Supplemental Post 2 - Lilla

As I was reading the Jenkins article, I made the jarring realization that I, too, judge fandoms. Especially ones that I am part of. I think the sentiment stems from exclusivity and group thinking that in the past have made fandoms seem intimidating, exclusive and elitist to me — everything the Newsweek article Jenkins cites describes them as. When talking about fan fiction, Jenkins describes fans as “loyalists,” insistent on “rescuing essential elements of the primary text” (473). This reminded me of an experience I have had with a fandom I am a part of. I am a huge, huge fan of the 2006 UK teen drama series Skins. I have seen the show countless times in the past ten years and could probably quote the entire first two seasons back to back. Skins divided the show into so-called ‘generations,’ where they replaced the entire cast with new characters every two seasons. There were a total of six seasons and three generations (there was also a seventh season, featuring standalone episodes and returning characters, but for the purpose of this post, that doesn’t count). Of course, with three generations, there emerged a group of Skins ‘purists,’ who claimed that you’re only a true fan of the show if you acknowledge that the first generation is superior to the rest. Some of them have even refused to watch latter seasons out of principle, and have bullied actors from later generations on social media. They even turned against the creators of the show, arguing that they compromised quality and ‘Americanized’ it for global audiences, and increased the stakes to the extent that the shows core tenet of relatability was no longer recognizable.

It is fairly common for TV shows to decrease in quality in latter season (and I also happen to agree that the first two seasons of the show are the best) but I found the animosity purists have towards fans of the latter seasons is incredibly alienating. Of course, this show is by no means unique to this phenomenon — there are technology purists, Star Wars purists, purists for pretty much anything. But it was the first experience I had where I felt alienated from a fandom that I was part of because they created a hierarchy where not everybody is welcome. If fandoms are supposed to be places for “marginalized subcultural groups” (472), why does there have to be further marginalization? Why are you ‘not a real fan’ if you like a different season better, of if you can’t quote all the episodes back to back, or don’t have the theme song of the show as your ring tone (which I did in high school)? And who creates these arbitrary rules? Why do people in fandoms have to compete to one-up each other? To me, fandoms have become more of an alienating space than a welcoming community.