I’m using the term “fan” to mean something you’re really into.
I’m thinking of my mother. She likes plenty of things, but in a way that I perceive as being lukewarm and not heavily invested in. I asked her what movies she is a fan of, and she said *Star Wars*. But she didn’t know how many movies there were, the titles, and could only name Luke, Han, and Leia as characters. She didn’t know the names of anyone else, any of the places, etc.
This is not what I would expect from someone calling themselves a *Star Wars* fan. I am not a fan of it, and haven’t seen all the movies, but I would be able to list off several more characters.
I’m trying to understand her better, but I can’t relate to this. Everyone has different interests, right? But for people like her, the things she *is* interested in (like Star Wars) she barely understands. She doesn’t read books either.
5 comments
Threads devoted to political discussions are not accepted on AskMenOver30
**Do Not Delete Your Thread**
A modertor will review your thread to see if it was improperly filtered.
Use /r/findareddit to find a subreddit for discussing your topic
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMenOver30) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Some people aren’t comfortable opening up about their passions.
Some people didn’t have the time to develop them.
And some people don’t have the language to describe their interests, eg. they find great fulfillment from the way sunlight hits the leaves of the tree outside their window, but don’t or can’t think of that as discrete experience that brings them pleasure.
I think it’s actually more common than not. “Fan” is short for fanatic, after all, which implies a *deep* level of interest that many people just don’t care to achieve. Some people just like things. Casually. They don’t obsess, they don’t feel the need to know everything about whatever subject (or maybe even much at all). Like you said, maybe they don’t even understand the thing they like all that well. But who cares? If they like it, they like it. It’s fine to just enjoy things for the sake of the thing itself.
I call it being a jack of all trades, but master of none. I’m the same way, I’ll get into anything from Photography, to woodworking, biking, Legos, Computers, Wine/Beer brewing, cooking, archery, car racing, gardening, etc. the list goes on and on.
But I’m no authority on any of those subjects, and there are people out there who take those subjects to a level of expertise that I can’t compete with.
Even with Star Wars, I consider myself a “fan”, but I’ve only seen the first 6 movies, and that was over a decade ago, could probably name the main characters from those but thats it. If you ask me anything about the newer ones, I’d be blank.
So yeah, people can have interests and fans of a subject, but not necessarily be an authority on them.
I was more fanatical about certain things when I was younger (mainly certain martial arts which I can’t train in any more due to health/injury). I have a few “hobbies” these days, but they’re mostly things like hiking, reading, pub quizzes… nothing I’m religiously devoted to or requires a long term commitment. A lot of us at this age get sucked into our careers or need to devote time to families etc, so I’m sure it’s quite normal. On the other hand I know plenty of people who are still very committed to clubs and societies which remain a raison d’etre, so it varies significantly.