A rant: Snobbery in JRock Fandom.

[neko_goes_nyaaa]

Has this ever happened to you? You discover a new Jpop or JRock artist / group you really enjoy, or you're an existing fan of that band for some years, and you bump into another person who likes them too... but instead of happily welcoming you into the fold, they pick apart everything about you and start snubbing their nose at you because "I was a fan for way longer than you were, I did this and this and this for them for which they OWE ME BIG TIME, and I own every CD: IMPORTS ONLY, and I've seen them live OVER 9000 TIMES in their home country and newbz like you shouldn't even bother trying to like them because you'll never be as HARDCORE of a fan as me!!!" Whatever happened to just being happy you could find even one other person in a 50 mile radius that liked Jpop/Jrock? Srsly, what's with all the superiority, seniority and entitlement complexes?

When did JRock bands / artists become things to be owned and hoarded and kept to yourself?

And then there are those who claim some deep personal connection with the bands/artists, THEY know all their own personal thoughts... like "Such and such band doesn't want you handing out fliers to promote their shows, it's illegal and they probably misrepresent them anyway!" Wtf... I cannot wrap my head around these people. Their logic and their anger over things I find to be miniscule baffle me. Tbh, it almost kinda makes me wonder if JRock Fandom is even worth staying in, I mean, of course I enjoy the music and I had since 03', but all of this competition, nitpicking each other and trying to invalidate other people's fanliness in order to increase your own status... it's ridiculous. I think this behavior, more than anything, is why outsiders to the fandom rip on us.

Think about it; newcomer comes along, makes an effort to like somebody's band that they're hyper obsessed with and think they own, is met with an earload of elitist rambling about how not good enough they are, I wouldn't blame them for angrily turning against that band and developing a dislike for "weeaboos."

[reppy]

To be honest, it's not just the J-rock world.  It's a music thing.  You see, a lot of us like to see our tastes in music are an extension of ourselves or at least define us in some way to a certain degree.  I definitely am not an exception in this case.

I am a fan of a genre called black metal, and it is definitely one of those genres that is full of elitists.  If someone gets turned on to black metal by listening to a more mainstream group like Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir then they are shunned out by the elitists.  "What?  I only listen to black metal recorded in the late 80s and early 90s.  If the production doesn't sound like crap and it won't depress the hell out of you then it's not black metal and I don't want to listen to it!"

I am reminded of the old TheOnion.com piece titled, "I Appreciate the Muppets on a Much Deeper Level Than You," or something similar. 

Alright, returning to my earlier point.. so, I like to think my music, or rather my eclectic tastes in music, in some small ways is a part of the makeup that defines me.  But when I see other people that enjoy the same music as me, I don't get upset.  Why would I?  It makes no sense.  "Hey! You didn't grow up just like me and have the same experiences as me therefore you can't experience the music on the same level as me!"  Hell, who cares what level you experience it on-- as long as you freakin' enjoy it!

One of my co-workers has always really been a huge fan of punk.  Don't even get him started talking about bands like Green Day, Blink 182, Rancid, etc. because you'll never hear the end of it.  Anyways, he just recently started going to metal shows with me and my friends.  These shows are death / black metal shows.  And he loves them.  He's going nuts over 'em.  Am I going to be upset because he likes punk music and now likes metal?  That he hasn't listened to it long enough?  It doesn't make any sense.  I think it's awesome.

To be completely honest, I've had my elitist phase.  I think we all go through one.  Unfortunately for some people, it lasts their entire life. ^_^;

[neko_goes_nyaaa]

Hell, who cares what level you experience it on-- as long as you freakin' enjoy it! To be completely honest, I've had my elitist phase.  I think we all go through one.  Unfortunately for some people, it lasts their entire life. ^_^;

Yeah, well... when it, and illiteracy, last into a person's late 30's...
it's kinda lulzy and also sad. Btw, I sent you a PM, I dunno if you got it.

[superjaz]

I hate that because it is the opposite of my goal in life
step 1 promote/help k-con grow as a con to the best of my abilties
step 2 spread the love joy happyness of Gackt/Jrock music to any one who will listen
step 3 Gackt comes to k-con as a guest and I am his liason
step 4 ....steal gackts underware
step 5 *step missing*
step 6 profit
To me it is every j-rockers fan's duty to share their passion with others to help spread the work of its awesomeness, this sparks interest and new fans= MORE JAPANESE ARTISTS COMING HERE!

its not like a fan "invented" it, just because some one is an older fan dosen't mean they are better

tho that said I am known as not 'a' gackt fan but 'the' Gackt Fan, not because I have been a fan forever (Gackt existed before I ever heard of him) or that I have an awesome collection (I do but that is luck and I remeber back when I had 3 cd burns was all I had)


It is because I spread the love joy happyness news of Gackt/Jrock music to any one who will listen, and those who wont....

[superjaz]

That said the only reason to show off a collection is that other fans are the only people who don't think its a waste of money

[reppy]

All you're missing is a lock of hair... 

[neko_goes_nyaaa]

^ LOL. That will probably happen if Gackt ever does a show in PDX. If there's any kind of meet n' greet at the Miyavi show someone should totally suggest that since they're close (along with a cheaper stateside released album so not just the hardcore import collectors can afford his music).

Btw Jaz... I sent you a pm. I won't name the person I describe in the thread itself, as that always leads to this person showing up and going on a big angry tangent, but of course you can gather from the PM why people such as this have me sorta jaded towards jrock fandom.

Oh and Gackt was also my first exposure to JRock a short time before I started getting into DeG, that was sometime around 2003, when somebody I talked to regularly on Yahoo Messenger sent me a link to this website: http://www.project-j.org/ - It was there that I first heard the epic "Emu~For My Dear" as well as DeG's "Cage" and was compelled to seek out more through services like Grokster and Kazaa. I think a great deal of the expansion of JRock fandom outside of Japan wouldn't have happened if not for fan tribute sites and file sharing... of course, I do make a point of buying albums when they get a stateside release and it's within my price range.

[The_Geek]

I think it's similar to the hipster complex... Such repetitions in the data...   

[Prinz Eugen]

It's another version of "I was into [cool thing] before [cool thing] became popular."
(So that makes me cool from before the earth cooled. I was cooler before you - aren't I special?)

The next extension of this, sometimes observed at SF cons, is:
"Now that [cool thing] seems to have gotten popular, maybe it can't be cool anymore?"
Also heard as: "I read the book decades before the movie came out." (Me! Me! Me!)

Add those two and you can go on about how Crichton's Andromeda Strain (1971) was a
much better movie than Jurassic Park, (1993)
(ready for this?) "because back then you had to be a fan to enjoy it." Or something like that.

Comical to observe, better to ignore, enjoy Jrock anyways, and move along.