You Cannot Be A Real Fan Unless...

Something that has always been peculiar to me is the idea of a ‘fake fan’. 

Despite having participated in a bit of gatekeeping myself, I find it strange that in order to ‘qualify’ as a fan, you need to know every football club, league and position or every song off of a singer’s discography or every film a director or actor has ever been part of. No longer is it that a fan is someone who likes something – a fan has to be someone who likes that thing properly.

Such is very visibly evident in the case of football. As a woman who has only recently been getting into football, it’s quite frustrating to hear things about how I cannot be a real football fan because I am either bandwagoning, think the players are attractive or am simply and wholly uneducated. That said, it’d be hypocritical of me to argue that I have never been guilty of such policing myself, whether that is with music or literature or even film.

There is a certain kind of snobbery that exists in contemporary media consumption that has become so ubiquitous it is deemed normal. We have notions of what and how to consume media ‘properly’ that is, the correct way to participate in fan culture, the correct teams to support, the correct books to read, the correct films to consume and vice versa. It is as if enjoyment in itself is standardized and codified. 

What makes this more interesting is understanding the fact that in the modern capitalist system, consumption is identity because more often that not it directly impacts accessibility. The ‘fake fan’ accusation has less to do with the consumption itself, rather, it is about how the media is consumed. One might believe someone who has attended a Taylor Swift concert is a ‘bigger and better’ fan than someone who has not. Such discourse very rarely accounts for nuances, assuming everyone can access the same tiers of fan culture when that is not the case. 

Beyond that, temporarily also plays a role. If someone becomes a fan of an artist after they have a mainstream hit, they cannot possibly be a real fan because their entry into the fanbase is through a cash cow, not the ‘real’ music. If you only know the 'popular/mainstream’ songs, you cannot possibly be a genuine fan, can you? 

Since when did entertainment become a litmus test of cultural literacy? 

There is nothing inherently wrong with knowing a lot about something you love. Knowledge can deepen enjoyment. The issue arises when knowledge becomes the entry fee to enjoyment. When supporting a club for twenty years becomes evidence of legitimacy. 

We often forget that every expert was once a beginner and newness should not invite skepticism and alienation. We are not born with the interests we have ; every longtime fan was once a beginner. A new fan should not feel embarrassed and burdened with an expectation to prove their belonging, not ask questions and son, much less so when the thing being discussed is entertainment. A hobby is not supposed to become an evaluation of whether one is worthy to call oneself a fan of something.

Though, in the contemporary ethos, fandom and consumerism often present themselves as a package deal. Buying merchandise, attending concerts, purchasing premium content or subscriptions, owning the jersey, buying tickets to every match and vice versa now determine the depth of a fan’s devotion to a team/ artist. The nuance is, not everyone can afford to spend the same way and therefore fan consumerism cannot be taken as a legitimate mode of determining legitimacy. A $45 hoodie can be a frivolous purchase for one fan but for another, it could be something that they simply cannot afford to spend on, regardless of their love for the artist or player. Similarly, it is not necessary that someone who can only afford to stream on Spotify loves the artist less than the person who attends every concert and fan event.

Access is not proof of affection.

Admittedly, I still catch myself gatekeeping at times and I probably will again, because like many others, I have internalized what it means to not be a ‘fake fan’. There is also a sense of achievement in finding a niche artist before they find mainstream success or following a football club since childhood and knowing its history, every player, every fact, every bit of non mainstream knowledge about the club. There is a sense of belonging to something larger than oneself and yet (as in all kinds of social groups) belonging comes with its own brand of exclusion..

You can be a fan if you know everything. You can also be a fan if you know very little. You can be a fan if you’ve supported someone for years. You can also be a fan if you discovered something last week. Maybe the only qualification for enjoying something should be precisely that– enjoyment.