Not really unwarranted, though. It's trendy to be unenthusiastic about one's hobbies these days. Showing anything more than a passing interest in them is dorky and uncool by John Q. Public's standards. It's his prerogative if he wants to distance himself from those dorky and uncool people who are more interested in their hobbies than he is, but let's not pretend there's something inherently virtuous in being a "fringefur."
tl;dr: "I like furry stuff, but only a little bit!" That's why they're fringefurs instead of actual fans.
Not really unwarranted, though. It's trendy to be unenthusiastic about one's hobbies these days. Showing anything more than a passing interest in them is dorky and uncool by John Q. Public's standards. It's his prerogative if he wants to distance himself from those dorky and uncool people who are more interested in their hobbies than he is, but let's not pretend there's something inherently virtuous in being a "fringefur."
tl;dr: "I like furry stuff, but only a little bit!" That's why they're fringefurs instead of actual fans.