#moon-prism-magic

In "’Get a Life!’: Fans, Poaches, Nomads," Henry Jenkins argues for a view of fans as "active producers and manipulators of meanings" rather than "cultural dupes, social misfits, and mindless consumers" (23). He begins the chapter by analyzing a skit from Saturday Night Live that ridicules fans of Star Trek, presenting them as socially immature and unable to properly separate themselves from their favorite TV show (10). The 2010 anime series Princess Jellyfish begins with a similar scene. The series, based upon a comic by Akiko Higashimura, tells the story of a group of female roommates whose lives are interrupted by the intrusion of a young man bent on turning the main character into a "normal" girl. Its first episode, "Sex and the Sisterhood," introduces the roommates through the following scene:

This scene characterizes the women in a way that touches on nearly all of the fan stereotypes Jenkins outlines in the chapter. Tsukimi recounts how large crowds "[forced her] into a tearful retreat" from the museum she wanted to visit, and her friends all agree that such a situation would be impossible for them to endure as well. Adding in the fact that they met each other online, it becomes clear that these women are "social misfits" (Jenkins 10) who can barely function outside of their apartment. As one roommate babbles on about train facts and another contorts her body with joy after receiving some action figures, the women are established as both "brainless consumers" and fans devoted to the "cultivation of worthless knowledge" (Jenkins 10).

Given their fashion choices, which include traditional dress, green tracksuits, and unruly afros, and their odd choices of obsession, it should be clear that "naturally they have no boyfriends." The war hero action figures and the flyer for an elderly actor epitomize how desexualized these women are; touching the action figures or looking at the flyer is as close as they will allow themselves to get to an actual man. They refer to themselves as "The Sisterhood” to emphasize this choice, and their apartment is turned into a convent as a praying nun and silhouettes of temple buildings rise up around it.

By reinforcing unfavorable fan stereotypes, this scene seems to fall in line with the negative representations of fans that Jenkins objects to. However, while the portrayals Jenkins writes were attempts by outsiders to “marginalize fan activities as beyond the mainstream” (20), Princess Jellyfish is the work of a fan herself. Higashimura’s characters “are based on [her] otaku girl friends,” and she puts them in a story that combines “all the aspects that [she loves]” about the genre of girls’ comics. Just as Jenkins writes about fans “poaching” elements of their chosen texts, Higashimura takes for herself the stereotypes surrounding fans and rearranges them for her own purposes. Princess Jellyfish is thus an example of fan poaching and meaning manipulation, though in this case, Higashimura poaches not from a media text, but from larger cultural discourse that is meant to denigrate and marginalize fans.

 Works Cited

Higashimura, Akiko. “Creator Interview: Akiko Higashimura on Princess Jellyfish.” Interview by Kodansha Comics. Kodansha Comics, 11 Sept. 2016, http://kodanshacomics.com/2016/06/14/creator-interview-akiko-higashimura-princess-jellyfish/.

Jenkins, Henry. “’’Get a Life!’: Fans, Poachers, Nomads.” Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. 9-49. Kindle Edition.

In her article “African American acafandom and other strangers: New genealogies of fan studies,” Rebecca Wanzo offers suggestions for doing intersectional fan studies, including looking more closely at majority black fandoms and viewing pieces of media criticism by black scholars as fan criticism by black acafans. In her discussion of black antifandom, she addresses the question of “whether these protests and expressions of dislike can be elevated to the level of fandom” (Wanzo 3.4) She argues that black antifan expressions should be seen as an example of how “black fandom is often rooted in a broader black intellectual tradition of media critique,” and ultimately concludes that this characteristic of black fandom should not be written off simply because it does not model “the wholly utopian other of fan production often praised in fan studies” (Wanzo 3.4).

While Wanzo speaks about antifandom with reference to groups of black antifans working together to criticize media they dislike, her description of this facet of black fan practices holds up when looking at black fans in majority non-black fandoms. For example, black fans within the K-pop fandom have created a space for themselves in which they both engage in positive fan activities and openly criticize the object of their fandom (see http://black-kpop-fans.tumblr.com/). Fans use the blog to call out particular artists or songs for racism, stereotyping, and cultural appropriation, and their critique often resembles the antifan practices that Wanzo describes. Despite the language barrier between Korean media producers and African American fans, black fans have successfully used their voices to get apologies for racist behavior (see http://bontheblock.tumblr.com/post/88461189599/a-letter-to-seven-seasons), demonstrating that the politicization that Wanzo attributes to black fandom and antifandom extends even when black fans are a minority in a larger fandom. Thus, while the sub-community functions as a place for celebrating K-pop, it also acts a place in which black fans can be part-time antifans of K-pop without raising complaints from non-black fans about being too critical or negative.  

When trying to understand how race influences a black fan’s experience, communities like Black Kpop Fans offer easily accessible information directly from fans about their experiences. Moreover, one can see how black fans adapt the practices of black fandom to work in fandoms in which they are a minority. Of course, not all black fans participate in these kinds of sub-communities, and not all fandoms have such spaces for minority fans. However, looking for and studying such sub-communities will make answering Wanzo’s call to “look at particular traditions of African American fandom and black cultural criticism” (Wanzo 1.6) possible even in the context of fandoms that have a minority of black fans.

 Works Cited