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I know I've talked here before about my belief that the perfect sweet spot for a fandom is a canon that is really emotionally resonant and with good characterization, but that is...messy, in one way or another. That prompts you to fill in gaps, reconcile things, flesh things out, etc. That just begs you to leave your fingerprints all over it.
I talked then about how much of prestige television is just too good for fandom. Like, its texture is so smooth that there are no pores for my fannish feelings to cling to.
When you think of the Great Fandoms of Western Media History, aren't they all shows/books/movies that are very good but messy? Stars War and Trek, The X-Files, Buffyverse, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, even Lord of the Rings (in its own way) are so messy compared to the kind of television that we admire and even love but that doesn't spark fandoms.
Obviously all of those fandoms are sff, so there's also the element of worldbuilding to draw a fan in, which I think is really important but not required in a canon-that-spawns-fandom. It doesn't have to be the case. Something like The West Wing got way more fannish activity than, say, The Wire or The Sopranos. And The West Wing is, objectively, much messier than the latter two.
On the back of these ponderings, I am wondering if other people find this true and, if so, what media you absolutely love but have no interest in exploring fannishly.
For instance, I love Black Sails. SO GOOD. But I have no desire to read fic for it, for some reason. I can theoretically recognize that there's plenty to be explored in fic. But I just find the show satisfying enough that I don't need anything else. (Otoh, I do love good meta for it!)
I wonder whether I also feel intimidated by the craft behind the show--is it so well done that I don't feel capable of adding to it in any way? I have to ponder this more.
So yeah: my question today is: what media do you love deeply but have no fannish (in the transformative works sense) engagement with?
I talked then about how much of prestige television is just too good for fandom. Like, its texture is so smooth that there are no pores for my fannish feelings to cling to.
When you think of the Great Fandoms of Western Media History, aren't they all shows/books/movies that are very good but messy? Stars War and Trek, The X-Files, Buffyverse, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, even Lord of the Rings (in its own way) are so messy compared to the kind of television that we admire and even love but that doesn't spark fandoms.
Obviously all of those fandoms are sff, so there's also the element of worldbuilding to draw a fan in, which I think is really important but not required in a canon-that-spawns-fandom. It doesn't have to be the case. Something like The West Wing got way more fannish activity than, say, The Wire or The Sopranos. And The West Wing is, objectively, much messier than the latter two.
On the back of these ponderings, I am wondering if other people find this true and, if so, what media you absolutely love but have no interest in exploring fannishly.
For instance, I love Black Sails. SO GOOD. But I have no desire to read fic for it, for some reason. I can theoretically recognize that there's plenty to be explored in fic. But I just find the show satisfying enough that I don't need anything else. (Otoh, I do love good meta for it!)
I wonder whether I also feel intimidated by the craft behind the show--is it so well done that I don't feel capable of adding to it in any way? I have to ponder this more.
So yeah: my question today is: what media do you love deeply but have no fannish (in the transformative works sense) engagement with?
