Re: Religious weirdness in fandom - reply part 2 There is an unspoken claim that meta-analytical techniques can encompass and understand any idea, that the entire human condition can be filtered through it...
I think this is definitely true (not that these techniques can necessarily achieve these things, that is, but that the assumption you mention exists).
and anyone who refuses or fails to do so, is either being selfish and refusing to participate in the community, or is just too stupid to belong here, in our rarified intellectual fannish strata.
Well...maybe. I'm less convinced that this is a real problem. Without having noticed it myself (I'm not asking for links! Unless you want to give me examples privately), I have to wonder how much of it is *really* this versus the way someone who for whatever reason feels insecure interacting with acafen *interprets* things. I mean, I just haven't come across acafen making annoyed posts on LJ that "Boy, why can't these squeefen be more analytical for a change?! They're ruining my fun!" What I *do* see them doing is reacting defensively when someone complains about them – maybe overreacting at times, but that's a pretty normal, human response.
There is no acceptance that:
* Some people don't want to analyze the reasons they enjoy it--they just want to share that they do, find others who do, and enjoy stuff together* * Some people's way of understanding & describing their fannish interests doesn't fall neatly into aca-vocab, and the communication gap is to much to bother with * Some can do the full academic discussion style, and enjoy it--but not online through shared text; they want facial expressions and posture and hand waving to go with it * Some have an "artistic" approach to fandom--"I show my appreciation for the show through cosplay and making buttons of photoshopped pictures of the guys kissing" and discussion just leaves them cold
But none of these people are being asked to stop doing what they're doing. How, then, are they not being accepted?
The anti-sporkage comments I've seen have mostly come across as "oh, don't pick on those poor pathetic people who can't write any better than that; they won't improve if they're discouraged." It's certainly not, "my, what a rich landscape of MarySuefic this fandom has! Maybe that's really a great way to enjoy this canon!"
Again, though, this attitude is widespread throughout fandom as a whole. I don't think you can lay that at acafandom’s feet.