Опасности музыкального фанатизма (стр. 3 )

The turmoil surrounding the Beatles in the US 50 years ago had these pop-star youngsters re-watching some archival footage — and that’s when it hit them: “We all sat and watched the film of the Beatles arriving in America,” the intrepid Styles tells NME. “And, to be honest, that really was like us. Stepping off the plane, the girls, the madness. It was exactly the same as when we got there — just 50 years earlier.” To be fair, One Direction became the first group to ever have each of its first three albums debut at the top spot. But the sales figures — even taking into account that modern numbers are now skewed by Billboard’s decision to include streaming data and even viral hits — simply don’t compare. The Beatles 1964 Capitol Records debut in the US, ‘Meet the Beatles,’ has sold 5 million copies. ‘The Beatles Second Album’ went double platinum, while ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ has moved 4 million pare those 11 million in total sales to One Direction — which has sold just 4.8 million total for its initial three albums. That’s some 200,000 less than the Beatles’ stateside debut, all by itself. And that, of course, is to say nothing of their impact musically. Perhaps sensing the looming backlash, Styles added a small caveat: “But none of us think we’re in the same league as them music-wise. We’d be total fools if we did. Fame-wise, it’s probably even bigger, but we don’t stand anywhere near them in terms of music.” [4]

So, what One Direction and The Beatles have in common that make them so popular with fans? To my mind, the answer is very simple. Young, cute boys with beautiful voices singing love songs as if they are singing directly to you. These songs affect girl’s mind because they don’t hear such words in everyday life. What also these two bands have in common is that they came from working class families. Their popularity can also be explained by the fact that both One Direction and The Beatles were always themselves. And this simplicity is very attractive. Let’s see what The Beatles king has spoken as Paul McCartney reveals his soft spot for One Direction. “I like One Direction. They’re young, beautiful boys and that’s the big attraction,” the 71-year-old said. [5, p.3]

iv. Psychological portrait of a fan

“There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.”

- Napoleon Bonaparte

Fandom (consisting of fan plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom); this is what differentiates "fannish" (fandom-affiliated) fans from those with only a casual interest. Members of a fandom associate with one another, often attending fan conventions and publishing and exchanging fanzines and newsletters. Originally using print-based media, these sub-cultures have migrated much of their communications and interaction onto the internet, which they also use for the purpose of archiving detailed information pertinent to their given fanbase.

Fans have a desire for external involvement – they are motivated to demonstrate their involvement with the area of interest through certain behaviors (attending conventions, posting online, displaying team banners outside their homes, etc.). Fans often have a "wish to acquire" material objects related to the area of interest, such as a baseball hit by a famous slugger or a used guitar pick from their musical hero. As well, some fans have a desire for social interaction with other fans. There are several groups of fans that can be differentiated by the intensity level of their level of involvement or interest in the hobby (level of fanaticism).The likelihood for a subject of interest to be elevated to the level of fandom appears to be dictated by its plexity allows further involvement of fans for a longer period of time because of the time needed to work the subject of interest 'out.' It also contributes to a greater sense of belonging because of the mental effort invested in the subject.

Some fans write fan fiction, stories based on the universe and characters of their chosen fandom. This fan fiction can take the form of video-making as well as writing.http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fandom - cite_note-9 Some also dress in costumes ("cosplay") or recite lines of dialogue either out-of-context or as part of a group reenactment. Others create fan vids, or analytical music videos focusing on the source fandom, and yet others create fan ch activities are sometimes known as "fan labor" or "fanac", an abbreviated form of the phrase "fan activity." The advent of the internet has significantly facilitated fan association and activities. Activities that have been aided by the internet includes the creation of fan "shrines" dedicated to favourite characters, computer screen wallpapers, avatars. Furthermore, the advent of the internet has resulted in the creation of online fan networks who help facilitate the exchange of fanworks.

Of course, fans (usually fangirls) have a specific behavior. Fangirling: is the reaction of a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her "affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, fierce head shaking. It also means a gathering of two or more fangirls in which they proceed to waste endless amounts of time ogling, discussing/arguing, stalking the object of their "affection".[6, p.2]

As psychologists think, fans can be divided into four categories. The first type is a Fan Romantic. First of all he is focused on an image of an idol. The fan romantic has feeling of love and a spiritual and emotional connection with an idol. The second type – a sexually-focused fan. The idol seems as an ideal sexual partner. The fan of this type pays more attention to the idol’s appearance, then to the music. The third type of a fan is the fan – rationalist. This kind is the same as a romantic type. The last type is a fan stalker. They usually send letters with threats, declarations of love. This type of the fan is most often presented by lonely persons for whom idol became the sense of living. Stalkers can be extremely dangerous to their idols from the social point of view.

Here is a more concrete example of fans’ behavior. “She cries every night because she can't know you personally. She cries because you will never know about her existence. She smiles when you smile. She smiles, looking at your photos. She smiles, listening to your songs. She sings your songs everywhere: while taking shower, while eating or doing home tasks. She smiles when you say that you love your fans because she knows that she is one of them. She doesn't sleep, expecting your new video or your photos. Her computer is filled with million photos and video, but it isn't important to her because she doesn't want to delete something from this. She is the person who tires the friends talking about you the whole day. She tried dozens of times to stop fangirling and every time she returns back to the fandom. She writes you tweets (Twitter network) with the same words every day, speaking about how strong she loves you. She is «the weird girl" at school, because she is your fan. She is your fan, she loves you unconditionally, and she will give anything for you. And these "she" mean tens of millions your fans. She loves you without any intentions to stop.”

To my mind, fans can be divided into two groups: active dreamers and passive ones. Active dreamers differ from passive at the point of realising their dreams at all other criteria they are the same. This difference is in doing something which will make their dreams come true. It may sound silly, but even doing some school tasks might bring you closer to the dream. Passive dreamers do nothing at this point. They just sit and complain about how unfair life is.

III. Looking for the solutions to the problem of musical fanaticism

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”-Plato

Musical fanaticism is a form of obsessive love, which is a form of love where one person is emotionally obsessed with another. Obsessive lovers believe that only the person they fixate on can make them feel happy and fulfilled. Also an obsessed person doesn’t accept if their partners are happy then they aren’t. It affects not only the obsessed one, but also all people around them, especially the loved ones. Obsessed people become very emotional and physical related to their love object. It is possible that the other person doesn’t even know about the other side’s love. Obsessive love can lead to dangerous consequences, as extreme as stalking, rape, and murder, among other things. There was an example in the United States that a man killed the president, because he decided that it is the way to be noticed by his love. There are 4 phases in this disorder: the first one is attraction phase, the 2nd is anxious phase. Then it leads to the obsessive phase and the last one is the destructive phase. It is very hard to cure and it’s almost impossible to do without psychotherapist. [7] 

Unfortunately, the most common danger connected with musical fanaticism is icide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which is frequently attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, schizophrenia. However, fans understand that their dreams are just dreams and they will never be together with their idols. After that life has no sense for them, and they find the only solution in dying.