Throughout the time of pop culture, many fandoms have formed, whether that be in the music industry or for a popular TV show. Although these fandoms can create a community of like-minded individuals who come together over a shared love, fandoms can get out of hand at times.
Fans of certain fandoms such as “Swifties” and fans of the popular show “Stranger Things”, have ruined people’s perception of the fandom as a whole.
This can lead to unnecessary stigma and negative views on these topics for supposed stereotypes.
When it comes to the infamous Swifties, people often immediately associate the fans with being “annoying” and “loud”, although not every fan falls under these stereotypes. Being a Swiftie comes with the inevitable association of being a fangirl. However, not every fangirl is exactly what people typically think of.
In fact, a majority of Taylor Swift fans are not crazy and rowdy, like most people assume. Most of them simply enjoy her music.
With the rapid popularity of Taylor Swift, especially since she started her tour, people have been seeing more and more Swifties and have made assumptions based on what they see on social media.
This leads many Taylor Swift fans to be weary about how they express their love for the singer. Oftentimes, fans of Taylor Swift are genuinely normal about their liking towards her, just like other fans of other singers.
However, due to the stigma that has recently surrounded Swifties, when a person utters the name “Taylor Swift”, they are immediately hated on, even if they aren’t as “crazy” as other fans.
Not only are these, supposedly crazy, fans ruining how Swifties are perceived, but they also make being a part of the fandom a lot less enjoyable.
Additionally, since 2016, the widely known Netflix original series “Stranger Things” has had a large following, growing with each release of a new season. However, the most recent season (season four) has set the stage for an extreme fanatic uproar.
Many fans of the show went overboard with their admiration for the new characters and plot lines. This led to groups of supporters decked out in mullets and “Hellfire Club” shirts.
These devoted fans definitely set themselves apart from those who had just decided to tune into the new episodes’ releases.
Unfortunately though, these extremists lent a hand in developing the stigma around “Stranger Things”.
This doesn’t mean these fans are bad or unfavorable people, however their shocking allegiance to the show made it look as though every watcher of it was an unapologetic superfan sporting a “Hellfire Club” shirt out on the town.
This overwhelming worship of the show outshined the actual content and character development contained within the episodes, ultimately outshining the “normal” and reasonable fans.
The enthusiasm demonstrated for this thriller made way for a negative public view on the show as a whole and anyone who had expressed any interest in it.
To conclude, taking interest in a given subject is great, as well as finding like-minded people who share commonalities. However there is an undeniable pattern of over-eager fans setting the stage for unprecedented backlash aimed towards a fandom and typical watchers, listeners, admirers, or observers.