Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Power of Fan Made Media
Fan, a word that stems from fanatic. When we think of the word fan, most peoples’ minds go to a person sitting in a basement reenacting Star Wars scenes with his custom made light saber. While some fan maybe doing this, this is a far cry from what is actually going on in the fandom. Fans are what keep a franchise going. Not by just buying tickets, but by talking about it, writing about it and creating media around it. Fan made media is something that has existed for a very long time and it stems from many different things. A franchise is only capable of producing so much media. While fan produced media is endless. These fans create a continuation of the story that they love so much, or for some they create a different path for the characters that they have grown attached to. When, I was a little girl I read the American Girl books. One of the books ended in a way that I didn’t like. I was distraught. My mother, to ease my pain, told me to write my own ending. This idea had never occurred to me before. I never thought I could control the characters that I loved so much. By writing my own ending , I was able to still enjoy a book series that I was more than willing to forget purely because I didn’t like the ending. Because I had the power to rewrite the story I was still able to love this series even more. So why is Hollywood so afraid of fan made media. They bury it down or take it down as if it is something to fear. I understand they made a universe and the creators of that universe made it that way for a reason, but art has always been expanded on and explored. Fan made media can give stagnant franchise or series new life. The creators of these fictional universes have fantastic imaginations that allowed them to create an infinite world, and their fans should be able to explore it as much as possible.
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I also believe that in Hollywood, money is what keeps the franchise going. Hollywood more than likely always makes a film that doesn’t have substance…so they hire good actors, cinematographers, etc. and produce a film to keep the film industry going. While advertising how fantastic the film will be upon its release, millions are spent in promoting all this to the public. I feel like fans come together way before a franchise even begins. For example, let’s look at Harry Potter. People wouldn’t have been so excited if they haven’t read the books way before the movies came out over a decade ago. I feel like Hollywood always manipulates its fan by starting a production on a story that has been very well written by the authors but then when it comes out, it flops. You have all these upset fans that are online talking about how disappointed they are with the Harry Potter, Star Trek, Marvel films. Even though there is power in fan made media, money is what really makes the power in instances like Hollywood.
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