The Shocking Truth About Superfans

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In fact, maybe the really crazy ones aren’t the exceptions we make them all out to be.

I spent the weekend at a fan convention, Fan Expo Canada. Think San Diego Comic Con but Canadian, eh. It’s a convention for fans of everything from Lord of The Rings to Watchmen to Star Trek to One Piece to Swifties to more obscure topics. As someone who loves reality TV, getting exposure to other fandoms taught me a lot about what it means to be really into something and gave me new perspective on reality TV superfans of all kinds.

Between appearances from Simu Liu, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Marisa Tomei, there were panels and workshops at the expo and I went to a session called “Building Digital Communities.” While I didn’t learn too much about building digital communities (or growing newsletters) I did learn about other fandoms, specifically Star Wars. The moderator runs a community around shipping The Mandolorian with another character, Bo Katan. If your eyes just glazed over, bear with me as I tell you how it was enlightening to get out of the Survivor/BB bubble and see how every fandom has its quirks.

The moderator went into detail about how some people in her niche have issues separating fact from reality. Some fans show anger and send hate mail when they learn that the Bo Katan actor doesn’t have red hair like her character. I couldn’t help but think of Big Brother and Survivor and I’m happy to report that our reality TV fandoms are not the only ones that can take it too far.

While some people nerd out to lightsabers and “DinBo,” the name of the Star Wars ship (ship as in, rooting for a relationship, not an intergalactic spaceship), Big Brother fans nerd out to Veto stats and “Tubina.” It’s easy to point to people deep in these fandoms and think they’re different, but all fandoms have the good and the bad. Go ahead, root for your showmance, just don’t do anything weird to them once they get out the house.

Every preseason of Big Brother we see the sleuths on BB Twitter finding facts and pseudo-facts about the houseguests. For most, this is done in an inoffensive, cutesy (demure?) way even, although it occasionally goes too far. There is nothing wrong with going deep on something you love as long as you recognize where the line is.

Earlier in BB26 we heard of people contacting Angela’s place of work about her behavior. Unfortunately, stories like this seem to arise every year. While this is quite odd conduct, I am heartened to know that our reality TV fandoms are not the only ones that can be filled with toxicity.

Let me add that most people who love these shows are like you and me. They love them to death and are able to separate reality TV from reality. Most people who watch live feeds don’t expect the person on the other end to know who they are or to owe them anything, but some do.

Differentiating between the media we consume and reality can be even harder when we’re watching reality TV instead of fiction. You get to know the people - not the characters - really well. In the case of Big Brother, you get almost 24/7 access to their quirks and their way of being and in some ways, you can get to know them on a level that can feel quite intimate. It makes sense that some people would feel strongly about someone they’ve never met in person based on hours and hours of consuming feeds.

I’ll say outright: I’ve gotten to know many people that I’ve watched on TV or on feeds and felt completely different about these people in person than I did watching them on television. That makes sense because living on a televised island or in a houstudio and playing cutthroat games for for six or seven figure sums doesn’t encourage normal every day behavior. It’s intense and high stakes and the moment a camera appears on someone, they can and will change. If you think that’s 100% that person’s personality in real life, I think you’re wrong.

One of my big takeaways from this weekend is that just because some fans can be toxic (and when I say toxic I specifically mean getting involved in people’s real lives without their permission/consent), it doesn’t mean that the thing they love or are a fan of is bad. The moderator of the session talked about how she manages her digital community with pretty strict rules because otherwise things get out of hand. Every fanbase has its issues. Don’t blame the medium that a fanbase loves; don’t let the toxic few ruin it for the rest of the superfans.

I guess what I’m saying is that you’re probably not one of these fans who writes bad reviews about people online. And if you are and you’re reading this, my ask is to show a little bit of grace to the people who have risked it all for your entertainment. Go all-in. Do your extra research. Write your fanfiction. Just recognize the real humans on the other side.

This weekend I learned of so many cool new shows and movies from the people who love them and I’ll tell you why that’s relevant in a moment.

Hazbin Hotel? Barely heard of it but I saw 100+ people dressed up as its characters. Going to check it out.

Never Ending Story? A 40-year old film with a packed showing. About time I watched it.

Big Brother? Survivor? I told a couple of people at the expo how much I love Big Brother and we’ve got some new fans joining us now. Keep telling people how much you love these shows and don’t feel any shame that we have our unhinged fans, as most fanbases do.

Any media worth loving also has people who connect with each other based on that shared passion. I’ve met so many people through the reality TV community that I wouldn’t have otherwise and I can’t wait to meet more.

Love what you love. Go deep. Connect with others.

And the moderator of that digital communities session? She has been to visit many of her “DinBo” shippers in other countries. This obscure fictional ship has created international IRL connections based on that shared passion.

Sounds kind of wholesome to me.

-Kevin

PS did I crush the Vision cosplay or what?

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