I met Justin Bieber

I really just wanted to take the time to recognise one of my proudest fan moments… I give to you, 2012 Tori with a hint of Justin Bieber. 

Although growing up it wasn’t really the Biebs that caught my attention. From the age of 7, I was a fanatic Hannah Montana fan. What does this look like you ask? Framed images, wigs and outfits. I was Hannah Montana crazy. The obsession like most things didn’t last forever when I was introduced to One Direction in my pre-teens. A true fan has a life-size, cardboard cutout of their favourite band member (I was a Louis Tomlinson girl at the time). When I hear the word ‘fan’, this is what I am drawn to. Being a fan doesn’t always have to come out of a love for a celebrity, band member, etc.

 “In fan cultures, these creations and artistic expressions take the form of fan fiction, fan art, fan videos, cosplay, filk songs, and other interactions with a person, group, or fictional universe. Fan-fiction consists of stories written by fans of a particular work of fiction (rather than the original creator) about the fictional characters or universe. Fan videos, or fanvids, set clips of a movie or TV show to music and/or construct a narrative using clips from multiple source materials.” (Subcultures and Sociology. Retrieved April 22, 2020)

From the young age of birth, I was brought up following AFL, a die-hard Carlton Football Club “fan” if you wish. When I hear fans I don’t just think, Screaming girls at a 1D concert, spending hours making edits and trying to get these celebrities to notice them. Fans can come from any type of audience which place their love for someone or something, as the centre of their identity. Fan’s can be recognised not just spreading from real people and sporting teams, but to platforms and media outlets, for example, Netflix.

The study about fans really opens a new door to how we view audiences. Fandom is an identity in every person’s everyday life. Which brings forward the idea that everyone is an audience in this aspect. From week 2 we looked at audiences and what they are exactly. How different audiences are portrayed and if there are certain “unspoken” rules that we attach to these audiences. Looking back on my week 2 blog post (That time we won…), I go through a time I was part of an audience of which is ironically something I consider myself a fan of. When we hear audience we think of a person watching, being apart of or even following media. Whereas fans, create a stronger attachment, eg. emotionally, to certain people or media outlets. 

References:

Subcultures and Sociology. Retrieved April 22, 2020, from https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultural-theory-and-theorists/fandom-and-participatory-culture/