“You like *insert random musician here*? Why do you like them? They SSSSUUUUCCCCKKK!!!”
“A true fan would know all the characters who participated in that one battle in *insert random book title here*. If you don’t know what *insert miniscule tertiary character* did in the battle, how can you say *insert author’s name* is one of your favorites?”
“Why do you want that? It’s going to cost XYZ. Do you really want to spend the money on it? That sucks anyway. You should do this instead.”
“Oh, you play *insert random first person popular video game here*. How can you? You’re a girl. Girls are supposed to like *insert random puzzle game here*. Your boyfriend must play with you so you can feel good about yourself.”
“I see you are wearing a shirt from *insert random sports team here*. Tell me, who was their star player in 1997? Oh, you don’t know? You don’t like them then.”
No matter what anyone does, it seems someone else has an opinion about it and states they are doing it “wrong.”
So what?
I kind of follow a comic by the name of Glue on Facebook. He recently shared an anecdote about a self-professed “superfan” of the White Sox who attacked John Cusack for enjoying a White Sox game despite being a Cubs fan. While I didn’t watch the video of the anecdote, which can be found via Google if interested, I agree with the sentiment that there are no rules as to who can enjoy what and by how much. As Glue reiterated in his commentary: “Enjoyment doesn’t have rules and not every opinion needs to be backed with a college thesis’ worth of citations and illustrative examples.”
I am afraid to share some of my likes with the world because I will be scorned by armchair professionals who think I am enjoying something the wrong way. When did we become a world where you can’t just like something without qualifying or quantifying why? Why do we have to justify why we like what we like?
We all have things we enjoy. We all have a right to enjoy new things or discard old things that no longer give us pleasure. No one should be telling someone else they aren’t a fan if they don’t do exactly as the self professed “superfan” does. You can root for two rival teams in sports. You can like comic books without having to be an expert at them. You can claim to be in a Harry Potter house without having read a single book. You can enjoy both Star Wars and Star Trek. You can like to game without being one of the top five in that game. You can love being outside AND binge-watching movies. Be a superfan or a bandwagon fan. Be someone who may only dabble in something. Enjoy what you want to enjoy.
Do you. Be you. It’s what makes up your story.
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#WriteYourOwnStory
K. S. Wood Writes 