There are varying levels of fandom.

There are those who like something, those who love it and those who obsessively define their entire lives by it.

What inspired this article was a tweet in a Yahoo! article by a Lady Gaga fan to Gaga on her birthday: “[You’re] so special to me. I love you so much happy birthday my queen!”

Before I go any further into this and other examples of what I think any reasonable person would consider obsessive hero worship, I want to make very clear that I’m not attacking any of the artists or creative people mentioned. Gaga seems to be making the type of music she wants to, and good for her for being successful.

However, she is not a queen of any sort. She is just a person.

Many other famous musicians have equally obsessed fans across many genres, as Gaga has her “little monsters,” Marilyn Manson has his “Mansonites” and the Insane Clown Posse has (or at this point perhaps had) their “juggalos.”

What goes too far in these cases is when fans transform in their own minds who or what they are a fan of into something much more than who or what it is.

I’m not a fan of Gaga, but I can understand why many are. She’s an all around talented musician who makes catchy pop tunes. There have been many like her before, and there will be again. She’s not someone to be worshipped.

The same can be said of the die hard fans of many fictional stories that have defined generations such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.

I’m a big fan of the Star Wars films (the originals, at least), and I have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter books. I don’t own dozens of action figures from either. I don’t go to comic con dressed up as a Jedi and claim I’m Mace Windu. I certainly don’t treat quotes from Dumbledore or Yoda like they are Bible verses. This is where fandom becomes obsession.

Music, movies and books are all wonderful forms of entertainment and great escapes from the stressors we all experience in daily life. Being a fan of a famous actor or musician or author of course is perfectly okay.

If it makes you happy, then keep being a fan and don’t apologize for it. What I will never understand, and what honestly makes me uneasy, is when fans treat their obsession like it’s a religion.