What is fandom?

Of course, when you first hear the word ‘fandom’ most people instantly conjour up the image of a geeky looking middle-aged man dressed up as a ‘Star Wars’ character fawning over first edition comic books and life sized action figures. It’s safe to assume that those types of fans do exist, however; fandom is not as face-value as it appears. Everybody is a fan of something and this is why I feel that the study of fandom is so important.

During my research into fandom I spent a lot of time on message boards for certain shows, particularly Lost and Pretty Little Liars. Admittedly because I am a fan of both of these shows so would understand the posts, but more importantly to discover how fans interact with each other. Some fans might gain more cultural capital due to their vast knowledge, memorabilia or connections on the message board.

The term ‘shipping’ circulates a lot amongst message boards and this focuses on the relationships between characters in the media narratives. Some ‘shippers’ read against the grain and ship the relationship of characters who do not have a romantic connection within the fan-object for example ‘shippers’ creating a relationship between Harry and Hermione within the Harry Potter series. Shippers can express their desire by writing fan fiction, creating fan art and also filming fan videos. This enables them to 're-write' the media text in order to adhere to their opinions.


Until this research, I had no idea that there was such a term for being emotionally invested in the relationships of fictional characters, and upon recent reflection I’ve realised that I’m a ‘shipper’. I may not write fan fiction or draw fan art but I do scream at my television when Aria and Ezra get into an argument on the TV series ‘Pretty Little Liars’. “Make up and just be together!” I shout at the screen with such passion. I also acted the exact same way during scenes between Kate and Jack in ‘Lost’.

Team Jate and proud!

In Matt Hills ‘Fan Cultures’ he concludes that audience members have multiple fandoms that change and negotiate over time due to personal taste and cultural context. For example what I liked as a teenager isn’t necessarily what I’m a fan of now. He also expresses how some fans simply cannot express why they are a fan of something, due to the intense pleasure they recieve from their fan-object. Fans can also act defensively when asked questions about their fan-object, and can sometimes be unwilling to accept criticism towards it.

Why am I such a big ‘Lost’ fan? I just am, okay! Shut up!