So it may be surprising to hear but I'm not really a fan of anything. Not to say that I don't like things - shows, sports, bands, etc. - because I do. But I don't really go out of my way to get or wear merch of any sort; I've never gone to a Con, and even for shows I do like that have pretty strong fans (Firefly, Star Trek) I've never gotten involved with fan sites or those communities.
Why is that? I guess part of me is just very even-keeled - my highest levels of enthusiasm manifest themselves in a pretty tame fashion. It isn't repression; I'm just not that excitable or high-strung.
But a big part of it, also, has to be that fandoms have scared me off a bit. Not to say that all fans are bad, but rather just that I've never felt that liking the same band or show necessarily gives me all that much in common with other fans.
As a case in point: I am sort of a Brony, in that I am a grown man who likes the latest version of My Little Pony. It's a funny show. And at first, I could like it without that feeling that much weirder than just the normal "isn't it silly that that dude likes a girls' show." But the word "Brony" has come to have some crazily bad connotations, thanks to some guys who were into the show for all the wrong and creepy reasons. So now it's hard to say I like the show without, in the back of my mind, thinking, "gosh, I hope my friend doesn't think I mean it like that."
So yeah. Some few fans can ruin things for everybody, which stinks. This isn't a reason not to like those same things, but rather a reason I've had a hard time being gung-ho about joining fandoms. SDCC is going on right now, and it seems like an awesome time - but between my natural inertia and the above sort of disconnect from fan communities, I've just never felt a strong desire to go. Which might be sad in some way, but I don't think of it as a failure to be true to myself or anything like that. It'd be a chance to meet Adam Savage, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, or Phil Plait - who are all awesome individuals - but I guess it's still in that area of "it'd be cool to hang out with them but I don't feel a particular need to own a signed photo of them."
In the same way that I'm not afraid to admit I enjoy My Little Pony or OITNB or Star Trek or Boston or Janelle Monáe or Nostalgia Chick or F1 or Gone Home or Firefly or Tomb Raider, I also still will tell people I think Jesus is cool. The term "Christian" has, rather like "Brony", come to be associated with creepy men and co-opted by people who really do not do a good job embodying the foundational principles involved. It's sad when the original messages of love and kindness, humility and honesty, generosity and... fun(?) don't seem to be passed onto the fans... I'm still talking about Christians, I think? Anyhow.
I try to still use those terms and redeem them a bit, but I'm also careful to do so usually in a context with people who already know me and have some context. Maybe that guardedness is why it's hard for me to be a fired-up "fanboy" but I guess I can only hope people don't mistake my lack of tribal identifiers for a lack of appreciation or love for the source material.
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