Fandom Fanatic

When I was a young girl I was drawn into the Disney fandom by the look and appeal of the princesses they portrayed. As I wanted to be one, it made me want to dress like one and own toys that looked like them, because the way Disney portrayed it all girls wanted to be princesses and in most of their content a lot of girls were. This led me to want to dress up like other Disney characters and buy other merchandise associated with the brand, moving me on from princesses to Disney as a whole. This can be explained by Hill’s idea of how fans can have differing levels of “affective ‘intensity’ and activity with cyclical shifts away from discarded fan objects and toward newly compelling objects.” (Hills, Fan Cultures, 803) Williams explains this as fans becoming tired of objects, which leads them to move on to new related territories and objects. My move of interest from just princess to Disney is explained through this idea, as I grew tired of just having princess dolls and clothes and so branched out to the related object of Disney as a whole.

Over time as I grew more self-aware of the content I was consuming I became aware of the gender stereotypes that Disney was presenting, the idea that girls were helpless damsels in distress that needed a prince to come save them. Many fans of Disney like myself found this irritating, as we were old enough to know this was wrong and could potentially have impacted us growing up. Duffett states, “Gender is associated with particular social conventions, rules, roles and expectations.” (Duffett, 191, 2014) As myself and many other Disney fans watched from such a young age means that the gender stereotypes shown through the movies could have formed what social conventions we deem applicable now, and what roles we expect ourselves to have. However, Disney became aware of this and changed their content to suit the new audiences, by making films such as Moana and Frozen that show strong female leads that don’t need men to save them, as they end up saving themselves. Which will become the new norm for younger audiences and older audiences, following Duffett’s idea that gender is a cultural construct and can change if society changes its view of gender stereotypes.

Having formed this cultural identity at such a young age, I now find myself judging my love life or lack of, by the Disney movies I watched. By my age most of the Disney princesses had already found their one true love and got married, and I can’t help the small nagging in the back of head that makes me think I should be in a relationship too before I get too old, like many of the adult female characters shown in Disney films, usually as villains. As the girl, I feel responsible to be the attractive one who is singing out of tower windows with my perfectly styled hair blowing in the breeze.

 Bibliography

‘Fandom, gender, and sexual orientation’ in Duffett, M (2014) Understanding Fandom. London: Bloomsbury. PP 191-207.

Hills, Matt. ‘Fan Cultures.’ London and New York: Routledge, 2002. Print. “Patterns of Surprise: The ‘Aleatory Object’ in Psychoanalytic Ethnography and Cyclical Fandom.” American Behavioural Scientist 48 (2005). PP 801–21.

The television show Game of Thrones has a cult following that I am a part of. This show was easy to identify with having a cult status as fits with Hills’ key traits of cult media texts, having an endlessly deferred narrative, hyperdiegesis and having audience participation. When the show first came out the main appeal was that is was different to others fantasy shows on at the time, as the channels were dominated with vampire and werewolf shows, this medieval show with dragons and magic provided the audience with something that was different. The writers continued this trend of having fresh new ideas, as each season they added something new that kept the show interesting and incomplete, trying to avoid Barthes’ idea that the resolution of Endlessly Deferred Narrative can signal the death of a show. The world that the show is based in is covered in detail in both the books and the television show, giving the audience a detailed setting which they can explore through images and details provided in the books and through re-watching the show, which fits with Jenkin’s idea of cult media, “this world rewards re-reading due to richness and depth”. (Jenkins, 1992, 82) The final attribute Hills states is needed is audience participation, which this show has, as the fans hold their own conventions, cosplay as the characters, create their own stories based on the characters. This fits with Bruce Austin’s idea that a cult movie is created through the audience’s reaction and response to the media text, not by the filmmakers’ intentions.

In the Sconce reading the idea of cult media is expressed in a negative way, making the audience members who enjoy it and those who choose to follow it out to be tasteless and eccentric, “As a short subject, this audience would be more inclined to watch a bootlegged McDonald’s training film than Man with a Movie Camera.” (Sconce, 2008, 101) Which does not describe the Game of thrones cult following at all. As a generation that has grown up with more advanced technology and filmmaking techniques, this audience expects the best out of their viewing experience. I personally would rather wait until an episode airs to watch it, instead of watching a blurred version the day before, if it airs in the US first. His idea that cult texts are outside the boundaries of what is seen as ‘good taste’, as the show has a large cult following that spans the globe. The idea of a cult text is not just ‘trash media’ like Sharknado, it also relates to television shows that is accepted by mainstream media as ‘good television’, like Game of Thrones.

 Bibliography

Austin, B. (2008) ‘Portrait of a cult film audience: The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. In Mathijs, E. and Mendik, X. The Cult Film Reader. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Barthes, R. (1974). ‘Hermeneutic Code of single narrative’ in S/Z. New York: Hill & Wang.

Game Of Thrones. (2011). HBO.

Hills, M. (2002). Fan Cultures. Routledge.

Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers. Routledge.

One fandom I exhibit fan capital in is the DC Comics’ superhero fandom. Meaning I enjoy comic books, television shows and movies revolved around DC Comics’ superheroes. To greater my cultural capital I ensure that I watch every movie and tv show related to the DC universe and re-watch them so I would be knowledgeable on all the characters and storylines. This means I can quote and reference materials other fans will recognise. I also make a point to watch YouTube videos that reveal secrets or production facts, that will help to increase my cultural capital. Within this fan community the more knowledge you have the more of a fan you must be, so cultural capital is seen as more desirable than social capital. “Acquiring it will not enhance one’s career, nor will it produce upward class mobility as its investment payoffs. Its dividends lie in the pleasures and esteem of one’s peers in a community of taste rather than those of one’s social betters.” (Fiske, 1992, 34). Fiske’s analysis of cultural capital describes the DC Comics’ fandom exactly, though there is no monetary or career gain from having this knowledge, the individual does so as they enjoy knowing it and being able to share it with their like-minded peers.

Being more knowledgeable and seen with more cultural capital, you are more likely to be invited into heavy discussions on DC Comics, as you are seen as knowledgeable enough to contribute. Being rewarded with further knowledge that they can share and the chance to show off your own knowledge, and debate some of your opinions with your peers. Fiske talks about how fan cultural knowledge is used to enhance both their power over and their participation in the original media text. This is true of the DC Comic fandom as they find joy in re-reading or re-watching content that relates to the fandom, as they can use their knowledge they have gained since they last participated in this activity to see the text in a new way, and potentially gain more knowledge to share and then use to once again read or watch the content through new eyes.

Though all of this plays a part into why I am a part of this fandom, being a part of the DC Comics fandom is mostly about enjoying the movies and TV Shows for me. The female characters in the DC Universe are empowered as there are female villains that are strong and successful, and female heroes who are saving men for a change. Watching other women be this confident and strong gives me the courage I need to be the same. In D’Acci’s study of ‘Cagney & Lacey’ fans showed the same result, as their fans felt more empowered, as it gave them the self-esteem to be more confident in their everyday social world. As did Fiske when he was analysing teenage Madonna fans and how they felt they could take control of their own sexuality because of their fandom and the female empowerment within it. So gaining more cultural capital in your fandom may give you popularity within the group, but it can also give you self-confidence, as when you are studying the texts you pick up on the positive and empowering messages.

 Bibliography

D’Acci, J. (1988). Women, Television and the Case of Cagney and Lacey. University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Fiske, J. (1989). Reading the Popular. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

The hierarchy in the Harry Potter fandom revolves around what you have done as well as how much source material you have digested. You are seen as more of a fan if you have visited the Harry Potter studios in London, or Harry Potter world in Universal Studios, and recently people have started asking if you have attended the London show. I have participated on this side of the hierarchy by disclosing to fans when it comes up that I have visited both places and seen the play. Unlike the book readers I do not shun other people for not doing as much as I have, I merely tell them what I liked about it and recommend whether it is worth their time. McCudden’s research into how hierarchies are established highlighted one key aspect being knowledge. She found that in her research some fans spoke of needing knowledge in a general sense, that meant just knowledge about the show. Whereas other meant ‘obscure’ knowledge that other fans might not know. I believe this fits in with the Harry Potter fandom hierarchy favouring those who have read the book, as they are seen as more knowledgeable, as there is information in the books that wasn’t used in the movies, that they often reference as being ‘the best parts’. She also states, “for some participants, the lack of knowledge about such outside content was viewed as a detriment to their fandom, and a marker of someone being a more casual fan.” (McCudden, 2011, 70) Which fits with what I have experienced myself within the Harry Potter fandom.

Since moving out of my home I have taken to decorating my room in a way that I believe shows who I am and what I like. While doing this I decided I wanted a lot of Harry Potter decorations and bought many things that showed how much I love the franchise. But I also wanted to create something myself, as I have always loved drawing and wanted to combine two things I love, so I created house emblems for all four houses and one for myself, with my favourite animal the wolf, which can be found in the appendix. This is an example of textual poaching within myself as I have taken what the original text provides and created a new emblem with an animal I feel would be a better house mascot. This idea is explored in Jenkin’s reading as he looks into Dr Certeau’s analogy of poaching that describes the relationship between the reader and writer as a struggle for possession of and control over, the text. Describing the fans as “nomads poaching their way across fields they did not write.” (Certeau, 1984, 174) I disagree with the analogy, as does Jenkins, as it sees the reader as a sort of thief on intellectual property, whereas in reality, the textual poaching that the fans do is out of respect for the original writing. They want to continue on the story, so they create their own version, which can then change how they see the whole franchise, as Jenkins says, “these previously “poached” meanings provide a foundation for future encounters with the fiction, shaping how it will be perceived, defining how it will be used” (Jenkins, 1992, 46)

 Bibliography

Certeau, M (1984). The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press.

Jenkins, H. (1992). ‘Get a Life! Fans, Poachers, Nomads’ in Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. London: Routledge.

McCudden, M. (2011). Degrees of Fandom: Authenticity & Hierarchy in the Age of Media Convergence. The University of Kansas.

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