Supernatural is not the Jersey Shore of Fandom (An Essay)

[girlguidejones]

This started out as a simple comment reply to the post referenced below, but it kept growing until it felt tangential enough to warrant a post on my own journal, rather than monopolizing someone else's.  If anyone's a lover of irony, it should be noted that the last time I posted was back on June 3, which was to rec a story with the pairing (which

Comments

[missyjack]

O Word! Seriously anyone who thinks wank or crazy fans is unique or more prevalent in SPN fandom needs to get out more ;D

Also - people talk about fandom as if real life isn't full of exactly the same behaviour! Any subculture whether its queer or leftie or kink or environmental or your local church or tennis or bikie club is full of exactly the same behavior.

[girlguidejones]

Oh! Yes. Your point about RL having the same challenges is spot-on. I couldn't agree more.

Yeah, I dunno why so many ppl say things about how they're going to stay out of SPN fandom, as if that will solve everything. Silly rabbits!

[missyjack]

I think its also that people like to feel better about their own behavior by saying "oh but yes the real crazy is over there!" and I sometimes think there's a little bit of envy involved, from people who aren't part of the best fandom in town ;D

[girlguidejones]

Ha! You are no doubt correct on both counts.

[errant_jane]

Mind if I set my rocking chair here next to yours? I agree with you completely. The whole "Oh, it's Supernatural..." thing kills me. It's the same old same old wrapped up in a new package. Smallville also had it's share of wank, though I don't know that it ever got to the level of HP or Buffy.

I always laugh when people are all, "Come to [shiny new fandom]! There is no wank!" That's because it's shiny and new. Just wait. The wank will happen in due time. It always does.

[girlguidejones]

There is plenty of room on the porch, although *you* are far too youthful to be a Hag. <3 ;)

Smallville! Yes. Do you remember when fangirls WERE saying that about SPN? How we were the happy fandom? Good times! LOL

[errant_jane]

I prefer Queen to Hag. ;D I think in fannish terms, I am nearing ancient. *sigh*

I DO REMEMBER! Supernatural was so shiny and happy! Gen, Het and Wincesters living together in harmony! It was all hand-holding and rainbows and checking to make sure everyone survived the S1 finale.

It was like the safe haven for bitter, disgruntled Buffy, SV and Angel fans. Oh, the soothing balmitude of early Supernatural! ;_;

Also, tonight I am watching Highlander episodes and feeling all nostalgic. Duncan/Methos = my first OTP <3

[girlguidejones]

I think we all FEEL ancient, some days. :)

Sometimes I think the halflife of a happy fandom equals the lifespan of a fruitfly. Heh.

Fox and Dana totes agree

[tjournal]

I don't consider a fandom real until there's been wank.

Wank is human nature (see: politics. And high school.). How you manage it in fandom is a lot like you manage it in life - if you keep pretending it only exists HERE and if you go THERE it'll be gone, then you're missing some key information that will effect future life choices.

<3

Re: Fox and Dana totes agree

[girlguidejones]

if you keep pretending it only exists HERE and if you go THERE it'll be gone, then you're missing some key information that will effect future life choices.

Trufax! I find it silly (and a little insulting) when people make "SPN? Oh, THAT explains it!" comments. The show isn't the problem; human nature is. The high school analogy is SWEET. As soon as I get my hands on a Tardis I'm going back in time to re-write this post and STEAL it. \0/

[mecurtin]

I'll see your rocking chair and raise you a cane, which I shake at those young 'uns and their dumb music. Because I remember hearing about:

dueSouth's Ray Wars. Talk about a burned-over landscape from which refugees fled, bedraggled.

[girlguidejones]

Ha! The Ray Wars were so epic that even people like me who didn't WATCH Due South know the players. LOL.

[ruthless1]

Oh my god - the Ray wars almost put SPN to shame. And that was such a 'nice' show too - none of the violence of SPN. Except in the fandom......

Except in the fandom....

[girlguidejones]

Ha! You nailed it...

[gretazreta]

Thanks for this! I've seen that "oh, yeah, Supernatural fandom is so CRAZY" thing quite a lot, and I always think: oh, I must be missing something. Or, maybe it's crazy around the corner where I don't live. Or, maybe I'm just actually personally so crazy that I don't NOTICE craziness, so it seems normal to me. Or, you know, my own life is so crazy that it just seems like the kind of eccentricity that makes one affectionate rather than scared.

I used to be defensive on behalf of Show but now I've internalized that to the extent that I really think: Oh, if you don't see the awesome, clearly you're doing it wrong, and I feel sorry for you, as if you were colour-blind, or had no sense of smell, or didn't like eating mangoes. Hm, writing that it seems I've gone from defensive to rather nauseatingly self-satisfied and patronising. AND CRAZY. Don't forget, CRAZY.

[girlguidejones]

You crazy, girl. ;)

You make a good point (even if its just me imagining it!), that we tend to get used to Fans Behaving Badly and we handwave it away, like boys being boys, because we're used to the crazy. And that's part of the problem as well, because real people do get hurt sometimes, and we (I include myself in that we) don't always acknowlege that and make a point to not be part of the problem like we should.

But, really, that's a subject for another post, and this post is not it. Step one is to stop villifying Supernatural as if we are Sauron with the One Ring of Batshit. Until we get people to do that, forward progress will be non-existent.