On Fandom

I'm not going to lie at ya. I'm a Japanophile. I'm obsessed with Japanese culture, mainly animation and comics. Like most crappy American weeaboos, I know nothing about actual Japanese culture. I'm only aware of the aesthetic of Japan. I only know it's shell. I only know it's appearance. That being said, I don't know if I'm qualified to be a critic of this phenomenon, seeing as I am a part of it. I hate Japan-fanboys. They're awful people. There's an air of a superior, "more informed than thou" attitude about them, even though there all just as unenlightened, if not more so than the rest of us. They claim to see, although their obsession blinds them.

Much of the Japanese culture that weeaboos are obsessed with seems to be the superficial culture which is a Japanese mistranslation of American/Urbanized/Global-Pop Culture, which takes the qualities of the aforementioned, and only glosses over them, memorizing the key points, drawing wireframes, imitating the style, then pouring the mess into a mold and mass producing it. The weeaboos then take this refined, artificial glaze, and repeat the process once more. What's left is a shell of a shell. The zeal of the American otaku is like someone synthesizing the taste of aspartame.

Okay, that's enough on American based Japanese sub culture fandom. I wanted to talk about fandom in general. People dedicate their lives to fandom. Myself included. I've poured hours and hours into videogames, animation, comics, music, basically any form of media. Not just partaking in these media either. To be considered a fan, you must participate in the community. Post on fan-forums, create fan-art, argue with other fans, browse fan-merchandise, look it up on Wikipedia, research the auteur's other works, argue with people both within and without the community about the merits of the work, and the subtleties lying hidden inside...... BUT WHY?! Why do we do this? Why? It gets us NOTHING. You can't get a job doing it, well very few can, you can't eat it, it doesn't fulfill you. It's worthless. It's okay to enjoy media, but why waste more time than necessary?

Then it hit me, why be a fan of media when I can be a creator. The fans are chumps. They dedicate themselves to the works of others for no gain, when they could be doing works of their own, and reaping the benefits. BECOME THE OBJECT OF FANDOM. I think it would be much more satisfying and fulfilling. I admire the ability of the creators to inspire emotions and ideas in me, so why can't I do the same for others?

I have thus made a resolution. Having experienced being a fan, I would like to also experience being the object of fandom. From today onward, I will be a fan no longer! Any efforts I would have made to further my fanboyness will now be dedicated to the pursuit of my own fulfillment, my own accomplishment, my own fame and fortune.

Good night.