I’m not above a good pun. Hey, I’m not even above a bad pun but stick with this anyway.
The last two pieces I wrote were about Taylor Swift and the ABC comedy Selfie. On the surface, it seems like those two bits of mainstream entertainment wouldn’t even be on my radar and yet I praised both and even tweeted about saving Selfie from a premature cancellation. This led to a few of my friends reaching out to ask what’s going on with me. Am I pandering just to get website clicks? Did a cyber coven of teenage hackers infiltrate my site and post on my behalf? Have I gone all “Hollywood” on everyone?!
The truth is quite simple: I’m a fan of Taylor Swift and a fan of Selfie, and since this is my little corner of the web where I write about whatever I want, I decided to praise both of them for that very reason and I’m not ashamed of it.
Like everyone, I’ve always been judged for my tastes. In 1996, it cracked me up how kids with dyed black hair who donned Marilyn Manson shirts made fun of me for liking Def Leppard. It never bothered me because who were they to say what I should like? The same of goes for me today: why should I worry about what others think of me for tweeting to #saveSelfie? I want to see more episodes! So what if I listen to “Style” from 1989 four times in a row? I think the album is great! In fact, maybe I’ll even review of it soon. Hmm…
Anyway, with content being so vast in 2014, getting behind what you’re a fan of really counts – now more than ever. Buying albums and DVDs counts. Tuning in to watch TV shows you like and seeing movies on opening weekend counts. If somebody you’re into is doing a crowdfunding campaign, kicking in for it counts. I’m a big fan of this model and have supported projects time and time again. That’s what being a fan is all about. We all vote with our time and our dollars. If it’s worth it to us, we’ll give it our time and we’ll lay down our money. Who cares if somebody else think it’s lame that I still go see 80s acts in concert? I’m happy to show up, sing along, but the T-shirt, and write about it afterwards (more on that tomorrow). It’s great seeing hashtags like #saveSelfie and #saveAtoZ because they give fans a public forum to proudly show their support for the content they want to see.
Be shameless about what you like and support it as much as you can. Don’t bother with fear of being seen as uncool for being yourself because there is NOTHING cooler than being authentic.