Shine a light
I assume most of the Supernatural fangirls I know have heard something about an upcoming episode where Sam and Dean go to a, well, Supernatural convention. (I'm still behind on Supernatural, so I dunno if that's the next episode or later down the line or what. Hence, spoiler tag.)
How do we feel about that? Personally, I'm very wary. I'm on record as being (obnoxiously) opposed to most of the things that Supernatural fandom does with its spare time. Even so, I was a little...I had to pause the first time that a Supernatural fan showed up within the show itself. The editor putting out the books was funny, and I still giggle at "I am the Prophet Chuck!" but the meta references since have been a tad mean. This next episode? Looks like it could be outright cruel. Using the one fangirl for laughs once wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also clear that a) the show's runners know that many, many of those girls exist, and b) they are both simultaneously dependent on and spiteful of them.
It's a really--really, really--fine line to walk, poking fun at the people upon whom your paychecks depend. Without the Supernatural fangirls, this show wouldn't have made it past its second (or maybe even its first) season. From all that I've heard, everyone involved with the show is intimately aware of that fact. The actors, especially, which does not surprise me as actors are, forgive the comparison, basically prostitutes. Their paychecks literally depend on their being so likable and accessible that some measure of fantasy--heavily exploited and nurtured in the fandom--is sustained about them. They have to give the illusion of being beholden to fans in ways that the writer, who has more of a dictatorial position--i.e. "You've only got this show you love so much because I make it so."--never will be.
It's very easy to see how one can come to resent that dependence, too. A lot of the cost of celebrity is that you're expected to be always "on." (Writers who don't act skirt this a lot by not being as easily identified.) While I would bet a sizable percentage of people who run into famous people go "Oh, it's So-and-so, that's cool!" and leave that person be, there's an equal percentage who are disproportionately ecstatic. Even if you just say, "Hey, loved you in..." you're removing them from the realm of just being themselves--they're back to being "on" again--to say nothing of what expectations you make of a celebrity when you start openly squeeing all over that person.
Smart celebrities will concentrate their fan exposure at cons, and it is definitely a testament to how good to the fans the Supernatural folk generally are that they can support cons of their own when the show is literally two actors and a writer. (I'm simplifying, but you know I'm right.) But cons create another level of pressure to be "on." Basically, you get no promise to reduce potential harassment (as ivy03 related to me, going to a con is more likely, not less, to result in personal harassment for an actor) at the same time that you're being paid to be there to, well, be bothered. If con appearances could be traded for being left alone for longer periods of time, they'd be perfect vehicles. But they're not.
The flip side of all this is that while I understand creator/celebrity resentment of fans, I also defend fans and the right of them to have their own space away from ridicule. Shining a light on fanfiction is never going to be done in a flattering way. Not on a major TV network show, not even one as genre-isolated as Supernatural. It doesn't help that fanfiction is in a serious gray area, legally-speaking. It's like showcasing peer-to-peer illegal downloaders: no matter how huge a percentage of your audience does that exact thing, it always seems less savory when it's being shown to you. Because even though you do it, you do understand, on some level, that it's not right. I write fanfiction, I read it, but I also differentiate my enjoyment of it from anything original or paid tie-ins. It's funny, isn't it? Our own behaviors that we know are intellectually dishonest but fundamentally harmless are the ones that are most embarrassing when outsiders shine a light on them.
So what will a show that has had its own conventions do with a storyline about conventions thrown in honor of the same series-within-the-show? (That hurt my head to write.) No matter the depth or sincerity of the show runners' involvement with the fandom for their show, they are definitely outsiders to it. They couldn't be insiders even if they wanted to, because they would bring the weight of authority to a place where most things seemed determined either by consensus or on a whim. However, they can be informed outsiders (I think Misha Collins daily proves he is far too well informed about the doings of fandom). Will their humor be knowing, gentle and remonstrative, like the Prophet Chuck tut-tutting over Sam drinking demon blood? Or will it be reactionary, frustrated, and contemptuous, like the fangirl who, very creepily, felt up Sam?
Either way, I'm not sure that fandom comes out the better for this. It's nice to be included with a show you love, but surely not this way.
How do we feel about that? Personally, I'm very wary. I'm on record as being (obnoxiously) opposed to most of the things that Supernatural fandom does with its spare time. Even so, I was a little...I had to pause the first time that a Supernatural fan showed up within the show itself. The editor putting out the books was funny, and I still giggle at "I am the Prophet Chuck!" but the meta references since have been a tad mean. This next episode? Looks like it could be outright cruel. Using the one fangirl for laughs once wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also clear that a) the show's runners know that many, many of those girls exist, and b) they are both simultaneously dependent on and spiteful of them.
It's a really--really, really--fine line to walk, poking fun at the people upon whom your paychecks depend. Without the Supernatural fangirls, this show wouldn't have made it past its second (or maybe even its first) season. From all that I've heard, everyone involved with the show is intimately aware of that fact. The actors, especially, which does not surprise me as actors are, forgive the comparison, basically prostitutes. Their paychecks literally depend on their being so likable and accessible that some measure of fantasy--heavily exploited and nurtured in the fandom--is sustained about them. They have to give the illusion of being beholden to fans in ways that the writer, who has more of a dictatorial position--i.e. "You've only got this show you love so much because I make it so."--never will be.
It's very easy to see how one can come to resent that dependence, too. A lot of the cost of celebrity is that you're expected to be always "on." (Writers who don't act skirt this a lot by not being as easily identified.) While I would bet a sizable percentage of people who run into famous people go "Oh, it's So-and-so, that's cool!" and leave that person be, there's an equal percentage who are disproportionately ecstatic. Even if you just say, "Hey, loved you in..." you're removing them from the realm of just being themselves--they're back to being "on" again--to say nothing of what expectations you make of a celebrity when you start openly squeeing all over that person.
Smart celebrities will concentrate their fan exposure at cons, and it is definitely a testament to how good to the fans the Supernatural folk generally are that they can support cons of their own when the show is literally two actors and a writer. (I'm simplifying, but you know I'm right.) But cons create another level of pressure to be "on." Basically, you get no promise to reduce potential harassment (as ivy03 related to me, going to a con is more likely, not less, to result in personal harassment for an actor) at the same time that you're being paid to be there to, well, be bothered. If con appearances could be traded for being left alone for longer periods of time, they'd be perfect vehicles. But they're not.
The flip side of all this is that while I understand creator/celebrity resentment of fans, I also defend fans and the right of them to have their own space away from ridicule. Shining a light on fanfiction is never going to be done in a flattering way. Not on a major TV network show, not even one as genre-isolated as Supernatural. It doesn't help that fanfiction is in a serious gray area, legally-speaking. It's like showcasing peer-to-peer illegal downloaders: no matter how huge a percentage of your audience does that exact thing, it always seems less savory when it's being shown to you. Because even though you do it, you do understand, on some level, that it's not right. I write fanfiction, I read it, but I also differentiate my enjoyment of it from anything original or paid tie-ins. It's funny, isn't it? Our own behaviors that we know are intellectually dishonest but fundamentally harmless are the ones that are most embarrassing when outsiders shine a light on them.
So what will a show that has had its own conventions do with a storyline about conventions thrown in honor of the same series-within-the-show? (That hurt my head to write.) No matter the depth or sincerity of the show runners' involvement with the fandom for their show, they are definitely outsiders to it. They couldn't be insiders even if they wanted to, because they would bring the weight of authority to a place where most things seemed determined either by consensus or on a whim. However, they can be informed outsiders (I think Misha Collins daily proves he is far too well informed about the doings of fandom). Will their humor be knowing, gentle and remonstrative, like the Prophet Chuck tut-tutting over Sam drinking demon blood? Or will it be reactionary, frustrated, and contemptuous, like the fangirl who, very creepily, felt up Sam?
Either way, I'm not sure that fandom comes out the better for this. It's nice to be included with a show you love, but surely not this way.