- Supernatural ‘s 200th episode focused on fangirls. Showrunner Jeremy Carver said “’Over the past couple of years we’ve seen a real, real swing in the number of 13, 14, and 15 year old female [fans] — girl who have been watching the show — and I for one have been really struck by at Comic Con this year [how] most of our questions seemed to come from young women,’ Carver said. ‘And they were really funny and really smart, and they were going toe-to-toe with the boys, and we were like ‘We’ve got to give these women a platform and a voice and a point of view. It just felt like a way to give back.’”
- Reactions to the show differed. This ranged from acknowledging the change in fangirl portrayal to pointing out how there are still gaps in their portrayal and complaints about the episode’s overall message. “But in the end, that comes as pretty damn condescending. Fans – readers – are going to have their own interpretations no matter what. They’re going to imagine what their favorite characters had for breakfast, fill in the blanks that the author didn’t get in, and wonder about the possibilities, because that’s in the very nature of fiction…Virgil didn’t need Homer’s permission to write fan fiction about Aeneas, and Milton certainly didn’t ask God for permission to write a twelve-book fan fic about Satan.” At least one outlet noted about Season 10 that fanfiction was giving the Demon Dean storyline a more “emotionally satisfying conclusion.”
- At Highbrow Magazine, Sandra Canosa wrote about the importance of teenybopper fangirls. “Fandom does not exist solely within a vacuum, especially in today’s Internet age. There are legions of sites, Facebook groups, and Twitter conversations that, while born out of fandom, often develop into meaningful bonding moments between girls. Belieber and Directioner forums combine threads of celebrity gossip with conversations about love, relationships, and understanding one’s own body in a communal space largely between and within other like-minded girls. By actively participating in an audience fan culture, teens can also find meaningful experiences outside the realm of the commercial machine.”
- At The Daily Californian Rosemarie Alejandrino wrote about the evolution of fangirling. “Back in the olden days — circa 2006 — there were no Twitter Q&As or follow sprees. If you wanted to interact with your favorite star, you had to wait at your desktop computer for three hours while a blog.tv livestream buffered on your Dell family computer, slurping instant noodles while popping in and out of spam-ridden chat rooms for the chance of a shout out from your favorite boyband.”
What do you think perfectly captures fangirls? Write about it in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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