What I got from that

So previous post was just notes. What I got from that was the historical to the present studies on fandoms and how it has evolved. Pretty much, fandom power and authority has dramatically increased along with the technology as it connects people all over the world who share the same love for the same series. It also allows the fans to contact the actual production, actors and all others affiliated with the fandom. It opened the doors to an infinite amount of possibilities to different ways for fan activites. You can now share your fanfiction, fan art, fan videos, conspiracies, thoughts and desires with the rest of the world.

Fandom itself is the result of popular culture which can range from music to literary works. I want to focus on televsion and film franchises. It has evolved into a prominent subculture and even a whole different society that gains more and more followers everyday. They have their own language (fanspeak e.g. shipping is supporting two fictional characters romantic relationship), their own subtle and (un)spoken/written rules of fandom society (dress codes for conventions, heirarchy), places of gathering (both physical and virtual. Online forums, fansites, real life conventions etc.) and their own forms of literature and art (fanfics, fanart, fanvids, fanmusic/filk)

Basically "fandomism" is people developing a strong bond or connection to original popular culture material and wanting to take that franchise out of the realm of fantasy and fiction and manifesting it in reality through their active participation in fandoms. Through connecting with others who share this love and need, they begin to gather and mass and create a whole community. This is made easy especially through the internet.

Here's a little thing I came up with:

1. Obsession with a fandom ->
2. Obsession with a fictional character ->
3. To obsession with the actor who plays or embodies that character ->
4. To obsession with trying to find what other works they have done ->
5. Obsession with another film/ televsion show that actor has worked in ->
6. Obsession with new character(s) in that show ->
7. Obsession with the actor who plays that character ->
8. and so on and so forth.

e.g.

1. Obsessed with the novel and film Hunger Games ->
2. Obsession with the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen ->
3. Obsession with Jennifer Lawrence who played that character in the film ->
4. Look into what other films or shows she has done; the most popular one being X-Men:First Class ->
5. Become obsessed with the character Erik/Magneto ->
6. Obsession with Michael Fassbender who plays that character ->
7. His other prominent films include Jane Eyre, Inglorious Basterds and Prometheus >
8. Become obsessed with one of those and the process begins again.

It's a vicious cycle of fandom.

Now what I have to do is figure out how all of this influences and impacts on a personal identity(micro level) and/or the media culture (network production, actors etc. This is macro level)