- Media coverage of fandom has increased enormously but still has a long way to go in terms of understanding fan activities. TechTimes recently examined Twitter activity around the HBO show Looking and erected a dichotomy between parody Twitter accounts and fanfic. “It might seem far-fetched to think of Twitter parody as a form of fanfiction, but there is one link that connects the two genres in a dogmatic yet infallible way: the necessity of a reference point.”
- At The Daily Mirror, marveling at fanfic word counts on Fanfiction.net counted as a news report. “A Coronation Street superfan has written a story about feisty factory boss Carla Connor that is longer than the Bible.” The post concluded with a list of high wordcount, multichapter stories without ever analyzing the content itself.
- A post at Movie Pilot claiming to provide a history of fandom managed to write an overview of comics and media fandom without once mentioning the existence of fanworks. “Nowadays, it’s a serious thing to be a fan. To be a fan may mean you enjoyed a movie – or it may mean you want to debate its finer points, comparing its continuity with one earlier in a series. To be a fan may mean buying a Director’s Cut with extra scenes, so you can better understand elements of the plot; it may mean picking up the strangest tie-ins imaginable, up to and including survival guides to an alien world; and it may mean becoming part of a community that shows every sign of flourishing.”
- A post on io9 suggested that fandom documentaries are responsible for overcompensating and projecting only positive stories about fans and fandoms, leading to inaccurate portrayals of their topic. “By now, the formula for a geek doc has been set: collect shots of fans getting fannish (wacky costumes a must), follow a few special geeks in depth, drop in a celebrity host to make it legit. There must be at least one couple who found love through the fandom, and at least five people from Portland. Yet all too often, even the most heartfelt fan docs feel hollow. To figure out why, it’s time to revisit the granddaddy of the genre, and still one of the best: Roger Nygard’s 1997 film Trekkies.”
What do you think have been the most accurate portrayals of fans and fandom in the media? Write about them in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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