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LOC Meta
I've just been reading 'Meta', a lit fanzine that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greengolux was good enough to send me.
I've just finished readingcoalescent's article on Angel which sparked off some comments that I thought I'd put here regarding the nature of fandom.
Incidentally, I always find a problem with reviews that assume the reader has an equal level on knowledge to the writer. I've seen all of Angel, and enjoyed it, but I find it extrememly hard to remember individual episode titles. A review that mentions specific episodes, but only uses the title to clue the reader as to which episode is being referred to, loses a lot of its impact (it's fair enough in a media-specific context, but not in a zine that isn't dedicated to Angel). This is a shame, as much of whatcoalescent says resonates with me.
His article isn't just about 'Angel' it's about the impact that one's first serious fandom has on your life.
In my case, it was Blake's 7, and it was long enough ago that the impact was via paper rather than the Internet. I found critical analysis through the Horizon letterzine (as opposed to the magazine) and later through Altazine. Some of the friends I made back then are still with me now and remain among those people whose opinions I value (even when I wildly disagree with them).
Likecoalescent, I've found later shows that interest me, but none that have had such a big impact on my life or that have formed relationships in quite the same way. I prefer, when I can, to share these interests with the people I met through Blake's 7, rather than go and get deeply involved with a new set of fans. I haven't made many converts, but at least kalypso_v understands my passion for Maybourne in Stargate and kerravonsen helps me with my Stargate fiction. And there's people like temeres who probably doesn't even own a DVD player and wouldn't watch Stargate even if he did. It isn't the show per se that matters, it's finding people who have the ability for critical thought, but without the nastiness that can sometimes go with it. I like people who *think*.
Thus, I enjoy 'fandom' on the larger scale, where it encompasses something more than an individual show. I find lit fandom to be interesting in this regard. It's less butterfly-like than media-fandom. People don't vanish from the scene when they gaffiate to a new fandom.
I've made friends in lit fandom, but none have yet reached the level of permanance of those old B7 friends - though there are some whom I hope will.
Fandom is no longer really about a show or a book, it's simply a place where people with a certain set of common assumptions and attidudes (and a degree of social ineptness) tend to converge and enjoy one another's company.
greengolux was good enough to send me.I've just finished reading
coalescent's article on Angel which sparked off some comments that I thought I'd put here regarding the nature of fandom. Incidentally, I always find a problem with reviews that assume the reader has an equal level on knowledge to the writer. I've seen all of Angel, and enjoyed it, but I find it extrememly hard to remember individual episode titles. A review that mentions specific episodes, but only uses the title to clue the reader as to which episode is being referred to, loses a lot of its impact (it's fair enough in a media-specific context, but not in a zine that isn't dedicated to Angel). This is a shame, as much of what
coalescent says resonates with me.His article isn't just about 'Angel' it's about the impact that one's first serious fandom has on your life.
In my case, it was Blake's 7, and it was long enough ago that the impact was via paper rather than the Internet. I found critical analysis through the Horizon letterzine (as opposed to the magazine) and later through Altazine. Some of the friends I made back then are still with me now and remain among those people whose opinions I value (even when I wildly disagree with them).
Like
coalescent, I've found later shows that interest me, but none that have had such a big impact on my life or that have formed relationships in quite the same way. I prefer, when I can, to share these interests with the people I met through Blake's 7, rather than go and get deeply involved with a new set of fans. I haven't made many converts, but at least kalypso_v understands my passion for Maybourne in Stargate and kerravonsen helps me with my Stargate fiction. And there's people like temeres who probably doesn't even own a DVD player and wouldn't watch Stargate even if he did. It isn't the show per se that matters, it's finding people who have the ability for critical thought, but without the nastiness that can sometimes go with it. I like people who *think*.Thus, I enjoy 'fandom' on the larger scale, where it encompasses something more than an individual show. I find lit fandom to be interesting in this regard. It's less butterfly-like than media-fandom. People don't vanish from the scene when they gaffiate to a new fandom.
I've made friends in lit fandom, but none have yet reached the level of permanance of those old B7 friends - though there are some whom I hope will.
Fandom is no longer really about a show or a book, it's simply a place where people with a certain set of common assumptions and attidudes (and a degree of social ineptness) tend to converge and enjoy one another's company.
no subject
It's interesting to ponder this... I'd certainly agree that B7 fandom has been of huge impact with me, with great friends, and then being more interested in the friends than necessarily the fandom. I, likewise, am not that interested in getting involved in Stargate fandom per se, but I like Stargate enough to want to write a bit of fanfic for it (and where's my next chapter, nag, nag, nag -- you wanted me to nag, remember? (grin)).
Media fandom being more butterfly-flitting, I'm not sure -- is it media fandom, or internet fandom? Because both B7 fandom and lit fandom predate the internet, and therefore it simply wasn't easy to flit to another fandom. Once one had found kindred souls, you clung to them, because where would one find such people elsewhere?
And even with internet fandom, some fans tend to be more butterfly than others. Some fans only stay fans of something while new episodes are being produced, and once that's gone, then they are gone too. Wheras I'm almost of the feeling myself, that it isn't until after a show is finished, that one can get really seriously into understanding it, because one can look at it as a whole, and it isn't a moving target. I get irritated at how my fanfic ideas for still-produced shows keep on becoming AU (grin).
no subject
i know what you mean about prefering to write for a closed canon. One reason the novel is season 5 AU. I'll get back to it once I'm less stressed over my bother. He's got a job interview, so fingers crossed. If he gets it, it may reduce his stress levels somewhat.
Nag me as soon as my LJ looks happy.
no subject
Will do. 8-)