- Kristin Bezio wrote at The Learned Fangirl about responses to a post on Anita Sarkeesian, and defended critical fandom. “This commenter clearly has no concept of how popular culture reflects and shapes society, and I’m fairly certain I’m not going to be able to convince him (presumably) that it does, since he appears to be one of those people who doesn’t realize that his opinions about the universe have been constructed by his life-long exposure to media (including games) and society. Clearly his opinions were plopped into his brain by Truth Itself.”
- Rockford College Radio’s The Sports Ethicist looked at fandom paradoxes. “In her paper, ‘Being a Sports Fan: Paradox and Intrinsic Value,’ Prof. Gwen Bradford (Rice University) defends a view of the value of being a sports fan based on the idea that it is a good thing for fans to value the good of their team winning. This, however, seems to lead to a paradox because fans do not value the same good when their team’s opponents win. Prof. Bradford and Shawn Klein discuss the value of being a fan, this paradox, and other issues arising in fandom.” (No transcript available).
- At The Effingham Daily News, Ryan Czachorski also looked at sports fandom and changing allegiances. “[L]et’s all don all our colors and logos and apparel, and keep it at that. Most people around here can root for the Cardinals, some will root for the White Sox, and I’ll root for the Cubs until they break my spirit (ETA: May 12). And when St. Louis finishes better, don’t ask me to convert. It’s just not going to happen. I mean, come on, I have a Cubs bathing suit. We’re past the point of no return here.”
- The New York Observer wrote about the demise of a site which always cast a critical eye on culture: Television Without Pity. “See, this is what you get when you take a buyout from Bravo/NBC (as TVWoP did in 2008)—the off-chance that you’ll be unplugged, and that your death will be noted in a roundup of other sites, like DailyCandy, which are also being taken offline by your parent company. We cannot overstate the importance of the site that spawned Tara Ariano and all of Previously.TV—it was the site all of my friends and I would read in college to find out about Battlestar and Buffy.”
What critical fandom posts have you seen? Write about them on Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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