Fanart and Pageviews

I have been on Deviantart for many years now (not very actively though, I haven't drawn anything in months), and fanart has always been an interesting subject. The main argument a lot of people have made is that people draw fanart from a popular series for the sole purpose of getting pageviews. I don't think this is the case. If someone enjoys drawing fanart then why shouldn't they post a lot of it? When it comes to fanart I like my drawings to reflect a thought I've had about the series in question. Then there are people who constantly complain about the fact that the fanart in their gallery gets more pageviews than their original work. Of course it's going to, people actively search for fanart. The piece in my gallery that has the most pageviews is a static shot of the cast of Final Fantasy IV. Sure it kinda bugs me since I think I've drawn better stuff, but I enjoyed drawing it at the time, it's still drawing people to my account, and I'm grateful for that. I think fanart is just as legitimate as original work, and shouldn't be looked down upon.