I would not consider myself a “super-fan” of any television series or movie franchise. I do not paint my face and go to conventions or spend time re-working my ideal scenes onto the web to help soothe other followers who felt we have been wronged by the writers for killing off a certain character or leaving us with a cliff hanger. However, this was prior to Henry Jenkins clarifying to me “How Texts Become Real”.
I now know that I may be a bit more of a fan than I expected. One undeniable example is of the television show The Walking Dead, and I blame this obsession on my dad for insisting on watching marathons of it before each season (AND mid-season) premiere. While I do not physically write down my own contorts of stories, I do internalize ideal scenarios so much so as to have had dreams inspired by the show.
Even programs like Spongebob Squarepants have attracted unsuspecting followers like myself. Just yesterday within the course of fifteen minutes I found I had used popular references from the show twice in conversation with my boyfriend. It somewhat interested me that I quote a talking cartoon sponge more than any philosopher or writer.
Similarly along these lines, one of my good friends is doing a study in her graduate program regarding “What your television waatch-list says about you”. I believe there are some interesting things to collect about what programs speak to you and what you can gain about yourself by understanding these ideas. I’ll leave you with an example from my own conversation withe my researching friend(let’s call her A).
A: What was the first movie to make you cry?
ME: wow, I can’t even remember, theres been a lot.
A: Go as far back as you can remember, early childhood.
ME: Nope, still remember crying during a lot of children movies.
A: That means you’re a sap.
ME You’re getting credit to write about this?
