Being a fan of a sports team is a hobby of many people all over the world. However, in some situations, people become fanatic about their idols and cannot rationally control their behavior. This problem leads to negative consequences such as psychological diseases and loss of connection with reality. The dramedy Big Fan, directed by Robert Siegel, is focused on the story of sports fan Paul, whose life is concentrated on the New York Giants football team (Phi, 2017). The movie’s main hero does not have any ambitions in his life, excluding rooting for his favorite sportsmen. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the psychology of sports fans on Paul’s example and provide a personal opinion on the influence of this hobby on the behavior of people.
People become fans when their real life does not satisfice them. Paul is a parking garage attendant who cannot afford to buy tickets to watch his favorite team playing in the stadium. He is always criticized by his family and still lives with his mother (Phi, 2017). He did not reach any goals in his life, and he tries to replace them by being a sports fan. From the psychological perspective, it is possible to assume that the worse is the situation in everyday routine of a human, the more fanatic he becomes as a fan. It is also essential to raise the question of priorities. If a person has a family, a well-paid, and enjoyable job, he cannot have a psychotic affinity for a sports team. He has lovers and friends who bring him positive emotions and about whom he cares. On the opposite, Paul does not have a wife or a girlfriend; his friend Sam is also a fan. It can be observed that the two men are fanatic as there is nothing in their ordinary life that brings them any emotional satisfaction.
It is also necessary to mention the medical aspect of this situation. Being a fanatic sports fan may be classified as a type of dependence. People who suffer from using drugs try to escape reality and feel happiness while being altered. The same pattern works for psychotic affinity for a football team. Losing contact with ordinary life becomes the only method to escape from the pressure of family, boring job, and everyday routine. In this case, a football match is a drug that helps to get distracted from unsolved problems and relax. Being a fan also means having a community of other people who share the same interests. In Seigel’s film, it is illustrated by the calls of Paul to the radio station, where he discusses the games and talks about his feelings and thoughts (Phi, 2017). It makes him feel that he plays a meaningful social role: he educates people, provides his expert hypothesis. The fanatic sports fans, such as Paul from the movie, are usually dissatisfied by their own lives and try to distract themselves by “living and dying” for their favorite teams and sportsmen.
Sports fans think that they are experts on their team, that is why they suppose that they can give advice to the sportsmen in order to enhance their system of playing. From my point of view, these people usually do not have an intellectual job or any influence on someone’s decisions in their lives. They replace it by expressing their opinion on the methodology of playing of their favorite team. I believe that the fanatic fans take this hobby seriously as it becomes an essential part of their routine. Their behavior can be compared to workaholism: humans who cannot imagine their existence without job tasks talk only about their work and the problems they face there. Sports fans do the same thing when they are asked about their hobbies or ways of entertaining themselves. It is their unique chance to show that they have the expertise, and their opinion makes a difference.
At the present moment, I am not a fan of any music band or sports team. However, when I was a grown-up, I was greatly impressed by the songs of the group called Imagine Dragons. The lyrics were sensitive and correlated with my emotions at that moment. It helped to overcome significant difficulties during the puberty period. I thought that no one understood me, and the only way to feel better was to listen to my favorite group’s music. At the same time, I do not remember myself behaving like Paul. I wanted to visit the concerts and to enjoy the songs performed live. Nevertheless, I was not interested in the private life of the musicians, in their habits, or in the process of writing the lyrics. I overcame this challenging stage of my life and then moved forward and found some other music that I also enjoyed. I still listen to this group’s songs, and I try to keep following the new releases, but it is not my only hobby in life.
In conclusion, I suppose that being a fan is an effective way to entertain yourself and destruct from the routine. What is more, this type of activity also has such benefits as finding new friends, being a part of the community, having a topic to discuss. Paul’s example of psychotic affinity is an illustration of a psychological problem and has to be treated by healthcare specialists.
Reference
Phi, Ngoc. (2017). Big Fan 2009 [Video]. Web.