BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » what being a fan means to you?

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 10:13 am

I saw a movie yesterday about a fan who accepts to hide a corpse for her idol ( I'm not asking if you'd do the same )
I never saw myself as a genuine fangirl.I never collected pictures and articles, never queued for an autograph, even when I was a teenager, so I've been wondering what it's like. As much as I appreciate some actors, writers, I always felt free to like or not their work and their behaviour and express it.
How do you feel about that?

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 17, 2015 10:26 am

I've been a fangirl since I was 12 and got a bad crush on Frodo Baggins (wasn't too into Elijah Wood...).

I guess to me being a fan means to support your idol, following their work and the bits of their life they offer to you.

I am often very protective of my idols. You should see me when someone cracks jokes about Michael Jackson; who I have supported for 11 years now. I will always have an argument ready when people start to bash...
Though I'd like to say that I do it in a grown-up way by making solid, cool points to prove them wrong.

To me there are several ways of being fans... I can't stand those 'fans' who think they own them... fans who want to bash the person their idol choses to love as an example.

For me, my 'protection' of my idol extends to wanting them to be happy... because they make me happy and often offer me a much needed escape.

With Benedict I've been a little 'careful' to cover my walls. I have his calendar this year, over two of my paintings I have him 'photobombing' ... I have a black and white printout of him as Sherlock (that I left a red lipstick kiss on...). and anothe black and white of him at the Oscars last year that I spilled some paint on and I decided to call it art *giggles* all hanging among Van Gogh and Goya...

As a teen my walls were completely plastered with posters and cutouts though.

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 10:37 am

thank you for your answer.
The part about Michael jackson is interesting to me because it's a controversial person. You've always been supportive/protective, whatever he did? ( I mean the trial about child abuse, the meds/drugs and so on? I really don't want to be offensive, and I don't know much about these stories, only the headlines, so I don't have an acurate opinion)

Vhanja · February 17, 2015 10:40 am

I feel that there are at least two (probably way more) groups of people when it comes to being a fan:

1. Those who think an actor is hot, thinks the movie they just saw in the cinema was really good, and then forget all about both the movie and the actor the moment they walk out of the cinema door.
2. Those who than an actor is hot, thinks the movie they just saw in the cinema was really good, and then thinks about the actor and the movie all the way home and spend the rest of the evening reading up on the movie/actor on the internet.

I am in group two and have always been that way. I was a huge Bon Jovi fan in my late teenage years, I plastered the walls, roof and inside of my cabinet doors with posters, went to four different concerts in three different countries and was obsessive to the point of it being unhealthy (I am glad my parents were indulgent, as I grew out of it after a few years by myself).

I think I do have an obsessive personality. When I fall for something, be it a movie, a series, a game, a book or an actor, I fall hard and I fall absolute. I've always been this way, and it's always been a bit lonely because I was surrounded by "normal" people who were mostly in the first category.

However, after my enormous Bon Jovi crush in my late teenager years, I grew up, became an adult and my fangirling over specific persons calmed itself down. I still drooled over quite a few awesome men, but I was actually more in the first category (and my obsessive geek personality was transferred from specific persons to games, movies, series and books instead). So I felt that the huge teenage crush period was over, lucily.

Until I saw Ben. And it was as if the last 20 years hadn't happened, and I fell as hard as I did when I was 16 years old. It was actually a bit humiliating, and I'm not quite sure what happened.

Anyway, long rambling aside, I probably haven't even touched up on your main question.

Last edited by Vhanja (February 17, 2015 10:41 am)

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 11:13 am

yes but it was nonetheless interesting to read you. I have an obsessive personnality too, so I can understand (when I discover an author, a director or an actor, i'm able to read/watch everything they made in a short amount of time) But it never extended to become a real fan, of the real person "behind" the artist ( I mean, i read things and see pictures, but i don't have search them)
And i don't feel supportive whatever they do. ( I Like(d) heath ledger, i like Irvine welsh, Robert Downey junior, Gerard Depardieu and so on but not supportive of their dark sides, and i don't even speak of a wonderfull french writer, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, whose books are fantastic, but was openly antisemit)
About B. Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman I think they're very good actors, but I'm not sure I would have notice them if they had not played Sherlock Holmes and Watson ( I'm quite obssessed with conan doyle, actually)

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 17, 2015 11:24 am

NatureNoHumansNo wrote:
thank you for your answer.
The part about Michael jackson is interesting to me because it's a controversial person. You've always been supportive/protective, whatever he did? ( I mean the trial about child abuse, the meds/drugs and so on? I really don't want to be offensive, and I don't know much about these stories, only the headlines, so I don't have an acurate opinion)

I grew up as a hater actually. He disgusted me because of all the sick things I had heard about him...

It was a bit of a shock to become a fan of him really... it happened during a really, really bad night in my life when I was 14. The TV was on in the background and his film called 'Moonwalker' was on and the first serene tunes of his song Man in The Mirror started playing and I felt a calm like never before...

I gave him a chance after that, started to educate myself about him... this was in 2004, a troubled time for him indeed.

I can see how strange his behaviour was, but it started to make sense to me. He was a broken man, someone who had an entire childhood stolen away and had always been around people who exploited him left and right and I suppose he felt safe around children because they didn't judge... they just wanted to have fun.
(some fans would rip my head off for saying this) but I think he had some psychological issues.

I followed the trial closely, I tried to have an open mind while I still believed in his innocence.
There were times that it was hard, I had my doubts about some things...
I can't know for sure that he was innocent, but it's what I believe in. And since his death a lot of those children have come forward explaining that their parents forced them to report him.

His 'drug habit', going into rehab in the 90's didn't change how I felt about him either... like I said, I believe he was a very troubled man. He taught a lot of people who followed him some good values... you just had to give him a chance and see past all the media cr*p around him.

His death was a big shock to me, I mourned it for years and it was really hard on me.
What really hurt me was how the fans split up into camps and started an internal war... Some of the believers trying to tell the grieving fans how stupid they were... that was so hurtful. So many year long friendships ended because a person who believed he was still alive started picking on a grieving person.

Even among the group I was in (the grieving) we split... some camps having blind hatred towards the doctor who was jailed for his death, another group not believing in it and blah blah blah...
Personally I think it was gross neglect on the doctors behalf. You NEVER administer CPR in a soft bed)

The fan community was such a close one before his death... we called ourselves the Fanmily or his 'Army of Love'.

He changed a lot of sad lives to the better because he gave people something to believe in.

Yikes. I've waffled!!!

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 11:42 am

Well, i see you keep your mind clear, even being a fan. I think some don't.
There was a huge controversial several years ago in France, about a famous band leader who involuntarily killed his girlfriend ( drug abuse, fight and manslaughter) and discussions became very passionnate about him. Some fans thinking it was an accident and he was not guilty, some activist thinking he was the epitome of abusive men, and he didn't have the right to go back on stage, even after he was out of jail. ( I never agreed with either of them )

Vhanja · February 17, 2015 11:57 am

I actually think fandom is a very interesting thing, from a sociological point of view. What is in human nature that make people group up and scream their heads off and the mere sight of their idol?

Personally, I think it might be some of the same psychological mechanics behind religious worship, transferred to a more mundane and cultural-relevant mode. It's something in our psyche that makes us (or more specifically: some of us) prone to a kind of worship, especially in a group setting. (Mass hysteria and all that). In more religious times, it was more fitting to worship idols, gods or saints. But in modern, more secular times, the pop/Hollywood culture has taken over a similar role.

Ben actually brushes the topic himself when he speaks about him being viewed as a sex symbol. He says that he had the same face ten years ago, but no one noticed or mentioned him being a "sex symbol" then. Which tells me a lot about how masses are influenced by each other and through exposure.

Fascintating topic, I think.

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 12:10 pm

yes, I think you're right, and i'm not a religious person either. Only an holmesian ....well, actually, i've been reading yesterday a thread on another holmesian forum ( mostly focused on the canon) and there was a controversial about holmes left canin ( which has reportedly been knocked out by Matthews in charing cross, in "the final problem") ... Some fans statting it was unlikely, as the canin is the tooth wich has the strongest and deepest roots ...It made me smile, so maybe i'm not the most holmesian of the holmesians

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 17, 2015 12:17 pm

Vhanja, that's what I've been thinking about fandoms too.

In a way it's fitting... I lost my religion just before I became a fangirl...

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 12:36 pm

As for B.Cumberbatch, I never saw him as a sex symbol. I think he has a very interesting actor face, he can be wether handsome or ugly, and has very elastic features ( which makes a great contrast with freeman who's has a quite static face whereas most people are to imagine the opposite concerning Holmes and Watson).
I think he would have never become a sex symbol ( god, i'm gonna have my head ripped off for saying this but you can be a great actor without being a sex symbol) without the fascinating character he plays in Sherlock.

Last edited by NatureNoHumansNo (February 17, 2015 12:37 pm)

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 17, 2015 12:50 pm

Benedict has become a sex-symbol for me... but it took a long time. For me it's a lot more than his looks.

I'll admit Ben isn't a 'classic' sex-symbol but he has a magnetism. It's his whole person I suppose, how he holds himself as well etc.

I actually started being only into Sherlock... I couldn't get into 'that actor'. But like always with me I gave him a chance and my fascination just exploded really. I think my "Benaddiction" is the most gradual fangirl thing... the rest just happened instantly.

And honestly I hope this is the one that lasts.

My last fandom experience (with an Irish actor) got cut short... some of his fans on a forum decided to cyber-bully me and then he just started saying really rude things about his fans and the press (which I suppose I get, it must be horrible being chased around like that... but he was just really not nice).
Today I can barely see how I even found him handsome.

Whisky · February 17, 2015 12:58 pm

Being a fan means to me:
- being passionate about something, which sometimes might mean to act illogical, non-rational and just by feeling
- to follow something very closely, to keep up-to-date on it and to discuss it with vivid enthusiasm
- to belong to a group of like-minded people who understand my motivations and actions

being a fan doesn't necessary mean (my opinion):
- to discredit other works / fans of sth. else
- to have a crush on actors
- to be noncritical of the very subject you support

I'm sure there's more but this is just the first things coming to mind
It's an interesting topic.

You've all been telling personal experiences so I share mine:

First fan-ish behaviour I had was probably about horses ;-) It's the same structure: most people don't get it, and the little girls who fall for the horses keep together and talk about nothing else. It was a fun time... all the horse posters... and watching the series, and reading all the books... I think even children are very much able to be hardcore fans of something, showing the same reactions and actions as teenies or grown-ups. Which means it's not really a "teenie-thing" to be a fan.

With eleven or twelve, the Harry Potter books showed up in the book market. We were the first generation to read them, to wait for them, and I think we fell hard for the books. (the films only came second place for this generation, I suppose, or that's what I experienced, because they only came out later). It was a book passion, mostly, and a passion for school stories (like Hanni and Nanni - what are they called in english?), and of course the magic world of Wizards and Witches. We dressed up (little 13year old cosplayers, cuties!) for midnight readings. We invented spells. We followed the beginnings of the film planning. Etc.

In my teenager years I jumped into heavy metal culture, but not focusing on a certain band, and not being a obsessive fan. Yet there was a fandom structure: you knew your stuff, you knew people, you recognized each other, you felt "at home" in your little corner of the universe... you went to concerts to share your passion.

And there was Lord of the Rings, the films. It was a wait!! I am not even sure Sherlock is as tough as it was waiting for LotR films (yeah, go on, laugh). It was the first time I totally lost contact to the "real" world. Being in the cinema was being in Middle Earth. I adored the films. I worshipped the books. I still do. The Aragorn poster was on my wall for years.

Then, after the last LotR film, there was such a deep gap. I had no idea what to wait for. It was like a little depression. I hooked on to the remaining Harry Potter films which kept me going for a long while :-) Harry Potter fandom was my first contact with FanFiction and FanArt. Also the first Fandom I participated in via Internet. (before that we read magazines and swapped printed pictures, yeah, the good old times)

I have been a Star Wars fan since I knew the old films, but only lightly. There was a short Star Wars revival for me when the newer films were shot. (early 2000s I think?) But I got dissappointed in that eventually (the quality just couldn't match the old films).

Well, and then there was Sherlock, many years later. I fell hard for it, as most of you did. Surprisingly suddenly, and with a passion. I'm very glad I did!! :-)
It's also interesting... as children, we had this phase, were we loved detective stories... and everybody knew Sherlock Holmes... or knew the detective with the hat and the pipe. We dressed up on carneval like him and such. We had whole games centered around solving cases. I never really remembered that until I started watching Sherlock and thought: wow, here it is again, the girl in me that loves detective stories and detectives :-) (and good actors, which back then didn't matter ^^)

Last edited by Whisky (February 17, 2015 1:23 pm)

Vhanja · February 17, 2015 1:15 pm

NatureNoHumansNo wrote:
As for B.Cumberbatch, I never saw him as a sex symbol. I think he has a very interesting actor face, he can be wether handsome or ugly, and has very elastic features ( which makes a great contrast with freeman who's has a quite static face whereas most people are to imagine the opposite concerning Holmes and Watson).
I think he would have never become a sex symbol ( god, i'm gonna have my head ripped off for saying this but you can be a great actor without being a sex symbol) without the fascinating character he plays in Sherlock.

This is slightly off-topic, but I actually see Ben and Martin slightly opposite. Not that Ben has a very static face, but if there is someone out there who is the master of facial expressions it's Martin. He can convey a thousand words in just one look better than any other actor I've ever seen.

I think Whisky sums it up pretty nicely too, about being a fan. (Harry Potter was also my first contact with fanfiction and fanart, and so I lost my innocence quite thoroughly in that regards. Nothing can shock me anymore when it comes to fanfiction and fanart).

Last edited by Vhanja (February 17, 2015 1:17 pm)

Whisky · February 17, 2015 1:25 pm

Vhanja wrote:
Harry Potter was also my first contact with fanfiction and fanart, and so I lost my innocence quite thoroughly in that regards. Nothing can shock me anymore when it comes to fanfiction and fanart.

Haha that's so true! *whistles* Draco and Harry sitting in a tree...

NatureNoHumansNo · February 17, 2015 2:41 pm

Vhanja wrote:
but if there is someone out there who is the master of facial expressions it's Martin. He can convey a thousand words in just one look better than any other actor I've ever seen.

I agree. I didn't mean it makes Martin freeman is less of a great actor than B. Cumberbatch. I think they're both very good. Some actors can express a lot with few or tiny movements.

BHavers · February 22, 2015 4:50 pm

An interesting topic, NatureNoHumansNo, and interesting sincere answers above.

I asked myself in which way I could be a fan ?
I never worshipped any living person. Each one of us deserves respect (well, not exactly all of us, but mainly), no less, but no more neither.
As a teen, I had no posters on the wall of my bedroom, and would not attend an event just to see "in real" a singer, actor, writer...
Sometimes I go to see a movie with an average story because of an actor or, more often, a director, but that's all I can do.

I find "Martin" very cute and sexy, and seing him in Sherlock or other movies is enough. Seems to me a little bit weird to confuse the image a person gives through any kind of creation, with the person. The image is fine.

I understand very well any manifestation of fan. Girls shouting "Benediiiiiiiict" in a street, people waiting hours for a autograph... Why not. All those who succeeded in becoming stars cannot refuse that.

I would say that the best way of being a fan is to create something : a drawing, a poem, anything.
Damned! I wrote a blog on Sherlock. I must be a fan myself, after all ?!

Jawn · March 21, 2016 1:03 am

Like some of the others, my fandom experience began with Harry Potter. Through it I discovered fanfiction and fanart, and it just spiraled from there.

Bless my amazing friend for getting me hooked on Sherlock.

Vhanja wrote:
I actually think fandom is a very interesting thing, from a sociological point of view.

I agree, fandom is definitely a fascinating topic. I've always found it interesting that not only are there different kinds of fans, but also there are people who would never really be a "fan" of anything.

For example, my dad watches Sherlock and says he likes it, but as the same time, if he doesn't watch Sherlock, or if he isn't caught up on the show, it doesn't really bother him. He's never been any sort of fan of that sort of thing, and I'm sure other people would be the same way.

Then there's the type of fan who only watches it for the attractive actors. *cough* The Maze Runner *cough*

Personally, I'm the obsessive rereader and rewatcher, always looking for a subtle clue I hadn't noticed before. Metas and fan theories are always so enthralling to me, because it always lets me see things from someone else's point of view. (Especially in the Sherlock fandom, just because I believe we are some of the most observant and open-minded people out there. I love how creative this entire fandom is. )

I hope I'm not dragging things out, but I also want to spend a moment on why some people are drawn to fandoms. Of course, social media and the likes have a huge impact in today's society, but where is the line drawn between "casual fan" and "obsessive fan"? And why are some people more obsessed than others?

As someone previously mentioned, religious aspects could definitely be a factor. But I also believe some people are drawn to shows because they can relate with main characters. For me, I know part of the reason I was drawn to Sherlock was because I saw a lot of myself in Sherlock. Sure, I'm not a sociopath or anything, but friendship had always been difficult for me. I had a few close friends whom I confided in, and the rest of my peers were simply background noise.

Fandom can definitely be an amazing topic to delve into. And long story short, for me, being a fan doesn't necessarily mean being obsessive. It just means someone who, for any reason, is drawn to a certain show or book or topic. As long as that person is passionate about it, and keeps an open mind about it, then I would call them a fan.

Vhanja · March 21, 2016 10:55 am

I know that one of the things that made me love the show from the beginning was that

a) I found Sherlock to be an incredibly interesting tv character preciesly because he was flawed (Square-jawed heroes bore me) and

b) the show managed to surprise me more than once by not following the predictable routes (for instance - Sherlock's sosiopath reply to Anderson and John not automtically forgiving Sherlock when he comes with his fluffy "I only have one [friend]" line).

And, then, of course, after the quality of the show itself made me interested, then I started falling for the actors. And then I became a Johnlocker and a fangirl, and when I fall into that wagon, there is no turnng back.

I wonder if it is a personality trait, the ability to become enthusiastically engaged with something? Some people just are like that and some are not.

besleybean · March 21, 2016 5:02 pm

I kind of read the title a bit wrong this morning and was worried I would sound a bit negative...
Actually I still could be, but I will start with the positives.
This is the only fan forum I belong to, in that the Sherlock fandom is the only one I'm in.
Except I don't really fit the standard profile.
Anyhow, I came to be a Sherlock Holmes fan through the Basil Rathbone films and the Jeremy Brett TV series.
I read The Sign of Four as a teenager, then as a student I saw the Young Sherlock Holmes film.
I heard and saw about BBC Sherlock and was very excited about it.
I loved it from the first second and nothing has changed me on that.
I read the entire Canon after seeing S1 and have read some of it twice and parts of it three times, since.
I am a non-Johnlocker.
I annually buy a Sherlock calendar, I wear Sherlock fan clothes and jewelry.
I have bought the DVDs on 3 or 4 occasions, as various 'special editions have been released.
I have bought loads of Sherlockian books and a couple of games.
I belong to the Sherlock Holmes society of London.
I visit London twice a year and always visit the Sherlock Holmes museum shop, if not the museum itself.
I always pay homage to the Sherlock Holmes statue on Baker Street and eat at the Sherlock Holmes pub.
I visit Edinburgh at least a couple of times a year and always pay homage to the Sherlock Holmes statue there as well as eat at the Conan Doyle pub.
I have been to the surgeon's hall Conan Doyle exhibition and want to go again.
I follow Sherlockian accounts on Facebook and Twitter and have met quite a few fans in real life.
I have been to setlock once so far.
I once attended a Sherlock conference and saw a big screening of HLV.
I have made on attempt at writing a fan fic and have read quite a few.