Archive:Fanboy
Fanboy or fanboi is a term used to describe an individual (though the femanine version fangirl may be used for girls or women) who is utterly devoted to a single subject or hobby, often to the point where it is considered an obsession.
History of fanboys and the term
The term originated in comic book circles, to describe someone who immersed himself in the fictional worlds of comics and the culture of comics fandom. The term is often used in a derogatory manner by other less obsessed fans. In the songs of the fannish parody musician Luke Ski, many characters proudly consider themselves fanboys. The term is most commonly associated with adolescent and teen males but can be applicable to any age or sex. Common subjects of reverence by fanboys are TV shows, movies, anime, cars, video game consoles, video games, operating systems, MMORPGs, and software companies.
The stereotypical image of the fanboy is as an unkempt, socially awkward, young man who may be perceived as a loud mouthed pseudo-intellectual. A popular depiction of this stereotype is the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. In the mid 1990s, the emergence of slacker culture changed this image somewhat. Movies such as Kevin Smith's Jersey Trilogy (Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy), altered the image of the fanboy[citation needed]. As electronic entertainment gained popularity, the term became increasingly applied to video gamers and television addicts who readily labelled themselves.
The earliest use of the word "fanboy" has been dated to 1982, to the cover of the "Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide". On this cover page are sketched overweight, overzealous comic book collectors wearing T-shirts that state "Fanboys of America," and are describing the extreme measures they would go to, including moving to San Francisco, to preserve their comics. Another early use is in a smart-alec editorial reply by "Ambush Bug" to a letter in his comic in 1985.
Fanboys can be zealously committed to their particular narrow area of interest, to the exclusion and derision of competing or similar products, regardless of their merits. Fanboys are often perceived as possessing a sycophantic devotion to the creators behind the object of their passion. An obsession may be short or long term and, at times, aggressively defended. One example of this is Harry Knowles and his associates at Ain't It Cool News, whose particular focus is on movies in the action, fantasy, adventure and superhero genres. Fanboys are noted for a very emotional attachment to their chosen subject, often taking negative remarks about it as a personal attack. They may readily engage in debates, but will fall back on emotional responses. For example, a "fanboy" may go out of their way to point out negative and often untrue statements about their obsession's rivals; this is commonly known as FUD.
More recently, especially in the video game industry, fans of a particular video game console manufacturer have begun exhibiting slavish devotion to their brand of choice. Conversely they hold an unreasonable amount of animosity towards the other brands which they consider to be competition. They are extremely rude to fans of the other companies or even people who don’t hail complete and utter devotion to the object of their fanaticism. These people seek out every opportunity to annoy others whose opinions differ from theirs. This trend has led to the term “fanboy” deriving a more and more negative connotation.
Trivia
Fanboys can be a mnemonic for the conjunctions of the English language, "for", "and", "nor", "but", "or", "yet", and "so".
In Media
Comic Book
- Sergio Aragonés' Fanboy
- Doug Holverson's 'Fanboy' (anthropomorphized rotary fan obsessed with comics, who uses his electrical plug for a hand). Dates from the prolific minicomic wave of the 1980s.
Television
Radio/Podcasts
- Fanboy Radio - [1]
- Drooling FanBoy - [2]