The Psychology of Fandoms

So I already wrote a speech on this, but since I did that long before I created this blog, and because I'm not really done with this topic, I thought I would rewrite it and elaborate. 

Teenagers get a lot of flak for being obsessed with pop culture, addicted to their phones, emotionally stunted… but the big one is antisocial. I've heard a slew of these phrases thrown at my generation and the generation above me, and some of them are true, but honestly, I don't think they're all as negative as we assume they are. Antisocial behaviour covers all of these things and more, but do these things give rise to antisocial behaviour, or is it the other way around? Honestly though, for most of us, I think we are mistakenly labelled anti-social when we are actually introverted, socially anxious, or just having a bad day.

According to evidence collated by Beyond Blue, One in four Australians between the ages of 16 and 24 feel unhappy with their lives. One in six young Australians is currently experiencing an anxiety condition, including panic disorders – equivalent to 440,000 people in this country alone; and that’s just one branch of mental health issue that affects teens such as myself. According to Beyond Blue “evidence suggests half of all lifetime cases of mental health conditions emerge by age 14”.

14 years old. 14 years old and diagnosed with a condition that could affect them for the rest of their lives; hanging over their heads like a permanent raincloud filled with self-loathing. Of course, even if the people around them don’t notice, they’ll always feel different; always believe that no-one could ever understand. So what does a young person do in a situation like this? They latch onto something. In the most extreme cases this becomes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and in the mildest it becomes an anchor they cling to when it appears as though they’ll be swept away in the tide of their anxiety, depression and panic.

Obsessed. That’s one of the key words I hear most when adults talk about my generation; addicted, consumed, fixated, dependent. And for a lot of them, it’s just the kind of sedentary lifestyle they’ve chosen – but I’m not here to discuss average, run of the mill technology addiction. 


I’m talking about FANDOMS.

The Dictionary defines fandoms as “the fans of a particular person, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture.” Although as almost every fangirl will tell you – it’s so much more than that. You can admire any fandom and become a part of it, but belonging to a fandom, living and breathing it, is a completely different experience. It’s being part of an entirely new world separate to your own; meeting the characters, getting to know them as you would a friend, or arriving at a deep hatred for them as you would a common enemy. It’s about predictability vs uncontrollable chaos, sanity vs lunacy, the introvert vs the irrepressible. It gives people a sense of belonging; of purpose and value. 
A fandom is an escape.

I mentioned that forms of anxiety are the most common mental health issues in young people; people who spend all of their time worrying about their self-image, what others think of them, how they can meet high expectations, and just generally stressing about their lives. Fandoms are the perfect way to escape because once immersed within that creation, the worry about your own life just fades. Everything you have is being thrown into that world, at least temporarily. This is what persuades people to write fanfictions, visit Comic-Con and dress up as their favourite characters.

An inability to express their feelings to those they love and a distinct lack of sympathetic traits in the people around them makes them feel like they can’t express themselves normally, so they express their feelings through their fandom. They use it as a language to communicate. While a mother may be bored to death with yet another character analysis *cough* sorry Mum *cough*, it might be her daughter trying to explain her own feelings through a TV show. As a father rolls his eyes at his son’s “obsession” with Assassins Creed, some days, playing that video game is the only thing that reminds him he’s okay. Because we can’t always talk about what upsets us. Sometimes it is impossible to even begin to form the words to explain. Every day comes with a new challenge; do we give in to the surge of panic, or bury ourselves in a book? Do we let ourselves be consumed by the niggling little inkling that we’re crazy, that everything’s not okay, or do we marathon watch Doctor Who until our brains won’t function anymore? Do we tell our friends how we feel and risk judgement and pity, or do we instead release those emotions through the fanfictions we write, expressing our innermost thoughts under the guise of a character?

I don't know about you, but I know which method I choose.

People use fandoms as coping mechanisms to help them get through their day and overcome real-world issues. Fandoms are the instant solution for an immediate problem but they could be so much more. While many other fixations have increasingly negative consequences such as alcoholism and drug-taking, and only block out the problem for so long, fandoms can be used as more than just a temporary fix. If you take the positive affirmations from whatever your fandom may be, you can then learn to control and hang on to these optimistic feelings and bring them back in a situation that would usually cause anxiety.

Avoiding worries by channelling them into fanfictions, becomes an exercise in anxiety reduction. By expressing yourself in your writing, you’ve created an outlet for your worries. When people read your stories and then express their encouraging feedback to you about your work, this a) enhances your confidence and self-perception and b) allows you to communicate your feelings without having to talk about them, whereas in other situations that idea would be nerve-wracking, and in my case, enough to spark a panic attack all on its own.

Another example of fandoms as long-term coping mechanisms is the particular connections people feel towards their favourite characters. For example, the character Dean Winchester in Supernatural is excruciatingly bad at expressing his feelings, just like many of us with social anxiety. Watching the show and seeing him express himself even when it makes him uncomfortable, fills us with the confidence to do the same. Even if you’re a part of a fandom that’s complete fantasy, such as Supernatural, you can still take the human element out of it, and feed that into every-day life.

Or, if you're romantically stunted, like myself, you can live vicariously through the characters you ship together and your (in my case many) OTPs. Seriously, there are so many characters I ship that I can't pick just one. And I ship all of them for different reason and love each relationship for their varying dynamics and sub-plots - almost like... real relationships!

This helps you communicate with your loved ones in a way that doesn’t make you uncomfortable. It helps you adapt to society and helps you come to a conclusion about who you are. Unfortunately your loved ones don’t always understand this way of connecting, and thus the person already suffering from their own mentally debilitating condition, is given the label antisocial.

Song of the Week: The Judge - Twenty One Pilots
I know, I can already feel the judgement, but seriously, this band is actually kind of great. This song is my favourite at the moment, but their whole body of work is worth a listen. Judge away. Shout-out to my perfect emo sis for recommending them. #hashtagstoirritatelogan

Movie of the Week: Batman: Under the Red Hood
Okay, this one comes from a discussion I had with my friend Hayley from work. She doesn't know much about DC, and only recently became interested in the universe through Gotham. (I know, but she doesn't know any better, so chill) Anyway,  I was explaining why so much of the DC universe is better in cartoon form - the old Cartoon Network Justice League series, and the original Teen Titans for example, and this film sprang to mind. It's a genuinely well-made film with some seriously good Batman moments. In the words of Cezary Jan Strusiewicz from cracked.com:

"Burton's Batman was definitely creepy and all, but he was ultimately an unhinged psycho. Under the Red Hood, though, makes Batman look human, and then twists that humanity into something truly dark. There's even an earlier scene when the Joker talks about how Batman found him after Jason's murder, and put him in a body cast for six months. I've envisioned this scene many times and still can't decide which version is scarier: Batman going all berserk on the Joker, or calmly and methodically breaking every bone in his body."

Book of the Week: Skulduggery Pleasant
My favourite book series in the world, I am currently pouring over the first one again, for probably the millionth time. It's just SO. DAMN. GOOD. Please give it a try - it's not for everyone but its Whedon-esque and in later books is reminiscent of Tarantino and old school Tim Burton feels, as well as having all the charm, gravity and magic of the Harry Potter books, with a tad more violence and death. Perfect.

Photo of the Week:

Abby and Hayley at work have been friends with each other for ages, and both are so much fun to be around. Thanks for making me feel welcome and being mates - it would have been a lot harder to get used to being here without you guys, I really appreciate it.

Positivity Goal of the Week: Remember that you are loved.
You might be far away from the people you love, or right next to them, but never forget that someone out there loves you, even if it doesn't feel like it. Even Hitler had supporters... and he was pure evil.