Anti-Fans

Antifans are people who are passionate about a media text, but negatively so; they loathe or detest what they take it to represent. Anti-fandom therefore appears to revolve around a negative stereotype of the particular text or genre and its assumed audience.

This has been supported by the rise of the internet anti-fan in the digital age. Anti-fans are everywhere and can therefore ruin the success of a film by promoting negative reviews, for example, via the internet. The studios insisted that the publication of several negative reviews on the internet was largely responsible for the disappointing cinematic release of 1997's Batman and Robin, which can thus suggest that anti-fans have more influence over the perceived fans than in previous decades.

Anti-fans hate the person they're reading or listening to, but can't seem to stop. They obsessively hang around on the YouTube channels or blogs of their anti-idol, waiting for a hate-fix to fulfill their lust for anger, constantly seeking opportunities in which to explain their contempt for the work and its author.

Something particularly important to note about anti-fans is that they can gather together in order to share their hate for a particular celebrity or icon. Groupings of anti-fans can be termed as 'anti-fanclubs', also known as virtual communities of disregard, hate listings and diss-share sites.

One specific example would be 'Daniel Craig Is Not Bond', which brought together both traditional Bond fans and anti-Craig fans. The latter people can delight in pointing out the shortcomings of Daniel Craig as Bond, whereas there are other anti-fans who simply 100% 'hate a character', and do not find delight in doing so.

Like traditional fans, anti-fans can go to extreme lengths to prove their hatred, which therefore emphasises how passionately opposed they might be to a certain franchise, celebrity etc. For example, in America a woman brought about the first known anti-fan hunger strike, in an attempt to 'get Sanjaya Malakar kicked off American Idol'.

Anti-fans might also perceive a media text in its different levels: a rational-realistic level (do I believe this? does it make sense?), a moral level (do I approve of its morals?), a political level (how do I react to its politics?), and an aesthetic level (is it artful or beautiful?), to name some key ones.

However, just as with traditional fans, anti-fans might not have a particular reason for their dislike or contempt for a media text. For instance, in regards to David Cronenberg's Crash, Martin Barker, Jane Arthurs and Ramaswami Harindranath noted how most of the people behind the push to have the film removed from English cinemas had not actually watched the film. Therefore, this meant that the fans who often devote their time to consuming huge portions of the text and its accompanying paratexts tended to be anti-fans, who may only have read negative reviews or taken what certain people, particularly those they trust, have said at face value.

Furthermore, this meant that it would be difficult for people to watch the film without taking the public outrage into account. For instance, if you read a negative review about a film, then it might be difficult to not take the review into consideration while watching the film.

Anti-fandom is significant as people can define themselves just as much by what they like as what they dislike. Hence anti-fandom can allow one to understand the impact and meaning of media texts on the lives of their fans.

Therefore, anti-fandom plays a large role in influencing fans as they might offer alternate readings of media texts that can allow people to decide whether they're a fan or an anti-fan. This also suggests that anti-fandom lends a voice to those who are otherwise unable to speak out against a particular media text, for fear of ridicule or angering people. Since fans are vocal in their support and devotion to particular media texts, then anti-fans should be given the chance to have their views and opinions taken into consideration, as well as be allowed to explain why they might be against certain media texts.

What is a cult film? And what is fandom?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a cult film should have "enduring appeal to a relatively small audience", and be "non-mainstream".

A common trope of cult films is that their theatrical releases are disappointing. For instance, The Big Lebowski (the film that I will be analysing) flopped at the box-office: it amassed a devoted following only when it was rereleased on VHS and DVD, cable and satellite TV, and at midnight venues.

Cult followings are often associated with niche markets or subcultures. As such, cult films tend to be associated with underground culture, and are considered too eccenctric, bizarre, controversial or anti-establishment to achieve mainstream appeal.

Fandom, on the other hand, has typically been depicted as a scandalous, emotionally charged form of attachment to media culture. It can be defined or explained as the state of being a fan or all that encompasses fan culture and fan behaviour in general, or the study of fans and fan behaviour.

In this case, it is about how people become fans how they devote themselves to the media products they seem to adore. It encompasses consumption and production, resistance (i.e. they are staunchly devoted to a beloved show, for instance) and collusion. It is about shared participation and experiences, about sharing thoughts and ideas.

Fan Guide

 

 

I'm A Lebowski, You're A Lebowski is essentially a go-to guide for fans of The Big Lebowski. The fact that it features photographs, real locations and interviews with the stars of the film, including John Turturro, John Goodman and Julianne Moore - and a foreword by the Dude himself, Jeff Bridges - emphasises the painstaking lengths the writers went to in order to make something that their fan community would be proud of. The book also contains a glossary, trivia questions and the ultimate soundtrack listing, which suggests that fans would expect nothing less of the writers, as they created the Lebowski Fest and therefore it follows that they have greater access to behind-the-scenes information, given that they were able to get most of the original cast on-board.

 

Furthermore, there is also the implication that the content is factual and that the facts seem to be in order, which emphasises how a key role played by these high-status 'superfans' involves ensuring that the fans feel secure, as they can take everything in this book at face value and therefore it helps them to confirm or otherwise strengthen their devotion to the phenomenon that is The Big Lebowski.

 

It also helps them to attract new fans to The Big Lebowski, as they already have all that they need to do regarding the phenomenon.

 

 

 

The theory of 'textual poaching', first developed by French scholar Michel de Certeau and later developed by Henry Jenkins, asserts that fans are not obsessive nerds who are out-of-touch with reality, which was how they were perceived, but instead appropriate texts for themselves.

 

De Certeau argues that audiences are not passive consumers but instead active interpreters. In his book, The Practice of Everyday Life, De Certeau talked about how people individualise mass culture by interpreting texts beyond the dominant meaning which has been decided by the elite (academics, teachers, authors etc) who monopolise the readings. They take elements "poached" and reworked from popular media in order to construct their own alternative culture. For example, many 'fans' did not like the ending of The Sopranos and tried to explain how its protagonist, Tony Soprano, actually died, and so made videos on YouTube analysing the final scene of The Sopranos in some detail. This can also be applied to the aforementioned book,  I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski, as the way the fans of The Big Lebowski have interpreted the film would not have been how the film critics would have interpreted the film on its original cinema release.

This ‘poaching’ is a resistance strategy for the individual, however it is inherently weak compared to the dominant culture and will generally be an act which is pushed underground. Jenkins’ book then takes the active audience theory and applies it to fan cultures which ‘poach’ from their beloved text to create new texts such as fan fiction, filk (folk songs) and manuals/dictionaries to ‘fill-out’ further details not originally explained in the text. For instance, in  I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski, they made an English-Achiever translation guide. Jenkins' extension of the term “poaching” discusses how a fan can simultaneously interpret a text through both the dominant and oppositional reading, allowing readers to stick as closely to the ‘canon’ (official rules and principles put forward in the original text) as they wish. Poaching blurs the line between producer and consumer by giving the reader power to produce their own work based upon their own interpretation. It also offers a form of escapism from reality through the sub-cultures and fan communities created.

Dudeism

Dudeism is an online religion that was founded in 2005, and which is based on The Big Lebowski. Perhaps a key component of fandom is that you need highly dedicated fans who will lead the others, and therefore it follows that you need those high-status 'superfans' to give those fans a sense of belonging.

 

The fact that there is an online website for Dudeism and various rules and practices emphasises how focused these 'superfans' are on creating something for the other fans to rally around, and suggests that they are committed to meeting the needs of these fans.

 

 

As with Lebowski Fest, perhaps another key component of Dudeism is that fans are looking to form communities of like-minded fans who they can share their appreciation of The Big Lebowski with. The fact that it is greatly supported (supposedly, there are 200,000 ordained Dudeist priests) suggests that the fans have been looking for something like this for some time now. Furthermore, the fact that there are over 200,000 ordained Dudeist priests worldwide emphasises that they are bound to the online religion by a strong streak of competition and therefore want to give something back to their online fan community. 

 

 



 

 

 

This is an extract from an interview with Oliver Benjamin, the founder of Dudeism, in I'm A Lebowski, You're A Lebowski. The fact that he created this online religion after getting hooked on The Big Lebowski suggests that such powerful expressions of devotion can, in turn, suggest that the fan in question was so transformed by the film that these expressions of devotion are warranted. The implication is that this person was very much unlike 'The Dude' suggests that people become fans for different reasons, and therefore the fact that he is giving this interview suggests that he wants to encourage fans to maintain their loyalty. 

 

Replay Culture

The idea of a 'replay culture' revolves around the ability to be able to watch a film after its initial release. A film that might have flopped at the box-office can be revived and garner a following through various forms of media including television, the internet and DVDs.

In the case of The Big Lebowski, it was a box-office failure, however soon gained a cult following when it went into circulation on the home video market. As this was a time when the home video market and video rentals were still important platforms for watching films, this suggests that The Big Lebowski.

Since The Big Lebowski was a financial and critical failure at the time of its initial release, the fact that it has a cult following can suggest that its fans seem 'genuine' as this was not a popular film and therefore it can be assumed that these fans didn't watch this film due to popular opinion.

 

 

The Big Lebowski had a studio re-release on Blu-Ray, which suggests that the studio had enough faith in the following to do so. Furthermore, since it was a limited edition release and therefore copies wouldn't be in great supply, this would have been a great way for fans to prove their loyalty as they would have to actively look for a copy.

 

Big Lebowski Documentary

 

The Achievers: The Story of the Lebowski Fans is a documentary looking at the cultural phenomenon of The Big Lebowski and how it has gained the following that it has. This is a great medium for fans of The Big Lebowski to express their devotion, as several fans were interviewed and therefore could have explained why they were fans. Furthermore, the people who made the documentary themselves could have been fans, and therefore this would have been a great way for them to share their love of the film with fellow fans.

 

 

The producers might have made this documentary because they understood that it would have already had an audience because of the cult following behind The Big Lebowski. Therefore, fans of the film might have watched the documentary as a means of acknowledging their attachment to The Big Lebowski.

The Big Lebowski Costumes

 

 

This is an eBay page for costumes worn by the main characters in The Big Lebowski. It is a key part of fandom, as the fans can be subjected to ridicule by others if they wear these costumes in public. Therefore, the fact that they wear these costumes out in the open emphasises how The Big Lebowski is a key component of their self-identity. Furthermore, the fact that fellow fans are willing to part with these costumes on sites such as eBay implies that they want others to feel the same way they do about The Big Lebowski.

 

 

 

 

 



Since fans at Lebowski Fest dress up as different characters, this harbours the implication that not everyone connects with the protagonist and therefore emphasises how fans can be drawn to different elements of the film.

 

The Big Lebowski Spoofs

One of the main ways in which fans can express their devotion to The Big Lebowski is through making parody versions of the film. There is the sense that these fans want to prove themselves, and therefore are becoming more active by making such media products.

Fans are highly critical and creative audiences; they don't just criticise their beloved shows or franchises when they fall short of their expectations, they also make their own fan films, or write their own fan fiction. They want to express how these shows or franchises resonate with them.

For example, the YouTube channel Funny Or Die made a spoof version of The Big Lebowski, which emphasises how fans are making the best use of digital media in order to find more creative ways of expressing such devotion.

Celebrity Fans of Texts

This is a tribute to the character Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski from The Big Lebowski by Tara Lipinski.
The fact that it is a feature on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon emphasises the extent to which she considers herself a fan, given that since the show attracts high ratings, this would have been broadcast to millions of people, and therefore the implication is that she wants to make her devotion to The Big Lebowski known.

Since this tribute is coming from a celebrity, this creates the expectation that it is socially acceptable to be a fan of The Big Lebowski.

 

 

This is an excerpt from the book I'm A Lebowski, You're A Lebowski, in which Tony Hawk is being asked about his attachment to The Big Lebowski. He mentions that he frequented bowling alleys and starting drinking White Russians, which is exactly what the protagonist from The Big Lebowski did. The interesting thing is that Tony Hawk is incredibly famous, so the fact that he was attracted to a cult film suggests that anyone who can relate to the film can become a fan.

Gary Oldman Interviews

This is the 7/2/14 episode of The Graham Norton Show  in which Gary Oldman was one of the guests, promoting RoboCop. Since Gary Oldman has great star appeal (allegedly, he is the highest-grossing film star in the world), this will attract a lot of viewers and therefore will generate more awareness for the film. However, since The Graham Norton Show  already attracts millions in viewing figures (and is exported worldwide), it is already a given that many would have tuned in, and so this might have convinced people to see the film that wouldn't have bothered otherwise.

 

 

This is the 7/2/14 episode of BBC Breakfast, in which Gary Oldman is talking about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Since he is also talking about his new film, RoboCop, this is great marketing as Gary Oldman is featured on our screens both in the morning and late at night, which can target a wider audience and therefore suggests that there is a greater chance for people to become exposed to the film.

 

 



Promoting RoboCop at the Cinema

This is a photograph of the RoboCop  poster on an automatic ticket machine at Harrow Vue, taken on Monday 3rd February 2014. It can attract people to book tickets for the film because it has credits for the main cast, which might attract people because RoboCop  is using big-name blockbuster talent.

Since it has the release date, this might encourage people into using the machine so that they can look into other screening dates at the cinema.

RoboCop Bus Poster

 

 

 

 

This is a bus poster for RoboCop, taken on Thursday, 30th January 2014 in Euston. It makes good use of its space and is therefore easy on the eyes, which allows prospective audiences to easily absorb the information. The poster is quite enigmatic, as it features only the title, tagline and a mid-shot of the main character, and therefore might intrigue people who want to know what the film is all about.

 

It also provides links to its Facebook and Twitter feeds, which can allow people to access further information on the film and therefore allows them to receive constant updates.

 

The text telling people about its release date is boldened and therefore is quite noticeable, making it easier for people to find out when the film will be released in the UK.

The Railway Man - Official® Trailer 2 [HD]

This is the official second trailer for The Railway Man, released on January 9th, 2014. It can draw people to the film because it is close to the film's release date in the UK (The Railway Man will be released tomorrow), and therefore will remind people that the film is still out there.

Furthermore, it is using other clips from the film, and therefore might give people a better picture of what to expect.

ODEON - The Railway Man

 

The following photographs were all found on Friday, 10th January 2014 (the day of The Railway Man's theatrical release in the UK), and come from ODEON Cinemas website.

 

The first of these is of the film's synopsis. It is brief and to the point, not giving too much away and inviting the audience to watch the film so that they can find out for themselves what happens. There are link buttons below which are incredibly user-friendly, allowing users to easily book tickets, receive email notifications, etc.



 

 

 

The following three photographs are of exclusive production stills on a slideshow. Since they incorporate different characters and points in time,  they might imply to prospective audiences that the film is multi-layered and therefore might intrigue people into going to see the film, in order to find out what it is exactly about.



 

 

 

 

 



The Daily Express

The following two photographs, both of which were taken on Saturday, 28th December 2013, are of the Daily Express (Saturday, 28th December 2013 issue). The front-page is dedicated to The Railway Man,  specifically Colin Firth.

This suggests that for The Railway Man,  the star appeal of Colin Firth plays an important role in promoting the film. The fact that Colin Firth is pictured alongside his wife, and that there are several people in the background, suggests that the film has a lot of support behind it, which might incentivise people to come and see the film. Furthermore, many businesses, such as corner shops stock the Daily Express, so their coverage of The Railway Man  will certainly be far-reaching.

Bus Poster - The Railway Man

This was taken on Thursday, 19th December 2013. It is a photograph of a bus poster for The Railway Man. Since the bus is moving all the time, it therefore follows that many people from different parts of London (or, at the very least, the places within the bus' route) will become aware of the film.