Fans are fans, no matter the time period. In the 1980s and 1990s, there used to be fans of one hero who were dedicated enough to throw cow or buffalo dung on the wall posters of another hero.
The “fan wars” were mostly limited to such nasty acts and tearing down each other’s posters.
Now, the situation is worse in a different way. While no one is literally throwing bullshit on posters anymore, we now witness the “bullshit” of cussword exchanges on social media.
With Twitter, Facebook and Instagram available at everyone’s fingertips, fans of one hero are engaged 24/7 in online wars against other heroes’ fans, wasting valuable time on this social media nonsense.
Caste fanaticism and caste based favoritism toward certain heroes have been continuing since the 1980s and remain strong today.
A popular director once remarked that being a fan of someone often reflects inferiority complexes, low self-esteem and low IQ and EQ levels.
Whether fans agree with that or not is a different matter, but fanaticism that causes social nuisance is indeed a concerning mental issue.
Admiring heroes for their talent is fine, but blind fanaticism is a sign of immaturity.
Radhakrishna Nekkanti
