![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So, I've been having thinky thoughts. And since I'm between tasks at work (and when those come up I will be OMG busy, but thankfully right now things are basically in waiting mode for me) I figured now was a good time to get them all down.
I think one of the more beneficial things about fandom, for me, has been encountering people that are Not Me; they don't have my opinions, my background, my geography, my demographics. Chances are, due to said demographics I would not have encountered them, and at very least not encountered them in a forum where I have a chance to sit down, breathe, and think before responding. It's good practice for when I am in real life and encountering differing opinions and viewpoints, and don't just splooge all over. And believe me, tact was a very slow learned behavior, considering my status as a Science Type Person, so this is good.
What I'm meandering towards is that the longer I'm around fandom and pop culture and the like, the more I see that it's in the response to things that you learn the most about people, almost more than the source itself. So this is REALLY about sociology more than anything, if you're now thinking "OH GOD FANDOM WTF".
My first example is going to be The Breakfast Club, which appears on a lot of Top Whatever lists for teen movies (in America at least). And I'm using teen movies because most people go through puberty, and it's a genre that is constantly being revisited and explored. I know that this won't hit on a lot of OTHER cultural issues, and the distinct lack of diversity is not lost on me. But it's something I know well and will serve this purpose. My second example will be Heathers because the source is very different and almost a response to The Breakfast Club and its kind.
( onward and meta-toward )
I think one of the more beneficial things about fandom, for me, has been encountering people that are Not Me; they don't have my opinions, my background, my geography, my demographics. Chances are, due to said demographics I would not have encountered them, and at very least not encountered them in a forum where I have a chance to sit down, breathe, and think before responding. It's good practice for when I am in real life and encountering differing opinions and viewpoints, and don't just splooge all over. And believe me, tact was a very slow learned behavior, considering my status as a Science Type Person, so this is good.
What I'm meandering towards is that the longer I'm around fandom and pop culture and the like, the more I see that it's in the response to things that you learn the most about people, almost more than the source itself. So this is REALLY about sociology more than anything, if you're now thinking "OH GOD FANDOM WTF".
My first example is going to be The Breakfast Club, which appears on a lot of Top Whatever lists for teen movies (in America at least). And I'm using teen movies because most people go through puberty, and it's a genre that is constantly being revisited and explored. I know that this won't hit on a lot of OTHER cultural issues, and the distinct lack of diversity is not lost on me. But it's something I know well and will serve this purpose. My second example will be Heathers because the source is very different and almost a response to The Breakfast Club and its kind.
( onward and meta-toward )