I've Missed the Point

One of the most interesting things I find about fandom is the notion of community. People reaching out and communicating with one another through a common interest.

I just got finsished watching Done the Impossible, a documentary about fans of Firefly and Serenity. One thing that's readily apparent throughout the documentary is how much emotion the Browncoats have attached not just to the show, but to each other. Now, I've certainly been a fan of the show and done some work on behalf of it myself. But I somehow have been unable to connect with that community on any sort of emotional level.

I bring this up in the context of a comic book blog because, as I've repeatedly noted here, the fandom of comics has been documented substantially less than that of science fiction, but the similarities between the two, I feel, allow for some cross-references in their study. It's curious that I essentially have the same problem in comic fandom that I have seen in Firefly fandom; over the past two to three decades of being a fan of comic books, I really have very few friends in fandom. Certainly none of the friends I do have are physically close to me -- I know them from e-mail and message board communications.

So the question in my head at the moment is this: am I qualified to study this on any sort of professioal level? Does my emotional removal give me an advantage to study comic fandom from the inside without losing perspective? Or does it mean that I won't be able to fully comprehend and understand it? It certainly helps explain my interest in wanting to study fandom, but does it make me a good or bad candidate for trying to explain that to others?

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