As I continue my journey into the fandom of the GLEE universe, I can feel my initial judgements of these "super fans" subsiding. At first, I was a little afraid of these Gleeks-I'm not going to lie. As a big fan of a few select shows, I make sure to purchase each season on DVD and have no problem watching my favorite episodes over and over again. Yet, while I once thought my level of fandom was greater than most, I've found these Glee Forum participants go above and beyond in expressing the love they have for this show.
Initially, I was extremely weirded out by how committed these fans are to the characters and story lines on the show. Romantic story lines are particularly popular discussion topics on the forum, and after decoding certain celebrity-type nicknames these fans have given their "dream pairings" (Finn+Rachel=FinnChel; Puck+Rachel=PuckleBerry, as in Rachel Barry) and looking at image after image of fan art, I began to accept people's obsession with these characters and see past the creepiness.
Television is meant to be an escape. For those of us who struggle to find our "soulmates" or who doubt that we will ever be in a fairytale romance, television shows like Glee offer an hour of escape where we can imagine two characters who we want and need to be together, finding their happily ever after. With the complex narrations and personal connections we feel towards the quality television shows of our time, I've come to find that these fan forums offer an outlet for people to continue living vicariously through these characters lives, and I for one cannot blame them.
My friends and family can attest that I am a softy, to say the least. I probably cried at least once during every single Lost episode, and while I'm not spending hours making Finchel graphics, last weeks serenade of Paramore's "The Only Exception" to the adorable Finn made me well up with tears (to my roommates disgust). I mean, look at his face!? If I ever publicly sang this song to my boyfriend back in high school, he would have broken up with me for sure...and I wouldn't have blamed him. But Finn? No way... He loves Rachel even more for her public performance of love for him, and because of this, we love them as a couple even more. And by "we", I mean sappy girls.
So while I initially thought the Gleeks on Gleekforum.com may have taken their love for their favorite characters to a creepy level, I really can't blame them. As the oh-so-wise Justin Bieber has said, "I-I don't need too much, just somebody to love," we're all looking for our soulmates-and on television, they've already found theirs. For an hour, we're allowed inside their blissful world, where everything we want to say can be said through a song. I'm guilty of treating these characters like real people, but I just hope that I never get to the point of making homemade graphics or scrapbooks dedicated to my favorite faux-couples.
Until next time!
I agree, people use Glee and other TV shows, as well as any other media as a form of escape. Even books can be an escape, as is seen through the communities that popped up during the time Harry Potter books were being released (and continue today with less gusto). The Harry Potter phenomenon had the same elements in its online communities as "Glee" does.
ReplyDeleteI know this because I read "Harry, A History" (I'm a huge Potter fan), which details the interactions between HP fans on websites created for the purpose of communicating about the books. People "shipped" (a word created from relationship) characters and fought for their romantic pairings. Things got really intense on these sites and the forum wars raged. Diehard fans created content (fan fiction, photos, even music) for their "ship." I feel like Harry Potter messaging boards tapped into the mass appeal of the phenomenon and this normalized the behavior of posting.