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Derek Wagner's avatar

As self-appointed leader of the Freddie deBoer fandom, I am devastated by this post.

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Mari, the Happy Wanderer's avatar

I think another contributor to the phenomenon of fandom- (or identity, etc.) as-personality is our need to belong. Think about it: If you just proclaim this one thing about yourself, you automatically get a group of supportive friends, without any of the frightening need to put yourself out there, or the burdens of reciprocity. When I was in high school I noticed this same phenomenon, but with the drug kids and the born-again Christians. Awkward loners could become popular kids just by doing drugs or saying they were born again. Easy peasy.

It’s the inverse of Groucho Marx’s line about not wanting to belong to a club that would have him as a member. We all want to belong to a club, and for young people who have a lot of trouble socially, these identity groups and fandoms are a shortcut. It’s sad that they need it.

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