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Religion and the Pathologization of Fandom: Religion, Reason and Controversy in My Little Pony fandom
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 2015;27(2):130-147.
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Abstract
Popular media and academic studies have often compared media fandom to a form of secularised religion, suggesting excessive and irrational involvement. Fans respond to this charge by emphasising rational elements of their fandom and the imagined worlds they explore. This paper examines fan response when the rationality of this imagined world is undermined through the fan object itself, focusing on Brony (adult "My Little Pony") fandom: a fandom often subject to media pathologization. Fans highlighted their role as cultural gate keepers, protecting children from irrationality, recast the text into an attack on poor scientific method, or used fandom as a forum to discuss religion. This paper argues that the “fandom as religion” metaphor patologizes both religion and fandom, and ignores the diversity of fan responses to religion.