Dear “STANS” ...

[Bwayfan292]

Ive seen the fan account posts. Dont you dare, come in the boards later to TRASH the bands visit. Just because spongebob and Mean girls didnt win doesnt mean you can tear down the other actors. I find it extremely disrespectful to go on the tony awards instagram and call the tony awards rigged and that the bands visit bought their tonys. No. They won because they took time with their work, and didnt rush to make ****ty huge shows. Before you make countless threads on why you should see mean girls and spongebob, appreciate the little show that showed broadway tonight that good theatre is awarded and hopefully it teaches productions that you wont be rewarded for a cash grab.

[Sondheimite]

I agree, the stans on insta are out of control.

But here you are doing exactly what they're doing:

tearing down other shows to defend a show.

[Bwayfan292]

Damn. Your right. I guess I was just angry about the way they were quote on quote rioting because they didnt acknowledge their favorite shows.

[Alex M]

Broadway Stans make me uncomfortable telling people I like broadway

[taylortrensch]

Alex M said: "Broadway Stans make me uncomfortable telling people I like broadway"

the same thing can be said about any fan base.

[greenifyme2]

I had to google what a stan is.... I feel old.

[After Eight]

Could someone please explain to me who exactly stans are?

Are gushing adulators of Hamilton stans? Or of Fun Home? Or of even, gulp, The Band's Visit?

Or are stans limited to Sponge Bob, Mean Girls, or Frozen?

[bwayrose7]

After Eight said: "Could someone please explain to me who exactly stansare?

Are gushing adulators of Hamilton stans? Or ofFun Home? Or ofeven,gulp,The Band's Visit?

Or are stans limited to Sponge Bob, Mean Girls, or Frozen?"

Nope, stans are unfortunately universal. Some shows have more of them than others but they're all frightening. The Hamilton crowd is probably one of the worst, honestly.

[broadwaynerdnewbie]

I agree with your larger point, the stans of those shows were incredibly gross and offputting last night, as they are many nights at stagedoor and the likes. People don’t really grasp the notion that not everything they feel needs to be tweeted and shared; and the way some degraded the shows that won and it’s actors was unnecessary.

However, if people want to create threads listing all the reasons someone should give their preferred play or musical a chance they can. Like as long as they keep it respectful and don’t degrade other shows in the process (which seems like a tall task for a lot of people I know)

I think there’s a place for shows like mean girls, frozen and the like because sometimes I just want to see a fun, campy show. I think you can equally enjoy groundbreaking, nuanced, and moving pieces of therater as much as some of the more commercialized pieces out there. 

[LizzieCurry]

Some of these stans are probably taking the losses harder than the actors.

[j.garcia]

We get it, you don't like the Band's Visit.

A "stan" is more than a fan and usually involves some combination of the following: creating fanart/writing fanfiction on the property, collecting official and fanmade memorabilia and props, following the social media of all people involved in a production, creating fandom pages on a social media forum, roleplaying the characters, meeting the actors/creators at events. Stans are extreme fans, so while I may engage in some stan behavior I don't consider myself one. 

The cringey stans are usually the ones that wrap their entire identity and self-worth in their fandom, which is why any criticism of their chosen property is met with such vitriol. You're not just insulting their favorite thing, you're insulting their very identity. 

[ljay889]

Did these infantile ‘stans’ really believe Mean Girls and Spongebob had a chance at more than maybe one or two awards? Grow up.

[After Eight]

j.garcia wrote:

 

"You're not just insulting their favorite thing, you're insulting their very identity. "

Thank you, and bwayrose7 too, for explaining this term to me.

I don't read Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, so I haven't seen  these "stans"' posts.

But the observation by j.garcia noted above seems to me applicable to certain admirers of the critically-embraced "artistic" shows as well. They too seem somehow to link their own identity to the objects of their adulation. They too react defensively to any criticism of their favorites, as if being attacked personally, and also dole out the vitriol liberally in response. 

It's all very strange. Why even care if others don't like the shows you do? I certainly don't. It's my experience, and no one else has anything to do with it. 

[Kad]

The stans on Tumblr are insane today. And yes, they are typically teenagers who are extremely uninformed about the industry.  

[WaffleOnWheels]

ljay889 said: "Did these infantile ‘stans’really believe Mean Girls and Spongebob had a chance at more than maybe one or two awards? Grow up."

Unfortunately yes. I've seen things like "Nobody even heard of The Band's Visit before the nominations came out." and even up until the moments before best musical announcement I saw "Well, at least Frozen, Mean Girls or Spongebob can still win Best Musical"

[Impossible2]

They couldn't be any worse than Madonna stans. They are literally the scum of the earth.

[Oak2]

As bad as both Stans and Elitist Snob Gatekeepers can be, the divisions and horrific fandoms in Broadway are nothing compared to many other areas - especially video games. In comparison, this whole weekend including while the Tonys are going on, E3 is also happening - the biggest event of the year in the video gaming world. And the console wars are at a fever pitch. Fans of Broadway shows have nothing on the Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo stans flame wars.

[Bwayfan292]

My reason for this thread was not to tear down the other shows. They are all good in their own ways. I was just upset the way the instagram teenagers were attacking TBV on instagram. It was a bad place to be in and i hope the actors dont see the comments. I was very frustrated last night at the amount of disrespect people were giving the winners because mean girls or spongebob didnt win. It was not my intent to just trash the other shows because the bands visit was the greatest broadway show.

[S394206H]

Agree with this. The number of tweets/comments/etc. trashing The Band’s Visit for winning was appalling, and the worst part was that most of them were prefaced by “I haven’t listened to/seen TBV BUUUUTTTT...” and that really frustrated me. I know most of these “stans” are teenagers that latch onto a show to the point where they become possessive of it and everyone involved, but it saddens me to see why they all overlooked why this show is actually insanely important to the community and the world we live in today. You are allowed to be upset that your fave didn’t win, but you don’t have to tear down those that did because that won’t change anything. This whole situation is just throwing me back to the Dolly vs. Falsettos nonsense from last year that people STILL won’t shut up about and I’m tired of it.

[(Insert Clever Name)]

As someone who try’s to stay always from STANS, but is well aquatinted with young fans who think they know more about the industry than professionals, I find a lot of them annoying. I don’t want to sound snobby or like I am bragging about seeing other shows, but don’t trash an actor you have not seen in person. Bootlegs do not count. If you want to have such strong opinions, than see all the shows. And you can root for someone without tearing others down. I experienced this particularly with Katrina winning last night. I saw most of the nominees and I thought she deserved it. But people were freaking out. When I asked if they had seen all the nominees, they said no. So if you haven’t seen the preformence, then why are you tearing this wonderful actress apart. Same goes for best director. I personally did not think TBV “deserved” this, but a lot of the “stans” were rooting for Michael Arden because they were fans of his previous work. This is all just my opinion please do not come for me.

[dramamama611]

Heck....most of them probably haven't SEEN whichever show they ARE rooting for.    

[j.garcia]

As a high school teacher, I do my best to address stan behavior, most of them do not even see it as a problem or that they are overstepping a boundary. They grew up having direct access to these celebrities and creators and think their stalking, obsessive attitude is normal and healthy. Then they sit in their echo chamber with their fandom friends or on their Tumblr and have no idea about actual reviews or differing opinions. One of the main reasons I'm very open about displaying my various fandoms with students is so they can see they can be fans without becoming crazy stans.

And you are absolutely correct that they have rarely actually seen the show they are stanning. They will follow/stalk every person involved on every social media they can find and watch thousands of YouTube clips, yet somehow the appreciation of seeing a live performance is lost on them. 

[bk]

Stans - who comes up with these idiotic names?

[Sunny11]

bk said: "Stans - who comes up with these idiotic names?"

I believe that the term became popular after Eminem released his song “Stan” which was about an obsessed fan who ended up killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend.

 

[j.garcia]

Its a combination of "stalker" and "fan."