SOMETHING SO VERY, VERY PERSONAL!

By Edwin Cooney

No, the phenomena I’m about to address isn’t all about sports. It’s about that which pleases you and me. It’s about the sports teams we favor. It’s about our favorite actors and actresses. It’s about the people we love. Most of all, it’s about our individual capacity to be pleased about somebody else’s accomplishments, accomplishments over which we haven’t the slightest control.

The word for it is fandom. Fan or fandom is, of course, a short term for fanatic. Fanaticism causes us to focus our emotions on the outcome of events, many of which are primarily recreational, and some of which are very, very serious.

Fanaticism, especially political or religious fanaticism, can be dangerous and even life threatening. However, fandom or to be a fan, I believe, is not only wholesome, but healthy for our entire being.

During the late 1860s, the development of baseball “clubs,” gave local players and fans an opportunity to salve their hard scrabbled work-a-day existences with a little recreational activity. Hence, when that activity resulted in victory, there was inevitably a powerful boost in civic pride.

One of the more fascinating stories I’ve heard (perhaps it’s apocryphal, but somehow it’s too good not to be true) concerns one amateur fan’s fear of the development of professional baseball. The fear was that paid baseball players might ultimately mean the end of local pride in baseball for fans outside the large cities. The young man who expressed that fear was Clarence Darrow who went on to be perhaps the greatest criminal lawyer of his generation.

As asserted above, the root of fandom (as I see it) is that which gives us pleasure, beginning usually when we’re very young. If our parents, older siblings, favorite teacher, favorite uncle or cousin is a sports fan and partial to a particular sport or team, our emotional need for personal connection often compels us to go along with them. If we’re inclined to be interested in certain movies, music, poetry, or any number of things, parental or peer encouragement can be the vital factor in developing the intensity of our interest in the activity or in the good fortune of an individual performer or artist.

The fans of star musical performers can be quite intense when it comes to getting close to their heroes. I remember reading about a staunch Beatles fan who attempted to be mailed to George Harrison, I believe. Her friends packed her in a large crate with the necessary air holes (what else was in there we can only imagine!), sealed her up, and sent her on her way. Her journey suddenly ended when she tipped her box over while trying to remove her sweater. Perhaps a mail clerk thought there was something just a tad suspicious about a crate that turned itself over.

Political candidates rarely have fans. However, Jack Kennedy was treated much like Elvis Presley during his 1960 October campaign trip. The same was true of Bobby Kennedy in 1968. Teddy got similar treatment, although to a lesser degree, during his 1980 quest against President Carter.

Much of Barack Obama’s success four years ago was due to a certain star quality appeal among young people. A factor in this year’s election bid could be whether he can rekindle enough of his 2008 star power to bring about his re-election.

Our capacity to feel good about the accomplishments of others is both good for them and for us. The recording, movie, and book industry all depend on it. The more interests we have, the more likely we’ll be rewarded sometime during any calendar year with a sense of success. That sense of success amounts to a sense of confirmation of our capacity for positive judgment. You may lose the Super Bowl, but your favorite actor might win an Oscar. Your candidate may win an election while your favorite author is charged with plagiarism.

Of course, the amount of gratification one gets from the success of a cultural hero depends on one’s capacity for emotional perspective. Happily, the vast majority of “fans” have this positive aspect for favoritism well under control. Before a game, fans can be angrily insistent about the likelihood of their team’s success. However, most of the time, they accept the outcome with good grace. Likewise, fans of musical performers, movie actors and actresses, and even politicians very often keep their favorites in their hearts long after their popularity is history.

We can perhaps learn about a person’s personality by having him list his heroes at different times of his life. We might start that with our political candidates!

To be a fan is for me a healthy thing. However, to be someone else’s hero is a bit more taxing. How many “fans” do you have aside from your spouse and perhaps three or four close friends? How many “fans” would you like to have?

Your answer to that question might be quite revealing! My answer to that question is something of a plea. Please don’t love me too much: heights make me dizzy!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY