandom and Celebrity Studies, at New York University
Because at the end of the day, being a fan (because it is indeed a “verb”, implying an action, socialization, even certain rituals, facilities, even tenfold from the internet) is a matter of the same “quest for meaning”: “and there is no question that Harry Potter cannot answer,” smiles Zoe Fraade-Blanar. The fandom is good for you! “Good, and above all” very fun! », Says the one to whom we owe a book on the subject (Superfandom), also a fan of Frank Zappa and Agatha Christie. “Fans often say that their passion gives them an escape, a space where they can truly be themselves, yes there is something a little bit utopian, but sometimes it just fills a need! ”
End the shame of being a fan
Lynn S. Zubernis is Professor of Psychology at West Chester University, Pennsylvania. She is also an assumed fan of the series supernatural (Supernatural in Quebec), and member of a fairly nested group, actively participating online, but also in person, in conferences around the world.
PHOTO CHRIS SCHMELKE, SUPPLIED BY LYNN S. ZUBERNIS
Lynn S. Zubernis (left) and her friend Laurena (right) pose alongside their idols: Jensen Ackles (center left) and Jared Padalecki (center right), from their favorite series, supernatural.
A few years ago, never the academic would have dared to confide in this way. “But today I am comfortable, I no longer feel guilty! », Slips the one who now publishes chronicles in Psychology Today on the subject.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LYNN S. ZUBERNIS
Lynn S. Zubernis is Professor of Psychology at West Chester University, Pennsylvania.
Read his columns in Psychology Today (in English)
When I fell in love with the show, my kids were young, and I went through a kind of crisis: am I allowed to do this? I am a professional, a mother! So I got into the research, and found all kinds of benefits of having a passion!
Lynn S. Zubernis, Professor of Psychology at West Chester University, Pennsylvania
And she’s not alone: in 2015, Tasha R. Howe published an article in the journal Self and Identity on metal music fans (of which the Humboldt University psychologist was a part in her crazy youth). Conclusion: These adolescents were “considerably happier in their youth and are also more adjusted today”, she wrote, noting the immense benefits associated with the community of peers, in terms of identity and a sense of belonging, which are essential. to well-being. In short, to happiness.
Read the article by Tasha R. Howe
Because being a fan is that: being passionate about a subject, a personality, a music group or, in the case of Lynn S. Zubernis, a series. And because passions respond to a human need (“we need to do things just for fun!”), And that fandoms embody a form of community (without forgetting a “validation” and “a sharing of common interests”), it would be wrong to deprive ourselves of them, especially since guilt cancels out all these underestimated benefits.
Besides, why the prejudices? “Because we are all a little uncomfortable with people who express strong emotions,” answers the psychologist. So that’s the healthiest thing there is! Also, she believes, the media tends to portray the most extreme fan groups (remember the Bronies, men, unlikely filly fans?). “But in 99% of cases, a fandom, that’s not it: they are quite normal people who have quite simply found a passion! “And as long as this passion does not encroach on other spheres of life, no worries, says the psychologist. “The priority is balance. ”
The right to be yourself
PHOTO HEO RAN, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Members of boys band South Korean BTS
In the midst of a pandemic, CBC journalist and producer Samantha Lui made a coming out out of the ordinary: “I am a fangirl. After years in the closet, she dared to say, write and confide out loud what otherwise saved her during the pandemic. Namely: his passion for BTS, a boys band South Korean. “It was when the pandemic started that I realized that being a fangirl was much more than a childish obsession, ”she wrote on the crown corporation’s Doc Project blog, noting the solace brought by the group she loved at a time when solace was lacking. not necessarily at the rendezvous, let’s say.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHRISTINE HÉBERT
Christine Hébert, author of the master’s thesis The Duggies and the internet, published by Presses de l’Université Laval
According to Christine Hébert, at the origin of the blog We are fans, which relayed this coming out unusual, it all comes back here to this idea of “community”, of bringing together people “who look like us”, allowing everyone to finally be “themselves”. A community “where we can display our preferences and our tastes without being judged”, sums up the one who defines herself as Duggie (small name of the fans of the series In a galaxy near you), author of a master’s thesis on the subject (Duggies and the internet), and fanfiction in its spare time. Moreover, in her eyes, it is obvious: being a fan embodies “almost a vital need to express my creativity”, she believes.
Read Samantha Lui’s article
Fans and their idols: the Quebec exception
Quebecers stand out here in their unique relationship with their idols. If the posture is always one of “asymmetry” or “difference in size” (“this is what creates the posture of the fan facing his idol”, recalls Pierre Barrette, director of the Media School of UQAM, the goal of the fan being to get closer to his subject of idolatry, whether through the collection of objects, participation in a community, etc.), in Quebec, this distance is embodied in a paradoxical illusion of “promiscuity”. With as a best example the case of Véronique Cloutier, whose image relies not so much on the “distance effect”, but on the “girl next door” side, as the neighbors say. “She could be your friend, she could be your neighbor. […] This creates a link […] even if, at the start, everything starts from an image of grandeur. ”Illusion of proximity also magnified by the pandemic, while we have seen all our stars (Ariane Moffatt, Florence K, India Desjardins, etc.) confined to their homes in slack. Like us. But let’s not be fooled, concludes the professor: all this remains a “game”, a “map” in short, a “staging”.