There is something that is guaranteed to happen if an Australian sporting team begins to perform well in an international event like the World Cup, as we saw recently. I’m not talking about politicians putting on merch and Googling “soccer” in order to pretend they like sport, although that’s also true. It’s that with each passing match, more and more people will get excited and begin to join in on the action, tuning in to give their support. This, in turn, will cause some others to become irritated, as they start to accuse people of “jumping on the bandwagon” and not being “real” fans.
Of course, this is not limited to sport – accusations of bandwagoning are thrown around when musicians begin to get more popular, or when TV shows are discovered late. It is a complaint that has always annoyed me, and I’ve found it difficult to understand. Everyone is a new fan at some point! So were you – unless you had a flat screen TV set up in your mother’s uterus where you could watch your favourite team play before you were birthed. So, I’ve heretofore judged harshly each and every person who has complained about bandwagoning. Until recently.
This article is an admission of guilt.
Having turned 40 a few weeks ago (I noticed you didn’t get me a gift but that’s OK!), I really thought I knew most things about myself. I thought I knew my flaws and my limitations. I didn’t. As the new season of The White Lotus began, and people began praising the performance of the relatively unknown Meghann Fahy (Daphne), I found myself experiencing an unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation.
For context, I (and many others) have been a fan of Meghann’s work since her performance for five long seasons as Sutton on The Bold Type – a TV show about people working at a fictional women’s magazine. You can tell it’s fictional because it’s a women’s magazine that still exists and has employees. Meghann as Sutton was the star of the show, bringing nuance and humour to a pretty broad role. As Daphne, she brings similar nuance in a great performance, and it makes sense that people have begun praising her.
This is when the dark-sided feelings began to stir inside me. Is nobody going to acknowledge that I knew about her first? What about me, and my recognition of her talent slightly earlier than now? Where were all these people in 2017, when The Bold Type started? Where were all these so-called Meghann Fa-heads (just made this up) when The Bold Type did an insane gun control episode in which Sutton melts down Betsy, her secret shotgun? Everyone thinks they can just waltz in now, not having put in any of the hard yards, and just claim Meghann Fahy as someone they are a fan of? Equal to ME? The gall!
My hackles were mildly raised, and I unfortunately found myself on the path to becoming One of Them. I was becoming a bandwagon-complainer, morphing into a Gen-X man berating a 25-year-old for wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt without having seen their first gig in 1960. I tweeted about it:
Me when someone is telling me how great Meghann Fahy is on white lotus having known of her star power talent for years because of bold type pic.twitter.com/9Mf5vzjSmS
— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) November 29, 2022
In response, several people informed me that actually, they had known about Meghann’s star talent since 2010, when she performed in the Broadway musical Next to Normal – yes, she can sing as well. It swiftly reminded me that *I* am also a new fan. I was not reclining inside my mother’s womb, baby-feet up, binge watching The Bold Type. It also reminded me that these people – whether they be musicians or athletes or actors – have often worked incredibly hard to get to a point where they are succeeding, or growing their audience. Meghann has been working for well over a decade, and is finally receiving some of the accolades she richly deserves. Thinking of it this way, I was instantly cured.
If we are truly thinking about what is best for the artists, and teams, and players and actors we love, it shouldn’t be about us, or our ego, or wanting recognition for being the best, most committed fan. How do you think new fans are made? It’s nothing but a complete positive if someone gets excited by football or actors (gay sport) and gets involved, even if it’s their first time. Even if it’s their only time. It doesn’t matter when, and it doesn’t take away from your enjoyment. Instead of trying to gatekeep and deciding that people aren’t fans enough, or haven’t been fans for long enough, we should be bringing people into the fold. We should be trying to pull them on to the bandwagon with us, not pushing them off.
I’m calling it: time for everyone to join me up here on the bandwagon bandwagon.
• Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney
