What if you borrow said movie/game/book/show? You're not buying it then either, are you allowed to call yourself a fan?
Example: I own the entire series of Buffy. My best friend originally borrowed the box sets from me years ago and borrows them to this day every now and then. I only bought the whole series because I bought seasons 2, 3 and 5 and not having the rest felt weird to me. Haven't seen them in years, don't care about them anymore. Are you really trying to tell me she's less of a fan than I am of Buffy?
That said, by your definition getting stuff from a library also wouldn't count as being a fan, as one copy is shared by thousands of people. Libraries are like torrenting in regards with supporting the creative team, just on a smaller scale.
Re: Stupid little confessions
Example: I own the entire series of Buffy. My best friend originally borrowed the box sets from me years ago and borrows them to this day every now and then. I only bought the whole series because I bought seasons 2, 3 and 5 and not having the rest felt weird to me. Haven't seen them in years, don't care about them anymore. Are you really trying to tell me she's less of a fan than I am of Buffy?
That said, by your definition getting stuff from a library also wouldn't count as being a fan, as one copy is shared by thousands of people. Libraries are like torrenting in regards with supporting the creative team, just on a smaller scale.