Fandom

This weeks reading about fandom inspired me to create a video that touches on the issues of how the production of the show constructs a certain type of fan and can create othering towards black fans.

In my video I incorporate a quote from the reading that expresses the frustration of fans watching a black women fall in love and the only fans that are acceptable and recognized are white men and women.  Fans are people who avidly watch or follow content and feel some emotional connection with the content they are consuming.  In this case, Awesomely Luvvie, a fan of this show cannot describe her feelings with anything other than black vernacular, because the media has created a group of people who watch and talk about this show.  This group is predominantly white, and it is who we hear the most from.

I created this video specifically by overlaying the quote I found over a scene in which the president of the United States, a white male, is pining and begging for Olivia Pope, a black woman, to move to the country and start a family with him.  This shows that Olivia Pope has the real power in this situation.  Also, at the end I add a freeze frame as they are kissing and pause the scene so that the viewer has time to really process what is going on.  Here, I think the viewer should think about how they think about the idea of the word fan, and how the media constructs who fans can and should be.

I think that this reading and movie do a good job of tying major themes of our class together.  The idea of othering, the idea of who is behind the media we are consuming and what that means, and finally who is consuming the media and how the production affects them.  I think that this video is a good focal point to touch on and think about al of these issues that are prevalent in our society today.  Media culture is dominated by white men, and viewers need to be made aware and start making changes.