Something I never understood

[David]

Originally Posted by Lala

I don't think you have to like all of their work to be a fan.

I should say not. Loving everything isn't love; it may be some sort of emotional hangup or neurochemical pathology. More likely, claiming to love everything is a facile way of patting oneself on the back in full view of an audience.

To me, the issue isn't one of "true fan" versus "bogus fan" but of "interesting fan" versus "big fat bore." People who have strong likes & dislikes & who enjoy talking about them & hearing others talk about them are the interesting fans to me. Alternatively, the fans who make sweeping, irrational generalizations about what other fans should or shouldn't love or the fans who literally never have anything more to say than "cool" or "yeah" or "d'uh" or "hmmm" are bores in my eyes. The Internet is a medium of discourse; you need to say something.