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Are fans getting tired of the MCU?

Kira Deshler — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Decoding Fandom is a weekly column that dives deep into the world of fan culture and runs on Saturdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

Is this the beginning of the end for the MCU? This question arises following the poor box office performance of The Marvels, which made only $47 million—the worst Marvel debut in history—over opening weekend.

To be fair, The Marvels had the cards stacked against it. The film comes a lengthy four years after its prequel, Captain Marvel. It necessitated four weeks of reshoots and was mired in drama when director Nia DaCosta flew to London during post-production. (It turns out there’s more to the story.) The film’s star, Brie Larson, has received more hate than anyone else in the MCU, which isn't exactly great for PR. And none of the cast were able to promote the film due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Sexist elements of the fandom aside, is The Marvels’ failure at the box office an indication that fans have become disillusioned with the studio?

The answer is complicated. Some fans react defensively to the claim that Marvel is in its flop era. A recent article in Variety suggesting that Marvel is in crisis was met with anger and incredulity by certain fans. One Reddit user called the article a “vengeful hit piece,” and another suggested it was “written with intent to ruin Marvel's next film.” Others took issue with the critical response to The Marvels, arguing that negative reviews are part of a trend of “hating popular things.” And we can’t forget the backlash to Martin Scorsese’s comments that MCU films are more like theme parks than cinema.

However, plenty of MCU fans agree that Marvel is going downhill. There are several theories as to why this is. “Disney+ ruined the MCU,” wrote one fan. Another Redditor suggested this recent focus on the multiverse is “unappealing” to mainstream audiences. A self-described “Marvel super fan” noted they are tired of the “deluge of content” from the MCU and are no longer excited for new productions. One user got to the heart of the problem: “The real issue is the erosion of trust with the audience.”

This may seem like a rather stark shift in opinion, especially considering the record-breaking success of Avengers: Endgame. But that was way back in Phase 3, and we’re now in Phase 5, which one fan called “the worst slate in the MCU’s history.” For viewers who really love the MCU or the comics these films and shows are based on, this strategy of quantity over quality is disappointing. Fans want Marvel movies to be good, and losing these core viewers is bad for business.

This change in public perception is more than just anecdotal. Two different studies indicate that viewers are starting to experience superhero fatigue due in large part to Marvel’s method of flooding the market with content. According to Fandom’s study, 36% of fans feel fatigued by the amount of media released, while only 20% of DC fans feel that way. (Notably, Marvel fans are more likely than DC fans to watch anything released by the studio.)

MCU fans and haters alike are familiar with the Marvel formula, but that predictability may no longer be a good thing. This sense of disinvestment in the studio’s constant output is becoming more and more widespread.

Why it matters

It looks like Marvel’s system of treating film and television like endlessly reiterative content is starting to backfire. But what can be done?

Fans are driven by emotion. The reason Infinity War and Endgame were so successful is that viewers were emotionally invested in the characters and their storylines, as well as in the company itself. If Marvel wants to get fans excited again, they need to capture fans’ hearts, not just their eyeballs.

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Martin Scorsese is the internet’s new It Girl

Kira Deshler — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

After 56 years and 27 feature films, Martin Scorsese is finally having a moment.

Well, that’s not exactly true. The acclaimed director is responsible for some of the greatest films ever made, and his impact on filmmaking cannot be overstated. But while longtime Scorsese fans have always been in his corner, the director has garnered a new type of fan base as of late. The memesters and the chronically online have claimed Scorsese as one of their own.

The seeds of this internet fandom were planted some time ago, but most recently, Scorsese warmed the hearts of film lovers everywhere when he joined the movie-cataloging site Letterboxd. The website is a place for cinephiles to share their thoughts about films, where the opinions of movie nerds reign supreme. Scorsese joined Letterboxd to promote his 3-hour-long epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, sharing a list of films that inspired his own.

Scorsese has been in the news a lot lately, and not just because of his new picture. He went viral for agreeing with an interviewer who asked if he was “built different” because he won’t retire like Quentin Tarantino. He sat down with heartthrob Timothée Chalamet to discuss their Bleu de Chanel ad, and walked the red carpet with Kylie Jenner.

But the real architect of Scorsese’s online presence is his daughter, Francesca. She runs a popular TikTok account where she sometimes posts videos of her father, all of which get millions of views. A recent hit was the video where Fransesca quizzes her dad on internet slang like “slay” and “sneaky link” to see if he can guess their meanings. “He’s a certified silly goose” she says in one adorable video, using hashtags like #bestdadever and #DadsofTikTok. Francesca also let viewers know that her dad is aware of the viral Goncharov meme that captured the internet last year.

Scorsese has become something of a folk hero recently, at least to a certain kind of movie fan. He went viral a few years ago for saying Marvel movies are more like theme parks than cinema, angering Marvel devotees. He became enemy #1 for these fans, including MCU directors the Russo brothers. Last month, Joe Russo responded to Scorsese’s TikTok with his dog Oscar by joking that his dog is named “Box Office.” Marvel fans claimed Russo “destroyed” Scorsese, while Scorsese fans rolled their eyes.

Scorsese emerges as an avatar for real cinema, positioned in opposition to the Marvel box office machine. While the Russo brothers and their fans see Scorsese and his ilk as elitist, Scorsese nonetheless appears as a lovable man of the people, thanks in large part to his daughter’s intervention. For young cinephiles discouraged by the nature of today’s film industry, the 80-year-old Scorsese embodies the pro-art stance some feel is sorely lacking today. He’s someone worthy of stanning.

Why it matters

Considering his impressive resume, it’s not as if Scorsese needed a new PR campaign. But what’s unique about his current wave of internet fandom is that he's beloved not just because of his films, but because of his persona—that of an endearing grandpa—in addition to what he stands for as a creator.

Scorsese’s hot takes on cinema may have become a lightning rod for contemporary debates about art and commodity, but it’s his love for his Gen Z daughter, his joyful passion for filmmaking, and his bushy, bushy eyebrows that make him such an iconic figure. He is the moment.

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Fans on BookTok prove that books are worth stanning

Kira Deshler — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 13:00:00 +0000

In 2019, a mystified X user discovered the existence of book lovers. “they stan books 💀,” wrote the user. “WTFGDSJSJSJ i mean do they binge read books??? are they going to meet the authors?” responded another equally perplexed user.

This now-legendary exchange is a perfect example of certain contemporary ideas about reading, ie. that it’s uncool or not worth doing. (The aforementioned users both seemed to stan the Chrises instead.) America is a famously anti-intellectual place, and studies show that reading is on the decline.

And yet, an online phenomenon that promotes reading has swept the nation—and the world—as of late. BookTok is the name of a community on TikTok wherein creators post videos about their favorite books, connecting with other users who share their love of reading.

To some, like those X users, book fandom is a peculiar concept. In actuality, it is not new at all. Sherlock Holmes readers were some of the earliest modern fans, and they pioneered fan practices well-known today. Some of the first fan conventions centered on science fiction books, and we can’t forget the fervor that surrounded series like Harry Potter and Twilight.

What’s most interesting about BookTok, however, is that these are not fans of specific books or authors, but of reading in general. There are some names that pop up a lot on BookTok—Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Madeline Miller—but in theory, anything goes. The community is primarily made up of young women, which may account for some of the dismissiveness sent their way.

The way these BookTokers engage with and create content about books is unique. Unlike literary critics, these fans engage with books primarily on an emotional, subjective level. Many BookTok videos depict fans reading books and then having some sort of outsized reaction—crying, screaming, throwing the book across the room. One BookToker went viral for her teary reactions to A Little Life, another wailed when she finished The Song of Achilles.

While some of these TikTokers do classic book reviews or book hauls, the emphasis is more on the feeling of the books—or the vibes, if you will—than the plot. The experience of reading is of the utmost importance on BookTok, where digging into a good book is portrayed as a wholly immersive practice.

The fact that books—which don’t contain visual elements, for the most part—have become such a popular form of media on a video platform like TikTok is intriguing. It’s difficult to make a sexy fancam about a book like you can about a movie or an actor, but it’s not impossible. BookTokers have found a way to make reading seem romantic and sensual. Take this TikTok, also about The Song of Achilles, which features soft music, a soothing voice over, and the book in question surrounded by candles and blankets. These videos depict reading as an aesthetic experience, not just an intellectual one.

BookTok is also good PR for books, and has without a doubt had an effect on the publishing industry. According to NPD BookScan, BookTok helped sell 20 million books in 2021. These numbers are even more impressive when you consider the book-to-film-adaptation pipeline, which has made publishing more profitable than ever. Through their spirited musings about reading, these book fans have become cultural tastemakers.

Why it matters

Media gatekeepers have always disparaged young women fans, from the era of Beatlemania to One Direction and Twilight. Though there are valid critiques about which books these fans tend to endorse—Colleen Hoover is one of the most controversial contemporary authors—there’s no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Instead, we might think of BookTok as an affirming space for bibliophiles to creatively narrate their passions, turning reading into a cultural phenomenon with its own set of rituals and customs.

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A League of Their Own fans are still fighting the good fight

Kira Deshler — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Like so many topics in fandom, it all goes back to Star Trek.

Though they’re now a consistent feature of fandom, fan campaigns date back at least to the 1960s, when Trekkies started organizing to save the show from cancellation. These fan-led campaigns progressed with creative zeal, like when Roswell fans sent bottles of Tabasco (a favorite of the aliens) to executives, or when Friday Night Light fans mailed light bulbs and mini footballs to NBC headquarters. Such crusades evolved during the streaming era, as fans of shows like Lucifer and The Expanse marshaled the power of social media to bring these series back to life.

More recently, these movements have taken on a queer dimension. It’s been a brutal few years for queer-centric shows, with a whopping 30 LGBT series going off-air in 2022. Out of these 30 shows, 21 prominently featured queer women, leading to outrage amongst lesbian and sapphic fans.

This is the context in which the campaign to save Amazon’s A League of Their Own emerged. The series premiered in August of 2022 and immediately garnered a passionate queer fan base, likely owing to the numerous, diverse LGBT characters depicted on the show. Fans became concerned when there was still no renewal news six months out, and then only mildly placated when Amazon announced a truncated four-episode second season. Amazon un-renewed the show in August of 2023, angering fans and creators alike.

One fan I spoke to, @ALOTOHomeRun, told me she started a campaign to renew the show back in October of 2022. Following the initial renewal, fans started the #MoreThanFour movement to fight for a longer season. Now, fans do what they can to keep the show on people’s radar, executing daily “power hours” where they tweet about the show to get it trending, sending letters to Amazon, and raising money for the Trevor Project. Another fan, Kellie, who runs the @PeachesUnited account, created a Discord server to generate more ideas about how to keep the show alive.

When I asked these fans why saving the show is so important to them, they echoed a commonly held sentiment. @ALOTOHomeRun described how amazing it is that the show is “ultimately rooted in queer joy and love,” which is why “so many people have been able to identify with these characters and accept themselves because of them.”

Kellie told me “It’s important that it’s saved because people deserve to be seen and have their stories told (including the women that the show is based off of),” and noted that this campaign has also had a bonding effect within the fandom.

While LGBT-focused media has taken a hit lately, hope remains. There have been successful campaigns to renew queer shows in the past, including Wynonna Earp, One Day at a Time, and Warrior Nun, which will continue as a movie trilogy. Many League fans support these other campaigns, and there is a general sense of solidarity among lesbian and queer fan groups.

Why it matters

The recent strikes have illuminated widespread power imbalances in Hollywood. These cancellations are also a labor issue, wherein the most marginalized workers and creators are first on the chopping block.

While fans are not directly involved in producing their favorite shows, these campaigns illustrate that they’re not passive recipients of culture, either. Viewers want a say in what they watch, and queer fans, mistreated by media producers for so many years, have a deep stake in this fight.

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Swifties are reshaping the concert movie experience

Kira Deshler — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Will Taylor Swift fans be able to control themselves? This was the question on many minds when Swift announced her Eras Tour film back in August. To some, the concert film seemed like a recipe for pandemonium, as Swifties are a famously passionate bunch.

Swift is not the first artist to release a concert film, but she was clear in her instructions about how this film would be different. On Instagram, she wrote “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged,” indicating that the film would attempt to replicate the tour experience. Swift’s initial prescription generated many questions. Concerned parties wrote theater etiquette guides, and one fan conducted a thorough investigation into what kind of behavior theaters allow.

Now that the film is out in theaters, we can put these queries to rest.

I attended a mostly full showing of the film on Sunday afternoon at a suburban AMC, just as God (AKA Nicole Kidman) intended. Shortly after the film started, a group of fans ran to the front of the theater to dance and jump up and down, returning to their seats when the slower sets (evermore and folklore) began. Behind me sat two young girls with glowsticks, who stood up to wave them around intermittently during the show’s 2-hour and 45-minute runtime. Others stayed seated for most of the show, save much-needed bathroom breaks.

Despite concerns about The Eras Tour ruining the theater experience for other moviegoers, that wasn’t the case at my local AMC. Though the movie was almost ear-piercingly loud at times—thanks, Dolby Atmos—and could be heard clearly from the hallway, the sound didn’t travel from one theater to the other. As far as theater etiquette goes, a few people took out their phones to record the action on occasion, but given the bright lights and thundering noise, this wasn’t particularly distracting.

According to online accounts of screenings around the world, the climate of Eras Tour showings varied greatly from theater to theater. Some fans reported fairly subdued audiences—several people singing and dancing, but nothing extreme. Then there are the videos that depict something akin to the hysteria we expected: Swifties crying on the floor and screaming every lyric, huge circles of Swifties spinning at the front of the theater, and an especially loud crowd in Manila.

In many ways, your Eras Tour film experience depends on how willing you and your fellow viewers are to be unabashed about your love for Taylor Swift. The film was billed as a safe space for Swifties to fully embody their love for the singer, and moviegoers took this to heart. Fans revamped the theater environment for their own purposes, epitomizing the stated rules of engagement—rules defined in collaboration with their benevolent leader.

Swift’s relationship with fans is central to her fandom, perhaps more so than any other pop artist. Swifties love her in part because they feel close to her, and this intimacy also generates a sense of kinship among fans. Swift emphasizes this dynamic regularly. Speaking at the film’s premiere, she told fans “you absolutely are main characters in the film.” Though most audiences had to do without Swift’s physical presence, they heeded her message of empowerment, centering their own joy above all else.

Why it matters

Swifties are reshaping the concert movie experience in their own image. Not only is this good for Swift, it’s good for theaters, who took a huge hit during the pandemic. (Swift’s deal with AMC has the potential to change things in a big way.)

With Beyoncé’s Renaissance film coming out in December, it appears we are entering a new era of moviegoing, one where music fandom takes center stage. While Ticketmaster continues its tyrannical reign, this concert movie boom means that more fans will get to participate in pop music devotion, as movie theaters become spaces of wild abandon. Are you ready for it?

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Fan conventions are where the digital and the material meet

Kira Deshler — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Gathering in public is a central component of community-building, which is why conventions are so important to fandom. The precise lineage of fan cons is contested, but we do know a dime store novel publisher put on a convention for readers all the way back in 1889. Then there was the costumed, sci–fi-themed fundraiser held at Royal Albert Hall in 1891. However, many consider the first modern sci-fi conventions to be those held in the 1930s, culminating in the World Science Fiction Convention (now WorldCon) in 1939.

In the present day, one of the most famous fan conventions is San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). Founded in 1969 by a group of teenage boys (and two adults) who loved comics, the con has since grown into a hugely attended, money-making enterprise. (The event brings in an estimated $160 million for the city each year.)

Despite its now gigantic size, Comic-Con is still the blueprint for many cons around the world. Though conventions focused on comics or comic-based media remain prominent, other common subjects include anime, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and cons based on specific films or series. These events usually include panels with creators, special screenings, meet and greets, booths where fans can display their art (known as Artist Alley), and, perhaps most famously, cosplay.

The earliest recorded instance of cosplay—wearing fan-made costumes representing fictional characters—occurred in 1939 at the first WorldCon when two fans arrived wearing outfits inspired by an H.G. Wells film. (The term “cosplay” wasn’t coined until 1984.) Since then, cosplay has become a worldwide phenomenon and digital communities have coalesced around the practice. Many fans share their cosplay online, explaining how they created the costumes and giving tips to other cosplayers. Black fans and fans of color have worked to make their contributions visible on social media, changing the face of cosplay in the process.

You might assume that the diversity of fan communities online means that fan conventions aren’t as significant as they once were, but that’s not the case. In fact, fan conventions are a place where digital and ‘IRL’ worlds collide. Here’s an example. In 2016, the Bury Your Gays Trope came to a head with the death of Lexa, a popular lesbian character on The 100. Her death sparked massive fan outrage online, resulting in a worldwide fan campaign called LGBT Fans Deserve Better.

In 2017, fans organized ClexaCon, the first multi-fandom convention for queer women and non-binary people. The event was created as a result of the outcry following Lexa’s death and to celebrate positive LGBT representation. As with the conventions that came before it, ClexaCon celebrates the creativity, community, and unadulterated excitement of fans.

Why it matters

ClexaCon began as an online movement and grew into an in-person gathering, a journey that describes the trajectory of many communities today. Fan conventions are far from relics of a bygone era, and instead provide a space for fans to express themselves and congregate in the flesh.

Cons give fans unfettered access to their favorite media and celebs, (theoretically) unmediated by screens. Sure, you can now watch a Comic-Con panel from the comfort of your home, but asking Mads Mikkelsen to choke you during a photoshoot? That’s an in-person-only experience.

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How fanfiction complicates rules about ownership, social norms

Kira Deshler — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Though you might consider being a fan a passive condition, fans have always found ways to become active readers, watchers, or listeners. Take, for example, fanfiction. Far from a modern phenomenon, fanfiction can be traced at least back to the 18th century, when readers composed their own stories based on the 1726 novel Gulliver’s Travels. As with fanfiction of today, these fan-written tales were often more willing to tackle taboo topics than the source material.

In the 20th century, the most famous case of fanfic comes from Star Trek. The series is said to have spawned the first widely distributed copy of slashfic—fanfiction that depicts a romantic relationship between two male characters. The first piece of Kirk/Spock fanfiction was published in a fanzine in 1974.

Despite its now canonical status, Kirk/Spock fanfic was heavily censored at the time, in part due to obscenity laws. Censorship and legal issues have long plagued fanfic writers, most famously in the case of Anne Rice.

Interview With a Vampire was once a popular topic for fanfics until Anne Rice came out strongly against the exercise, even sending cease and desist letters to fans. Due to Rice’s aggressive stance, the popular site Fanfiction.net still does not allow fanfiction based on her works.

The beloved fanfic site Archive of Our Own—also known as AO3—emerged as a direct response to these copyright problems. While FanFiction.net relied on ads to stay afloat, AO3 is a volunteer-run non-profit that focuses on safeguarding fan works. Their parent group, the Organization for Transformative Works, endeavors to preserve fan-made creations and protect creators from legal issues. (In recognition of all the works posted on the site, AO3 won a Hugo Award in 2019.)

While fanfiction is more accepted than it once was, the practice remains controversial. This may be in part due to the fact that fanfic sometimes tackles taboo subjects that aren’t represented elsewhere, including sexually explicit content. There is also the contested genre of Real-Person Fic (or RPF), which entails stories of real people rather than fictional characters. At the same time, fanfiction has received validation from respected authors such as Cassandra Clare and N.K. Jemison, who are both prolific fanfic writers.

Fanfiction has long been the domain of women, which may also explain its trivialized status. A survey of the demographics on AO3 found that cis, white women are most represented on the site. Indeed, Slashfic is primarily written by women, some of whom are straight, and some of whom are queer. Femslash—which depicts romances between two female characters—is another growing category on the site, though slashfic is still the most popular type of pairing by far.

Why it matters

The dynamics of fanfiction are complex. In one sense, the fanfic posted on AO3 has an anti-capitalist bent, as the site is a non-profit, and writers are legally prohibited from making money off their work. Nonetheless, it is possible to turn fanfiction into a profitable enterprise, as E.L. James did with her Fifty Shades series.

Though trans, non-binary, queer, and asexual people are overrepresented within the fanfic community, that doesn’t mean equality prevails. There are still issues with racism, sexism, and ableism on these sites, as there is everywhere on the internet.

TL;DR: Fanfiction isn’t inherently radical, but it is inherently interesting.

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‘Shipping’ is still alive and well

Kira Deshler — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Decoding Fandom is a weekly column that dives deep into the world of fan culture and runs on Saturdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

If you’re a fan on the internet, shipping has nothing to do with boats or delivering packages. In fandom-speak, "ship" is both a noun and a verb. A shortening of the word relationship, ship in noun form refers to a fictional couple (or would-be couple) beloved by fans. To ship refers to the act of rooting for such a couple.

To understand shipping, we need to get into the concept of the canon. Within fictional media, a "canon" event is one that is written into the official text. Thus, a canon couple is one that is in a stated romantic/sexual relationship in a film or series, while a non-canon couple is one that isn’t together—though fans may wish them to be.

One of the earliest uses of "ship" in this context comes from the show that started it all: The X-Files. Fans who wanted Scully and Mulder to get together were known as “relationshippers” – shippers, for short. There was tension between shippers and non-shippers, and The X-Files drama is an early example of how heated such debates can become.

Though there was only one primary ship in The X-Files, the Scully/Mulder debate was a precursor to a phenomenon that has defined fandom in the social media era: ship wars. Fans are very passionate about their chosen ships, which can lead to feuds between shippers. Some famous examples of feuding ships include "Bangel" vs. "Spuffy" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Edward vs. Jacob from Twilight, and Kataang vs. Zutara in Avatar: The Last Airbender. During Tumblr’s heyday, these ship wars got downright vitriolic, illuminating the toxic elements of fandom.

The relationship between shippers and creators is complex. In some cases, writers give into fans' desires to see more from their favorite ship. (This is called "fan service.") In other instances, writers tease fans with little hints without ever giving them what they want. (When it involves non-canon, queer ships, this is called "queerbaiting.") Some showrunners rebuke shippers outright, as we saw with Sherlock’s popular JohnLock ship.

As with all types of internet discourse, trends in shipping culture mirror the social dilemmas of the world more broadly. The loudest, most popular ships often involve white, straight characters. When it comes to queer ships, gay male ships gain more visibility than lesbian ones. Think of the popularity of "Reylo" from Star Wars above Rey/Finn or Finn/Poe, or the rivalry between fans of "Clexa" (a canon lesbian couple) and "Bellarke" (a non-canon straight couple) from The 100. Though Tumblr is no longer a fandom hotspot, these dynamics persist.

Why it matters

Someone’s favorite ship can reveal a lot about them as a person—their desires, their values, or simply their guilty pleasures. Shipping is an enormous part of pop culture fandom, and it's a cultural force that both fans and creators must contend with.

Trends in shipping expose where we are in terms of representation and what fans want from their favorite shows or movies. Like every aspect of fandom, there are dark sides and light sides to shipping culture, but one thing's for certain: It’s never a good idea to come for someone’s ship.

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How fandom is still shaping pop culture

Kira Deshler — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 11:00:00 +0000

What does it mean to be a fan? Scholar Henry Jenkins, the founder of fan studies, writes that fans do more than just consume media, they also repurpose media in ways that shape their identity. A fandom, then, is a group of people who are similarly passionate about a piece of pop culture and create a community based on this shared interest. Being a part of groups like this can also inform one’s identity.

As long as there have been music, books, and plays, there have been fans. Around the turn of the 20th century, a new era of fandom emerged. Sherlock Holmes fans are often considered the first fandom of modern times, and they implemented many of the practices familiar to contemporary fans, including writing fan fiction and holding public meetings.

As the 20th century progressed, much of media fandom revolved around science fiction literature, leading to the very first fan conventions in the 1930s. It wasn’t until the 1960s with shows like Star Trek that sci-fi fandom revolved around television and film. Within the history of fandom, Star Trek is notable for how many fan works it produced, including fan fiction, fan art, and fan magazines.

Without a doubt, the most significant innovations within fandom came with the advent of the internet. The X-Files, which premiered alongside the World Wide Web in 1993, was one of thefirst internet-based fandoms. Fans no longer had to attend conventions or send snail mail to get involved. Instead, X-Files fans congregated on web forums and created fan sites, debating the series’ lore and tracking its timelines.

The internet—and especially social media—has allowed fans to influence the content of pop culture. Today, TV writers can get online and see which storylines are and aren’t resonating with viewers, and musicians can get immediate feedback about their songs.

In the last couple of decades, fans have also taken it upon themselves to fight for their favorite media. Fans of Firefly campaigned for a movie after the series was canceled, and Veronica Mars fans paid for one. FOX canceled Lucifer after three seasons, but Netflix picked up the series following an enthusiastic fan campaign.

Social media has given fans a newfound sense of power. In some cases, fans use this power to push for more diverse fictional worlds, as we saw with the movement for better LGBTQ representation back in 2016. In other cases, online fandom can be toxic, such as the racism and sexism directed at new members of the Star Wars universe.

So much of this has to do with identity, as Jenkins outlined more than thirty years ago. Fans want media that supports their identity, which is why some fans argue for more equitable representation and others want to maintain the status quo. It’s unlikely this tension will diminish any time soon.

Why it matters

The pop culture we consume shapes us, but we also shape pop culture. Cultural literacy means understanding the context and history of mass media, and examining how and why people react to media the way they do is a big part of that.

The new Marvel movie or Beyoncé album may not matter to you personally, but the fact that it matters to others is worth considering. How can we begin to comprehend the world around us if we don’t consider the things that move people?

Fandom and identity are central components of today’s digital landscape, and they have a huge impact on internet culture as a whole.

Decoding Fandom will be your guide to this weird and wonderful world.

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‘Supernatural’ can thank its fandom for its audience growth

[email protected] — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 19:17:52 +0000

Network TV ratings are sinking like a stone. With a few notable exceptions (Scandal is knocking it out of the park), most “popular” TV shows are doing worse than they were last year.

TV critics talk about what a blessing it is that shows like Hannibal and The Good Wife get renewed in spite of their declining ratings. But what about Glee? Over the past season, its ratings dropped by 45 percent among adult viewers under 50. Likewise, the previously undefeatable NCIS franchise is hemorrhaging viewers, along with other crime formula shows like Elementary and Person of Interest. Vulture has a full graph of last season’s primetime network TV ratings, and things really don’t good.

Good ratings are to be expected from household names like Law & Order: SVU and Grey’s Anatomy. But among the handful of shows that are actually doing well, there is one show that immediately stands out: Supernatural.

Over the course of its ninth season, Supernatural’s adult audience grew by 27 percent. This is second only to the increase seen by Scandal, a highly publicised show by star producer Shonda Rhimes. Honestly, Supernatural just doesn’t feel like something that should be doing this well. And yet.

Photo via fangirlranting/Rebloggy

This year, Supernatural was renewed for its tenth season. Of course, Smallville managed 10 as well, playing to a similar audience on the CW. But that was several years before the recent overall decline in TV viewership, and Smallville always benefited from the brand recognition of Superman.

Supernatural, on the other hand, has never had the broad appeal of America’s most famous superhero. Instead, it’s given us almost a full decade of Sam and Dean Winchester driving around Vancouver forests masquerading as Middle America, killing demons and angsting over a neverending roster of interchangeable doomed female characters.

If you don’t know about Supernatural’s fanbase, the show’s ongoing success must seem kind of inexplicable. Supernatural doesn’t receive much critical attention outside its target audience, it doesn’t star anyone particularly famous, and to outside observers, it has little to set it apart from shows like The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Sleepy Hollow and Teen Wolf. Yet in 2012 it saw the largest ratings bump on network TV (22 percent), and this season it was only beaten by Scandal.

So, what has drummed up Supernatural’s ratings over the past two years? Actually, it may not be the show itself, but its fandom.

Supernatural’s fan following has always been intense, and often at odds with the goals and desires of the showrunners. The original expectation was that Supernatural’s audience would be mixed, with male viewers engaging with the show’s American Gods/Hellblazer concept. Instead, women and teen girls started watching in droves, and it took the show’s creators a surprisingly long time to acknowledge why much of that audience was sticking around: the intense, at times homoerotic relationship between the lead characters.

At first this was more to do with viewers being invested in Sam and Dean Winchester’s relationship, but in recent years Destiel (the relationship between Dean and the angel Castiel) has been the main driving force of the fandom.

Since Castiel was introduced in season 4, there has been a noticeable correlation between his appearances on the show and a general uptick in ratings. When he was removed from the lineup of regular characters in season 7, Supernatural experienced its worst ratings to date. Ratings went up when Castiel was given a more significant role in season 8, and up once again when he was made a regular cast member in season 9.

On his own, Castiel actor Misha Collins has a formidable social media presence, with his GISHWHES fan community behaving a lot like a larval version of Hank and John Green’s Nerdfighter movement. With 1.49 million followers, Misha Collins’ Twitter audience is three times the size of Supernatural’s official account. Combine his personal fandom with that of Supernatural (and by extension, Destiel), and you have a social media juggernaut.

Along with BBC flagship shows Doctor Who and Sherlock, Supernatural is the third corner of the Tumblr fandom trifecta known as Superwholock. Superwholock is so ubiquitous in the general fandom community that Supernatural has spread mostly by word of mouth, without the help of the kind of official social media presence achieved by Hannibal or Teen Wolf. People read some Supernatural fanfic or see enough Tumblr GIFs to get them interested, and then they start watching the show, either catching up on DVD or (more likely) via online piracy. In 2013, Supernatural was the most reblogged TV show on Tumblr.

It’s an interesting case because unless you’re in the specific social bubble of fanfic fandom, Supernatural’s ongoing success is practically invisible.

The Vampire Diaries, Community, and Glee all have far more vocal fandoms in the wider cultural sense. Community has even been at the center of several relatively high-profile efforts to keep the show on air. However, all of these examples have seen a significant drop in ratings over the past couple of years (in Glee’s case, disastrously so), while Supernatural continues to draw in more and more viewers

But oddly enough, Supernatural’s creators have not made much visible effort to cater to this audience. They evidently realized they were attracting a whole lot of fangirls, but this never really translated to an increase in “female friendly” storylines (i.e. not violently murdering every single female character), or to the kind of marketing that specifically targets fangirl audiences.

After seven years on air they did introduce a cool lesbian geek character played by Felicia Day, but that was only after several episodes that either explicitly made fun of fangirls or (bizarrely) portrayed Supernatural’s fanbase as predominantly made up of male nerds.

The main attempt Supernatural has made to engage with its huge audience of slashfic shippers is... queerbaiting. An increasing amount of gay subtext and no-homo jokes, but with no serious intention to follow through and reveal that Dean is actually bisexual and/or in love with Castiel.

At the end of season 9, we commented that Supernatural fandom’s hopes have never been so high, but its expectations have never been so low. More and more people are watching Supernatural, many of them thanks to the enormous popularity of slash fanfic based on the show’s lead characters, but they’re not really finding what they’re looking for.

The show’s writers are unlikely to cave to fan demands and make Destiel canon. A TV show is not a democracy, after all. Still, if they continue to include so many scenes that fans interpret as self-aware queerbaiting, it may wind up doing more harm than good. With the gap between canon and fandom output widening with every season, will that fanfic-oriented audience keep increasing? Or are we likely to reach a tipping point, where fans give up and begin to tune out?

At the moment, it looks like a lot of those new viewers are watching the show for something that isn’t actually happening on screen.

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