Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 Now the idea intrigues me SO MUCH, I wanted to get the enigmatic Spirit started on his much-promised "Mental Illness" thread. Please bear in mind, this is NOT that thread and I am sure he will start his own appropriately titled one, once he wants to. I just want to start amalgamating some ideas, since I already made a comment elsewhere. So feel free to add things you personally think indicate a level of mental illness within the Dinsey fanboi community. Here's my own first thought which I am quoting from my own post in the "VIP Access to Harry Potter" thread in the "Other Theme Parks" forum. "The other point I want to mention is(and perhaps this is yet ANOTHER note for Spirit's coming and long-promised "mental illness" thread)is the need on the part of some fans to defend the WDC, as if their own dear old infirmed mother were being criticized. Stop anthropomorphizing the company and think its feelings get hurt when some people have the temerity to SUGGEST UO has done an event better(GASP!!! SHOCK!!! HORROR!!!). Trust me - Mickey didn't go to bed last night crying into his pillow. Iger himself didn't even lose a minute's sleep over this. They DON'T NEED YOU TO TAKE UMBRIDGE FOR THEM! They're all BIG boys and girls over there. And if they want less criticism they will do better. Maybe." Next?
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Exactly. And stop believing that if it has the DISNEY BRAND on it, it's ok to like it. You can like other things, you know... like Uni... and Harry Potter... and Marvel... and... and... and... The whole "Disney Lifestyle" and obsession scares me.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 True that, EE. Funny that you posted as I was just talking with my partner about you. Let me explain. After posting my first comment here in this new thread I went out and spoke about it with my partner who is a psych major. He has started to become interested in this whole "Disney Company obsession" thing as he has a great interest in pop culture trends and subcultures within popular cultures(he did his final year thesis on something similar!). To add to this, I have a former friend who absolutely epitomizes the "forty five year old Disney Fanboi" stereotype. He lives alone, he has a "Disney room"(along with a "science fiction room")he spends a large portion of his disposeable income on Disney and SF merchandise and loves EVERY new film released by the company. Sound familiar? Well, if you've spent ANY time in any Disney park, you'd recognize him immediately! Interestingly, this person's mother died when he was in his late teens(although mentally and emotionally he was actually probably in his early teens, at the MOST!)and, based on my knowledge of this guy from ten years of association, my partner called the psychological condition he displays as "pausing". As in - he has kept himself mentally and emotionally "stuck" at a younger age, when his mum was alive and still has the same interests and hobbies he had back then - things that give him comfort and a sense of security. I wonder how many of the other Fanbois who waddle along to $285 merchandise events and squeeze into ride vehicles have similar experiences in their past? What traumatic events have caused THEM to "pause" at a moment in their life when things were better and safer? My partner thought Spirit's idea for a thread on mental illness and the fanboi community(and indeed, a book on the subject!)would be an INCREDIBLE interesting idea! He expressed a desire to speak with other similarly obsessed Disney fanbois(who are usually middle aged)to see if, as I said above, they were similarly afflicted with a sad past? Which is why it is interesting that EE responds straight away to my first post. My partner asked me if I knew of any of the posters being younger and I said I thought EE was quite young(about 20 or so)as he talks about still being at university. Of course there is also Malin, whose interests either indicate he is quite young or.....well, let's just say a grown man being so interested in rubberheads and pixie dust shows is a complete thread in itself! Any thoughts?
Originally Posted By lazyboy97o What about Disney fans would differentiate them from fans of any other product? I just do not see how The Walt Disney Company somehow attracts a comparatively greater number of people with mental issues than any other subject of fandom.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 Yep - we discussed this as well. As I mentioned above, my friend is also an ardent fan of SF, including very much Star Trek. He says he loves the idea of ST's optimistic future where everyone loves each other, while he hides away in his house, working night shift in a toll booth, having AS LITTLE to do with people as he must, going so far as to continue his "night mode" even while not working and while off work, on holiday. He has SERIOUS mental health issues and his future is basically being found, dead, in his lounge chair, three years after his passing. I think Disney has a unique place in the corporate/pop culture world, however, in that it encapsualtes our childhoods. Some people feel a VERY strong attachment to it, as is typified here when anyone DARE say "that other place up the road" has done something BETTER than WDW. People go friggin' FERAL, as if you have just spat on their grandmother. Why is that? Why does that happen?
Originally Posted By leobloom >> I think Disney has a unique place in the corporate/pop culture world, however, in that it encapsualtes our childhoods. Some people feel a VERY strong attachment to it, as is typified here when anyone DARE say "that other place up the road" has done something BETTER than WDW. << It may very well be the case that what we're identifying as mental illness (or arrested development) is not exclusive to Disney fandom. I'm sure you could say a similar phenomenon exists among Star Wars fans, Harry Potter fans, anything that has a devoted, obsessive fanbase. But Disney's reach seems to extend further than some of these other properties. If anything, their reach extends into some of these other fanbases -- Star Wars and Marvel, e.g. To add to what you were saying about your Disney/Sci-Fi friend, Bob, there's also the entire "geek" culture that Disney seems to be related to, if only tangentially. A lot of that fandom (think Harry Knowles from Aint It Cool News) is all about obsessive, slobbering devotion that to a large part lacks a critical capacity. Might explain why in some people's minds Disney can do no wrong and Universal can do no good.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 Great point, Leo! Funny that I never made the connection between my friend and Knowles. The two are even, let's say similar in "girth". And anybody that has read even one of Harry's "reviews"(and I use the term EXTREMELY liberally!)knows that Harry trades a LOT on nostalgia and pathos from his deified youth. AICN was basically built on what film meant to Harry when he was a child. When I think if my former friend now, NOTHING is better to him than "Logan's Run" and the original "Planet of the Apes" films. It is a DEFINITE case of "being stuck" in a former time and identifying with things that bring comfort from that time.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 "It may very well be the case that what we're identifying as mental illness (or arrested development) is not exclusive to Disney fandom. I'm sure you could say a similar phenomenon exists among Star Wars fans, Harry Potter fans, anything that has a devoted, obsessive fanbase." Anyone who has ANYTHING to do with SF fandom will know that even WITHIN fandoms there is disharmony and feuding. For instance, while you may see all SF fans as the same kind of nerds, ST fans as a whole don't like SW fans and vice versa. Strange as THAT is, it gets WEIRDER. Within Star Trek fandom THAT is actually split up into fans of; ST:The Original Series ST:The Next Generation STeep Space Nine ST:Voyager ST:Enterprise And most of THEM don't like each other!!! Then you can break up SW fandom into fans of the original trilogy and then the(usually younger and less discriminating ; ) )fans of the prequel trilogy. And I have seen flame wars between those groups that would straighten your hair out! Of course, we have a similar thing here with divides between the DL'ers, the WDW fanbois and the Tokyo elite. I realized a long time ago it is must simply be human nature to group up with like-minded people. It IS fascinating but it is also kind of annoying.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I know my Disney/theme park/ sci fi (Star Trek (not Voyager though), Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter)/comic book obsession is perhaps not normal. But there are sports nuts, soap opera addicts etc too. I would like to think of myself as a moderate crazy.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub That is the great big question tho? How do we know when we have crossed over the line? Does anybody remember the Cabbage Patch Craze?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I was discussing something similar to this with my daughters the other day. I know that I spend a lot of time on the discussion boards and I think it worries them. Even though I don't think it is crazy to have any sort of an escape obsession I have to wonder why being a Disney fan is childish or a flashback to youth anymore than any other obsession might be. How, for example, would you define Football, Baseball, Basketball, etc. fans. are they mentally ill as well? Stamp collectors, bird watchers, carb. haters, car enthusiasts, beach lovers, wine connoisseurs and lovers of specific genres of music, are they all mentally ill as well? Why would a love of Disney even enter into a discussion like this without including all the obsessions that we can come up with. Personally, I am a Disney Park fan, specifically WDW (my home planet, so to speak). I do not have a house full of stuffed animals, cups, used tickets and so on. I have two Disney T's (one a gift from my sister), Two Mickey oven mitts (also a gift)and that is pretty much the only connection to Disney that I have in my house. Oh yea...I do have a collection of WDW Vacation Videos mostly because I find it amusing that I can get something of entertainment value for FREE from Disney just by asking. It's sort of a payback. I try to go once a year because, and I have always admitted this, it makes me feel like a kid again. Something that at the age of 63 is not a common happening. I can only tour the parks for about 4 or so days per trip before I am ready to go out and by some giant mouse traps. I do not stay in onsite resorts because I believe that sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. The last and only Disney movie that I have seen since the original Herbie the Love Bug was the 1st Pirates movie, which I did like a lot, but was never motivated to see the others made since then. I don't watch ESPN or the Disney Channel or, for that matter, ABC because, well, they all suck IMHO! To even put a finer point on the Discussion Boards, I find that using them keeps my mind active and my communication skills still working, at least marginally. I find that since I am familiar with a lot of stuff Disney, I have a common interest with most of the people that would be on these boards. So my question would be...since I do not drink and am to old to be wild and out of control, does that make me Mentally Ill. And if it does, then logically since all people have an obsession in one form of the other, not only would it not be Mental Illness, it would be Mental normalcy. Those without obsessions would be the mental ill. Not to mention in a coma or dead.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>Which is why it is interesting that EE responds straight away to my first post. My partner asked me if I knew of any of the posters being younger and I said I thought EE was quite young(about 20 or so)as he talks about still being at university. Of course there is also Malin, whose interests either indicate he is quite young or.....well, let's just say a grown man being so interested in rubberheads and pixie dust shows is a complete thread in itself!<<<< Why am I ALWAYS the youngest person in a group? LOL. Well, glad I was brought up for discussion in this thread, and seemingly for a positive reason. The thing is, I think that this phenomena would be rooted in people from my generation, as I think obsessions are fueled by the internet. If you like Disney, it's the only thing you can subject yourself to. The obsession grows because you allow it and you feed it. If liking THE DISNEY BRAND is what's approved of on message boards and by the company itself, why should you differ? It's a slippery slope. You like Disney, people approve of that, why would you differ. We've built lives around the internet and our perceptions of it. ...now, of course, I think we are all guilty of this. I am, you are, everyone posting on this site has made the conscious choice to visit and partake in a WDW Fansite. Some more than others. The difference, of course, is in the knowing. I think THAT is what separates a divide from intelligent discussion and a affinity for Disney vs. a OBSESSION with Disney. If you read a thread like this, and think "these people are all nuts for having other interests and that they declaim Disney", I think that's the indicator that something is amiss. And there's nothing wrong with having a room full of stuff... ;-) SOME people are limited by space, you know! LOL.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>o even put a finer point on the Discussion Boards, I find that using them keeps my mind active and my communication skills still working, at least marginally. I find that since I am familiar with a lot of stuff Disney, I have a common interest with most of the people that would be on these boards. So my question would be...since I do not drink and am to old to be wild and out of control, does that make me Mentally Ill. And if it does, then logically since all people have an obsession in one form of the other, not only would it not be Mental Illness, it would be Mental normalcy. Those without obsessions would be the mental ill. Not to mention in a coma or dead<<<< Not at all. I think a interest in something is healthy, even a strong one. The thing is, keeping it in check, which I think most of us do, and being open to other things. Everything in moderation, even moderation. Why should we not enjoy what we like? And further, why should we not feel passionate (wrong word for Mickey? ) over it too? The catch is not allowing to dictate everything you do.
Originally Posted By PotNoodle Another possibilty in this case could be people with Asperger's Syndrome. I am the parent of a child with AS. He collects items and displays them in a certain way, and if they get the smallest bit moved, he throws a fit. He also has an insatiable desire to learn and categorize things, but there is very litte, if any, critical thinking involved in his pursuit of knowledge. I think this could be applied to some of these fan bois who throw their rattles out of the pram if you challenge anything about their schema regarding Disney. It unsettles them and they don't know how to deal...
Originally Posted By PotNoodle And one more thing. When he discovers a new passion, that is all he wants to talk about. He talks at you about it ad nauseaum. That is the difference b/t someon like Goofyrnmost and a serious fanboi. I can identify Aspies on another MAGICal board fo sho. Quite a few of them...
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Oh no, you d'in'dt, Bob! ;-) I thought long and hard (I am the Spirit after all) about starting the thread, and have opted not to, at least right now. I've worried that there will be this undercurrent of 'do they think I'm nuts?' running through it. And I really don't wish to be a divisive Spirit. That's why I keep encouraging new people to post here and even folks I may disagree with, such as the fanbois/bored housewife/mommy bloggers/IP thieves/ podcasters/Disney Social Media reps etc. While I believe it is an amazing topic, I'm not sure how to bring it to life without things degenerating quickly. While I agree there are fans who are over the top with their loves of everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Trek to the New York Yankees to General Hospital, I've never seen the manifestation of it quite like Disney in the Internet era. Disney just has manipulation down to a science. What once was playing on emotions in films or TV programming or even theme park content, now has taken on a sort of loving the BRAND. D23 might as well be a revival meeting for all things Disney. While some people want to pretend they love everything Disney does, because they know in this era that it could prove financially beneficial for them to do so, I just don't know one person that loves (or even likes) all that is corporate Disney. How many Disney 'fans' see every film? How many just like the parks or select ones? How many are pin freaks or into vinyl? How many watch all 654 ESPN channels? How many watch SoapNet and will be just as religious about tuning into Disney Junior when it replaces it next year? How many shop at the Disney Stores? How many decided they hated Batman, but loved Captain America as soon as Disney purchased Marvel? Disney wants people who love the BRAND. Who are addicted to the Pixie Dust. But the reality is we all have different likes/dislikes and when you start mistaking creative content that you love (or simply enjoy in a healthy emotional construct) for an emotional attachment to a cold hearted, multi-national, media goliath's BRAND ... well, that's when you start veering off. Watch the corner, insanity is just around the bend.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>Another possibilty in this case could be people with Asperger's Syndrome. I am the parent of a child with AS. He collects items and displays them in a certain way, and if they get the smallest bit moved, he throws a fit. He also has an insatiable desire to learn and categorize things, but there is very litte, if any, critical thinking involved in his pursuit of knowledge.<<< I don't think that is this, but that doesn't discount your input. Going on a dimensional approach to the DSM, versus the categorical, we all have "touches" of certain traits, but not all of it. Perhaps a bit of it exists in everyone.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>While I agree there are fans who are over the top with their loves of everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Trek to the New York Yankees to General Hospital, I've never seen the manifestation of it quite like Disney in the Internet era. <<< Nah, it's just as bad in other fandoms. Twilight, Potter, Lord of the Rings, Trekkies... I just think Disney's brand of crazy might look more innocent on the outside, and be just as dangerous, so, therein lies the issues. >>>Watch the corner, insanity is just around the bend.<<< Always the pessimist... I tried to be POSITIVE in my post. ;-) LOL
Originally Posted By Bolna <<Not at all. I think a interest in something is healthy, even a strong one. The thing is, keeping it in check, which I think most of us do, and being open to other things. >> I very much agree with that. I think all of us have seen fans online where we thought that they were going over the top with their passion for Disney. And I think our own perception of what is still normal and what is crazy might vary a lot. And I don't think that every strong fan has to be mentally ill. One of my professors in college was a huge fan of Karl May, a very popular German author who wrote adventure novels in the 19th century, mainly about the American West (this is why Germans love the Wild West). He founded a research society about this author and organised conventions. Still, he was a brilliant academic and one of the big names in his field as well as one of the nicest and most approachable professors whose lectures were incredibly popular. I would never have thought of him as crazy, only a very passionate fan. However, the moment things become creepy is when the boundary between hobby and the rest of your life ceases to exist. That's why I was so appalled when I first heard about the group of people who go under the name "The Disney Driven Life". They have a website and in their FAQ they explain what this means: <<What exactly is The Disney Driven Life? If your lifestyle revolves around incorporating the Disney brand into all aspects of your life, then you are leading a Disney Driven Life. This includes activities like watching Disney movies, listening to Disney music and podcasts, discussing Disney topics with family and friends on a regular basis, participating in Disney communities online and enjoying every minute of it. But the paramount event in the life of a Disney Driven person is planning and anticipating a Disney vacation. What kind of people live this way? There actually is a term for this type of individual, Neurotic Disney Person or NDP, and the population of NDPs is vast. Think about it. In America (and this truth is spreading globally), everyone either is an obsessive Disney fan or they know at least one obsessive Disney fan. It’s an amazing truth and speaks volumes about the number in our group. And now, we finally have a grass roots movement happening to organize ourselves and gain recognition by officially being identified as NDPs.>> I still hope that some of this is meant tongue in cheek. But I am sure that there are some who take this very literal. Why would anyone want to have Disney in every aspect of their life? It sounds like there is an inability to find your own taste, preferences and values and therefore you just cling to everything Disney - a company! - offers. It sounds like a bad substitution for a religion.
Originally Posted By PotNoodle <But the paramount event in the life of a Disney Driven person is planning and anticipating a Disney vacation.> I hope that is just tongue-in-cheek as well, because if it's not, that's a bit sad.
