Jenkin’s likes fan culture. I got it. Whether it be the Matrix, Survivor, Harry Potter, or Starwars, Jenkin’s feels that fans are the most important (or at least very important) consumers. While this may be very true in an aging franchise such as Starwars, I’m not sure that Fans are always the most important consumers. I think I’m more inclined to split fans into super fans and casual consumers, a point that Jenkin’s would probably contend (I’d like to ask about this).
Jenkins lays out two kinds of production companies, the prohibitionists and collaborationist's (can we tell which one he thinks is best based on the naming of these two groups?) Or, those who tend to take a strict view of prohibiting the works of those in the fan culture or a more collaborative view of consumer and producer. Given the book is about convergence, it is safe to assume that the media company who is trying to save their intellectual property is not the “good” guy.
My views come down to it at this: corporations want to make money. If they can do this most effiiciently by suing everyone around them: they will. Or, if they have to play nice and encourage a fan base at the bottom; they will do that. As in the case with Lucas Films, the same company might even change positions several times just in order to meet the needs of the times. I realize that my rhetoric sounds kind of violent in these paragraphs, but- I view it is as pragmatic business workings.
The notion of Grass Roots and Folk culture was very interesting to me. The notion of the media outlets making fans (Grass Roots) or of economy coming from itself (Folk Culture). I think that both of these ideas are very powerful. One need look farther than Etsy to see Folk Culture come to the forefront, and it is arguable in my head where Minecraft would fit on a continuum between Grass Roots and Folk Culture, but they are certainly examples of convergence.
The real fun begins when we start to try to decide what a remix is, what a parody is what is protected by the first ammendment and what is copyright infringement. This is where benvolence on the part of the manufacturer gets interesting. Lucas Film's opened a web space where people could remix and create StarWars works with the caveat that all of the works were owned by Lucas. In short, they gave with one hand, while taking away control with the other. It comes down to Money. One gains money by being in control, and the best way to control people is to have them *want to be with/under/a part of whatever is going on.
As in the case in the section on Harry Potter, the film company threatened small websites with law suits that might or might not have been viable. However, the big corporations have the money, and the power to fight. Who is going to fight Time Warner? The book suggests that a Grass Roots movement of young people and librarians and such have been somewhat successful in protecting things. And while I think these things are ultimately excellent and very important to the preservation of free speech- I think they are only effective in so far as they have the ability to cause the corporation to seek to save face.
Should the film company that owned the video rights to Harry Potter continued to go after small websites, it is most likely that the core fans of Potter would have become disenfranchised. But, to me that does not seem overly likely. I will grant you that there is always the next big thing- But Harry Potter has blown them out of the water. I digress, I’m not sure that the Super Fans are all important. Potter has made its money from the box office, from book sales, and to a certain extent video games. I’d best most of the money came from one time visits to the book store and movie tickets and home video. Do super fans contribute to all of these monetary avenues- sure, but so do millions of more casual fans. To that end, I don’t think Jenkin’s distinguishes much between serious fandom and casual fandom as I do.
That being said, in this chapter Jenkin’s does a nice job of painting everything in terms of the big guy and the little guy and neatly demonstrating where (and how) they converge. One of the most poignant quotes in the book thus far says “None of us really knows how to live in this era of media convergence...” (170). This quote rings true for me, and I, for one, am excitedly wondering about where culture will take us next.
1. In Jenkin’s eyes, Is there a difference between the super fan and the casual consumer?
2. How does intellectual property effect fan communities?
Jenkins lays out two kinds of production companies, the prohibitionists and collaborationist's (can we tell which one he thinks is best based on the naming of these two groups?) Or, those who tend to take a strict view of prohibiting the works of those in the fan culture or a more collaborative view of consumer and producer. Given the book is about convergence, it is safe to assume that the media company who is trying to save their intellectual property is not the “good” guy.
My views come down to it at this: corporations want to make money. If they can do this most effiiciently by suing everyone around them: they will. Or, if they have to play nice and encourage a fan base at the bottom; they will do that. As in the case with Lucas Films, the same company might even change positions several times just in order to meet the needs of the times. I realize that my rhetoric sounds kind of violent in these paragraphs, but- I view it is as pragmatic business workings.
The notion of Grass Roots and Folk culture was very interesting to me. The notion of the media outlets making fans (Grass Roots) or of economy coming from itself (Folk Culture). I think that both of these ideas are very powerful. One need look farther than Etsy to see Folk Culture come to the forefront, and it is arguable in my head where Minecraft would fit on a continuum between Grass Roots and Folk Culture, but they are certainly examples of convergence.
The real fun begins when we start to try to decide what a remix is, what a parody is what is protected by the first ammendment and what is copyright infringement. This is where benvolence on the part of the manufacturer gets interesting. Lucas Film's opened a web space where people could remix and create StarWars works with the caveat that all of the works were owned by Lucas. In short, they gave with one hand, while taking away control with the other. It comes down to Money. One gains money by being in control, and the best way to control people is to have them *want to be with/under/a part of whatever is going on.
As in the case in the section on Harry Potter, the film company threatened small websites with law suits that might or might not have been viable. However, the big corporations have the money, and the power to fight. Who is going to fight Time Warner? The book suggests that a Grass Roots movement of young people and librarians and such have been somewhat successful in protecting things. And while I think these things are ultimately excellent and very important to the preservation of free speech- I think they are only effective in so far as they have the ability to cause the corporation to seek to save face.
Should the film company that owned the video rights to Harry Potter continued to go after small websites, it is most likely that the core fans of Potter would have become disenfranchised. But, to me that does not seem overly likely. I will grant you that there is always the next big thing- But Harry Potter has blown them out of the water. I digress, I’m not sure that the Super Fans are all important. Potter has made its money from the box office, from book sales, and to a certain extent video games. I’d best most of the money came from one time visits to the book store and movie tickets and home video. Do super fans contribute to all of these monetary avenues- sure, but so do millions of more casual fans. To that end, I don’t think Jenkin’s distinguishes much between serious fandom and casual fandom as I do.
That being said, in this chapter Jenkin’s does a nice job of painting everything in terms of the big guy and the little guy and neatly demonstrating where (and how) they converge. One of the most poignant quotes in the book thus far says “None of us really knows how to live in this era of media convergence...” (170). This quote rings true for me, and I, for one, am excitedly wondering about where culture will take us next.
1. In Jenkin’s eyes, Is there a difference between the super fan and the casual consumer?
2. How does intellectual property effect fan communities?
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