Rise of Fandoms in our Generation
Have you ever loved a movie or show so much that you spent hours obsessing over it? Played a game where you feel so connected to the characters that you try and become one by wearing the same outfit they did or do the same day-to-day activities as them? You being a fan towards a movie, show, game, or book can be seen as normal, until it reaches a point to where it takes over your life and then you are part of a fandom. A fandom can be seen in a community where you and others love the story that is being told and want to be a part of the story by either becoming one of the characters or wanting to choose what happens at the end. This is not just a normal fan, it is an advanced version where it becomes part of your culture and everyday life such as Twihards (Twilight fans), Swifties (Taylor Swift fans), Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and any other person or adventure story.
Throughout the years, the word “fandom” has become increasingly popular especially with the most recent movies, shows, or books produced. According to the article, Fandom and Participatory Culture, Henry Jenkins defined fandom as “…a term which describes communities built around a shared enjoyment of an aspect of popular culture, such as books, movies, TV shows, bands, sports, or sports teams, etc.” Readers who follow the story can create their own version of the story themselves with different outcomes and go to events where others have similar ideas and taste in culture. Fandoms are much different than just regular fans, they are a lot more involved in the story that was displayed. Fans are seen as someone who is devoted to an art and usually a spectator towards everything, fandoms are seen as a more obsessive approach. They wear merchandise that was sold by the artist, they can be seen as crazy, dedicated, defensive, and a superior or “bigger” fan.
Jenkins then proceeded to explain how fan cultures are examples of participatory cultures. He claimed “Participatory cultures involve fans acting not only as consumers but also as producers and creators of some form of creative media” The artists look at the fandoms and sometimes even involve them within the next story by letting them give ideas on how the story should continue or end but there can be many different reasons as to why they should not allow their fandom to write the story. This could ruin the entire story which could lead to a decrease in their sales and maybe even cancelation of the story overall. Participatory cultures have two approaches; prohibitionists and collaborationists.
“…the media industries have increasingly adopted a scorched earth policy towards their consumers, seeking to regulate and criminalize many forms of fan participation which once fell below their radar. Let’s call them the prohibitionists” — Henry Jenkins
“…new media companies, are experimenting with new approaches which see fans as important collaborators in the production of content and as grassroots intermediaries helping to promote the franchise. We will call them collaborationists…” — Henry Jenkins
The prohibitionist approach is seen as more strict about the regulation and enforcement of copyright and approach people as consumers, but the collaborationist approach has little to no enforcement of copyright which allows fans to work with them and see the value in their ideas — this can once again can allow fans to dictate or influence the story in a positive or negative way.
Fandoms can be seen as taking over our generation just based off of what is the most popular at the time. This was also seen within our most recent election in politics and can lead to some dangerous situations. When having a fandom about a politician, this can change the way we vote by looking at who is the most popular rather than looking at who has the best ideas for our country. Not to be bias, but some politicians are voted for more because of how popular they are not because of what they are going to do once they are in charge which can lead towards a downfall in our country. The use of fandom has to be stopped within politics for the safety of our future.
