Fan Myopia: Difference between revisions
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Fans of a particular work or medium see things differently from people who aren't fans of the same things. For instance, a fan might assume that the work they are a fan of is much better known than it actually is. Or, conversely, they might assume that nobody knows a different work simply because they and their circle never heard of it. The fan's perspective is a little warped because they are so close to certain materials and so distanced from others.
Fan myopia is aided and abetted by having a circle of friends who share a narrow interest, making it seem much less obscure than it is. The Internet can be an enabler here: If you spend all your time talking to people who are fans of the same things you like, it's easy to jump from
Even when an interest is shared by a young person's entire generation, it might well be unheard of in other, older demographics and vice-versa. This, too, is a kind of fan myopia. Fan myopia also can lead to over-enthusiasm for the work and related works ("This show is the best thing ever!" "Every other medium is garbage!") and so on. This happens more easily to younger fans than older ones who have, over time, seen works come and go and who have even seen ''media'' come and go.
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Tropers are not immune to Fan Myopia, nor do they claim to be. Indeed, much of this wiki could not have come about if it weren't for zealous fans of television and other media. However, generalizing from your own experience is usually a bad idea. Assuming that other people know more than they do can result in incomprehensible attempts at [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]] or similar, or telling the world that the ending to something is [[It Was His Sled]] when it wasn't, really.
* Citing examples of characters or episodes without explaining what work they're talking about, because "surely everyone knows what I'm referring to". (''[[Action 52|Cheetahmen II]]'')
* Committing the infamous "How could this trope go so long without mentioning Show X?" [[Word Cruft]].
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* Quoting or referencing a show or video game on a page that has nothing to do with it, out of the assumption that everyone will get the reference.
* Assuming that a show which provides a [[Subversion]] or [[Deconstruction]] of a particular trope is somehow automatically superior to a show which doesn't -- and, by extension, that their favourite show is a subversion / deconstruction of this trope [[Not a Subversion|when it patently isn't]].
* Assuming that their favored work (or media, or genre, etc.) is the ultimate example of
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