In present day, fans are no different than they were in 1915 with the first fan club. Fans enjoy this participatory culture we now call fandom. Fans today have found a place to belong just as they did all those years ago. There is camaraderie and a sense of family within most fandoms, and they… Continue reading Labors of Love and Why Fans Give to Crowdfunding Campaigns
Category: Fan Labor
Butterflies in the Sky and Why Fans Give
I’ve given some examples of fandom and what happens when fans go the extra mile only to be exploited in some way, and my last case in point for the research of crowdfunding and fandom is the much-loved PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) series, Reading Rainbow. “Butterflies in the sky, I can go twice as high,… Continue reading Butterflies in the Sky and Why Fans Give
Firefly, Serenity and Exploitation
I would like to discuss a few case studies on exploitation, outside of crowdfunding with fandoms. The first will be about the movie Serenity created and directed by Joss Whedon in 2005. The movie was a sequel to the popular cult show Firefly (2002) also created and directed by Whedon The television show aired on the… Continue reading Firefly, Serenity and Exploitation
Amanda Palmer: When Good Things go Bad
Singer/Songwriter Amanda Palmer’s main claim to fame may be her marriage to author Neil Gaiman. But, she was also half of the cult music group The Dresden Dolls. Yet, Palmer is probably most famous, or infamous, to those who know about, and possibly participated in, her Kickstarter campaign. Labeled by many as a hypocrite and… Continue reading Amanda Palmer: When Good Things go Bad
Fan Labor Back in the Golden Age
Back during the Golden Age of Hollywood, some of the first fan clubs were created and with them fan labor. In Samantha Barbas’ book, Movie Crazy: Fans, Stars, and the Cult of Celebrity (2001), she explains the beginning of fan clubs and fan contributions as early as 1910 through to the 1940s. She shares the… Continue reading Fan Labor Back in the Golden Age
Annotated Bibliography
1. Barbas, S. (2001). “Movie Crazy: Fans, Stars, and The Cult of Celebrity” FALGRAVE, St. Martin’s Press. Kindle Edition The fascination of Hollywood started from the beginning. In 1910 citizens who went to the picture show were enamored of the stars on the screen and the behind the scenes stories of how to make movies.… Continue reading Annotated Bibliography
