Fandoms. Hoo boy. Being a fan of something or being in a fandom is an interesting concept, and a positive one (generally), because it immediately gives you common ground with thousands of people around the world. I like that about this internet culture that has sprung up in the last several years.

Moving on to my fandom: Graceland. Goddamn do I love that show. USA continues to crank out some really good and resilient television. Monk, Psych, White Collar, etc.

Graceland is appealing to me on a couple of levels. As a liberal American, I appreciate the concerted effort to have a central cast of characters who are so racially diverse and all get pretty equal screen time. At the very least, it gives my parents one less thing to complain about when I watch it with them.

As a viewer, I’m continually impressed with the writing (just rewatched season 1 and I was on the edge of my seat/bed through the last six episodes) and the acting. I only knew one of the actors from previous television shows (Daniel Sunjata, Rescue Me and his four-minute cameo in Dark Knight Rises) so I was ready and willing to suspend my disbelief and accept these people as their characters, but after one episode I actually *believed* them, which brings me to my last point.

As an actor, I’m constantly on the lookout not only for good television, but for material and inspiration that can fuel my own work. I’m always looking at movies, shows, and plays and thinking, “Which of these characters could I play/be cast as?” The characters of Mike and Briggs have lent me some serious insight into my type.

"There’s not a set of faces in the world that make me as happy as these."

I cannot remember I time that I wasn’t in a fandom; even if I was not an active member of the community, I always enjoyed reading other peoples’ analyses, looking at fanart, and just seeing that there are people that are into the same things as I am.  Growing up, I really only felt as though I had one friend who I felt a real connection with, especially with similar interests and fandoms.  Eventually we grew apart, but that’s another story, we’re best friends again, needless to say.  When we grew apart I had no one to share my excitement with, I felt incredibly lonely, so I decided to turn to the internet.  At this point in my life, I was going through a really rough time with my self esteem, but I found in the internet community a sense of purpose.

I have never really been super involved in a fandom or even remotely popular, but it didn’t bother me, I still felt welcomed.  I’ve been in and out of a few fandoms, some really stressful and drama filled, others really fun.  For me, it didn’t really matter, as long as there were people around me enjoying the same things, I was happy.  I didn’t need to be included, I didn’t need to have countless numbers of fandom friends, I just needed the sense of community.