Conventional Wisdom: Hey Fandom, can we talk?
Some of this is going to sound a little vague and that’s because we aren’t all current on certain currently airing shows and some of us avoid spoilers like the plague unless they show up on page 6 of their TV Guide and are right in our face. Others hunt for spoilers like they are little nuggets of gold information that they hoard like any good Dragon.
Dear Fandom,
I have been a part of you before I knew there was such a thing as fandom and that is a pretty long time. I have seen how the Internet has made it easier and harder for fans of something. For one thing, it is easier to find fellow fans and now you can find them all over the world.
And I think because of that, many things that might have been considered fringe or nerd has become mainstream. Take Doctor Who for example, back when I started watching it (mid 70s) fandom in America was small pockets of people that ran into each other at conventions or at meetings of various science fiction clubs. Now Doctor Who is, for all intent and purposes, mainstream. There are displays prominently in Barnes and Noble and Toys R’ Us. You say TARDIS and people know what you are talking about.
The last couple of issues of Entertainment weekly the covers have been devoted to Science Fiction and Fantasy based entertainment. When San Diego Comic Con comes around, mainstream media is there and reporting on what is going on and not just the costumes. There are magazines devoted to fandoms and shows and films.
You have entire books of production art, costumes, and sets. We would have killed for that when Star Wars first came out and we started recreating the costumes.
And I think some people have a problem with the move to fandom being normal. The special feeling of us vs. them is gone since them is a part of us now. So that thing that was so special is not as exclusive a club as it had been.
Another thing that has really not put fandom in a good light is the way people are going off half-cocked on something that they see or hear without knowing the whole story. A photo showing something and a flip comment and we are off to the races on how this is so bad and they must know how bad this is. Even though the whole thing is out of context. Within context, it might be nothing at all.
Casting is another place that I really wish fandom would give it a chance. Until one sees the final product, you really don’t know. And this is not a new thing. Ask Peter about the casting of Michael Kenton as Batman sometime and that Tim Burton was going to be directing it. That was a firestorm that was a lot of noise that was silenced by the actual film.
Fandom should be fun not a chore. When it does become such, maybe it is time for one to step away from what is bothering them.
And I think that is one of the things that is bothering me. For many fans, it seems like they aren’t having fun anymore. Or their fun is now in complaining rather than enjoying.
So fandom I am going to step back for a bit. I am not quitting you but I am letting you sort yourselves out. I’ll be back once I have calmed down a bit.
Hey and let’s try to stay classy.
Love,
Kath
I am grateful for the fans that are willing to find out what is really going on rather than condemning something without more (or any) context.
Dear Fandom,
I have been a part of you before I knew there was such a thing as fandom and that is a pretty long time. I have seen how the Internet has made it easier and harder for fans of something. For one thing, it is easier to find fellow fans and now you can find them all over the world.
And I think because of that, many things that might have been considered fringe or nerd has become mainstream. Take Doctor Who for example, back when I started watching it (mid 70s) fandom in America was small pockets of people that ran into each other at conventions or at meetings of various science fiction clubs. Now Doctor Who is, for all intent and purposes, mainstream. There are displays prominently in Barnes and Noble and Toys R’ Us. You say TARDIS and people know what you are talking about.
The last couple of issues of Entertainment weekly the covers have been devoted to Science Fiction and Fantasy based entertainment. When San Diego Comic Con comes around, mainstream media is there and reporting on what is going on and not just the costumes. There are magazines devoted to fandoms and shows and films.
You have entire books of production art, costumes, and sets. We would have killed for that when Star Wars first came out and we started recreating the costumes.
And I think some people have a problem with the move to fandom being normal. The special feeling of us vs. them is gone since them is a part of us now. So that thing that was so special is not as exclusive a club as it had been.
Another thing that has really not put fandom in a good light is the way people are going off half-cocked on something that they see or hear without knowing the whole story. A photo showing something and a flip comment and we are off to the races on how this is so bad and they must know how bad this is. Even though the whole thing is out of context. Within context, it might be nothing at all.
Casting is another place that I really wish fandom would give it a chance. Until one sees the final product, you really don’t know. And this is not a new thing. Ask Peter about the casting of Michael Kenton as Batman sometime and that Tim Burton was going to be directing it. That was a firestorm that was a lot of noise that was silenced by the actual film.
Fandom should be fun not a chore. When it does become such, maybe it is time for one to step away from what is bothering them.
And I think that is one of the things that is bothering me. For many fans, it seems like they aren’t having fun anymore. Or their fun is now in complaining rather than enjoying.
So fandom I am going to step back for a bit. I am not quitting you but I am letting you sort yourselves out. I’ll be back once I have calmed down a bit.
Hey and let’s try to stay classy.
Love,
Kath
I am grateful for the fans that are willing to find out what is really going on rather than condemning something without more (or any) context.