3. You're Not A Real Fan At All!
Of course, this sad state of affairs is by no means exclusive to music. Why are people so protective about their favourite things? Why is it such an abhorrent idea that people should like the same things as you? Is it that these people might like things
for the wrong reason? Might they enjoy themselves
in the wrong way? Oh no! When I find a song, album or band that I really like, I want to share it. If you know me, then it's highly likely that I will have made you a mix at some point or other. Be it on tape, CD or as an MP3 playlist, few things give me greater pleasure than sharing the music that's currently doing it for me or of passing on that which I've heard that I believe someone else might like. And yet, I too have felt the ugly surge of territorial defensiveness when it's become apparent that somebody else might like the same things as me. It's absolutely the opposite reaction that we should have. Why don't we rejoice at having found some kindred spirits? Is this not what happens when doves cry? Why do we instead let our guards up and lash out, lest those undesirables might soil the sanctity of our passions with their inferior minds? But when there's nothing that can be done about it when these other people
insist upon listening to the same bands as us we can at least console ourselves that they're not
real fans. Of course they're not! They don't like this band in the same way that we like this band! They only
pretend to listen in an attempt to gain the status that springs from harbouring certain opinions! Because that's genuinely how people conduct themselves! This is a sickening logical fallacy that alienates the defendant and makes the attacker come across as a terrifying and despicable small-minded obsessive bigot. This argument has the power to kill music, as it mutates what should be a universal love that recognises no boundaries into an elite club with limited membership. What do people even
mean when they argue that someone's not a real fan? Are they making an accusation of lying? Are they implying that somebody's guilty of manufacturing an emotional response to a certain piece of music? There are no real fans; just fans. And if you find somebody anybody who shares your love, then your initial reaction should be joy, not suspicion. Granted, some people like things with an intensity that eclipses that of others. But that neither makes the obsessive a better person, nor the casual a lesser person.