The Myth of True Fandom

On October 11, former One Life to Live head writer and current top scribe at General Hospital Ron Carlivati wrote some tweets that shocked me. Considering it has been over two weeks and I still want to comment it says something.


Anyway his first tweet using his handle carlivatiron on the topic was:

"Anyone who tweets me about how they're NOT watching #gh? Not interested."

There used to be a saying within my group of pals, if you don't watch you can't b@tch. That said, if someone isn't watching I think it is legitimate to explain why someone is really frustrated. The choice to turn something off after years is a big deal. If a person gets to the point, where they are just "hate watching" that's another thing entirely. I use the term "hate watch" to refer to people who view a show they once loved simply to mock it. Actually if someone is so hurt, that they resort to that behavior depending on the person I blame the program not the viewer.

The next was a reply:

"A true fan keeps watching, and doesn't threaten to turn off the show."

When I read Ron's statement I was horrified. Don't get me wrong, I can't image what kind of tweets Ron Carlivati gets as he is employed as head writer of General Hospital, but those kind of words start wars. Let's alienate upset people who are barely hanging on, and who most likely will tell everyone they know how they were disrespected. While GH has been on a bit of an upswing with the ratings as of late, due to what is going on with soaps generally they all need as many viewers as they can get.

I think the term "true fan" should be stripped from the fan lexicon. I've seen it be used as a weapon, as if you are a "true fan" you will like every story, character, and actor. To me it is a myth as everyone watches differently. People should be able to enjoy whatever shows they like for whatever reason and the same goes for those who are unhappy. If anything that behavior of criticizing people who feel differently is wrong, attacking an opinion isn't the same thing as attacking a person. Sadly that line gets crossed at times as no one is perfect.

Regardless of how one feels they should get respect even if the opinion is based on something I don't personally understand. Getting off my soapbox now though I feel better for getting this out of my system.