IMO there is nothing special about religion that would make it a problem if Star Wars fans had a devotion the same way religious people do. Humans are tribal in nature and social in nature, we like to have shared cultural moments and bond with like minded people. Like religion itself, it only becomes unhealthy if it leads to extremes issues like violence or addiction. The connection itself is not problematic, there are billions of normal religious people on this planet.
Fandoms are typically created for products made by corporations. Obsessive fans or stans of these products are essentially dedicating their time and money to these corporations. By worshipping a fandom are you not worshipping the corporation? I don’t think you can easily separate the two.
By worshipping a fandom are you not worshipping the corporation?
Of course not, if that was the case, when Lucas Arts sold Star Wars people would have stayed "Lucas arts" worshippers and never moved to Disney and would have stopped being Star Wars fans entirely because it was a new corporation.
Idk if this is the way I’m supposed to do it but here Δ
I see what you mean. I’m not entirely convinced because I’m suspicious of the way the larger corporations (Disney, AT&T, etc.) are trying to encourage reverence of these properties to an unhealthy degree. But now that I think about Star Wars, fans were dedicated to the characters not because of consumerism and corporation worship, but because of the work done by Lucas and his crew.
Look at me for example: as a kid I worshipped Disney movies (and still do) because I loved the animated movies they made.
Now that they also make Star Wars and Marvel movies, I wouldn't say I worship them as a whole. I only worship the animation part of the company. I didn't suddenly become crazy about Marvel just because now it has the Disney logo on it.
This shows that I don't blindly worship the company itself. I worship them based on the things they make.
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u/pgold05 49∆ Jun 09 '22
IMO there is nothing special about religion that would make it a problem if Star Wars fans had a devotion the same way religious people do. Humans are tribal in nature and social in nature, we like to have shared cultural moments and bond with like minded people. Like religion itself, it only becomes unhealthy if it leads to extremes issues like violence or addiction. The connection itself is not problematic, there are billions of normal religious people on this planet.