Wow...What a Journey into Fandom

Thank you Melissa for posting my posts for me...

It has now been over two years since I started writing this blog. Wow what a journey. It is great to be in a place where fan’s opinions and knowledge are valued rather than just what they buy including tickets to concerts and merchandise.

I have just bought and read my first E-book on Google Play Fan Phenomena :Supernatural by Lynn Zubernis and Katherine Larsen. It is part of a series of books being produced by Intellect publishers for fans on a range of subjects including people and television shows. The Intellect publisher editorial outlines states “Each of the subjects we choose have massive visual appeal as they deal with fan fashion, memorabilia, (fan) homages, merchandising and branding that help to create the immersive world that extends beyond the phenomenon itself…The series aims to ‘decode’ cult subjects in terms of the appeal and far reaching connections each of them have in becoming part of popular culture. We are fully aware that these are not meant to be comprehensive, weighty tomes on the subject – rather a series of ‘handy’ books that each include a fascinating collection of texts and accompanying imagery which explore a particular area or aspect of the subject’s ‘universe’ in each section”.

The book achieves the publisher’s aims beautifully. Although I am only half way through the seventh season and do not participate in the fandom, I am familiar enough with many of the characters, stories, themes and experiences discussed by the various contributors. This is a wonderful collection of essays for anyone interested in fans and fandom or the television series Supernatural. I first came across the editors, university academics and Supernatural fans Lynn Zubernis and Katherine Larsen after reading about fans and fandom for this blog. I read webpages about their story, their fangirling, and how their interest became their academic research. I then watched the show to see what all the talk was about and was hooked. Their introduction chapter lays the foundation nicely for those us not familiar with the history of the little show that could and it’s fandom. All the chapters are fully referenced and provide excellent resources for those of us wishing to pursue the topic more without wading through the massive amount of material produced by the fandom.

As a fan of fandom rather than Supernatual itself (although I totally love show and find it fascinating) there are three very different chapters by long term fans involved in social media, social activism and fan vidding recognising and validating the fan experience. Their stories are interesting accounts of positive experiences (and a few negative) in fandom through their connection with the show. For these fans the experience has changed their lives.  

“Seven years ago it may have taken hours to download an episode; now a fan in Australia could (hypothetically of course) download and watch the episode on her phone between the time it airs on the East and West Coast in the United States. She can discuss the episode with fans around the world, but with people who made the show as well…”

The chapter “Post, Reblog, Follow and Tweet – Supernatural, Fandom and Social Media” by Jules Wilkinson discusses the importance social media has played in the creation of the fandom, how the various types of social media for example, live journals, wikis, blogs, MySpace, Tumblr and more recently Twitter have connected the fans and the cast and crew of the show throughout the world. The author, a long term fan describes the type of social media available in the early years and how the fans tended to stick to one particular type. Each site had it’s own “cultural norms, etiquette and in house jokes…however, there were common phenomena that spread across all sites and fans felt like there site was at the centre of Supernatural fandom”. Today, however, the author argues fans participate on an number of different sites, however, they are still interconnected. The fan writes passionately about her role as an administrator with the Supernatural Wiki and the beginning of the Supernatural Wiki that was started by an Australian with the aim of creating an inclusive fandom site. “The goal of the SuperWiki is to provide an extensive information resource and compendium of fan knowledge. Similar to Wikipedia, any Supernatural fan can add information to the site, which means the content of the SuperWiki is as incredibly diverse and quirky as the fandom that creates it.” The fandom is continually evolving to meet the needs of the fans and their use of social media.

The chapter “I see what you did there – SPN and the fourth wall” by Lisa McKlem is an interesting discussion of “how the show provides a commentary on itself and the entertainment industry, insider jokes that depend upon a deep and specific knowledge by the fan base” and how the show has drawn fans through what the author calls a fourth wall to be part of the show itself. She then goes on to discuss a range of episodes in which this occurs. I found her analysis of the super fan Becky interesting. We meet Becky when Chuck Shirley author of the books Supernatural needs someone to deliver a message to the Winchester brothers. It is here Becky finds out the books and as a consequence Sam and Dean are in fact real.

Kelm writes of the fan’s objection to the character of Becky “She…was objected to by ‘Sam girls’ likely because she herself is an aggressive ‘Samgirl’…Some fans felt they were being mocked but it is significant that the show had already essentially mocked itself and the studios…” I think to a certain extend the character of Becky, the super fan is still considered a true representation for celebrities who have little genuine contact with their fan base. Richard Speight who played the character The Trickster in four episodes and makes regular appearances at conventions challenges this stereotype of female fans nicely. In his chapter “The Pros and Cons” states of women fans at conventions “…the majority of fans were women and they weren’t scary, creepy, socially inept or dangerous”.

Lynn Zubernis conducts a wonderful interview with a Supernatural vidder known as Ash38. The interview provides the reader with a deep insight into this particular vidder’s work. I first came across the work of vidders in a previous post after Great Big Sea constructed a new video for their song Heart of Hearts out of previous videos expanding the previous twenty years of their music. The fan also explains her love of the show Supernatural and why this mature age, educated, female fan became connected to both the fandom and the community of vidders. With the evolution of social media and Internet technology fan communities are no longer confined to a particular location for example North America but are global communities. Of particular interest was the absence of any discussion on the issue of copyright that have plagued other vidders and for example Luminosity. Her experiences were discussed in an interview I copied for a previous post on vidders.

Social activism and making genuine change is at the heart of fandom.

To be continued...