What'd I miss?
Jul. 30th, 2009 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
2_persephJust got back from Comic Con, and I guess that’s as good a place to start as any.
In a nutshell, fandom evolved. This happened while some of us were watching, but also while some of us were looking in the other direction, trying to focus a little on the crazy shit life was throwing our way.
But to make a long story short, we haven’t abandoned fandom, fandom sort of took a different turn than most of us were willing to follow. It became not so much about our favorite characters or story lines, but about whether we could do anything psychotic enough to attract the attention of the actors, show creators or studio publicists. Whether we could get our opinions printed on EW.com, or anywhere else retarded enough to pick us up.
It became less, and almost not at all, about our lovely, naughty perversions, and how filthy or funny we could get when no one was watching. We didn’t seem to be satisfied with our fellow fans LOLing or squeeing over what we had to say, but rather we had to have listening, and shove it down the throat of, the outside world.
This of course is not the experience of many in fandom--some fandoms remained impervious--but there has to be a reason LJ is not nearly as fun as it used to it. Sure, few of us have a great big fandom, a la juggernauts like LOTR, to congregate around, but even the smaller ones seem to be suffering from this infection of mainstreamvitis. In general, nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be a resistance to the infection in fandom, yet a resistance is precisely what’s needed to keep good clean fannish fun going.
We’re not meant for the spotlight. We aren’t meant for mainstream, in-your-face, “we exist” politics. We’re meant for the shadows and for the fringes. The ease of access of The Powers That Be to posts, blogs, and commentary has made us believe we’re part of the creative process of our fandoms. But believe me when I tell you that that (with the warped exception of Supernatural), is a fallacy.
So let’s ease off a little. We always had more fun when we were just by ourselves. When LJ was just a cool little secret we shared with our fellow dedicated fans. Trust me when I tell you it’s not about nostalgia for a by-gone time. It’s more about the memory of a time when we got it right. Let them go back to wondering whether we would applaud or boo at a Comic Con panel. Let them actually strive to give us their best again, instead of knowing we’ll be complete whores for whatever tripe they throw at us, simply because we want to feel “relevant” to the process. We’re not relevant to the process. We don’t make shows, shows make fans. And fans make fandom. Let’s love fandom again.
I know I do.
In a nutshell, fandom evolved. This happened while some of us were watching, but also while some of us were looking in the other direction, trying to focus a little on the crazy shit life was throwing our way.
But to make a long story short, we haven’t abandoned fandom, fandom sort of took a different turn than most of us were willing to follow. It became not so much about our favorite characters or story lines, but about whether we could do anything psychotic enough to attract the attention of the actors, show creators or studio publicists. Whether we could get our opinions printed on EW.com, or anywhere else retarded enough to pick us up.
It became less, and almost not at all, about our lovely, naughty perversions, and how filthy or funny we could get when no one was watching. We didn’t seem to be satisfied with our fellow fans LOLing or squeeing over what we had to say, but rather we had to have listening, and shove it down the throat of, the outside world.
This of course is not the experience of many in fandom--some fandoms remained impervious--but there has to be a reason LJ is not nearly as fun as it used to it. Sure, few of us have a great big fandom, a la juggernauts like LOTR, to congregate around, but even the smaller ones seem to be suffering from this infection of mainstreamvitis. In general, nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be a resistance to the infection in fandom, yet a resistance is precisely what’s needed to keep good clean fannish fun going.
We’re not meant for the spotlight. We aren’t meant for mainstream, in-your-face, “we exist” politics. We’re meant for the shadows and for the fringes. The ease of access of The Powers That Be to posts, blogs, and commentary has made us believe we’re part of the creative process of our fandoms. But believe me when I tell you that that (with the warped exception of Supernatural), is a fallacy.
So let’s ease off a little. We always had more fun when we were just by ourselves. When LJ was just a cool little secret we shared with our fellow dedicated fans. Trust me when I tell you it’s not about nostalgia for a by-gone time. It’s more about the memory of a time when we got it right. Let them go back to wondering whether we would applaud or boo at a Comic Con panel. Let them actually strive to give us their best again, instead of knowing we’ll be complete whores for whatever tripe they throw at us, simply because we want to feel “relevant” to the process. We’re not relevant to the process. We don’t make shows, shows make fans. And fans make fandom. Let’s love fandom again.
I know I do.
no subject
on 2009-08-07 05:41 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to hear about your departure from fandom, but I certainly understand. Doing it for all the wrong reasons is, I think, at the heart of the problem. When it's stuff you want on a personal level from the actors or whomever, there's no way it can get anything but ugly.
And one of the first things I noticed about this new type of fan, who were coming into play just as I was leaving in 2007, was not only that they were the celebrity news-whore type--which they seemed to confuse for fandom, but that they also treated their fandom like a trip to Disneyland: every thing in sight was available for them to pick up and buy if they liked.
no subject
on 2009-08-09 02:20 pm (UTC)and hot!!! OMG!!!and I just can't believe my luck.I'm still a fan, but I try to stay away from the comms, especially in the comments, because of those new type of fan you mentioned. They seem to have this whole entitlement mindset and a lack of respect. I mean wishing someone would go die in a fire is just unacceptable, even in a joking manner. and to think that there's a well known acronym for it? It scares me, frankly.