Heather Anne Campbell on Online Fandom

… fandom is not about loving something. I think fandom is a separate occupying experience more akin to obsession than it is to love. And I think that, you know, like, religions are fandoms because, like, most of the time you aren’t actually loving the details of the religion but rather obsessing about your version of the thing. And I feel like all of the fandoms that you interact with online are, like, religious and obsessive about something that they think is the thing, as opposed to loving the thing no matter how it comes out. Right?

Heather Anne Campbell, Get Played Episode 172

Later from the same episode:

To be a fan means that, like, you think it’s yours. It’s more like ownership than it is appreciation. It’s like, this is my thing. And as soon as that sort of metastasizes into identity, you’re fucked. Because like, any change that happens to the thing that you love—or quote “love”—is a reflection on your own personal self-knowledge. So it’s … you’re fucked. If you’re obsessed with a thing and it changes, you’re ruined.

Heather Anne Campbell, Get Played Episode 172