When someone mentions one of your fandoms in public
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For years Star Wars has had a bunch of female fans. It has a huge female fanbase, as it does a male fanbase, obviously. And there is no reason that this world would not, and should not be populated by more women and by more people of color. And this movie is showing us that “No, no, no, they’ve always been there.”. Now, you can go back and say, you know, the original trilogies just happened to focus on these three white people that were kind of related, but like, they’ve always been there. And I think it’s fantastic.
There’s already been an outcry about how this movie has another female lead. It’s ridiculous because the critics of it, I think they’re dudes and they’re white dudes, in terms of the thing about people of color now being in the movie, that it’s essentially, somebody else is playing with your toys and you’re upset. You think that if there are other faces, then it’s not for you anymore. But it’s been for everybody this entire time. I always get the argument of like “Wait, can’t women and people of color relate to someone who doesn’t look like them?” and I go right back to you, “Can’t you?”. Of course you can. Of course you can relate to a good story, if it happens to be a woman, if it happens to be a person of color, if it happens to be Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna – great actors. You can’t use that argument. And I think that these characters look super intriguing, no matter what they happen to look like. They look badass and they look really cool. And you know, there’s no better revenge to those types of critics who want Star Wars to stay a certain way, than to just be like “No look, we’re gonna get movies that have all different kinds of people, and aliens and spaceships.”.
And if you have the attitude of like “Well, it’s pandering”, my question to you is, do you think the original Star Wars are pandering to white males, and only white males, and therefore you should be just as offended, because it’s not inclusive? If you’re trying to argue that this isn’t inclusive – the reason that these movies and new movies going forward are focusing on that, that Hollywood ‘has’ to do that, it’s because they’re trying to better represent the world. Here’s the thing. Here’s white dudes in every movie ever [holding one hand high up], and here’s everybody else [holding other hand much lower down], and what this movie did is just that [raising lowest hand a tiny fraction]. In five years from now it will be maybe here, twenty years from now we’ll be maybe here [raising hand gradually until it matches], and eventually everything will be even-stevens and everybody will be happy all the time. But that hasn’t happened yet, so unless you now go back and boycott the original trilogy because it just starred white people, and you are just as upset by that if you are upset by something like this, then you need to ask – I think people who are upset by those reasons need to ask themselves other questions.
Hector Navarro in Superhero News’ reaction and review to the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer, talking about the criticism the movie has gotten for its diversity. (Here)
(Their entire discussion is great fun, but this particular part is at 10:45-13:30. Watching it includes more of the other two commenting.)
1) Recontextualization – the production of vignettes, short stories, and novels that seek to fill in the gaps in broadcast narratives and suggest additional explanations for particular actions.
2) Expanding the series timeline – the production of vignettes, short stories, novels that provide background history of characters, etc., not explored in broadcast narratives or suggestions for future developments beyond the period covered by the broadcast narrative.
3) Refocalization – this occurs when fan writers move the focus of attention from the main protagonists to secondary figures. For example, female or black characters are taken from the margins of a text and given centre stage.
4) Moral realignment – a version of refocalization in which the moral order of the broadcast narrative is inverted (the villains become the good guys). In some versions the moral order remains the same but the story is now told from the point of view of the villains.
5) Genre shifting – characters from broadcast science fiction narratives, say, are relocated in the realms of romance or the Western, for example.
6) Cross-Overs – characters from one television programme are introduced into another. For example, characters from Doctor Who may appear in the same narrative as characters from Star Wars.
7) Character dislocation – characters are relocated in new narrative situations, with new names and new identities.
8) Personalization – the inserted of the writer into a version of their favourite television programme. For example, I could write a short story in which I am recruited by the Doctor to travel with him in the TARDIS on a mission to explore what has become of the Manchester United in the twenty-fourth century. (However, as Jenkins points out, many in the fan culture discourage this subgenre of fan writing.)
9) Emotional intensification – the production of what are called “hurt-comfort” stories in which favourite characters, for example, experience emotional crisis.
10) Eroticization – stories that explore the erotic side of a character’s life. Perhaps the best known of this subgenre of fan writing is “slash” fiction, so called because it depicts same-sex relationships (as in Kirk/Spock,etc.)
– Henry Jenkins Textual Poachers pg 162-177
I still have that book. It probably was one of the first academic studies that took fandom seriously.
The one thing I’ve never understood about “the fandom” is who comprises said fandom. Like if I make a post and somebody likes it or thinks it’s whacked they’ll say “I love this fandom” or “this fandom is whacked” when really it’s just me. You’re talking about a clique in the Sherlock fandom, a subculture (that lives mostly on tumblr), whatever you want to call it– not the ENTIRE Sherlock fandom across the globe. In reality it’s not the fandom that’s bringing you down, it’s your orientation to this subculture.
I’m here to tell you that you do NOT have to engage with that subculture to enjoy being a thriving contributor to the larger Sherlock fandom. YOU choose if you’re an “outsider”, frankly. YOU are the one who’s decided that that subculture holds some vast authority and that you have to be one of them, or at least engage with them, to be a valid fan or a worthy gay. You don’t. That thinking is hooey. It’s in your control. Stop it.
USE YOUR BLOCK BUTTON. If you really want to be a member of the Sherlock fandom and not be involved with that subculture, block everyone who posts something that makes you feel angry or ill or less than. I follow plenty of people who consider themselves a part of that subculture, but they’re good, reasonable people with interesting and charming and funny things to say. On the other hand I have a block list with about 120 people on it (lots of them deactivated by now). I haven’t seen any wank on my dash for months. And trust me, I’m a target for it. (Dig through my tag to see what I’m talking about.)
Go into the Mary tags– find people who like her and follow them (if they don’t perpetuate wank). Check out the rare pairs. Take a look at @threepatchpodcast– all wonderful people- some of whom play in the subculture and some of whom don’t. Listen to the podcast to find people to follow. Check out @bakerstreetbabes. No wank there. I ADORE @finalproblem. Talk about an interesting drama-free blogger!
Find blogs you like and see who they follow. ACTIVELY SEEK YOUR PEOPLE OUT. Block out the rest. You do it all the time in real life. We all do.
This is one of the greatest things I’ve seen all day!😂😂😂😂
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[Fandom] takes the place of some of the functions of a church in a small town: A place where people come together, ostensibly to worship something. But really what’s happening is you’re forming a community. It’s less about what you’re worshiping and more about, “We have these interests in common.” Someone has a sick aunt and suddenly it’s about that, raising money to help her or sharing resources to make her life easier. That’s what it was about with The X-Files on the Internet.
I’ve never really seen any celebrity “get” fandom the way Duchovny did. A lot of people read that quote and, at the time, mistakenly read it as David saying he was like a god. But what he meant was that (as I believe he clarified elsewhere) fans didn’t need him to make an appearance. Fandom wasn’t about him. It was about us–the fans.
I want us to not forget that. When the fandom’s centre stops being the community of fans and becomes, instead, focused on–even blinded by–the glittering idol, then fandom itself becomes nothing more than idolatry–with all of us, as individuals, jockeying for a touch or a piece of that idol and stomping over each other to get it.
I’ve seen fandoms fall apart when that happens. I’ve seen fandoms become places where fans know and care more about the celebrities than we do about each other.
I know there are good reasons for fans to create personas and screen names. But this might be a good time to re-introduce ourselves to each other. And to think about how much more important that is than is meeting a famous person at the stage door.
Pre-internet era: You walk into a room and sit down at a table. Someone brings you a turkey sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a soda. Perhaps you are a vegetarian, or gluten-free. Doesn’t matter; you get a turkey sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a soda.
Usenet era: You walk into a room and sit down to your turkey sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a soda. Someone tells you that over at the University they are also serving BLTs, pizza, coffee, and beer.
Web 1.0 (aka The Great Schism): You walk into a room. The room is lined with 50 unmarked doors. Someone tells you, “We have enough food to feed you and a hundred more…but we’ve scattered it behind these fifty doors. Good luck!”
Web 2.0 (present): You walk into a room. Someone points at the buffet and says, “Enjoy!” You turn to see a 100-foot-long buffet table, piled high with every kind of food imaginable. To be fair, some of the food is durian, head cheese, and chilled monkey brains, but that’s cool, some people are into those…and trust me, they are even more psyched to be here than you are.
