Of Fandoms and Future….

With the world going crazy about the new season of the Game of Thrones, this amusing idea hits me. Most of us who are a part of these fandoms are young and mostly unmarried, about to marry or just married (no offence to the younger or older people who enjoy these fandoms too but I am kinda targeting the population who is up for producing and raising kids in the near or a little distant future :p). In this world of swiping left or right on Tinder, where dating begins online; even our pick-up lines belong to these fictional characters. It is not just Game of thrones I am talking about; it is every fandom we have explored, want to explore or are yet to explore.

There were fandoms before us, the Marvel and the Disney occupying the minds of young and old alike. But when they were advancing we did not have Facebook and Instagram to have fan pages and fan made theories to connect with like-minded people.

In our country Bollywood is a fandom too; and surprisingly it does not need the social media to connect with our heart. Even we youngsters have Shammi songs on the tip of our tongue and we all sing the ting ting ting ting ting tingting ti ting in tune even at the mention of DDLJ. We live here and this comes automatically and naturally to us!

But, the way we grew up watching our parents fight over Dilip Kumar and Devanad or say Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna; our kids would definitely see us fight over Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen! We will have our own ships and head cannons and fan made theories we believe in. Maybe you are a fan of the Maurauders and your better half can’t get enough of Severus Snape. And our kids, well, they will have to read the books, watch the movies and choose their side!

I read this on a Harry Potter fan page, this woman plans on making her child read all Harry Potter books and convince him that he is a wizard. He would get his letter when he is eleven and then she would take him to King Cross, ask him to walk into the pillar between platforms nine and ten and watch the fun!! How mean, but oh, how cool!! :p

Think of it this way, our kids are going to have parents that say ‘Oh My God!’ like Janice does and have the sarcasm quotient of Chandler Bing! And it won’t surprise me if our kids watch the show and name their mothers Monica Geller every time they are asked to keep their room clean.

We’ve grown up listening to Cinderella stories and I am sure our children will know her too. But they would know so much more. Every work of art, every book, every movie, every story that is worth it, would reach them and influence their lives like it has influenced ours. Joey Tribianni taught us the true meaning of friendship while Tyrion Lannister taught us that we must wear our weaknesses like our armour. Spider Man taught us that with great power comes great responsibility while Captain America taught us that giving up is never an option. They would learn all of this, but more importantly, they would learn to explore new worlds…

We do not realise this maybe, but these creative efforts that have become books and movies are on their way to become classics. The way Mr Darcy is still young and alive in the heart of every Elizabeth; Christen Grey is exploring a new age Anastasia Steele every day who is ready to submit just for his sake even if she has no submissive bone in her.

Now think of these hilarious scenarios that can happen in your love life….

 “I’d break your nose,” you threaten him because he is teasing you!

“Hazel, it would be a pleasure to have my nose broken by you,” he quotes Augustus Waters with a slight change (replacing the original word heart with nose) and you melt right there…

You convince him to accompany you to an archaeological exhibition and he accidently runs into his friend, “What are you doing here, mate?” his friend is surprised to find his cool dude of a friend in an exhibition.

“Things I do for love…” your guy replies.

Indeed, we are going to use these references all our lives. We are going to pull out our wands and have wizard duels. We are going to name our swords and fight our battles and our kids are going to watch us entertain them and jump and clap! And of course award 50 points to Gryffindor! Really, I can feel it! 😀 😀 😀

Well, I quote what I know. This universe of fandoms is huge and I am but a small dot, reading, watching, exploring. My opinions may differ yours and maybe I am upfront and partial to the books and movies I am in love with; there might be better worlds I haven’t explored yet but that won’t change how great the fandoms I already know are. They were made to drift me away from monotony and routine and introduce me to a world which is new and intriguing. They are in my heart and in the heart of many others out there and soon, they would be passed on from generation to generation because they are too good to die out on the way…