Fifteen years ago, Eminem released the song “Stan” about a fan obsessed with a celebrity whose story ends tragically. Since then, the word “Stan” has become a catch-all for fans who are particularly passionate about a celebrity or piece of pop culture, though usually stopping short of being obsessive. Now, Stans has become a documentary film specifically about fans of Eminem.
Stans is a new documentary film that will give some passionate fans an opportunity to talk about their love for Eminem, but of course, the film wanted to steer clear of anybody whose passion manifests into obsession, like the character in the song. Documentary director Steven Leckart told US that part of the reason the song resonates with people even today is because we all know that obsessive fans are a very real thing. He said…
The reason why ‘Stan’ exists and is such an iconic song is that there’s a sense that it could be real, right? And, of course, there’s people out there that are obsessed.
Stans has been a project in development for quite some time, but that shifted into “high gear” about five years ago when Leckart joined the project. A public survey was released to begin looking for the sort of fans who would be featured in the film. The director says he heard a lot of wild things from fans who wanted to be in the movie. He continued…
I mean, there were people that claimed to be related to [Eminem] for sure. Everything under the sun. When you have 45 million followers on Instagram, and you’re one of the most famous people in the world, you’re going to attract a lot of variety. After a while, nothing surprised me.
Being a fan of something is fine, and being a fan of something to the point that you consider it part of the person you are certainly isn’t unheard of. Some people may get tattoos of Eminem, others are Disney Adults, and fans of Taylor Swift are called Swifties. If people love something so much they have a name for it, that’s certainly passion.
The fact that a documentary film is being made about Eminem's fans shows that they are a particularly passionate group. This perhaps makes the importance of making sure the right people are part of that story all the more important, and potentially all the more difficult.
Of course, some take things too far. We’ve seen too many cases where celebrities have had to file restraining orders against fans who do that, and there have even been cases where people have died as a result of the obsession. Filtering those people out of those who tried to be part of Stans had to be a top priority. The movie may be using the name of an obsessed fan, but nobody wants to highlight that sort of behavior.
