Am I a phan?
Copied and pasted from a reply I randomly spouted on the topic of "phad phans", one who thinks they love the story of POTO, but only because it's the "thing" to love at the moment, yet lose interest when the next fad comes along; never to look back at POTO again. Christened by Caroline as "The Scientific Definition Of A Phan".
I personally consider myself a phan. In my opinion, that can't be justified by the number of versions I've seen or read, but it does help with my connection with the story and its characters. It's this deeper understanding and comprehension of life in the 18th century of one so outcast for his physical deformity that will move someone into being a phan by enrichening his/her compassion for humanity in general, because one way or another, we all have our deformities, and we were all thrown out into societies, at one point in our lives. A true phan can understand the beautiful lessons and virtues portrayed in the story, like compassion, understanding, creativity, love for music and the arts, and most especially, Love itself, while enjoying and being drawn in by the intoxicating and wonderful music, narrative, or even actors. A true phan can use any retelling of her beloved tale to inculcate in others the beauty of the story and the people involved in it, instead of using that version against the person who liked the story because of it. What separates the true phan from the phad phan here is that the phad phan forever focuses on the actor, blindly rejecting, whether consciously or unconsciously, other versions of the tale he/she supposedly loves for the sole reason that the actor was not involved in it. To be frank, a true phan knows that beauty is only skin-deep, a true phan knows that greater beauty is found deeper within, while a phad phan tends to get lost/distracted with the external frills and beauty alone.
Allusion time! A phad phan likes looking and smelling the pretty flowers that grow in the field. A true phan can unearth the ground and find the treasure that lies beneath it.