The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular MediaLisa A. Lewis With stories of hysterical teenagers and obsessive fans killing for their heroes, fans and fandom get a bad press. The Adoring Audience looks deeper into fan culture, particularly as it relates to identity, sexuality and textual production.Star-crazed adolescents camping on pavements for a glimpse of their adored figure. Obsessive fans who kill for their heroes. Housewives immersed in escapist fantasy. Hysterical teenage girls, soap addicts and rock music 'groupies'.Fans get a bad press. The familiar images of fandom are loaded with negative stereotypes and labels of deviancy. Yet in many ways we are all 'fans' and fans remain the most visible and dedicated of any audience. What is it that defines and motivates this intense admiration? And why is it so maligned and stigmatized?The Adoring Audience considers the relationship between fans, stars, media texts and media industries. From 'Beatlemania' to the Elvis worship, from science fiction fans and 'trekkies' to Madonna's imitators and Hollywood films about fans, The Adoring Audience examines the ways in which fandom relates to identity, sexuality and textual production. How does gender, along with age, play a significant role in fan representation and activity? What is the place of sexual fantasy in fandom, especially for the female fans? What of male sports fans? And why are female rock music fans classified exclusively as 'groupies' by the media? |
Contents
The Cultural Economy of Fandom JOHN FISKE | 30 |
The Affective | 50 |
The Womens Rock Newsletter | 69 |
Girls Just Want to Have | 84 |
Figure of Elvis STEPHEN HINERMAN | 107 |
Fan Stories | 135 |
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activity adolescent aesthetic audience Beatlemania Beatles become Cagney & Lacey campaign celebrity characterized characters child consumer context critical crowd David David Lee Roth defined desire discrimination dominant Elvis Presley Elvis's everyday fan community fan culture fan writing fan's fandom fannish fantasy fanzines feel female fans feminine filk sing filkers film film's forms gender girls groupies Hill Street Hill Street Blues identity ideology industry interests investment Jenkins Jerry letters lives Lou Grant male mass media mattering maps meanings media texts movie mundane Mundania musicians narrative newsletter Nick Heyward obsessed organization participate particular performance pleasure popular culture production programs prohibition Quality Television relations relationship rock star role Rupert science fiction screaming sense sexual social songs specific Star Trek story Swanson taste tastemaker teen teenage textual Van Halen Vanessa Viewers for Quality VQT's woman women York