Help: Fans and Fandom by Morgul

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Help: Fans and Fandom

POSTED BY: MORGUL
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 00:51
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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 7:38 PM

Heya guys! Am writing my end of year paper on Fans and Fandom, specifically those of Firefly and, since 3000 words is a lot of writing and hardly anyone writes books from the fans point of view, I'm looking for a bit of help from those closest to the subject.

So...a few questions...

A) How do you think fans can positively influence a text, i.e. ensuring it remains in circulation; influencing the texts construction; having the text cancelled or discontinued; revived or extended; rediscovering a text?

B) What meta- and extra-textual explorations occur around a central text? (i.e. conventions; collecting and trading; fanfiction, etc...)

C) Are fans exploited by the texts they value?

D) In which manner might the texts work to encourage or accomodate fans and their various desires?

Please, please answer, I dearly need some opinions other than my own here.

Oh, and if anyone feels uncomfortable answering in an open forum my email is: morgul_queen@hotmail.com.

Thanks again, and much love.

Morgy.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 9:09 PM

ZZETTA13

Morgul I’ll try to answer some of your questions but it will be in one big lump. Pull what you can outta it, cull the rest.

Yepper I think fans can influence the way a writer writes a story or the way a character is treated in a storyline but only after said writer has had some success with their creation. I believe any story influence by fans wouldn’t show up until maybe the 6th or 7th show and likely not at all the first season. Only then with some success I think a creator may choose to write specifically about a character basted on what the fans think and the characters popularity. JMO

Jayne (in the Firefly series) was a character I think heard said was supposed to be killed off. But Joss liked him and he became very popular in the series so the role was expanded and the character remained. Fan influence won’t occur until new stories are written. What writers have in their head in the beginning will be what ends up on the page and therefore the screen and it’s one of the main reasons why the browncoat fandom is so frustrated. The stories were not allowed to reach conclusion or even come close to it. Each crewmember on Serenity have backgrounds ppl want to know about therefore the show coulda went on for several seasons.

It’s not just FF, it’s on any popular television series.

Z

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 9:28 PM

BORIS

I'm irritated when fans think they have the right or the power to change/influence a writer's direction (unless a crappy writer has taken over from a previously brilliant writer)...an example of what gets me peeved:
Doyle died in Angel. I was sad, he was a great character. But characters, like people die even if you love them. so I was mightily irked by all the people who said bad things about that decision. It's a story, and it goes where it goes, like other Art.(aagh why can't I be more succinct?)

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 9:35 PM

MORGUL

I know. And I love the mysterious backgrounds in Firefly...OK, I just plain love Firefly.

One of the main reasons I chose this topic for me paper is the influence fans have had on Firefly. In terms of impact, the BDM is the ultimate, innit?

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007 11:22 PM

WYTCHCROFT

Quote:
Originally posted by Morgul:

A) How do you think fans can positively influence a text, i.e. ensuring it remains in circulation; influencing the texts construction; having the text cancelled or discontinued; revived or extended; rediscovering a text?

ensuring it remains in circulation... well the browncoats have kept serenity the movie* 'live' with charity screenings - firefly gets donated to firefighters, shindigs and misc projects galore! Websites - like this one - kick up one hell of a fuss.

(*which only got MADE thanks to the fans!)

people like haken (here) have made sure even unscreened episodes such as Dead or Alive - or the original pilot can be found and read in script form.

as for influencing a text? well, all those years ago - sherlock holmes fans made sue he came back from the dead!
star trek the motion picture has a more obsessive introverted kirk - that owes to the fan writings of the time. (new voyages etc)
Lucas star wars prequels had to cope with a massively epanded universe c/o novels, comics and fan writings.
the same will apply to serenity II - a film everyone here wants to see (or firefly 2 wotever) but might just be disappointed by - what if wash is still dead... etc
some fans hereabouts can get a bit 'MISERY', y'know what i mean?
the same happened with tara in buffy - infact joss has had to bend over and be nice to very hostile pro-tara fans at times.

i hope the only influence on the writers of whatever comes next is enthusiasm and that's all.

Quote:
B) What meta- and extra-textual explorations occur around a central text? (i.e. conventions; collecting and trading; fanfiction, etc...)

go to the useful links thread for fics, songs and films!: http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=30685
we even have serenity jewelry and (quality) bookmarks!
FF fans are a gorram bunch of miracle workers creatively speaking!:)

Quote:
C) Are fans exploited by the texts they value?

at the end of the day - yes... we are CONSUMERS. bluntly - we swallow as much product as we can tryna pursuade universal that there's a market for more! BUT on that score - we get GOOD product generally and are well treated as a fan base whose core text is outside the mainstream.

Quote:
D) In which manner might the texts work to encourage or accomodate fans and their various desires?

hmmm - well in the BDM every character gets a little 'moment' - but this (especially with a crew of NINE) must be really HARD!

stay shiny!:)

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 12:51 AM

MORGUL

You are fantastic!

That's precisely what I want to write, I just need back up.

That's the problem with essays, eh? Can't just have out with what you want to say, someone else has to do it first.

*kicks the academic structure*

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