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telarynIf you’ve been reading this LJ for any length of time since I first fell in love with this show, you’ve noticed that my posts on the subject tend to be less on the introspective side and more on the squee-fully incoherent “oh Boys!” “Oh, Show!” level. Especially this season.
What can I say? I’m fairly shallow when it comes to such things, and SPN feeds that in me like a gourmet chef with an unlimited budget.
(Besides…have you seen the actors?)
Almost from the moment I was able to stop giggling at episode 4 X 18, however – I started thinking. The wank has already hit Journalfen. Less than twenty-four hours, which honestly anyone with any sort of realistic awareness of fandoms in general and SPN fandom in particular figured was going to happen sooner than it did.
Spoiler-free summary? The show outed their fandom. It was impressively woven into the fabric of the season’s mytharc – but they busted us completely.
They even mentioned slashfic. Wincest slashfic, to be specific. And the character’s reactions in the context of the show were pretty much what you’d expect a) given those particular characters b) how any marginally sane person would react if they discovered that legions of people they never met were writing porn about them getting it on with their close relatives.
Not surprisingly, fandom go boom. A large chunk of us (myself included) thought it was the funniest, most awesome thing ever.
A different section of the fandom?
Most of the debate (if there can be a debate) has focused on the show’s intent. Were they laughing with us? Or at us?
I tried to find the perfect example (in my opinion) of a show (or in this case an actor) laughing *at* its fan base, but surprisingly Youtube doesn’t seem to have it. I’m referring, of course, to the infamous “Get a Life” speech on Saturday Night Live in the mid 80’s. Hey SPN fandom – you want to know what it’s really like to be mocked for your fannish pursuits? Talk to a Trek fan for an hour. They’ve collectively taken more shit than any other fan base in existence for longer than a good chunk of people upset about this episode have been alive.
4 X 18 poked fun at us, yes. But looking at our behavior and how it was laid out in the show – can any of us honestly say they weren’t justified? Take the scene with the editor/fangirl: she knew all kinds of obsessively trivial details about Sam and Dean, and she had taken her love for the “characters” far enough that she got a tattoo matching their anti-possession tattoos.
I *own* a replica of Dean’s amulet. More than that – I’ve worn it. Repeatedly. In public.
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crevette isn’t a fan of SPN, but her knowledge of Orlando Bloom rivals anything this chick threw down in the course of the episode.
And yet, Editor-girl wasn’t portrayed as a dorky, unattractive lump of social maladjustment. Nothing was said about her moving out of her parent’s basement and getting a life. She was shown as a cute (okay somewhat stereotypical) “edgy”, gothic type female.
They didn’t have to do that.
Then there was the checking of the “fan forums” and the Wincest “reveal”. The forum they were checking out…well, if they weren’t *actually* logged on to Television Without Pity – it was clear to anyone in the know that they were supposed to be. Simpatico? The one Dean responded to with “screw you – we lived it?”
Actual TWoP poster. I read her reaction to the episode this morning. She’s a little stunned, but quite amused at being singled out by the show as a representative of the more vocal sort of fan. “Samgirls” and “Deangirls” are legitimate fannish terms as well – used again mostly on TWoP.
Regarding the Wincest reveal…personally I thought it was a wonderful balance between spot-on characterization (seriously – how would you react if you were in Sam and Dean’s shoes and this shit was being portrayed about *you*?) and comfortable ambiguity. Those fangirls loudly wailing that SPN has now jossed Wincest clearly aren’t thinking it through creatively enough.
Again, the show didn’t have to throw in that ambiguity. They could have gone the route of Sam and Dean loudly proclaiming that they would *never* do that, that it would *never* happen in a million years. They didn’t. They left the opportunity for the fans to cling to their fantasies – they just made it so we had to work for it a little harder.
I think the final argument in favor of them laughing with us, not at us, was that they sent themselves up in the episode just as thoroughly as they did all of us. Chuck’s apology for making Sam and Dean live through the bad writing in “Bugs” and “Ghost Ship” had me howling with laughter all over again because…so true! Hell, if he’d apologized for mishandling Bela’s storyline my joy would have known no bounds.
Also, Chuck’s confrontation with Sam about his dark-side behavior was pure, unadulterated genius. In one scene, Chuck became the voice of fan concern without really ever stepping out of the storyline. I took it as TPTB saying “yes, we know you’re worried about this…trust us”.
And if you do something like that with a bit of style and a wink of humor, I’m okay with riding it out and seeing where you’ll take me.
There’s anonymity to being a fan on the internet. You can squee and geek out and be as dorky as you want about something, and you never have to look anyone in the eye and own it. I guess if I stretch some I can see where people feel uncomfortable with the way SPN “violated” that safety. Where I do think people are overreacting is in feeling that TPTB did it maliciously or with the intent to hurt or offend their fans.
In a perfect world, everybody who was truly insulted by this episode (I’m not talking to casual watchers here – I’m talking active fandom types) would be able to step back and see that what we do *is* ridiculous. The thing is…what we do is no more ridiculous than a soap opera fan or a football fan, or any other kind of truly passionate pursuit. The object of our devotion just happens to be willing to acknowledge our obsessive tendencies and I *think* encourage us all to own our dorkiness.
Because frankly? It’s fun.
What can I say? I’m fairly shallow when it comes to such things, and SPN feeds that in me like a gourmet chef with an unlimited budget.
(Besides…have you seen the actors?)
Almost from the moment I was able to stop giggling at episode 4 X 18, however – I started thinking. The wank has already hit Journalfen. Less than twenty-four hours, which honestly anyone with any sort of realistic awareness of fandoms in general and SPN fandom in particular figured was going to happen sooner than it did.
Spoiler-free summary? The show outed their fandom. It was impressively woven into the fabric of the season’s mytharc – but they busted us completely.
They even mentioned slashfic. Wincest slashfic, to be specific. And the character’s reactions in the context of the show were pretty much what you’d expect a) given those particular characters b) how any marginally sane person would react if they discovered that legions of people they never met were writing porn about them getting it on with their close relatives.
Not surprisingly, fandom go boom. A large chunk of us (myself included) thought it was the funniest, most awesome thing ever.
A different section of the fandom?
Most of the debate (if there can be a debate) has focused on the show’s intent. Were they laughing with us? Or at us?
I tried to find the perfect example (in my opinion) of a show (or in this case an actor) laughing *at* its fan base, but surprisingly Youtube doesn’t seem to have it. I’m referring, of course, to the infamous “Get a Life” speech on Saturday Night Live in the mid 80’s. Hey SPN fandom – you want to know what it’s really like to be mocked for your fannish pursuits? Talk to a Trek fan for an hour. They’ve collectively taken more shit than any other fan base in existence for longer than a good chunk of people upset about this episode have been alive.
4 X 18 poked fun at us, yes. But looking at our behavior and how it was laid out in the show – can any of us honestly say they weren’t justified? Take the scene with the editor/fangirl: she knew all kinds of obsessively trivial details about Sam and Dean, and she had taken her love for the “characters” far enough that she got a tattoo matching their anti-possession tattoos.
I *own* a replica of Dean’s amulet. More than that – I’ve worn it. Repeatedly. In public.
crevette isn’t a fan of SPN, but her knowledge of Orlando Bloom rivals anything this chick threw down in the course of the episode.And yet, Editor-girl wasn’t portrayed as a dorky, unattractive lump of social maladjustment. Nothing was said about her moving out of her parent’s basement and getting a life. She was shown as a cute (okay somewhat stereotypical) “edgy”, gothic type female.
They didn’t have to do that.
Then there was the checking of the “fan forums” and the Wincest “reveal”. The forum they were checking out…well, if they weren’t *actually* logged on to Television Without Pity – it was clear to anyone in the know that they were supposed to be. Simpatico? The one Dean responded to with “screw you – we lived it?”
Actual TWoP poster. I read her reaction to the episode this morning. She’s a little stunned, but quite amused at being singled out by the show as a representative of the more vocal sort of fan. “Samgirls” and “Deangirls” are legitimate fannish terms as well – used again mostly on TWoP.
Regarding the Wincest reveal…personally I thought it was a wonderful balance between spot-on characterization (seriously – how would you react if you were in Sam and Dean’s shoes and this shit was being portrayed about *you*?) and comfortable ambiguity. Those fangirls loudly wailing that SPN has now jossed Wincest clearly aren’t thinking it through creatively enough.
Again, the show didn’t have to throw in that ambiguity. They could have gone the route of Sam and Dean loudly proclaiming that they would *never* do that, that it would *never* happen in a million years. They didn’t. They left the opportunity for the fans to cling to their fantasies – they just made it so we had to work for it a little harder.
I think the final argument in favor of them laughing with us, not at us, was that they sent themselves up in the episode just as thoroughly as they did all of us. Chuck’s apology for making Sam and Dean live through the bad writing in “Bugs” and “Ghost Ship” had me howling with laughter all over again because…so true! Hell, if he’d apologized for mishandling Bela’s storyline my joy would have known no bounds.
Also, Chuck’s confrontation with Sam about his dark-side behavior was pure, unadulterated genius. In one scene, Chuck became the voice of fan concern without really ever stepping out of the storyline. I took it as TPTB saying “yes, we know you’re worried about this…trust us”.
And if you do something like that with a bit of style and a wink of humor, I’m okay with riding it out and seeing where you’ll take me.
There’s anonymity to being a fan on the internet. You can squee and geek out and be as dorky as you want about something, and you never have to look anyone in the eye and own it. I guess if I stretch some I can see where people feel uncomfortable with the way SPN “violated” that safety. Where I do think people are overreacting is in feeling that TPTB did it maliciously or with the intent to hurt or offend their fans.
In a perfect world, everybody who was truly insulted by this episode (I’m not talking to casual watchers here – I’m talking active fandom types) would be able to step back and see that what we do *is* ridiculous. The thing is…what we do is no more ridiculous than a soap opera fan or a football fan, or any other kind of truly passionate pursuit. The object of our devotion just happens to be willing to acknowledge our obsessive tendencies and I *think* encourage us all to own our dorkiness.
Because frankly? It’s fun.
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(no subject)
4/4/09 19:07 (UTC)Yes. Yes to all of this. :)
(no subject)
4/4/09 19:47 (UTC)(no subject)
5/4/09 15:59 (UTC)Plus, "I am the Prophet Chuck" will never *not* be hysterical.
(no subject)
4/4/09 21:00 (UTC)I think the fans that are all "How dare they?!?!" have lost their sense of humor. That's a very sad thing. I would be willing to put of posters in my neighborhood (like people do for lost dogs) to help them find it again.
(no subject)
5/4/09 19:55 (UTC)