Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Song

It's Halloween! I think Halloween counts as my favorite holiday, though Christmas is a close second. That probably explains why I love The Nightmare Before Christmas so much. I saw it the day after Halloween when it first came out. I remember a time when you could mention that movie and some people wouldn't even know what you were talking about. Now of course half of Hot Topic & Spencer's stores are filled with merchandise, and if you were to walk into Disneyland right now and get in line to view the "Haunted Mansion Holiday" featuring Jack Skellington and all the rest, you'd be in for a long wait. From what I've seen, you can even take pictures with Jack and Sally out there!

This kind of thing always seems to stir a strange feeling in "true" or "original" fans. On one hand you want to rejoice, because finally people out there won't look at you like you're crazy when mentioning it, and there's suddenly all kinds of goodies available for you to get your hands on. I'll never forget the first time I was working in the mall and heard two guys walking through the store discussing who Wolverine could beat up. It wasn't long after the first X-men movie and it just filled me with so much glee that other people suddenly acknowledged this character I had been in love with for years now. And then somewhere along the way I realized everybody loved him and... it lost its "specialness."

I guess that's what it comes down to. When you love something that isn't popular, you have this wonderful little secret. I always knew that the songs in NbC were pure joy and beautifully sung, and not many other people did. At that level, it's easy to pretend like its just you, or maybe you and your close friends, who share this little secret with the movie/book/artist/etc. It's sort of like a relationship, isn't it? And then suddenly every goth kid on the block is wearing a Jack & Sally shirt, and you almost feel cheated on. Surely those kids are just following a trend and don't actually feel the same special feelings you do! Those are yours! They're private and special and no one else can have them!

I've never been able to have long conversations with other Beatles' fans. Sure, I'll tell you about my faves and such, but I'm not going to go into why I love them. Because if I found out you feel the same way... it's like no longer do I have this special connection with John Lennon, and doggone it, illogical or not, I'm keeping that.

The thing us fans all need to remember is that regardless of how many other people enjoy what you do, it's still yours. In a little while I'm going to put on NbC and I'm going to sing along and gape at the stunning animation and nothing can take that away from me.

Do you have a thing that you consider "all yours" and prefer not to discuss with others? Is there a particular fandom that you feel has been ruined by popularity?