It was probably one of the biggest entertainment scandals to hit last month – Kris Wu (吴亦凡), a former member of the South Korean band EXO, was accused of having a string of casual relationships with women who were left feeling hurt and used.

上个月娱乐圈爆出的一大丑闻，恐怕就是韩国EXO组合前成员吴亦凡被指与多名女性有染了。事后，这些传闻中的女主都表示很伤心，感到自己是被利用了。

Yet, what ended up drawing the most attention was not Wu’s arguably questionable lifestyle. Instead, it was what Wu’s fans were doing to support their idol: They posted malicious comments on the Sina Weibo account of the woman who first posted the accusations, and they declared their devotion to Wu, no matter what.

然而，最令人关注的却不是吴亦凡有争议的生活作风，而是其粉丝对他的声援：他们在第一个爆料吴亦凡事件的女生微博下恶语相向，表示无论如何都会力挺自己的偶像。

This incident has led people to believe that fervent fans are so protective of their idols that they can easily become aggressive.

这件事让人们意识到，这些狂热的粉丝对自己的偶像十分保护，且很容易就变得偏激。

In fact, it has been said that, recently, the idol worship some fans practice has become like religion. Fans are like pilgrims following a strict set of rituals – closely watching for any news concerning their idol, organizing fan bases and activities for their idol, and even spending their money to buy hundreds of copies of their idol’s albums to contribute to the sales totals.

事实上，人们发现近年来一些粉丝对偶像的崇拜已经近乎于一种宗教信仰。粉丝就像严格遵守一系列宗教仪式的朝圣者一般——密切跟进有关自己偶像的一切新闻，组织粉丝群和粉丝活动，甚至为了增加偶像唱片的销量，一口气买下几百张专辑。

“The internet-based model of ‘making a star’ is changing China’s economy,” financial writer Wu Xiaobo told GQ magazine.

“互联网上的造星模式正在改变着中国的经济，”财经作家吴晓波这样告诉男性时尚杂志《GQ》。

According to Wu, the traditional path to stardom was to first produce a good album or film, then receive media coverage, and finally get heightened exposure by becoming part of a trending topic. But the new model is completely different: Stars gather fans who are attracted to their looks and personalities and leave the rest – the marketing and media coverage – to their devotees.

在吴晓波看来，传统的星途是，新人首先要有一个好的专辑或者电影作品，然后获得媒体报道，最后由于成为热门话题而被高度曝光。然而如今的新模式却完全不同：明星们因长相和个性而吸引粉丝，然后将其余的市场营销和媒体宣传都交给其拥趸者来完成。

A changing demographic

从70后到90后：不一样的粉丝群

Not all fans appreciate the way celebrity culture is changing. Rolink Han, currently a student at UK’s Sheffield Hallam University, used to self-identify as a hard-core fan of Tang Yan, the actress of TV series My Sunshine (《何以笙箫默》,2015).

但并非所有粉丝都欣赏追星文化的这种改变。英国谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学的学生Rolink Han过去曾认为自己是电视剧《何以笙箫默》的女主演唐嫣的“死忠粉”。

Han said she resents fans who are quick to jump into quarrels. “They are too devoted to their idols to even think rationally,” she said.

Rolink Han称自己很讨厌那种一言不合就吵架的粉丝。“他们是偶像的死忠粉，根本就无法理性思考，”她说。

Han was drawn to Tang when she was still in the starting phase of her acting career back in 2010. Together with a large number of other fans, Han has organized various promotional activities, like parties for Tang’s birthday, over the past few years.

2010年，唐嫣还是一名演艺圈新人的时候，Rolink Han就开始喜欢她了。在过去的几年里，她和众多粉丝一起为偶像组织了各种推广活动，比如唐嫣的生日派对。

When asked what about Tang impressed her, Han said simply, “She is pretty and friendly.”

当被问起为什么喜欢唐嫣时，她的回答很简单，“她很漂亮，也很友善。”

Today’s popular idols, like Tang and former EXO member Lu Han, are mostly quiet and well-behaved. This may seem at odds with their target demographic: young people born in the 1990s and later, a generation largely depicted as rebellious and unconventional. But Li Songwei, a doctor of psychology at Peking University, has an explanation.

今天的大多数流行偶像，如唐嫣和EXO组合前成员鹿晗，都十分低调且彬彬有礼。这似乎和他们目标粉丝群的特征格格不入：他们的粉丝多为90后的年轻人，被认为是打破传统的叛逆一代。对此，北京大学心理学博士李松蔚作出了解释。

“The generations born in the 1970s and 1980s were brought up under the heavy restrictions perpetuated by mainstream culture, which is why they are more eager to challenge conventions and vent their oppressed feelings,” Li told GQ magazine. But the younger generation is different. “The post-1990 generation already lives in a relatively free cultural environment. What they long for are things that are purely beautiful, positive and innocent.”

“70后和80后的一代人受当时主流文化影响，成长环境中有许多条条框框。所以他们十分热衷于挑战传统，发泄自己压抑的情绪，”李松蔚告诉《GQ》杂志。但是如今年轻的一代就不同了。“90后已经生活在一个相对宽松的文化氛围中，而他们所渴望的只是美丽、积极而又单纯的东西。”