Online fan communities refuse to admit artists can fail

Evidence

Critic Mark Fisher saw previous notions of fandom as full of ups and downs: “the expectations and the disappointments are part of the masochistic reel/real of being a popfan.” By contrast, twenty-first-century fans, connected to millions of others online, refused to admit the possibility of failure. Under ultrapoptimism, every release was a masterpiece. The critics who refused to offer blanket praise burst these palliative bubbles. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 530

Categorization

• XREF: Mark Fisher’s popfan masochism connects to wider cultural theory of affect and anticipated failure.