Pham…We need to talk about (some) men’s behavior in the phandom. And elitism in the phandom. Again.
Edit: elitism in the phandom....will have to be a separate post because this is already a lot. But I will say this: if Hal and Maria were so great that they cannot possibly be improved upon or updated, then they certainly don't need a bunch of mediocre, middle aged white men on the internet to defend them and their legacy. Their work speaks for itself.
Is there a masculine energy issue in the phandom? Or is it just poor online behavior by a handful of self-professed “true phans” (don’t get me started on this bullshit) who just happen to be middle-aged men?
Over the past week, I personally experienced half a dozen odd interactions with men online, and observed another phan influencer get threatened online by what allegedly is also a middle-aged man. My scenarios strictly involved a discussion of the new North American tour launch, all on Facebook (I, too, was shocked that Facebook is still a lively place…). They repeatedly shared their strong opinions against the new production models of recent years. Now, not liking the new productions is fine. But it wasn’t just that they didn’t like the changes…many of them were genuinely ANGRY at the productions’ existence, and that people actually might like them.
Let me be clear: everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect that your opinion is as valid to you as mine is to me, even if I don’t agree with you. I am in no way suggesting that everyone in the phandom needs to like or approve of the newer productions (specifically, the current London and new North American tour). Many don’t. I don’t even like or approve of all the changes in these productions, and yes, I do dearly miss the Brilliant Original. But I haven’t appointed myself President of the Hal Prince/Maria Bjornson Defense League. These men, apparently, have. And their behavior reflects that self-important, all-knowing mentality.
Common opinions/statements from these grown-ass men:
• The Brilliant Original is the only worthy production of the show. Anyone who disagrees with that or enjoys the new replica models in any way is either ill-informed, stupid, or not a “true phan”
• Any changes to the Brilliant Original are purely financially focused and cannot have any artistic merit because it is completely impossible to improve upon any of the original designs, staging, or technology from 1986. To suggest otherwise means you’re a terrible human and not a true phan
• I think they were personally violated by the Pegasus statue or something. There’s history there 😂
• They can’t make an argument without whipping out their phan resumes and stating how many times they’ve seen the original show (and where), as if that makes their opinion more valuable than anyone else’s. I like to call this behavior “Phan Dick Measuring”
• Being presented with actual facts, or a different opinion, almost always results in them getting annoyed or agitated, and in two instances resulting in some pretty angry/unhinged responses. RE: The makeup discussion posted above...Simon spouted some factually incorrect statements about the makeup design and I corrected him, twice. The rant was a result of me informing him his opinion and recollection of the makeup was simply not reality
• Bottom line: they treat their opinion as fact. Anyone who disagrees is considered or treated as “less than”
Then there were the ones comfortable letting their racism show. The entitlement of white men is off the fucking charts.
Listen…I’ve been around the phandom for over 30 years. I was there for the Yahoo emailers, the phan forums, the other phan forums…the last phan forums. The LiveJournal experiment. The Great Tumblr Migration of 2014. Facebook, Instagram, etc (I purposefully avoided TikTok so I can’t speak to the goodness or craziness of that corner of the phan community). I have seen a lot of completely bonkers and UNHINGED behavior from women in the phandom, both online and in-person…just ask me and Operafantomet about “Mist Lady”. Big Yikes.
While there have been some straight up scary women (hahaha *remembers the nuclear bomb that was Michael Crawford officially being ruled out of the Phantom movie in the late 90s*), I feel the majority of female-identifying phans I know of who dislike new productions are rational and mature about it. I know of several phans in my circle (and several outside of my circle) who have elected not to see new productions because of things that have happened. Or, they are open to the new productions, but don’t like some changes. Their position is clear, they hold to their principles, and co-exist with other phans who DO attend and favor the new productions.
But I’ve noticed lately that the men online, especially, get irrationally upset and confrontational when presented with differing opinions (and facts!). They get offended, they insult, and if pushed far enough, they threaten. Why is this? Or am I just encountering more Boomers and middle-aged men who just don’t process emotions well, because most of these negative interactions I have is via Facebook (which generally has an older user demographic)? But the threats to another phan were via Discord. So it isn’t platform-specific.
Or is this just another symptom of the so-called (and self-inflicted) “male loneliness epidemic?” Because if so… I think men can be lonelier.
