Also written by Isa Roth
What is a fan? It’s a person who feels very enthusiastic about something or someone. They spend a lot of time learning about and developing their ideas about certain topics. There are various fandoms like movies, books, games, and more. During COVID, the boredom from being inside all day led to fandoms becoming more influential.
For the majority of quarantine during COVID, people spent their days in front of screens. TV was enjoyed by people for entertainment and to connect to the outside world. Movies, TV shows, and the news became a popular way to pass time during lockdown. Famous series like “Star Wars”, “Marvel”, and “Harry Potter” were binge-watched, and viewers became engulfed in these fandoms to make isolation during COVID less difficult to go through.
Littleton High School students became fans of TV shows like “New Girl”, “The Office”, “Friends”, and baking shows. News channels gave updates on the COVID pandemic, so students also spent time watching channels such as CNN, FOX, CBS, and ABC. Anime also became popular amongst LHS students. Fandoms developed from watching TV, helped distract students during COVID, and made this difficult time more bearable.
With all the stores in the city shutting down, people resorted to online shopping which was already becoming popular before the lockdown. Barnes and Noble, Tattered Cover, and other local bookstores opened up their websites to allow for easier online shopping and access to everything they sell. With all the extra time available to them high school students went back to the classic stories from their childhood like “Percy Jackson”, “Harry Potter”, and “Lord of the Rings”.
Fanfiction websites also grew in popularity as students experimented with writing their own stories in the big literary franchises. These sources of entertainment LHS students busy when there was nothing for them to do.
The music industry was also very much affected by COVID. With music festivals and concerts being canceled all around the world artists found other ways to share their music with the world. They began working with virtual concerts and sharing the links online for people to watch from inside their homes. This allowed people who would likely not be able to see the bands live, access to see their favorites even if it’s just online.
The theater industry adapted so they would still be shown to the world in times when it was difficult. Hamilton was released onto Disney+ during the summer because their tour around the country was canceled. This allowed people who didn’t even know they enjoyed it, to get into the fandom.
Through apps such as Spotify music became easily accessible online. Littleton students became fans of girl in red, an indie pop artist who frequently sings about issues concerning mental health. Her songs were easy to connect to as many students also suffered from mental health issues during COVID. Students also listened to Taylor Swift often. She released two new albums during the pandemic—”folklore” and “evermore.”
COVID formed a good balance for people to create healthy fandoms for media and pop culture that they have already grown attached to.