Friday Funday.....Fandoms.

THE BANDERSNATCH

WARNING:

THE BANDERSNATCH BLOG CONTAINS INFORMATION AND OPINIONS THAT THE PUBLIC MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION WILL BE CHECKED AND OPINIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE MAIN BLOGGER HERSELF.

Hey there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Random blog day boo yah. As you should know Fridays is random blog day were we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the crazy realms of the fandoms.

What is a fandom....well a fandom is usually a pretty organised subculture of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy loyalty, camaraderie and love of a common interest. A fandom can grow around any interest or activity and can be narrowly defined by liking a particular celebrity, a book, a sports team or a musical....and can be widely defined as liking a particular hobby, genre or a fashion. Fandoms can be a term used in the broadest sense to refer to the interconnected social networks of individual fandoms which nearly all of them overlap in some way. There are several annual conventions which cater to Fandom such as Comic-Con International, Wonder Con, Dragon Con, San Diego Comic-con and MCM Comic-Con. The Fandoms can also be called the Fan base.

I am part of a variety of fandoms especially tied to The Lord of the rings, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Big Bang Theory, both Star Trek and Star Wars, The Hunger Games and several others besides. I have been part of these fandoms for a very long time, ever since I was a child really. Now a days there are many ways to communicate with others in your fandom and in others such as over the internet and through conventions. It's a great way to make friends with a variety of different people who you may not talk with on a day to day basis.

The first rumblings of a “Fandom” happened when fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's well known character Sherlock Holmes held public demonstrations of mourning when Holmes was “Killed off” in 1893. It wasn't long before fans wrote some of the earliest fan fiction (1897 to 1902). outside the media Railway enthusiasts can be considered another early fandom with its roots in the late 19^th century and gaining popularity and organisation in the early 20^th century.

Science fiction fandom sprang up in the early 1970's thanks to TV shows such as Star Trek and the man from U.N.C.L.E. These franchises spurred fans to generate fan art and fan fiction at a time when typical science fiction had everyone focused on critical discussions. By the mid 1970's fans started gathering together to discuss not only fan fiction but the TV shows and movies they saw on both the TV screens and the silver screens. Anime and Manga started springing fandoms over in Japan in the 1970's as well with many fans bringing over anime to the states with subtitles before general release causing a group of fan subs to emerge.

During the 1980's another fandom sprang up in the concept of the Furries. The Furries are pretty much fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human characteristics and personalities. This can be led back to a drawing of a character from Steve Gallacci's Albedo Anthropomorphics and this initiated a discussion of such characters to be used in science fiction novels which spurred on more discussion groups at both science fiction and comic conventions.

There are many notable fandoms all with their own names such as the Potterheads (Harry Potter), Trekkies/Trekkers (Star Trek), Whovians (Doctor Who), Furries (Anthropomorphic suits), Bronies (my little pony fans-usually guys), Brown coats (Firefly fans) and more.

The power of fandoms is indeed strong, having inspired feature length documentaries such as Trekkies (1997), Ringers: Lord of the fans (2005), and others. The Fandoms have also on occasion been organised on behalf of cancelled TV series. With notable success with Star Trek (1968), Firefly (2002 resulted in the movie Serenity not another season), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), Roswell (2000 and 2001) and more. Fans not only used word of mouth and emails but would often use Twitter, Kick-starter Campaigns and Facebook to continue movies and TV shows as well. Even when unsuccessful such outcries prove that there is a growing self-consciousness on the part of the entertainment consumers/fans with many willing to assert their power as a bloc. Fan activism can and often works to support Strikes such as the 2007writers guild of America strike.

To me like many other people being part of a fandom gives you a safe place within a community with other like minded people to share thoughts and ideas about particular pieces of work not everyone will understand. In a world where intolerance, misunderstanding and strife are still around. Having a community where tolerance is not only expected but accepted unconditionally. The fandoms can also be a place where such values can be taught, shared and generated especially if the TV show/Book and/or Movie promotes it.

And there you have it, we'll be leaving this here for today. Please be considerate when you leave a comment. Share with others if you want or not. Tuesday is book blog day and remember all abuse will be tracked and reported to the appropriate people.

THIS IS THE BANDERSNATCH, I'M MAMA OGRE AND REMEMBER STAY WEIRD, STAY WACKY, STAY WONDEROUS AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON...