Tyler Oakley on Fandoms.

Oakley T, (2014), Fandoms, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6lH_r4AsT4,(Accessed: 3/5/14)

This is a video from the Youtube Vlogger Tyler Oakley discussing his own group of fans and referring to them as a fandom. He discusses how referring to his own group of fans can cause misinterpretations due to the negative image which seems to have developed around fandoms over the past couple of years. Well known fandoms are publicised and are well known for their wrong doing and crazy reactions over the simple fact that they are a group of people with a similar interest allowing their given idol/idols to do what they do. It seems that today people are starting to fear to associate with the idea of a fandom due to its negative connotations. These negative connotations are mainly down to bad press and viral images across social media, so in reality, the thing which allows fandoms to grow is also their downfall.

The Internet is Magic:Exploring the Wonderful World of 'My Little Pony' Fandom in Bronies.

An interesting excerpt from an online article about the origination and activities of 'Bronies', adult fans of the cartoon 'My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic'.

The excerpt addresses the power of the internet to bring together fans and like minded people on mass, to form fandoms that could of previously been too niche to exist, or simply would not be discussed in reality.

The Full article can be found here.

A Brony Tale Trailer

A trailer for a film exploring the 'Brony' phenomenon. A fandom that consists largely of adult males who enjoy the latest reboot of the 'My Little Pony' franchise 'My Little Pony: friendship is magic'. The Film is made from the perspective of one of the shows voice actors and takes a look at fan activities such as conventions and meetups aswell as interviewing individual members of the fandom.



I think the film aims to dispel some of the stigma that is un-doubfully associated with adult men showing interest in something intended for little girls

'The Industrial Identity Crisis'

Taken from 'The Industrial Identity Crisis' David A . Locher. Featured in 'Youth Culture:Identity in a postmodern world' 

The essay discusses the factors necessary for a subculture to successfully form and includes a case study of a potential subculture that 'failed to identify itself' and therefore failed to establish. I was drawn to this particular excerpt as it addresses the elitism of certain subcultures, using music fandoms as an example. The need for someone to construct an entire personality, including dress-sense, likes and dislikes in order to fit into a clique.

'Fan creativity and it's dissemination in the internet era.'

Taken from 'Copyright Law, Fan Practices, and the Rights of the Author'- Rebecca  Tushnnet
Featured in 'Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World'

The essay discusses the legality and possible damages that could be posed by fan generated content, such as music, youtube videos or fan-fictions. This particular excerpt discusses just how saturated the internet is with such content, and the risk of characters associated with a much more innocent fan base being portrayed explicitly (either sexually or violently).

Plante C. N, Roberts S E, Reyson S, Gerbasi K C, (2013), '"One of us":Engagement with Fandoms and global citizenship identification.', Phycology of Popular Media Culture, Vol.3 (No.1 49-64), Page 50.

This article looks at how a persons values can link with what fandom grouping they choose to incorporate themselves in. This suggests that fandoms link people with more than just a liking of a band, game, film but links people with similar personalities and traits/ beliefs. Different fandoms have different beliefs, motto's, views and ways in which they behave which distinguish the fandom, this is built slowly by all the different personalities of the fans leaking together.

Journal article - Secret Identities

This is an article I found in the journal 'CineAction: Documentary and Superheroes'. It covers the documentary 'Confessions of a Superhero' and the individual in this documentary who dresses as Superman on the streets of Hollywood; Christopher Dennis. It makes for an interesting read as it delves into the psyche of the particular individual and his fanaticism of Superman.

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Yockey, M (2009) 'Secret Identities: The superhero simulacrum and the nation', CineAction: Documentary and Superheroes, 77, pp.34-41