Fan Culture @ Swarthmore

Aaron Brecher – A Blond Bond? Divisions within a Fan Community

Full paper: fan-culture-brecher.pdf

Abstract: One of the often overlooked elements of fan studies is the extent to which fans of the same text can sharply disagree sharply with producers, fan icons, and other fans over particular issues. A case in point is the reaction of the James Bond fan community to the casting of Daniel Craig for the twenty-first ‘official’ Bond film, Casino Royale (2006). While a discussion of the Bond franchise and its fans might lead to several fascinating veins of exploration (such as the accusation of misogyny uncharacteristic of many other media fan communities), perhaps the most salient issue on the minds of Bond fans over the past few years has been the selection of Craig to replace Pierce Brosnan. The study used archived pages of the now defunct Daniel Craig anti-fan site www.craignotbond.com and compared this issue among Bond fans to Jenkins’ exploration of divisions within the Beauty and the Beast fan community, and found the cases to be similar in revealing diversity and a critical eye among fans of the same text that is often ignored by other studies of fan communities. Also the includes an acknowledgement that fans are acutely aware of the capitalist system in which they participate and (unsuccessfully) relied on the threat of a boycott to force the producers of the text to amend the franchise for the sake of pleasing their segment of the fan community.

Fletcher Wortman – Preaching to True Believers: The Decline of the American Comic Book Industry

Full Paper: fan-culture-wortmann.pdf

Abstract: The mainstream American comic book publishing industry has been in financial, and arguably creative, decline for the past twenty years. Periodicals produced by industry titans Marvel DC Comics which once sold hundreds of thousands of copies now struggle to maintain a tenth of their former audience. This paper will examine the financial and creative concerns which have lead to the downfall of the American comic. The industry’s economic decline can be attributed to the transfer of resources from mainstream commercial venues to specialty comic shops, as well as the industry’s failure to respond effectively to illegal downloading of copyright material. In addition, the industry has relied on storylines designed to appeal to existing fans; the industry’s attempts to attract new readers have been met with either indifference or scorn. Indeed, much of this recession can be attributed to the editorial decision to cater to an aging and rapidly diminishing audience of preexisting fans. Ultimately, the decline of the American comic book industry serves as a warning to those interested in exploiting fan interest for economic gain, and proves that fan support alone may not sustain a media franchise.

David Pupkin – Japan Conquers America: the Mainstreaming of Anime

Full Paper: fan-culture-pupkin.pdf

Abstract: My paper will be focusing on the growth of anime fandom in the United States. I will first outline the early fans; or the first American fans of anime, what attracted them to anime, how they watched it, and how their fandoms were expressed. I will go into a little bit of Otaku no Video for this, especially the interview with the American who came to Japan even though I know he was only one of Gainax’s American distributors rather than an actual American otaku who came to Japan. I will then delve into the past few years of American anime; from its massive and rapid rise in popularity to the mainstreaming of such. I will describe the cause of this rise and provide numerous examples in addition to merely describing it; con attendance numbers, examples of anime putting itself into new and diverse settings (ie: Lego and American cartoons), and Cartoon Network scheduling blocs if I can find them. Finally, I will attempt to predict the future, outlining the various routes as to where anime may go and what effects the mainstreaming of the fandom will have; whether it’ll eventually become a perfectly legitimate thing to do to “dress up for cons” as Sailor Moon or whether it’ll go back underground and become less mainstream.

Steve Wolf – The Transmedia Elements of Spider-Man

Full Paper: fan-culture-wolf.pdf

Abstract: This paper will focus on the fan community around Spider-Man. The first thing the paper will address is what makes Spider-Man ripe for a devoted fan following. It will also go into details of why particular portrayals of the character are able to pick up new fans while at the same time satisfying older ones. Along the same lines, it will focus on how the fans interact with these different portrayals of the character. Particular points of interests will be what domain originally attracted the fans into the Spider-Man universe, be it the comic books, one of the television show, a video game, or the movies. Additionally, it will analyze how the point of entrance possibly impacts how the person interacts with the different transmedia portrayals of the character. It will delve into what the typical demographics of fans of each portrayal as well as highlight differences between what each expects from future incarnations of the character.