Because my blog also has society topics in it!
A tweet from this summer by the writer Sam Sykes sums up brilliantly the 6 steps of fandom as follows:
1. I love this
2. I own this
3. I control this
4. I can’t control this
5. I hate this
6. I must destroy this
I have then decided to take a minute to explain how true that is :
Although the original intent was based on the fans of any work of art and their reactions on forums, i mean –we are in 2017– on social medias, particularly when the recipient of their obsession takes a path they didn’t approve of; i can’t refrain from applying that logic to other concepts.
This is a blog that has a japan-oriented tendency, this is why i can’t avoid thinking about those people you meet sometimes in real life, or internet :
The Sour Expats
The temptation came to me to only write “The Expats” but keeping justice in mind i’m being specific, after all i know examples of sane people, not affected by theprogression that sums up to :
1 – It looks awesome over there, the grass is so much greener
2 – I’m going there! finally, i’m one of the chosen ones!
3 – I’m an expert of the area, everything is done so much smarter here
4 – Now i know the place better, i know what people talk about in my back, and some things are better at home
5 – Meh there’s something rotten in the kingdom of Danemark, trust me, i know the stuff, i know what hides behind !
6 – DON’T GO THERE THIS IS SHIT !
A progression i’ve witnessed several times on internet, and a few times in real life, and it is true that Japan cristalizes a wide array of geeks, fans, gamers, tea lovers and so on, and generates a more violent disillusion than other places that do not radiate as much into pop-culture.
The only other place i can think of thatwould radiate such a strong and biased identity would be the USA’s west coast: Hollywood, Venice Beach, Silicon Valley, Las vegas even and so on also cause a strong disillusion in a variety of individuals, which isn’t necessarily the case for less mediatic places, attracting much more specific characters.
the point 1 in my exemple takes it’s roots ( yup!) in the well-known greener grass expression, but also from the comments of some nippophile you probably don’t know, who during his first trip to Japan was fascinated by the grass in Yoyogi park in Tokyo, among countless other small details of the city, because it grew on a green plastic stabilizing hexagonal mesh …
So do you have to be jaded to not be disapointed?
“NEVER!” i want to yell, but it’s surely good to moderate the hype on step 1, and try as much as possible to avoid the step 3 ( “I control this” ), the step 2 might be debatable depending on context, but we are but humans, it’s hard to not fall into it, and i think it isn’t necessarily negative depending on interpretation, so i’m not type 10 pages about it .
Step 1 is only toxic if you inject by yourself expectations of perfection, I shouldn’t have to teach anyone that perfection doesn’t exist, and keeping potential imperfections in mind from the start allows one not to fall from the clouds upon discovering them
Getting into an art, object, country, or individual (HA! now you see where i’m going there? ) thinking “i don’t know yet what’s not perfect about it” allows for an infinitely healthier relationship down the line, and with any luck total avoidance of the destruction step, of even the hatred one.
Makes you think, doesn’t it?