I Am a Fan of Many Things

This morning in class we discussed fandom and how it helps us build identity and community. So I've decided to take a look at myself and see howmy life is made up of fandom of different sorts.

Fandom builds our identities:

By articulating our personal identities:
*Through Inspiration to try new things
Let's see. I already said in class that I want to be a martial artist. Would I ever want to be a martial artist if it weren't for shows like TMNT and Power Rangers? Well maybe. Both of my parents are martial artists. But they fail to make it look nearly as cool as Michelangelo does. And being like Michelangelo is just about as great as anyone can possibly be i.m.o.

*By influencing our vocational choices.
It's true. I have been influenced by a major media text that I was once a fan of when it comes to choosing a vocational path. When I was a kid, there was a show on Nickelodeon called Caitlin's Way. According to many of my friends it was a pretty lame show (which is probably why it didn't last very long). But I thought Caitlin, a troubled teen living in foster care, was pretty cool girl with a pretty cool camera. And she took pretty cool pictures. I saw that show and decided that I too would take awesome pictures and develop them beneath the red lights of wonder. So I did. And I loved it. But I'm not very good in the dark room and film photography is much too expensive, so I'm all digital now. Even so, this is what I plan to do with my life. Thank you Caitlin for showing me the way.

*Through symbolizing dreams and motives.
I suppose that it's obvious that if fandom inspires you to try new things and influences vocational choices that it must influence dreams and motives. Otherwise, we'd never try the news things or make the vocational choices. But then there are those unachievable dreams and motives.
I must say that Amy Brown, J.M. Barrie, Cicely Mary Barker and especially Bill Kroyer have motivated me to go out and try to find fairies. I've searched for fairies and dreamed of becoming a fairy all my life. Of course, I can never be a fairy because I was already born as a person. And seeing how fairies are not real, I will probably never find one (I can say that now because I am no longer child. But if a child would have said that he or she did not believe in fairies, it would have caused a fairy somewhere to drop dead. I wouldn't want to do that. But I am confident that I no longer fall under the category of child so I am not worried about it.). I am a big fan of fairies.

That's all I'm going to say about identity for now. How about community?

*Shares Values
I am a big fan of children's books. In fact, my clothes display that fandom today. My Dr.Suess hoodie, complete with Horton the Elephant and his quote "A person's a person no mater how small" is showing on the top layer with pride. But if I take that off you will see my gray "Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt, beneath." That's an amazing book. Read it to your kids.
Anyway, I love to read children's books to kids. I must say, the value they hold in these books is a bit different than the value I hold in them. Even so, the value is shared. The End.

*Developing Standards of Authority
Um...I can't quite remember what that means. Is it the one that has to do with Trekkies vs. Trekkers? If it is then I do have an example like that. I'll come back to it in a second.

*Models belonging.
I have found my sense of belonging at a place called P.I. (Perfect Isolation), which is a board for Nine Inch Nails fans. It is definitely a community and that is where the best of Nine Inch Nails fans go to talk to other NIN fans. And we have our NIN lingo which will take me back to what I said I'd get to into in a second.

If you're a NIN fan on PI, then you are a NINie. Newbs and n00bs who come to the board and address us as NINers are quickly corrected. NINes who go over-board with enthusiasm and are too often too drooly are quickly labeled as fan boys/ fan girls and dismissed. If you're a fan boy, then go back to being fifteen years old. You're not welcome at PI.

*Participate in interpretive community. Wait, maybe that's what the Trekkie vs. Trekker thing is about. I can't remember. Either way, I covered something. So that's about it.

I am a fan of many things.

~Nadia

Christian Values for Society

This morning our media squad was brain storming about what we thought a good society should be based on. One of the things we decided was that our laws should be (loosely) based on good morals. And good morals, we decided, were Christian morals. Biblical morals.
This, of course, isn't to exclude other religions or beliefs from the system. We noticed that the laws we have now are based on Christian morals. For instance, most of us would agree that people should go around killing other people, or sleeping with other people's spouses. These are Biblical principals that are not unique to the Christian religion. Most societies seem to agree that laws should forbid these types of things, no matter if the ideas came from the Bible or not. The point is, it is things like these that we consider to fall under the "good morals" category. And since the word "good" is debatable, we put it under Biblical morals.
But this isn't to say that every single law should be based on whether Christians believe it is right or wrong. For instance, I would have to say that most Christians view things like abortion, (or as Andrew Rudd mentioned this morning) smoking weed and prostitution as immoral. But some would argue that these things should be legal just the same. Not because making it legal would be saying, "Yes this is good, go ahead and do it," but because these things will go on whether they are legal or not. And if they are legal, then we (the people, the government...whomever) are better able to regulate, keep it under control and if at all possible, find any beneficial sides.
Over all, though, I think that a society that is based on Christian morals (along with other qualities of course) is a good society.

~Nadia

Music Can Be A Sign

Here's an entry I meant to post ages ago that has been collecting dust in my saved drafts:


Last Monday evening I watched the Oscar Awards. Everyone there was in some way involved in the creation of a movie. Dressed to impress and looking their best all in sparkles and glitter, celebrities and whatnot flocked to the ceremony. The crowd was was a mass of excited people, anxiously awaiting the announcement of who would get what award. Who would be rewarded for their hard work, time and effort? Who would be recognized? Who would be given the shiny trophy and a shining moment of glory?
When a person's name was called after being read on a card, he or she would make way to the stage beaming, speech prepared. The person was given a brief moment to accept the award and say a few words expressing gratitude and thanking the little people. After the speech was given, the orchestra (which was -amazingly to me- placed directly beneath the translucent stage floor)would begin to play happy "You've just received an Oscar" music, accompanied by jovial applause.
But I noticed that there were times where people didn't seem quite ready to let go of the microphone and prance merrily off of the stage. A person would be not quite finished speaching it up, but time had run out. So the music and applause would ring loudly, a cue to stfu and get off of the stage. This was blatantly pointed out when Al Gore jokingly stepped up to the mic prepared to announce his decision to jump into next year's presidential race. But before he could get the words out, the orchestra began to play and he was forced to head back to his seat.
Now of course Al Gore wasn't literally forced back to his seat. No one physically removed him and put him in his place. In fact, there probably isn't even a written rule. How did he know to have a seat? Was there a big sign, in all caps? ATTENTION OSCAR WINNERS: PLEASE LEAVE THE STAGE AND RETURN TO YOUR SEAT WHEN THEN MUSIC BEGINS. I doubt it.
People are able to put two and two together. Every time someone leaves the stage the same music is played. So if the music is played while no one is leaving the stage, automatically it comes to mind, "Oh, I should leave the stage now."
And think of how awkward and absurd it would have been to stay on stage and keep on talking while the orchestra played. For one thing, it would ruin the happy "You've just received an Oscar" effect that the specially chosen exiting-the-stage-music was supposed to have. How could it give the happy feeling when someone is loudly talking over it? It would have broken unspoken rules. It would have been a social no-no. Imagine what people would think, "Is he really still talking?" It would have just been an awkward moment.
Remember when Michale Jackson gave that speech accepting an award he hadn't received? Awkward...
So yeah. The exiting the stage music played is a sign. It means "Thank you come again."

~Nadia