A media Fan is seen as a subject that is trivialized and dismissed and so this essay will investigate how a fan is a ‘complex and contradictory arena for critical enquiry’ A fan is depicted to be obsessed, lonely and false worshippers but fans can be more than that as they can be active producers that develop their own meanings from the media. This essay will discuss how fans are seen as destructive and deviant as well as how they can be useful textual poachers who construct their own culture from materials. Relevant examples will be included as evidence.
A fan is abbreviated from the word fanatic which means someone who is overly obsessed with a specific celebrity (Jenkins, 1992:12). A fan is normally someone who has an interest in a celebrity and sees them as an icon and someone they can identify with due to Jenkins (1992:13). Fans are seen as less important and are often looked at negatively, fans are seen as brainless consumers who spend their whole lives watching television, they are seen as people who place a huge emphasis and importance on material things, they are social misfits and are normally emotionally immature (Jenkins, 1992:10). Fans tend to find it difficult to differentiate between reality and fantasy for example they watch a television show or movie and become so devoted to it that they think the story and actors are real. An example of this is the fans of Star Trek as these fans become so obsessed with the show that it takes over their whole lives