naocan fen

If you come to a big Chinese cinema to watch the recent movie hit Tiny Times by hot teen author Guo Jingming， your ears will likely be filled with the screams of Guo’s fans， dubbed naocan fen by critics， pouring their hearts out to the pretty faces on screen.

With naocan meaning “idiotic” and fen a transliteration of the English “fan，” the term naocan fen usually describes a group of obsessed and cultish fans， whose opposition to any legitimate criticism of their chosen idol or genre veers towards the psychopathic.

Guo Jingming， for example， whose featherlight Tiny Times series of novels have become national bestsellers， has used his legion of naocan fen to counter almost universal professional criticism of his novels and their movie tie-ins. Guo’s prose， which revels in descriptions of expensive consumer goods and elite life- styles， has been broadly slammed in literary circles， but his devoted fans have fought back， with mixed results.

“Well， if you are so superior to Guo， why not just write a novel or produce a movie as popular as his？”ran one particularly original argument. “You prove nothing but how jealous you are of Guo，” asserted another. “Don’t criticize Guo any more， or I will draw blood when I hit back，” read a particularly threatening diatribe.

As impressive as the vitriol heaped on their idol’s imagined enemies， naocan fen take fawning to a whole new level when it comes to praise. They make daily privileges to online fan clubs， forums and blogs associated with their beloved stars. Any and all products and merchandise are voraciously consumed they even enquire after the health of their chosen celebrity.

More alarmingly， some naocan fen go as far as to photograph themselves kowtowing to portraits of their idols， or even attempting suicide when the object of their affection gets married.

According to the BBC documentary Secrets of the Superbrands， an Apple fanboy demonstrates a different electrical reaction in the brain when he sees an Apple product a reaction almost identical to that of a religious zealot stirred by an act of worship. Media sources and educators are now voicing concerns that naocan fen might lose their own identities in their slavish fanhood.

Some psychologists， however， believe that these seemingly dangerous acts of devotion， as has been seen with teen sensations from the Beatles to Bieber， is simply a natural phase of growing up.