#caprogers

For many fans affirmational fandom is the most common form typically taken. For this type of fandom it usually involves recreation to the fullest detail of a certain object in the fandom. Fans most likely do this as a means to keep with the canonicity or accuracy of the fandom. In Bob Rehak’s article “From Model Building to 3D Printing” he explores this relationship and why such fan labor complicates the relationship between creativity and the fandom.

As a means to explore his argument he uses Star Trek which has a large fandom and has released a large amount of lore for its fans to explore. Rehak explains that “such objects could not exist without an underlying base” which he calls the “build code” (117). The build code that Rehak talks about is interesting because it offers specific details from the creators that are given to fans for them to create models and other objects.

Through affirmational it does not seem like stuff is lost by fans if anything it seems only the use of imagination. I would say that imagination and creativity are two different things because one involves creating things from scratch while the other involves the labor of actually creating the object. For fans, the process of creating the model is another form in being closer to fandom and while they may not be recognized for the labor it still doesn’t stop them.

One exception to this is how Franz Joseph Schnaubelt was able to sell his blueprints which were crafted from his own original ideas. Joseph participation and work actually disrupts the relationship because his work would become canon and appear in Star Trek films such as Wrath of Khan and others (119). Joseph is an interesting of how affirmational and transformational fandom come together to help the creator gain a status that ranks with the original content creators. While some critiques would say that fandom causes the original work to be lost through Rehak’s article we can see this isn’t true. Instead it seems that fans grow closer together to the work and even inspire other fans to create leading to further appreciation of the fandom.  

In the article “User-Penetrated Content: Fan Video in the Age of Convergence” by Julie Levin Russo the core argument is how “the digitization of mass media” has led to an “eruption of user generated content”. The result has “made commercial texts more readily available for appropriation and manipulation” which has led media industries to seek profit from these creative labors causing an agonistic relationship between creators and industries.

While Russo is correct in how media industries uses creative labor for personal profit this is not the case for some organizations. AnimeFest, a anime convention located in Dallas, Texas does not follow Russo harsh take on fan vids. Every year the convention hosts AMV (Anime Music Videos) and encourages participation and the use of famous anime and songs. As well they tend to recognize the creator and post the work on their YouTube account. The text that was selected comes from the one of the 2017 winners who used the Anime Audacity and had Eminem’s Lose Yourself as the main storytelling aspect.  

While Anime has never interested me as a viewer it’s interesting to see how the creator was able to manipulate this text that Russo mentions in the beginning of her article. A perfect example is when the lyrics “his palms are sweaty” start to combine with images from the anime that literally show sweaty palms and nervousness.  Appropriation and manipulation are both being used here by the creator because they are still using the original text but have manipulated images to fit their storytelling needs. Having never seen this Anime as a viewer its really simple to understand what’s going on in the story of this AMV.

As well this context is not like others that Russo points out in her article because they are not encouraged by big media industries who tends to limit the work that content creators can use. While the convention still obeys the law creators can work with much of the original text as possible. As Russo mentions fan vid are growing and while they might face a challenge moving forward it’s not going to going to stop user-generated content.

In the article “The Ethics of Studying Online Fandom” Kristina Busse’s main argument is that as scholars studying fandom their own fandom could intervene leading the study to be affected by personal bias and when studying fun work, the scholar should always request permission and respect the work from the creator.

In her article, Busse gives the statement “Our roles as fans, academics, teachers, and political and social beings, may interfere with and affect one another in ways that might not be immediately obvious (Busse 9)”. In her statement Busse is saying that even though we may be using correct terminology to explain a study, it might be due to our own personal knowledge not one a general public knows which will ultimately affect the study. This also important in Busse idea of respecting the creators work because while the scholar might be a fan it does not give them the right to critique a work without the creators permission. Busse offers a great argument in the issue of ethics regarding online fandom and while she offers some ideas to help the issue she even acknowledges that it may not be the best solutions.

Online fandom is a tricky area to work in because while work is published online it does not  always mean that it’s there to be critiqued and with the growing use of technology it has led to many changes. For me one of the best practice is to think like journalist meaning that we shouldn’t intervene with our personal bias and have an open mind. Even though we might not agree with something or have a better understanding of the subject we should see the work through a fresh set of eyes. While journalism and scholarly studies are different I believe there is a way to merge both while still maintaining a scholarly approach.

With changing times Busse states that authorship should always be credited  and maybe even a step further the author or creator should be notified that there work is being critiqued just for safe measure even though it’s available for the public to access it.

Melanie Kohnen’s article presents many arguments regarding how the fannish affect plays positive and contradictory roles. While a fan text may serve to enrich the fans interest in a certain text and serve engagement it causes producers to fear the unpredictably because it distracts from the official transmedia stories they created, ruining their chances of creating profit. A unique video that really describes Kohnen’s first argument is a fan produced video that was shot in a music video format titled Sight of the Sound that centered around an X-Men character called Dazzler. 

The character of Dazzler was first introduced in the 1980’s and became instant hit, what made her a hit is that she was one of Marvel’s unorthodox characters by being a singer/ superhero who followed many of the trends of the 1980s. Another aspect of her popularity is that her powers focused on light manipulation which she used to create light shows during her performances and fulfilling heroic deeds with.

 What makes this video unique is that it combines all types of fan content such as fan film, vid, and cosplay, into one big video while also paying close attention to the characters extensive history. Following Kohnen’s first argument we can see that the fan film has a strong emotional attachment because it is a music video so it stays true to the character and puts in many of the lore and back story that many know about her, such as her former work place, the tense relationship with her father, and the costume she once wore from the comics, plus many more easter eggs. 

What is unique about the video is that it shows Dazzler performing in her own music video singing her own song and so forth showing this fannish affect because it creates a richer world. Something that is unique as well is that the fans of this video didn’t add any narrative extensions or tell a brand new story rather they showed the backstory that many fans already knew about Dazzler and told it in a different way, which made it feel fresh but also to where it doesn’t feel out of the blue almost as it had already existed in our ideas.  

Works cited

Kohnen, Melanie. “Fannish Affect, “Quality” Fandom, and Transmedia Storytelling Campaigns”. The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom, 1st ed., 2017, pp. 337–346.

Bautista, Arvin. 

Alison Blaire - “Sight of the Sound” Dazzler fan music video & cosplay. 2014 https://vimeo.com/100612049 

Wwst, oneshyguy46, Heathenwarrior. Dazzler (Alison Blaire). Marvel Universe Wiki 

http://marvel.com/universe/Dazzler_(Alison_Blaire)#axzz589tAPUvG

Jonathan Gray’s Digital Aura’s reading presents an interesting argument regarding how interviews and other formats can “assign value to a text”. Gray uses his essay to argue that the interviews are used to create an aura, author and authenticity, the most central would be the author, like Peter Jackson was to The Lord of the Rings . A good example of this is the theory of Peter Parker existing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man 2, which was confirmed by Tom Holland in an interview by The Huffington Post. 

This is interesting because it started as a fan theory only to be confirmed many years later with the author’s seal of approval. The author of course is Kevin Feige not Tom Holland or any of the filmmakers and writers of the MCU.  Feige gets the author credit because he is the president of the MCU, meaning anything he says goes, even if he didn’t say it directly all it needs is his seal of approval. Following Gray’s model, Feige’s role also presents how authenticity works to the text because if he says its true then it has to be even though some might say otherwise. This is interesting because it shows how fans and fellow workers view Feige, he is basically god to the MCU. 

Gray’s reading also states how actors play a central role in adding authenticity to the text like Austin and Wood did in their interviews for The Lord of the Rings DVD commentary. Holland plays a similar role in that he plays the sarcastic and nerdy figure naturally, making him a perfect fit for the Spider-man role since that’s what many recognize the character as. Making his announcement of Peter Parking existing long before anybody knew all the more important because it showed how he valued the text and what he felt as well. The role of Holland and Feige also follow Gray model of aura because the two of them combined present the MCU not as a profit or business but a work of love and art who are trying their best to keep the Marvel comics spirit while also adding their own vision to a beloved history.  

 Citations:

Gray, Johnathan. “Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts”. (New York: NYU Press, 2010).

i got them from an assortment of vids from youtube so i can't provide the links since i'd have to hunt them down all over again but here's a list of the actresses i used:

Eve = Indria Varma

Lilith = Gemma Arterton

Sarah = Angel Basset

Rahab = Aishwarya Rai

Jael = Ruth Negga

Delilah = Lupita Nyong'o

Bathsheba = Astrid Berges-Frisbey

Jezebel = Christina Hendricks

Ester = Mylene Jampanoi

Mary = Jasmine Guy

Magdalene = Freido Pinto