An Interview with Max
Max is my good friend from back home in Kansas City, and I have known him since I was 6. Max is currently a college tennis player at Christopher Newport University and a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and I credit him for getting me interested in TV shows. Growing up with similar lifestyles involving tennis and school, Max got me interested in TV shows when we were on a road trip to play in a tennis tournament. I am sure you can guess what TV show he got me hooked on!
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I am on Skype with Max and we discuss how he started becoming a fan of certain TV shows. He states, "I really got into TV shows when I got Netflix in the beginning of high school, that allowed me to follow TV shows at my own pace. I remember as a kid watching cable TV shows, I never really had the commitment to wait weeks before a new episode came out". That said, I reflect on my own TV show viewing experiences, and we are on the same page here. I then ask Max to define what it means to be a fan of a TV show. Max responds, "Being a fan of something for me is maintaining a following. Even though I started watching Lost after it ended on cable TV, I was still addicted to the show by watching an episode whenever I could. I found myself thinking about the show at random times during the day or night, and I even purchased a Lost shirt from the online store. I believe a fan culture is created when a following exists, and I am definitely a follower of Lost". I then ask Max how he introduced me to Lost. He chuckles, "I remember you telling me that you had just gotten a subscription for Netflix maybe around Sophomore year of high school, and I'm like dude you gotta watch this show called Lost. It will absolutely blow your mind. I guess I was right about you loving that show!".
We then chat for a bit about random stuff and how are lives have been in college. I ask him if he still considers himself a fan of Lost. "I am a fan in the sense that Lost was a show that I followed extensively when I was watching it. Now that I finished the series, I have only watched a few episodes a second time. I believe that is how it works for TV shows, and a show like Lost is something you can't watch twice with the same level of enthusiasm, because there were so many cliffhangers that now you know what happens". However he clarifies, "But I was a fan when I was following it for sure, and I believe I was part of the fan culture revolving around Lost. I love talking about the show with other people, including you".
We finish our chat, and I thank him for taking the time to talk to me. We both end up agreeing we were indeed fans of the show, and the impact it had on our lives to follow other shows as well.