Antis - The Dark Side of Fandom
As anyone who knows me or has read my pieces, I’m a firm believer in positive impact and joy that fandom brings in the world. I’m a fan of so many things and have participated in fandom and been a part of fan communities for well over the majority of my life. But, as much as I firmly believe in the positive sides of fandom and fan positivity, that is only one side of thing. After all, the word “fan” is derived from the word “fanatic,” and there is a dark side to that. And one aspect of that dark side is Antis.
Antis, a shortening of “anti-fans,” are people whose engagement with a fandom or a particular area of their fandom is primarily negative, rather than positive. It’s about tearing things down that you don’t like, rather than building up something you do like. It’s a very broad term. A person can be an anti of an entire franchise, say, Star Trek fans who hate Star Wars, a musician, a popular ship, a single character in a movie or novel, or even other kinds of fans. The common thread is that the dislike and negativity is the focus. The dislike isn’t a side effect or a critique, it’s the entire point.
Anti-fandom gets particularly dangerous when you get into political fandoms, or news fandom. A lot of people who are considered “news junkies” or “politics junkies” effectively treat those things like a fandom. I’m a fan, for example, of several different podcasters who focus on politics and public policies. I like their podcasts and find them interesting and talk to other people about them. And that’s all well and good. But taking the turn to an anti, means that because you like this podcast or news outlet, that other one over there is evil and sucks. When you get to that point, an anti-fandom mentality has real world consequences, sometimes even deadly ones.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to be sunshine and rainbows 24/7, or always understanding. Or even that you can’t be an anti of anything. Sports rivalries for example. I’m a huge SF Giants fan, and, as a result, an anti of our rivals, the LA Dodgers. After the Dodgers won the world series this fall, I jokingly told my cousin who is a Dodgers fan that it didn’t count because it wasn’t a full season of baseball due to Covid. And we teased each other about our respective teams but that’s all it was, joking and teasing. It’s not like I or anyone else actually think the World Series doesn’t count cause the Dodgers won.
It’s the step from teasing to ranting, from grumbling to yelling that the real problems arise. That’s where people get hurt and honestly, that’s where everyone loses. Because if you spend all your energy on hating something you don’t like, you’re not thinking or focusing on what you enjoy. To go back to my earlier example, it would be just depressing and so negative for my soul if I spent twice as much energy hating the Dodgers as I do rooting for the Giants. I’d much rather watch the Giants win, or really play at all, than watch the Dodgers lose.
But, because I always try to find solutions or at least coping mechanisms for the problems I discuss, here are some ways to deal with anti-fandom.
Find a Supportive Corner of Fandom
Every fandom has toxic elements, but there are also people out there who embody all the fun parts of fandom. If wherever you are starts to seem more about antis or negativity, there are other communities that aren’t. Finding them, or even just talking to friends who are supportive even if they aren’t fans themselves, allows you to stay in the fandom without falling into an anti-fandom. This works for any kind of fandom toxicity.
Step Away from the Internet and Fan Communities
If you can’t find a corner of the internet or in your friend group that is supportive, feel free to step back from the community aspect of fandom. I’ve mentioned this before in my piece on fandom negativity, that sometimes if things are just getting toxic, you might need to take a step back. This doesn’t mean giving up on the thing you are a fan of! Just that you can always take a step back and focus on the movies/books/music or whatever you love, by yourself and on your own terms.
Don’t Feed the Trolls
Key advice for everyone on the Internet and really just life in general. Some people are assholes for the sake of attention. They live for pissing people off and for the reaction. Deny them that, ignore them, and it stops being fun for them and they will go away. Or, just block or delete them or whatever app is bringing the negativity, and you don’t have to hear any of it at all.
Don’t Let the Negative Outweigh the Positive
Nothing and no one is perfect. The Beatles are the greatest band ever, and even they have a few songs I absolutely hate. Players will get traded and play for a rival team. It’s going to happen. But the point is not to let the negative outweigh the positive. I hate the play Taming of the Shrew, but that just means I focus on the Shakespeare plays that I love, rather than the one I don’t. It can be incredibly hard, but it’s worth at least trying to do.
I try to have a Marie Kondo approach to fandom, if it brings you joy, keep it. If it doesn’t, then don’t bog yourself down with it. Part of the problem with anti-fandom is that, by definition, it doesn’t bring joy, to anyone. There will always be antis. We will all have things we hate and are antis of. That’s ok. As long as we don’t let it overwhelm us or get to the place where we care more about the “anti” bit than the “fan” bit. That way fandom can continue to be a thing that brings us joy.
