Picture a packed stadium of fans in extreme weather, all clad in their favorite jerseys, cheering and cursing at their favorite American football team or European soccer club. Or a crush of screaming fans, singing and dancing in unison at a Taylor Swift or K-pop concert. Or a sea of costumed Star Wars fans, lightsabers aloft, filling up movie theaters on opening night of a new movie.
Plenty of people like to watch sports, attend concerts, and go to the movies. But what about those fans—the diehard ones, if you will—whose dedication goes even further? The fans whose daily lives are deeply intertwined with their interests?
Diehard fans tend to have a detailed, intricate knowledge. They collect, display, and cherish memorabilia. They flock to iconic “pilgrimage” places: King’s Cross Train Station in London for Harry Potter fans, or Graceland in Memphis, for Elvis devotees. Their interests inspire them, shaping how they behave and view the world.
This level of devotion seems to go well beyond entertainment. Indeed, it may seem, well, almost religious.
Since 2018, I have been studying the realm of “comic-con culture”: fandoms built on comic books, superheroes, science fiction, anime and manga, gaming, and cosplay. Based on my surveys and follow-up interviews, I have found that many dedicated fans describe something sacred about their experiences, something beyond entertainment and escapism.
Defining ‘sacred’
What does “sacred” mean, exactly?
A popular starting point is French sociologist Emile Durkheim and his 1912 treatise, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. One of Durkheim’s most enduring legacies is how he defined religion in terms of beliefs and practices about “sacred things” that unify a community. The sacred, he explained, is something a group sets apart as powerful, transcendent, and holy, clearly distinguished from the mundane world of everyday affairs.
This conception of religion includes gods or the supernatural, but it is not exclusive to them. Other beliefs and practices can be sacred, too. Durkheim’s insights have inspired many scholars, including those who study fan behavior.
In my own work as a sociologist, I organize this concept of the sacred into seven specific dimensions. For example, the sacred is powerful: a potent force that garners respect, fear, and awe. The sacred is transcendent: revered and dignified beyond everyday affairs. And the sacred provides meaning: a source of essential values and purpose.
Comic-con culture
For several years, I’ve been distributing surveys at comic conventions on the East Coast of the U.S. and conducting follow-up interviews. The questions gather a variety of data, but also measure whether fans experience their interests as sacred, and in what ways.
The results are striking. While fans certainly enjoy entertainment and escape, their responses also highlight several aspects of how I define “sacredness”—particularly its ability to instill moral values, provide creative inspiration, and reinforce communal bonds.
Many fans describe comic-con culture as a source of principles—such as inclusivity, compassion, and self-development—that guide their behavior.
Comics “have always focused on issues of justice, inequality, power dynamics, and the ethics around things like use of force, etc., all of which have affected my own feelings and beliefs about ethical behavior,” one respondent shared. Other fans highlighted quotes from Spider-Man—“with great power comes great responsibility”—and Harry Potter: “We must choose between what is right and what is easy.”
Another respondent spoke about the Jedi: the ancient order of monklike warriors who channel forces of good to help others and maintain peace in the “Star Wars” universe. This universe “personifies how to go about treating the world around me and trying to do ‘the next right thing,’” the fan explained. “The Jedi, though not perfect, help me have a personal code in how I treat people. … If ‘Jedi’ were a real religion I’d probably be an active participant.”
Comic-con culture sparks passion and enjoyment; it is a wellspring of inspiration and creativity. The Japanese genres of anime and manga are “an art form of self-expression and it creates an [outlet] for individuals to express themselves freely,” one person wrote. In particular, they mentioned cosplay, which is short for “costume play”: the faithful recreation of a favorite character from a game, movie or comic, both in dress and mannerisms. Cosplayers are a mainstay of comic conventions, as are cosplay contests.
Another remarked, “being a fan of tabletop RPGs [role-playing games] allows me to create collaborative stories with others. I consider this storytelling powerful and important.”
Comic-con culture enables people to connect with like-minded individuals and forge meaningful relationships around these interests. It can also inspire a strong sense of fellowship.
Highlighting the power of these connections, one respondent said, “as an atheist, there’s not much I believe in. Being a fan has inspired me to believe in people, and that there is some purpose to my life.” Fandom groups “have given me decades-long friendships that span the globe,” another said.
Finally, comic-con culture is a sanctuary; it provides space for fans to be themselves, helps them cope with personal struggles, and inspires hope.
This was a prominent theme. For example, one attendee from Philadelphia divulged mental health issues but explained how his involvement in board-game tournaments and the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons offered a safe space from anxiety: “I feel like when I’m doing these things, I can really be me. So, it’s more about letting myself be my true self and not feeling, or not caring, about the others around me that are judging me.”
Given these findings, I believe that social scientists need to consider popular culture more seriously as a fundamental feature of society that people can make sacred in different ways.
Michael Elliott is a professor of sociology at Towson University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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