The most recent example of how fan’s love of a show or one character can quickly move from innocent to obsessive, can be found within part of the Stranger Things fanbase, and their transfixion on the “loveable metalhead” Eddie Munson, who is played by actor Joseph Quinn. Although the fanbase is no stranger to newly introduced characters being killed or even written off the script, the death of Eddie Munson, in the final episode of the fourth season, seemed to be the breaking point for many fans. Before this penultimate moment (due to the gruelling weekly release of each episode) fans were able to express their love and liking of key characters through Tweets, posts on Instagram and even producing edits on TikTok. With this prolonging of the show, in particular its final episodes being released in a separate volume several months after the first volume, it seemingly amplified the “Eddie Munson fanbase”, and their efforts to express their opinions; songs were produced and awkwardly sung to an uncomfortable Joseph Quinn at Comic Con, ‘Hell Fire’ T-Shirts were created and sold in every nearby store, and fans began dressing up (“cosplaying”) as Munson and meeting in large numbers in public areas such as shopping malls.
The line between the characters and actors often become blurred in situations when the show or film become extremely popular
Although the publics reaction to all this was mostly negative, it is not the first time we have seen a fan base become obsessive. For example, people have started to compare this ‘Eddie Munson’ fascination to that of ‘Draco Malfoy’ from The Harry Potter series. Despite the characters being different in every aspect, there are several similarities between the fan bases. For example, the inclusion of cosplay, writing fanfictions and obsessions over the actors who play each character. Similarly, both have been seen as damaging to the original fan bases’ image, as well as the actor’s (who played the characters) mental health.
This ties-in with the over-sexualisation that these actors and characters face when being “fanned” over. The line between the characters and actors often become blurred in situations when the show or film become extremely popular. An example of this can be found when Natalia Dyer (who plays the character of Nancy in Stranger Things) was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and was repeatedly called ‘Nancy’ and spoken to as if she was Nancy, as opposed to an actor who played a character. This overlapping of the clear distinction between actors and their characters also plays a big part in the growing obsession found within fanbases, as it has started to become excusable or even normal to disrespect actors and make them uncomfortable because they play a character in a popular show.
Several actors who played villains in TV or film recorded that they were disliked by their fan base, with some saying they even suffered verbal abuse when seen in public or even at places such as Comic Con
This is not a recent phenomenon either. For years, actors have faced backlash over their portrayal of characters, whether they were loved or hated. Several actors who played villains in TV or film recorded that they were disliked by their fan base, with some saying they even suffered verbal abuse when seen in public or even at places such as Comic Con. For example, Lena Headey, who played Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, said she was often called a “bitch” in public by ‘fans’ of the show who stated that “they hated her character.” This has become seen as somewhat normal for actors to experience, with some saying it shows how good their performance was. However, in my opinion, it is instead proof that fan bases have gotten too comfortable blurring the line between reality and fiction.
