Zhang Yiwu: The fan circle culture of "Brainless Protector" should be standardized

Source: Global Times

Recently, the private life of some celebrities or Internet celebrities on the Internet has aroused great concern in public opinion, and the public generally hopes that such incidents can be seriously handled under the framework of law and morality. Given the public nature of entertainers or influencers, as well as their widespread influence among teenagers, the high level of social concern after these situations is of great significance, and the moral and social responsibility requirements of these people cannot be ignored.

However, in recent incidents of this kind, the negative impact of fan culture has been particularly striking and worrying. When some celebrities or Internet celebrities have problems, some fans often can't accept that their idols have problems, and there is a phenomenon of continuing to be fanatical in spite of the facts: or forming a public opinion momentum on the Internet, "Internet violence" related people, or curving back, and doing everything to exonerate. They always hope that the star they are obsessed with will be able to get through this, and even disregard black and white, and give up the most basic moral and legal requirements for the star as an individual.

This is actually the embodiment of some problems in the development of fan culture in recent years. The pursuit and fascination of specific showbiz stars or internet celebrities is an important aspect of fan culture and a common phenomenon in modern society. If this kind of "fan" for stars is moderately appropriate, it is through the recognition and affirmation of the positive aspects of stars to get positive energy to motivate themselves, then star chasing will have a certain help for the self-development and identity of teenagers, and star chasing will have a certain positive significance. However, with the development of rice circle culture and fan economy, the relationship between fans and stars now often transcends this situation.

On the one hand, fans are deeply involved in the life of the object of infatuation, supporting the operation of stars in many ways, forming some relatively organized ways of activity, constituting a relationship of one glory and one loss. Fan culture has become a relationship with great influence and restrictive effect, which can often have a great impact on the position of stars in the entertainment industry and the interests of the economy, constituting a certain phenomenon of "interest".

On the other hand, fans often unconditionally affirm the object of their crush to the extreme, and cannot allow any criticism or questioning of their idols. Once such a situation occurs, they use some strong ways to defend their idols, use various ways to cover up negative news, and even use "Network violence" and other methods to attack relevant people, forming a kind of "moat" to maintain the "perfect" image of idols, and a certain phenomenon of "power" has emerged.

The recent phenomenon of "power" and "profit" of some fan culture has actually had a rather negative effect. Among the problems that have recently erupted are also the situations in which many fans have been used and harmed. Therefore, it is necessary to return fan culture to social normalcy. This requires more efforts in four areas:

First, a series of activities related to star chasing must also be based on conformity to public order and good customs, especially in terms of values and other aspects, there can be no deviation, can not become deformed, unconditional star chasing. Second, these activities cannot harm the normal life of young people, cannot harm the healthy development of their physical and mental aspects, and cannot deviate from the normal social track. Third, celebrities and their related parties must have a stronger sense of social responsibility, have more requirements for their own words and deeds, and spread positive social energy, while promoting the rational pursuit of stars by fans. Fourth, the society should have more supervision over activities such as star chasing, more concern for the development of young people's values, and strictly restrict the behavior of celebrities and their stakeholders. In this way, it is possible to have a healthy and normal performing arts or network environment, form more constraints on entertaining stars or Internet celebrities, and then let some undesirable phenomena disappear in society. (The author is a professor at Peking University)