Here’s a roundup of stories on the meaning of fandom that might be of interest to fans:
- Indonesian filmmaker, Mouly Surya wants to explore the great influence from Japanese culture on Indonesia’s younger generation and is planning a movie titled Fandom Diary, which is itself inspired from Western “movies like ‘Almost Famous’ and also documentaries on The Beatles’ fans. There are so many things that we can explore about the differences between fandom in those days and now.” Her film will not be a documentary but “a dark comedy feature. It will highlight the different identities of many Indonesian teenagers, both online and offline” and will focus on involvement with “the J-Pop boy bands to comics and anime costume play.”
- A post on Muppet Central asked about the likelihood of fandom growth with new projects and speculates on the pluses and minuses of being “the world and internet’s most under the radar fandom.” While enjoying the reactions of the general public to Muppet fare, the poster writes “I have a feeling the majority of Muppet fans are NOT online, or at least arent on here or TP. Im hoping Disney finally does a Muppet fan weekend celebration to bring out all the closested Muppet nerds:) Still, would be cool to see more Muppet geeks out there at conventions that I go to or out and about…tho in a way, its kind of nice to have it more underground and have it still be kind of a cool secret you kind of have to discover.”
- While hardcore Muppet fans may be wanting some more company, at least one football fan celebrates the joys of being alone. “It used to be a given that my friends would meet up at someone’s house each week. And this year, only four out of 12 of us bothered to show up for our fantasy draft barbecue. The Bowling Alone effect isn’t just for participatory sports any more. In this age of fantasy football and DVR, rooting for your favorite team has become a pastime that’s best enjoyed by yourself, hunkered down in a fandom isolation chamber. We are now millions of audiences of one.”
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