In Defense of Fandom

Jenkins’ article really resonated with me this week, because it touched upon something that is very dear to my heart: the world of fandom. In high school, having struggled with finding a community in which I could be myself, I turned to the virtual community for solace and support – and I got more than I bargained for. In addition to a community of individuals, virtual culture is a community of worlds. Anime, television series, and works of fiction I’d always loved suddenly took on entirely new dimensions, as the characters were recreated, resituated in other worlds and relationships, and explored over and over through fanfiction, fanart, video, and AMVs (Anime Music Videos). 

Crossover art of Steven Universe and Neon Genesis Evangelion by Gembattlefield

I’d say that the most important theme surrounding fan culture is one of reclamation; as Jenkins puts it, fandom offers a “radical alternative to dominant media content, providing space for various minority groups to tell their own stories or to question hegemonic representations of their culture” (457). Because there is such a lack of queer characters of color in media, virtual culture has allowed fans to recreate characters as reflections of their own identity; fan culture was so important to normalizing queerness in my coming out process. It also provided a platform for me to create and share work with an incredibly supportive community. I improved so much through writing fanfiction as a teenager – I learned more from the comments and constructive criticism I received  online than I did from any of my public school's English courses. Even now, some of the most talented authors I know are ones who I’ve discovered through fanfic. I get upset when people disregard fanfic and fanart as a valid art form, because the time, effort, and passion that goes into its creation is just as legitimate as any other creative process. Which brings me to another point of discussion: stigma.

Harry Potter fanart of The Golden Trio by Loquaciousliterature, portraying Harry and Hermione as people of color

There is so much stigma surrounding fan culture; as Jenkins puts it, it is “marginalized or exoticized” and the assumption is often made that “anyone who would invest so much creative and emotional energy into the products of mass culture must surely have something wrong with them” (454). However, recreating mass culture plays a hugely important role in challenging the lack of diversity in popular media, and is a natural response from marginalized communities that are forced to create their own representation. I'd never considered the parallels between fan culture and folk culture until reading Jenkins, and I think he captures the essence of the intentions behind and root of fandom: "Fans respond to the situation of an increasingly privatized culture by applying the traditional practices of a folk culture to mass culture, treating film or television as if it offered them raw materials for telling their own stories and resources for forging their own communities" (457). So yes, fandom springs from traditional, hegemonic mass media, but it also has foundations in a strong sense of grassroots community, and is based upon principles of constant change and reinvention. In this way, fandom is a powerful reflection of postmodern society, and I believe that as fan culture gains traction and continues to grow, it has the potential to challenge notions of identity, representation, and diversity in popular media.