society’s perception of different fandoms
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EP. 24 How society perceives different fandoms
What the difference in the way society judges sport and pop fandoms reveals.
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Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are.
On June 18th, 2023, in Argentina's friendly football match with Australia in Beijing, a Young Chinese fan of Lionel Messi, eager to be a great football hero, leaped from the stands before sprinting toward the Argentine striker, hugging Messi. Three security guards started running and chasing the fan after hugging his hero. The first of them fell over after the young fan escaped his grasp. Only after the fan eventually trips does security catch up to him, grabbing the fan by his arms and legs and taking him back to the stands. He did not get into trouble after the incident and was instead brought back to his seat so he could watch the remainder of the game.
During the young fan's run, he was encouraged by cheers from the crowd and shouts of "Niubi" – roughly translated to "amazing."
Image That Was Recorded of the Fan Hugging Messi. Image from China Daily
On Chinese social media, many users – football fans and bystanders– celebrated the young fan's sprint across the grass pitch as a liberating moment. In the comments and discussions, many have said that his daring dash through security lines symbolizes freedom and youthful vitality. Overall, the public's reactions, news articles, and headlines have all praised this man for his actions.
According to the law, the Chaoyang District Public Security placed him in administrative detention, saying that he would not be allowed to enter a stadium for the next 12 months. While several media outlets addressed this punishment, they used words such as "harsh" to describe it. After the fan apologized for his actions, they described his apology as "quite heartwarming to see how the young man accepted his mistake and was willing to correct it."
The reaction of the public, media press, and many bystanders to the actions of this football fan shows a striking contrast compared to the reactions of similar hugs in the pop music fandom.
When a woman ran onto the stage and wrapped her arms around Saudi-Iraqi singer Majid Al-Muhandis, who was performing in the kingdom's western city of Taif, Officials deemed the woman as having "committed a deed incriminated in the anti-harassment act." The fan girl could face up to two years in jail and a fine of around 27,000 dollars if convicted.
On social media, while many defended the fan girl and downplayed her actions, others classified her as "sexual harassment."
In even more cases, Malaysian fans of a K-Pop band were threatened with prison time for hugs that the K-pop idol had initiated. While all of these actions that fans may do cross boundaries, the way society views and judges the actions reveal much more. Today I am here to discuss this striking difference in how our society and community views different fandoms and the actions of these fandoms.
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What are Fandoms?
To understand the differences in fandoms, it is important first to define what fandoms are. Fandoms, also known as fan culture, usually refers to a community built around a shared enjoyment of an aspect of popular culture, such as anime, sports, and music. While all fandoms have the same characteristics, with a group of people bonding over their shared love of something or someone, society seems to view them in completely different ways, judging the fandom's actions with different standards. How did these fandoms form? What is the root of these different standards? Why do people continue to see fandoms and the world from such standards? I will focus mainly on sports and pop culture fandom to emphasize my point and help us understand this topic more clearly.
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Reasons for the Creation of Fandoms
The Beginnings of the Sports Fandom
Since the beginning of our history, whether or not it is told in stories, folktales, or simply by word of mouth, people have admired, respected and loved the hero, the savior, the dutiful knight that protected a kingdom from attacks in war. They were not only heroes but were even considered gods. Legends. People that everyone looked up to. People that made it into the history books centuries later.
I think, in a way, we perceive sports players in the same way. We view them as heroes, a band of heroes, all working together, carrying their special weapons, shouting for glory, and being incredibly brave, courageous, and magnificent while fighting "evil forces." Our ancient respect and admiration for strong, powerful people may have been a driving reason behind the fandom's love for sports.
In these heroic stories lies another factor that drives people to feel strong respect towards the players. When a hero saves the human race, when they fight for your village or city, the sense of undeniable, unmoving community and sense of belonging we instinctively feel kicks in. This feeling can be spread towards our human species or be condensed into the small circle of your neighborhood. Despite how we may root for talented, famous players from across the world when watching the Olympic Games, and the World Cup, I believe all of us feel a sense of love, support, and a rush of pride when the sports team representing our country scores a point, wins a game or receives a medal. Even when I knew nothing about the sport they may be playing during the Winter Olympic games and was unfamiliar with the sports players, I still rooted for my home country's team and found myself getting excited when they won a game, sad when they lost. This universal sense of passion we feel in our community, the same feeling that we are constantly experiencing in sports, drives us to participate and root for sports teams, even if we are not fans.
The Universal Sense of Passion We Feel for Our Community. Image from The Week
With the modern improvement of technology and the forming of a mass global media network, sports fandoms are growing bigger than ever. Major apps such as Tiktok are one of the reasons for the spreading of awareness among sports players. Edits and short videos of incredible goals, teamwork, and even glimpses into the sports players' personal life catch people's interest. Slowly, over time, people start to learn even more about these players, increasing their publicity. The videos I have seen of soccer and basketball players all over my feed has introduced me to, quite literally, all the sports players I know. The spread of technology undeniably plays a part in all fandoms, but especially in sports, where talent can be easily shown by capturing a unique move.
The Rise of Modern Pop Music Fandoms
Similarly, the rise of modern pop music fandoms is almost completely due to social media and networks. While all pop stars have undeniable talent that attracts fans to acknowledge and fall in love with them in the first place, there seems to be a new reason growing behind the rise of the pop music fandom. As the world's living standards have improved, our priorities have shifted. From once admiring those who are simply wealthy and live a stable, easy life, our society has decided to shift its focus onto beauty. To how people look on the outside. To our appearance. To the constant shifting and defining of new beauty standards. To the "attractive" and "hot" photos people post online. To the rise of social media stars. All of a sudden, in our world, there was a mast shift of interests. This is the major reason for the rise of pop music fandoms.
Using K-pop as an example, oftentimes, k-pop idols are simply an image of what society defines as beautiful. When society strives to have thin legs, a round face, big eyes, and double eyelids, you will find these qualities in a K-pop idol. Appearance and beauty are strong priorities of K-pop culture. Especially in industries such as the K-pop industry, where the idol's physical image has more value than their talents, the very success of a K-pop group depends on how well they might match society's definition of beauty.
All of a sudden, pop stars are not only recognized for their music and talent but also for the way they look. And how do people find out about appearance? What has caused people to care so much about one's appearance? The rise of social media. Social media has granted industries such as K-pop a brand-new way to market and promote themselves. Photos, reels, and videos can all be easily accessed by the public, allowing fans and strangers to discover pictures and selfies of pop stars easily. This completely different platform and new way that fandoms approached their idol shifted the industry, making more and more rising stars and fans sprouting off of attractive appearances.
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How Society Views the Sport and Pop Culture Fandom Differently
While society believes that sports players and their fans seem to have bonded over talent, respect, and a sense of community, the relationship between pop star fandoms and the idol is a "short fling," held together only by the mask of appearance. The pop star fandom strongly relies on society's attraction towards beauty and appearance to further spread the fanbase.
Because of this seemingly weak connection, society tends to view the pop music fan base as shallow, fake, and obsessive. After all, how can a relationship established by looks be love? Be something deeper? Be inspiring? It can be and be so much more. As a K-pop and music fan myself, I do admit photos on social media and how an idol may look have deeply affected how much interest I have in them. I have realized through learning more about them there is so much more under the surface. There are countless hours and years of practice that have led them to where they are today. There is love, so much love, for the world, music, and what they do. There is passion, there is inspiration, there is talent. While following society's views, we have become accustomed to negatively viewing careers built on social media and appearance. We judge those who may seem to be a part of such fandoms. But can we not simply view these fandoms as just another community? Can't we view pop stars and idols as just another group of people who have talent? As people just like sports players, authors, and directors?
One of Many Examples of Hard Work Amongst K-Pop Groups. Image from Twitter
Because is this truly fair? To perceive our world and judge certain groups of people because of what they seem like on the outside? Is it fair to categorize one type of love, one type of relationship, as strong, respectable, and positive while the other remains toxic, an obsession? I believe the way society judges fans' actions in different ways fundamentally reflects the amount of respect they have for people in different careers. Talent, work, and practice may vary amongst sports players, anime creators, authors, singers, and idols. But, it is simply not fair to split and downgrade another's value because of how they market themselves.
Going back to the topic of hugs with this new perspective, let us try and look at their actions, and judge their actions not because of who they like or which fandom they are a part of. But as a fan. Is it right for a fan to hug when it is not initiated? Is it right for them to hug the performer, the player when they are in the middle of a game or concert intended for more than just one fan? Wrong actions are wrong. But not because of who they like or what type of community they perceive themselves as.
Sources:
https://www.nme.com/news/music/one-direction-18-1198216
https://theworld.org/stories/2015-02-09/quit-playing-games-my-heart-fans-k-pop-band-threatened-prison-time-hugs
https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-may-jail-fan-girl-hugging-singer-1024853
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/16/asia/china-soccer-fan-hugs-messi-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/36082/kid-invades-pitch-to-hug-messi-becomes-viral-sensation
https://www.sportsmanor.com/soccer-news-the-sad-fate-of-chinese-man-who-invaded-pitch-to-hug-lionel-messi/
https://www.marca.com/en/football/2023/06/17/648de65b46163fb3318b4617.html