Fan Culture Can Be Wildly Empowering and Problematic粉絲文化：賦權過度，問題重重

These days， with a quick Google search， you can find superfans of almost anything and anyone. Whether you love Beyoncé， the New York Yankees， or Game of Thrones， you’re bound to find a place to share your endless love and devotion. And participating in fandoms online can be as simple as following a few fan accounts on social media， or as involved as writing fan fiction that’s 10，000 words long. When I was a budding1 teen fan of the Marvel universe and Game of Thrones， platforms like Tumblr allowed me to air2 my obsession of the moment with as much fervor as I wanted. But I discovered that while fandoms are a place to demonstrate love and appreciation， “fan armies” can also make themselves into weapons of harassment and intimidation that threaten to undermine all that love and inclusion. And they are hard to stop， even when they want to.

如今，用谷歌快速搜索一下，幾乎可以找到任何人、任何事的超級粉絲。無論是喜歡歌手碧昂絲、紐約洋基棒球隊，還是電視劇《權力的游戲》，你必然能找到一個平臺來分享自己源源不斷的愛意和熱情。線上加入粉圈可以簡單到在社交媒體上關注幾個粉絲賬戶，也可以像寫萬字粉絲小說那樣深度參與。我十幾歲的時候還是漫威宇宙和《權力的游戲》的萌新粉，“湯博樂”等平臺可供我盡情抒發(fā)當時的癡迷。然而，我發(fā)現(xiàn)雖然粉圈是表達熱愛和欣賞的地方，但是“粉絲軍團”也有可能把自己變成騷擾和恐嚇的武器，會打破所有愛意和包容。粉絲軍團的勢頭難以遏制，甚至他們自己想停都停不下來。

During my brief stint as a superfan on Tumblr， I saw firsthand how this happens. When Gossip Girl debuted a romantic storyline between queen bee3 socialite Blair Waldorf and middle-class good guy Dan Humphrey in the show’s fifth season， some fans loved this relationship， while others were loyal to the multi-season arc between Blair and her ex-boyfriend Chuck Bass. Online， Blair and Chuck supporters were labeled “sympathizers” to abuse and sexual misconduct. Those rooting for4 Dan were swiftly cut down as not “true” fans.

我在湯博樂上作為超級粉絲的活躍時間不算長，卻親眼目睹了一切是如何發(fā)生的。在電視劇《緋聞女孩》第五季里，人稱“女王蜂”的社交名媛布萊爾·沃爾多夫和中產(chǎn)老實男丹·漢弗萊的情感糾葛初次上線。有的粉絲喜歡這條感情線，但有的還是“死磕”布萊爾和前男友查克·巴斯，兩人在前幾季里感情曲折。在網(wǎng)絡平臺上，支持布萊爾和查克在一起的粉絲被貶稱為虐待和不端行為的“支持者”，而力挺丹上位的粉絲則立即被斥責為不是“忠”粉。

The labeling and shaming that ensued during these debates， and the attacking that followed， was not only hurtful to those targeted， it was， frankly， unproductive. It was as though there were rules about the right way to be a fan—certain characters you should like， others you should hate. If you felt differently， well， that meant you weren’t a real fan at all.

口舌之爭中用貼標簽的方式羞辱別人，還有隨之而來的言語攻擊，不單會對攻擊對象造成傷害，說白了，本身也是徒勞無功。仿佛當粉絲也有走正路的規(guī)矩——應當喜歡某些角色，應該討厭其他角色。如果意見相左，那么你根本就是假粉。

One of the hallmark traits of a celebrity fandom in particular， is the staunch defending of the “faves”—figures the fandom regards as nearly infallible—against any kind of hate， criticism， or insult. While it’s easy to watch fandoms from the sidelines， to be an active player in fan culture can be a perilous undertaking. In July 2018， writer Wanna Thompson tweeted about Nicki Minaj’s upcoming album， writing （in a now-deleted tweet）， “You know how dope5 it would be if Nicki put out mature content？ No silly stuff. Just reflecting on past relationships， being a boss， hardships， etc. She’s touching 40 soon， a new direction is needed.” As reported by The New York Times， the writer received hateful messages across social media， as well as via her personal cell phone number and email address. Minaj herself contacted Thompson through Twitter with two scathing direct messages， the Times reported.

明星粉絲尤甚，其典型特征之一便是堅定捍衛(wèi)“心頭好”（粉絲心中近乎完美的人物），不接受任何形式的仇恨、批評或侮辱。置身事外圍觀粉圈不難，但積極參與粉絲文化可能是一件有風險的事情。2018年7月，作家沃納·湯普森在推特上評論妮琪·米娜即將發(fā)行的專輯，她寫道（推文現(xiàn)已刪除）：“唉，如果妮琪推出思想成熟的歌曲，那專輯會有多棒啊！不要傻兮兮的內容，不要僅僅回顧過往戀情、創(chuàng)業(yè)經(jīng)商、艱辛經(jīng)歷等。她快40歲了，需要新方向。”據(jù)《紐約時報》的消息，湯普森的社交媒體賬戶、私人手機、電子郵箱均收到了含有仇恨言論的信息。據(jù)《紐約時報》報道，米娜本人也在推特上給湯普森發(fā)了兩條言辭尖刻的私信。

In an email to Bustle， Thompson said the following：

在發(fā)給美國網(wǎng)站“喧囂”的電子郵件里，湯普森這樣說：

“The insults I have received were not only ugly， it’s a reflection of a much larger problem. A lot of celebrities sit back and watch their fans attack and while I believe it’s not their responsibility to monitor every single move， I think it’s imperative to speak out against this behavior. I pride myself on being ‘strong’ and powerful but there are others who may harm themselves if they experience a fraction of the malicious messages I’ve encountered since I tweeted my opinion on the veteran rapper.

“我收到的侮辱言論不單丑惡，還折射出一個更嚴重的大問題。許多明星對自己粉絲的攻擊行為坐視不理。雖然我認為他們確實沒有責任監(jiān)督粉絲的一舉一動，但必須公開反對這種攻擊行為。我在推特上評論那位資深說唱歌手后收到惡毒信息，我為自己表現(xiàn)出的‘堅強’和力量感到自豪，但有的人哪怕只收到其中一小部分惡毒信息可能就會做出傷害自己的事。

“I’ve watched fan culture grow into this nasty， bitter， insufferable war over the last few years and it’s just a mess. We all have our idols， but the line between appreciation and obsession has been blurred. Maybe it’s due [to] apps like Instagram that give people a sense of ‘entitlement’ because their faves are oversharing every single moment of their lives？ I don’t know. I just want to use my energy and my platform to advocate against censorship and work closely with organizations who work to eliminate cyber-bullying.”

“過去幾年，我眼看著粉絲文化演變成一場戰(zhàn)爭，充滿惡意與仇恨，叫人難以忍受，完全是一團糟。我們每個人都有偶像，可欣賞和癡迷之間的界限已變得模糊。也許是‘照片墻’之類的平臺給了用戶一種‘賦權’之感，因為他們喜愛的明星在上面過度分享生活的每個瞬間。我不知道。我只想借助我自己的平臺，將精力用于倡導反對不合理的審查制度，與致力于消除網(wǎng)絡霸凌的組織密切合作。”

The issue here is when the unwavering loyalty of hundreds of thousands of fans turns vitriolic and toxic; when fan culture glorifies people to superhuman levels while simultaneously dehumanizing those who aren’t as worshipful.

粉絲文化的癥結在于，無數(shù)粉絲的堅定與忠實可以變成尖酸與惡毒；粉絲文化一面將人美化至超乎常人的地步，一面把沒有表現(xiàn)出同等崇拜的人貶得不是人。

You don’t have to be immersed in a fandom to recall a time when like-minded fans swarmed into a toxic mob on a dime6. Following the release of Star Wars： The Last Jedi in December 2017， one of the film’s stars， Kelly Marie Tran， was subjected to intense criticism from a subset of the Star Wars fandom. While many were thrilled by Tran’s presence as the first woman of color to take a lead role in the franchise’s 40-year run， she was unwelcome to a subset of people who felt that there was no place for inclusivity in their fanbase. Racist and sexist remarks were spewed7 at her by self-proclaimed fans of the long-running franchise. The attacks culminated with her deleting her Instagram posts in June 2018.

不必身陷粉圈，你也能回憶起曾有一段時間，志同道合的粉絲瞬間化作惡狠狠的烏合之眾。2017年12月，《星球大戰(zhàn)8：最后的絕地武士》上映后，該片演員凱莉·瑪麗·陳遭到一部分“星戰(zhàn)”粉絲的強烈批評。作為該系列電影40年來首位扮演主角的非白人女性，陳的出現(xiàn)讓不少人為之一振，可還有一部分人并不歡迎她，他們認為自己所屬的粉圈沒有包容可言。這群自稱“星戰(zhàn)”老粉的人對陳狂噴帶有種族歧視和性別歧視的言論。2018年6月，言論攻擊以陳刪除“照片墻”上的相關帖子告終。

The fandom’s rejection of Tran speaks volumes about8 who gets accepted as “real” fans in the first place. Tran was herself a fan of Star Wars and eager to expand representation. In an interview with Variety after the premiere， Tran said， “A lot of Star Wars fans who are specifically Asian never had a character they could dress up like， or they would and people would always call them ‘Asian Rey’ or ‘Asian fill-in-the-blank.’ I get very emotional when I see people who are able to identify with this character.”

粉圈對陳的排斥充分說明了什么樣的人才會被認定為“真”粉。陳本人就是“星戰(zhàn)”粉，她非常希望拓展“星戰(zhàn)”所能代表的群體。首映儀式后，陳接受《綜藝》雜志采訪時說：“很多亞裔‘星戰(zhàn)’粉找不到可以或想要模仿打扮的角色，或者等他們扮上之后人們總是稱他們?yōu)椤畞喴岚胬滓痢颉畞喴峤巧_拓者’。看到有人能與我的角色產(chǎn)生共鳴，我非常激動。”

After Tran deleted her Instagram posts， her Star Wars co-star Mark Hamill and director Rian Johnson were swift to defend her and condemn the hatred. And this isn’t the only example of celebrities speaking out against toxic fan behavior. In 2013， Selena Gomez called out fan account @SelinaGomesFan for encouraging another one of her fans to self-harm. The singer wrote， “This is ridiculous. @SelinaGomesFan my fans don’t do this to others. That’s not what I stand for so you can gladly stop being a fan of me. I only encourage love， confidence， kindness.” She shared a screenshot of the comment on her own Instagram page， where she has 139 million followers.

陳刪除“照片墻”上的帖子后，與她聯(lián)合主演“星戰(zhàn)”的馬克·哈米爾、導演里安·約翰遜迅速為她說話并譴責了粉絲的仇恨行為。這并不是唯一一次明星公開反對粉絲的惡意行為。2013年，歌手賽琳娜·戈麥斯指責用戶名為SelinaGomesFan的粉絲慫恿另一個粉絲自殘。賽琳娜寫道：“太荒謬了。@SelinaGomesFan，我的粉絲不會這樣對待別人，我不支持你的行為，所以你可以愉快地脫粉了。我只鼓勵愛、自信、善良。”賽琳娜在“照片墻”上有1.39億人關注，她在自己的主頁上分享了那條評論截圖。

The content you devour shapes you， in both good and bad ways. Fan culture continues to have the capacity to nurture extremely empowering spaces. That said， there’s an ugly side to passionate followings， as evidenced in the actions of extreme fandoms. And although fandoms are masked by the anonymity the internet offers， that does not excuse the behavior， the harm it causes to individuals， or the way it makes online spaces we look to for community and validation less fun and less safe. We need to acknowledge that fan culture offers deep connections with real people—not usernames and avatars. As such， participation implies responsibility—to treat our fellow fans with the respect every real person deserves.

瀏覽的內容能塑造一個人，可能向好，也可能向壞。粉絲文化仍可能培育出極具賦權效果的網(wǎng)絡空間。盡管如此，狂熱的粉絲也有丑惡面，極端的粉絲行為足以說明這點。雖說粉圈隱藏在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的匿名掩護之下，但這不是實施不當行為、傷害他人的借口，也不是削弱網(wǎng)絡空間趣味性和安全感的理由——我們對網(wǎng)絡空間的期待就是在其中建立社群、尋求認可。我們要承認，粉絲文化讓我們與真實的人產(chǎn)生深刻聯(lián)系，而不僅是看到對方的用戶名和頭像。因此，互動參與意味著擔責——對每個與我們同為粉絲的人都應給予一個真實的人應得的尊重。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：廣東外語外貿大學南國商學院）

1 budding初露頭角的，發(fā)展中的。" 2 air使公開；使公眾注意。

3中國《緋聞女孩》粉圈一般直接稱Queen B，B代指布萊爾（Blair）。" 4 root for支持，鼓勵。

5 dope〈俚語〉（黑人用語）精彩的。

6 on a dime立即。

7 spew噴出。" 8 speak volumes about有力地說明。