Making of a Fangirl: Joshua Bowe

Given that we are in the perfect storm of: off season & off weeks from our sports PLUS it’s Father’s Day. I decided now would be the most perfect time to speak to the Father of FangirlFormula.

If there was ever an OG Fangirl in my life it would be my Dad. Forever THAT girl of fandoms. I think that if this blog ever got big enough for me to create merch or send PR packages, Josh would be top of the list to receive one. He is the reason I am a part of such cursed franchises & probably if we traced the origins of my fangirl behaviors back far enough, it probably came after Josh introduced something to me. (He used to watch F1 not as religiously as now, but it is because of this that my interest was piqued enough to tune in years later & now, here we are). 

So, upon reflection should we even be listening to Josh about fandoms in general? Proceed through this interview with extreme caution.

I strategically chose to start this interview in the middle of him trying to fix the TV’s sound bar and surrounded by Riri, Juzzy & Zeppe while we settled in for a movie. Timing is everything & mine was perfect & again, strategic. He was the perfect mix of distracted, annoyed, & had enough people to butt in when he gave short answers. Which, he did. 

Do you consider yourself a fangirl? 

I started this interview the same way I started the last few, by asking if he was a fangirl. “I don’t know. No. I mean not anymore.” But, we had the peanut gallery with us & this response prompted the following comments to be made:

“Do you know what it is? Like what it means?” - my Mother & “Dad is a fangirl.” - Justina. Both of these comments were met with eyerolls. 

Everyone has an origin story & my Dad’s starts probably similar enough to every Northeast Ohio born boy - with the Cleveland Browns. Growing up there were 2 players specifically that helped mold him into a tried and true card carrying member of this cursed franchise fandom: Brian Snipe & Ozzy Newsome. Upon further prying, I came to discover Ozzy Newsome played for Alabama in college. This tracks because growing up Alabama & OSU are the 2 college football teams the Bowe family lives and breathes for. (Let us have this, our professional teams are horrible, historically speaking) 

Even though the Browns are his origin they weren’t the first thing he mentioned when I asked the question. The gut reaction answer was Transformers, specifically, Optimus Prime. Which again, a very understandable answer. This was an answer I had a semblance of knowing but this next answer threw me off. He said another show he loved was Dukes of Hazzard. I have never heard him mention this show but it was the 2nd thing he said. I asked several times what the show was about, the description I managed to get from him was, “Life and times of Bo & Luke Duke.” This prompted a Youtube compilation to be shown of car chase scenes. I inquired about his favorite character of this ensemble & the enthusiastic answer I received was, “Bo because my last name & he was the driver.” Again, no idea what any of this means but I felt this needed to be said. 

But, as one could expect for a boy growing up in the 1980’s & 90’s, another response that was given was Michael Jordan. “I wasn’t crazy about any of that the way I was about MJ.” As someone who loves the Last Dance documentary, I was curious about where in this timeline Josh had the earliest memories of MJ & for him, “Probably the game winner against the Cavs.” 

All of this conversation solidified my decision to rewatch the docuseries. 

What are you currently fangirling over? 

Moving forward in the timeline to the current day, when I asked what he was currently fangirling over, there was only one answer. “Tottenham.” Plain & simple. I questioned further, even in the off season? “It’s worse in the off season.” This was easy to confirm because of the few World Cup games I have watched with him and the ones we have discussed, Tottenham has been mentioned in every single conversation. Either through who he thinks we should sign, who we almost signed, or who we should’ve interviewed as manager.

Much like in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, if you mention Tottenham around my Dad, he’s surely going to want to mention London. “And, London. Always.” If you have ever spoken to my Dad for more than 5 minutes, there is no denying his undying love for the city.

We then had another comment from the gallery & the interaction went like this: 

“Me.” - My Mother 

“And, my beautiful wife.” - My Dad 

Fandom you wish you were a part of ? 

Now, this next answer is as true to my Father as any of the other answers given & I think it really speaks for itself.

“Why would I not be if I wanted to be?” 

A fandom that you don’t understand? 

When I asked this question, it was answered rather simply with, “Chicken Wings.” Now, I wish I had any idea of the reasoning behind this answer. I don’t. It was said with such decisiveness & a level of passion. It became instantly clear that this was something he had ranted about before. My mother started laughing immediately. The only follow up I got was, “You have to eat like 50 of them.”

The follow up answer to this was that he does not comprehend the people who treat their pets like humans. “It’s a dog. It’s a cat.” But, he did make sure to emphasize that he does love our dog, Miss. Keeva May, who at this moment was bothering him while he was working on figuring out the sound bar issue. They are my favorite comedic duo. 

A fandom you don’t like?

Just because I felt that this would not be a complete interview with my father without the following interaction being on the official record. It also felt like the perfect place to leave you all.

“Dad, is there a fandom that you just don’t like? One that you find really annoying?”

“Arsenal fans.” 

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Thank you to my Dad for being the best FanGirlFather a gal could ask for & letting me interview you for the blog. Without him, I’d probably be a more stable sports fan but then life would be so much more boring. 

I hope you all have a glorious Sunday & this is your reminder to talk to your Dad about his fangirl tendencies today. 

Have a phantasmagorical week. 

Talk soon.