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it is human nature to seek validation that our interests and taste in art reflects our self-perceived good qualities as a person making us seek out like-minded individuals who agree with us to prove that the art we like is "good" therefore we are "good people" for enjoying it
fandom culture is a way of externalising this need for validation as a tribal culture where we are lauded for our taste in commercial art, creating hierarchies in which the more we consume the more popular and "better" we become
which creates inherent tensions within these tribal cultures where disputes around interpretations arise and between tribal cultures when the art we consume is positioned as competition to other art
idk between listening to someone talk about snyder fan tribalism for three hours and talking about my own relationship with defensiveness in taste surrounding the release of the last of us ii, the way we wear what commercial art we consume as a personality fascinates me
