Fandom for anything is just susceptibility toward marketing, but Americans take such a point as being on par with a denial of Christ. God forbid the fervency get demeaned, forgoing how there is nothing virtuous about egoism, or instilling ego with time and resource.
Religions both orthodox and sexual claim a trademark over goodness and virtue, but even the most filthy, irreligious animals are capable of goodness. And virtue. Good may well be a subjective matter, but why should virtue be so important? Because it is the avoidance of self-destruction. Mercy, compassion, humility, chastity, equanimity, diligence and charity. All are pathways to self-preservation but never at a cost to other people. Egocentrics on the other hand consciously misconstrue their private fancy as survival, when that is purely a self-serving rationalization. And when everyone is made to feel entitled to avoid these virtues, then any semblance of a collective society comes undone. There is no orgy while everyone is masturbating. There is no unity when you come first.
Existence ideally should amount to something, anything more than egos stroked, more than merely you placating another or another placating yours. Without virtue, modern society seeks entertainment to fill the emptiness, when entertainment amounts to you placating the egos of others or others placating your own. Personal gratification, especially immediate gratification, the ego unto itself, is the source of every problem in the world. Verifiable, measurable needs continuously go unmet for no other reason but that there’s nothing in it for you personally. The true opposite of nationalism is humanitarianism. But even Merriam-Webster won’t admit that for fear of American diplomacy. You’re not cool if you’re not a fan, just as you are handily labeled treasonous if you can make no excuses for patriotism. The duality masks the most hollow of associations. The basic concept of entertainment is the lacking of virtue.
Theoretically, we could nuke Capitalism, and we should, but without ideological changes the void in modern societies would continue to exist. Without virtue, egos would remain at liberty to find means other than capital to fool others into a lesser existence. The world has more than enough games already, and the distractions presented only enable every social plight imaginable. A society which settles for vicarious sustenance must be torn asunder, because what they have to experience is not living but a death-like trance, a holding pattern waiting for the punchline.